市场营销：美泰案例分析(英文版)

Individual Assignment 1

(30 points)

Due: 5:00pm Feb 14, 2013

Students will learn how to identify the research questions in the case study; analyze the market situations; and make suggestions or recommendations to solve the marketing problems. Creative suggestions or recommendations are especially encouraged!

-Please read the case study and answer the 5 questions below.

-Individual assignment 1 should be turned in on Blackboard with an attached word file (see the “assignments”)

-Please note the deadline. If you miss the deadline, but turn in the assignment within 3 days (5:00pm Feb 17, 2013), 5 points will be deducted for the delay. After 3 days pas sed the deadline, no late work will be accepted. Please submit the late turn-in to Dr. R ebecca Tang by ISU email.

Students are advised to conduct marketing research before answering the questions. (Background study does NOT need to be shown in the answer sheet students turn in). There are several potential approaches of marketing research:

-Go to Mattel’s web site and search around its various links for material regarding the controversy. What news articles do they mention? What safeguards have they put into place after this recall?

-How do they attempt to reassure consumers and the world that they have corrected or are correcting the problem?

Real Choices at Mattel

In 1945 Mattel’s founders, Ruth and Elliott Handler were manufacturing picture frames out of a garage workshop. The couple also ran a side business where they made dollhouse furniture from the frame scraps; this became so successful that they turned to making toys. In 1955, Mattel began advertising its toys through the Mickey Mouse Club TV show and thus revolutionized the way toys are sold. In 1959, Ruth Handler, noting her own daughter Barbara’s love for cut-out paper dolls, created the idea of a three-dimensional paper doll. Barbie was born and very quickly

propelled Mattel to the forefront of the toy industry. The 1960s saw Mattel grow with such new products a s Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, See-and-Say toys, and Hot Wheels toy cars. In the 1980s Mattel became a global company with the purchase of Hong

Kong-based ARCO industries, Correlle, SA, a maker of collector-quality dolls based in France and a British company, C orgi Toys Ltd., and a joint venture with Japan’s largest toy company, Bandai.

Mattel stresses social responsibility. Its Sustainability Mission states “…we regard the thoughtful management of the environment and the health and safety of our employees, customers, and neighbors as among our highest priorities and as key elements of our responsibility to be a sustainable company….” In 2006, Mattel’s Children’s Foundation donated approximately $4.8 million in cash grants and approximately $10 million in toys to organizations serving children around the world. Over 2,500 Mattel employees volunteered for charitable activities Special Olympics programs in 13 countries.

In 2007 trouble arrived in Toyland. Like many other toy makers, in recent years Mattel commissioned Chinese companies to produce its products. In August, Mattel was forced to recall 1.5 million of its Fisher-Price toys, including such favorites as Elmo and Big Bird, because they were suspected of containing hazardous levels of lead paint. Later in August, Mattel recalled over 19 million more Chinese-made toys because they contained magnets that could be swallowed by children or because they were made with dangerous lead paint.

Following the second recall the company purchased full-page ads in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to assure parents that it understands how they feel. CEO Robert Eckert, a father of four, appeared on an on-line video to state, “I can’t change what has happened in the past, but I can change how we work in the

f uture.” Mattel pledged to test the paint in every batch of paint delivered to all of its toy producers and to take other safety measures. Consumers, however, were not all convinced. Video clips appeared on YouTube mockin

g the company’s efforts. One video r eferred to the recall of “Tickle Me Lead-Mo.”

The recall dramatically cut into Mattel’s revenues. Sales of Dora the Explorer toys fell 34 percent in the United States and 21 percent internationally. Barbie sales fell 19 percent in the United States, and Brazil banned imports of all Mattel products while it evaluated whether or not the company was complying with its safety regulations.

Mattel must work hard to recover from this disaster. Are apologies and claims for new safety regulations enough, or should the company stop producing its toys in China? Perhaps they should move production to another country such as Viet Nam where production costs would be even lower. Or should Mattel return to its roots and produce the millions of Polly Pockets, “Sarge” toy cars, and Barbie playsets in the United States where costs are substantially higher but standards are tougher?