Mattel Swot Analysis

A report on Mattel inc.

1. Introduction

Mattel is an American toy manufacturing company founded in 1945 with its headquarters based at El Segundo, Calif. Ruth Handler and Elliot Handler, a pair of married couple together with Harold Matson, their partner, were the founders of the company. Founding the company, the Handlers are part of designing their ideas and making sure of marketing while Matson is part of crafting and making the product.

2. Timeline leading to the founding of Mattel

Before the founding of Mattel, in 1939, Ruth Handler and Elliot Handler, together with Harold Matson, started a company under the name of of Elliot Handler Plastics. It is a company that features contemporary designs of swedish crystal, Scandinavian

Whom they later formed a partnership with renaming the company Elzac, which would lead to the founding of Mattel. The newly renamed company also produces jewellery products. However 3 years later, when their partner brought in new investors, ideas, opinions began to differ and the founders of Mattel left the company.

2.1 Founding of Mattel

Harold Matson a skilled craftsman, were later visited by the Handlers at his workshop and realised that there were many equipments for manufacturing. Not wanting to give up the thrill and challenge of business, they decided to have some of their picture frame designs produced. Their frames were an achievement as photo studios desperately needed them. With the accomplishment of picture frames, they decided to establish and name the company Mattel Inc.

Not long after the development of picture frames, the founders decided to create a side-business for selling doll house furnitures made from the picture frame scraps. Thereafter, sales of the side-business became popular and successful. Thus, encouraged by the success of the doll furniture, the founders decided to turn the company’s emphasis to toy making.

3. Brand goals and reason for

The company has designed many different line of products such as Barbie Dolls, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price and American Girl. Each line of the product have its distinctive design philosophy and style. The idea of creating Barbie products came from Ruth Handler. She wanted the product to accomplish and that “through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be as Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” In addition, Barbie has become the teenage fashion icon where fashion designers around would design many different set of clothings for Barbie to change and be whatever a girl wanted or aspired. Not only as a fashion icon, Barbie has also shown the different ethnic group with the different races of dolls