International Marketing HELP: Why was Barbie popular in both France and the Middle East?

The range of Barbie dolls available with different looks and styles have been the biggest contributors to its popularity around the globe. People can buy a Barbie dressed up for almost every occasion as per their choices. So gifting a Barbie in birthday attire or in a wedding dress would all be possible for you. Different parts of the world have different choices and the fact that the manufacturers have been able to provide customized products as per regional choices has made it popular in almost every corner of the world. To add on to the aspect of making a Barbie connected and involve children to use their creativity, the dolls available today come with additional units and different set of tools. Now children could apply their minds enhance their creativity by applying different dress ups, place Barbie in different avatars, make them look realistic to play inside toy homes, etc. A doll which was once thought to be a toy just as an object today are used by children to relate to their cultures and imagine themselves to be one of those. It really brings in an added glamour to the mind-set of children where they experiment and apply their minds while enjoying playing with these dolls (Pearsoned 2009).There have been several factors which has played the role of both positive and negative impacts in different countries          and cultures. The growth story in one part of the world for the Barbie doll manufacturers could well be entirely different from the one in other part of the world. For instance the reason for a Barbie popular in America is totally different than the ones available in the Asian markets. Where the children usually prefer Barbie to be blonde and reflect their identity in the American markets, the Asian children would prefer a Barbie with a black hair and wearing traditional or local attires (Blurtitn.d).

Barbie in France

For the pan-European region the company had adopted the regiocentric approach. The stats have made it clear that an average of 5 Barbie dolls is seen to be a part of the toy collection in France. The early 1990s saw the launch of the ‘’Friendship Barbie’’ which was sold on France as well as other European Nations. This new doll was very less elaborate in comparison to the other Western European counterparts. It came with sports designer clothes as well as accessories. It more or less reflected the basic lifestyle children who had experienced communism. The Barbie though borrowed in terms of styling from the American continent was customized in order to touch the ethnic values of the Eastern European continent particularly in France.Barbie in Middle East

In the Middle Eastern countries Barbie faced a stiff competition as there were several doll brands who aimed at providing the Islamic alternative to it. There were also reports that people referred Barbie more harmful than an American Missile. The initial values of Barbie and Ken were opposed by political establishment across the Middle East (Global Post 2012). However, the year 1998 saw the launch of the demure looking dolls such as Laila which was designed as per the recommendations of the Arab’s League children’s celebrations. Laila wore contemporary clothes like the short-sleeve blouse and skirt along with other traditional Arab costumes.  The Barbie had to be modified as per the expectations of the Arab child with different mind-set due the cultural gap. In comparison of the Western kids who play with a Barbie with her swimming pool with a blond hair and a boyfriend, the need of an Arab child is very different. The cultural thoughts play a big role here where the society at large defines the mind-set of the people (Review Mai 2008).

Reasons for the popularity in both the regions

With different needs and different products offered Barbie became popular and established a different face in both the countries. The children started seeing themselves as a beautiful doll and try to look like her. Imitating and using their creativity as mentioned earlier was seen among the kids who came out as a new toy for the children to play with. Making Barbie available with options to play, style, and dress up differently attracted the children of each group helping them to apply their creativity. Summarizing the sole reason for the popularity of the Barbie dolls would be the availability of these dolls in the attire of local places making the children relate to their societies and get attracted. The specially built dolls for France or Laila for the Middle Eastern countries truly added a new essence to the way dolls were seen as a toy to both the parents and their children.

Should Muslim countries ban Barbie?

In most of the Muslim countries it has been seen that Barbie is considered to be a threat or an object to bring the western cultures within their own society. They see it as one of the major drivers to contradict their social values and come in between the development of the children within their societies. However the company has consistently been designing products as per the local needs with dolls in attires as a relation to the social customs (The Journal 2012). As it has changed as per the needs of the region where it offers its products the fact of it getting banned should not be promoted.Countries such as Iran have banned the sale of Barbie within their country which besides being seen as a cultural disturbance is also termed as a soft war against the American products. Reasons are many especially the cultural values and its impacts within the countries. However, the efforts by the company in the past to provide dolls which do not hamper any sentiments should be seen as the effort by the company to produce dolls as per the accepted beliefs and appreciated. Banning may not be the solution but yes imposing restrictions or the way these dolls meet the expectations of the societies could be implemented. The launch of Laila as mentioned above had made it popular in the Arab countries as children were highly attracted towards these dolls. The attire and the accessories with which these came were adopted from the local beliefs and customs. It was the major initiative by the company to establish its foot in the Middle Eastern countries. However with growing differences in the relations between the Middle Eastern countries and America should not be related to the dolls of Barbie being sold in these countries.

