Word: mattel
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Barbie's corporate mom, Mattel president Jill Barad, 45, the line represents the first test of her stewardship of the company. In January, Barad will become one of just four women to head a Fortune 1000 company when she succeeds ceo John Amerman, who is retiring. It was Barad, a onetime cosmetics marketer and knowledgeable about the whims of fashion, who rehabilitated Barbie's image in the 1980s, recasting her into a hip toy and a global franchise for the company...
...smartest women in America, according to Ladies Home Journal. Ironically, Barad never played with Barbie dolls as a child. "I was too old," she recalls. But she envisions launching Barbie into cyberspace and inspiring legions of girls to follow her there, as one of the keys to Mattel's growth...
Such moves are essential as Mattel, which holds a 16% share of the U.S. toy market, seeks to continue the expansion of its famed but aging brands. While the California company reported a healthy 10% gain in third-quarter profits, most of its toy lines are mature, and for them to grow, they must be constantly revitalized, particularly in the U.S. Rebecca Runkle, a Morgan Stanley analyst who has watched toymakers scramble in the digital age, calls the new CD-ROMs a strategic coup. "With the fantastic brand recognition Mattel enjoys, this is a tremendous opportunity to expand," she says...
Barad is exploring ways to create multimedia toys for other company brands, including Polly Pocket, Cabbage Patch and See 'N Say. "This is only the beginning," she says in a glass-walled office that sports towering early versions of Barbie and her plastic paramour Ken. Barad vows Mattel will be a leader in interactive playthings...
...home computers, so it's not hard to imagine them clamoring for the new CD-ROMs. Analyst Taylor predicts the company will sell 200,000 of the programs this holiday season and could meet its goal of 1 million units in the coming year. Just to make sure, Mattel is spending an estimated $2 million to advertise the software on TV shows. The theme: "Computers Are Cool for Girls...