REPORT FOR MATTEL CEO

They were selling picture frames, but their business boomed from the sale of doll furniture. In 1947, they managed to sell their first successful Ukulele called Uku-doodle (Roberts & Scher, 2014). The company rose to its glory through two significant events in this period. First, they become incorporated in 1948 which saw the access to large pool of funds (Roberts & Scher, 2014). At this time, the idea of a company was still the winning drive in most corporations, and Mattel was no expectation. I would fault the over-weaning zeal to cut costs which were communicated all through the value chain for effect. The contractors resulted in the use of unapproved paint from underhanded dealers. In effect, the dolls were delivered with huge levels of lead. This posed a hazard to the children who were playing with the toys (Coombs, 2015).

The massive recall of their favorite brands such as Barbie among others just before the festive season dented their market hold in a big way. However, the market has been grim, and a rough assessment gives your leadership a thumbs up, but it fails to recognize the breadth of your strategies. It is true that maintenance operations have been key as well as the revitalization of your brand. However, it is time for the creation of new strategies. It is time for the re-engineering of the business to justify what it stands for but expand the frontiers. This is laid out well in the following decision about the present and future of Mattel. Disney who used to lease most of their cartoon labels keeps the competition going.

Additionally, other companies like Hasbro have also given Mattel a run for their money. The most important environmental factors that have thrown the competitive strategies of Mattel out of proportion is changes technology. This carries tow aspects which are the change in consumer perceptions as well as the introduction of new competitors. Technology has reached a point where the compatibility of cartoon charters is no longer satisfied through the creation of their models and dolls (Palvia, 2014). This introduces a new complication which Mattel has been grappling with for some time. A look at the Michael Porters five forces can reveal a great deal of this external force. The Michael Porter tool is used to evaluate the instances of competitive forces which might impact the company.

The first one is the threat of new entrants in the market (Porter, 2015). This is exactly what is happening in Mattel. Starting from the scandal, consumers have been deflecting their interests when they are not answered by Mattel. This shifts the developments from what the company intends to sell to what the consumer wants to buy and how they want t buy it. Thus the added availability of virtual dolls informs of computer games makes their bargaining power incredible. Since the children are no longer responsive to the physical dolls and toys, it is hard to even to taste them in adverts or demonstrations. The main competitor for Mattel has been Hasbro, Bandai Toy, and McFarlane. This ensures that the company is always able to keep up with the growing market trends.

Additionally company has been doing an excellent job of targeting collectors. These are mainly grownups who are interested in the originals models of certain characters. This is a distinct market which is positioned differently from the mainstream one. It gives the company alternatives as well as enabling the establishment of focused sales which are as result of stratified markets. The company is faced with various opportunities. The first one is the advancement of technology. It can learn to incorporate animated holograms in its toys is a good way to start (Russell et al. Additionally, it can focus on the video market as a new strategy to prevent the loss of market to the many entrants (Wesley & Barczak, 2016). As some of the threat, cartoon companies which may start their own toy labels are a formidable threat.

Thus, in conclusion, it is the recommendation of this report that the company establishes the following blue ocean strategy. Animating the doll through multiple dimensions technology such as 3D or the use of holograms or virtual reality separates the company from the mainstream competitions and span its boundaries. Whereas these may seem futuristic, the characters in various comic books such as Marvel characters or those in DC comics will continue evolving with a better experience in the theaters. This will call for the achievement of the same through doll play. The future of dolls is not even in playing games but in simulated interaction through the use of this technology. Springer. Heljakka, K. Strategies of Social Screen Play (ers) across the Ecosystem of Play: Toys, games and hybrid social play in technologically mediated playscapes.