Would it be useful for Global Marketers to think of teens as a global segment? Why or why not?

Global Teen Segments

The global teen segment is the generalization of the stereotype teens having similar interest in fashion, lifestyle and music. The current trend has depicted that the teens today are rebelling against the cultural norms while emulating other cultures for reaching self-satisfaction as well as increase in self-confidence. It is further divided into two categories namely:

Global teenage girls: These include the products for teenage girls which are apparel, cosmetics, fragrances, and jewellery.

Global teenage boys: The products are for the teenage boys who include movies, dating, entertainment, clothes, and cars.

For both the girls and boys globally the product varieties especially the brands they come from has been one of the drivers to attract them in buying branded products.

The world markets seem to have been divided by trade wars and tribalism where teenagers are one of the most dominant global segments today. Travelling from the steamy playgrounds of Los Angeles to the stately boulevards in Singapore the teens depict amazing similarities in terms of tastes, attitudes and languages. Everywhere globally, be it the Americans, Africans or the Asians the teens are wearing Levis jeans, using the same playstation or listening to the same drumbeat. This seems to be a unifying force which should be seen as a global segment among the global marketers. The choices and range of products the teens get attracted to are pretty similar in every corner of the world.

This makes it one of the largest business markets for the global marketers which brings in the need of carrying out in-depth research and supply as per the changing trends and needs. A figure revealed last year showed that around 28 million teenagers spent a whopping $57 billion of their own money. The same could be seen in the European as well as Latin America where over 200 million teens had converged with their American soul mates.

Although the biggest beneficiaries to this global taste being pretty similar had been the American countries, the local companies have also benefited from the trend. For example Reebok backed by its global advertising campaign had sold huge number of Instapump line sneakers in more than 140 countries. This change and distribution can be seen in almost all the products which the teens have been buying around the globe. It further implies that global marketers need to analyse the changing trends which has been there for a decade now viewing teens as a global segment today.

So focussing on the needs and current trends would be very important for the global marketers to develop their products and services. The teenager segments are divided into four segments which are to be broadly dealt with by the marketers. These segments are as follows:Socially driven segment

• Diversely motivated market segment
• Socially Introverted Market Segment
• Sports oriented Market Segment

With the fact being noted that teens across the world share certain interests the marketers do need to take into consideration some small aspects which changes as per the tastes, preferences, behaviours, and customs. While standardizing their products the companies also need to customize the variety on offer and adapt to local needs. SO the key to success can be attributed towards providing same range of products in customized forms so that the marketers could enhance user experience of the teens while adding variety to their offerings. Standardization along with adaptation goes hand in hand for a marketer to tap the potential of a market in the teen segment.

Why do you think street kids in Brazil are attracted to global brand names?

The latest industry data has revealed that Brazil has a population of about 31 million and spends around US$43 billion. This is a significant portion of the entire population within the country where a great chunk of spending is done by the teens. The major drivers of their behaviour are the national pride making them ethnocentric where they believe that their country is among the most prominent nations across the world. The desires like any other people across the world are to get a fulfilling job and lead a happy family life in the later stages. Like the other countries globally the teens are more prone to love the burgers and the pizzas (NyTimes 2011).A study conducted had revealed that the street kids across Brazil desire to own global brands as it was a major impetus for leaving home for life on the streets. It was seen that the teens that got their job usually spent their first salary to buy a branded jeans or products of a global brand such as Reebok or Nike. The factor that brand consciousness has become one of the important factors for fashion trends across has affected the choices and tastes of these street kids. Brazil being a developing nation and with more global brands entering the domestic markets has raised the desires of these teens to own products from the house of global brands. The change has been witnessed over the past few decades where the buying power of the society and in particular the teens have increased drastically. Seeking the opportunity global brands has seen a possible potential to exploit the market by providing the products of international standards across the nation. The mind-set of street kids have been transformed due to the increased awareness, education levels, freedom, individualism, and ambitions level.

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