Marketing and all things related

Your life could be worse; you could be in the toy business. It wasn’t that long ago that Mattel could count on Barbie and Hot Wheels to save the day. These days, it takes considerably more diversity, and Mattel has a stable of unstable toys and games to whether the whims of fickle children. Mattel just reported improved 1st quarter earnings due primarily to tax benefits, but worldwide sales of Barbie are down 8%. Hot Wheels and Matchbox sales are skidding as well. On the plus side, Barbie sales actually increased slightly in the US. But Marketing Blurb is worried. Do adolescent boy and girls actually exist anymore, or are these children exposed to the same Dateline-enabled slimeball media we all consume? It’s six o’clock. Do you know what your kids are watching?