Primary marketTrend Talk: Hispanics Increase Web Use
According to Advertising Age with the recent launch of BarbieLatina.com, Mattel is not only expanding the
marketing opportunities for its popular girls brand, but also illustrating the rapid growth of Internet usage among US
Hispanics.
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, US Hispanics who use the Internet increased by 25%
from March 2000 to February 2001, expanding to encompass 11 million adults.
The US English site Barbie.com, which launched in 1998, is among the top 10 online destinations for girls ages
2 - 11, garnering an average of 5 million visits per month. The site has thus become an important branding tool, with
online activities that Mattel has structured to engage the audience for extended time periods. Visitors average 28
minutes per session. Visitors to the site can dress Barbie and her friends by picking different outfits, create
Barbie-themed stories, cards, ad posters and engage in fantasy scenarios within Barbie’s branding-intensive world.
As for BarbieLatina.com, the site bears a strong resemblance to its US English counterpart, but also contains
subtle differences. While the target age group, girls 3 - 8, shares a passion for fantasy and nurturing behavior, the
US Hispanic girls market has less interest in gaming and more interest in activity-based play than the US English
market.
The site contains a catalog where girls can look at but not buy Barbie merchandise and compile wish lists for
items they would like as presents. It also contains a Barbie calendar, which subtly introduces new products.
Mattel plans to promote the site the same way it promoted its US English site: by placing the URL on
commercials and packaging. The company is also about to expand its placement on packaging of the URLS for its
broad array of nine international sites, which also include French, German, Swedish, Dutch, and a site for other
English-speaking countries.
Words to remember:
"A person who wants to maximize life will deliberately schedule
motivational input just as surely as he will schedule
putting food into his stomach."
- Zig Ziglar
Transforming Tomorrow
I am thankful:
For the teenager who is complaining about doing dishes, because that means she is at home and
not in the streets.
For the taxes that I pay, because it means that I am employed
For the mess to clean after a party, because it means that I have been surrounded by friends.
For the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means I have enough to eat.
For my shadow that watches me work, because it means I am out in the sunshine.
For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because
it means I have a home.
For all the complaining I hear about the government, because it means that we have freedom of
speech.
For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means I am capable of
walking and that I have been blessed with transportation.
For my huge heating bill, because it means I am warm.
For the lady behind me in church that sings off key, because it means that I can hear.
For the pile of laundry and ironing, because it means I have clothes to wear.
For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day, because it means I have been capable of
working hard.
For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means that I am alive.
And finally, for too much e-mail, because it means I have friends who are thinking of me.