Mattel 1998 Annual Report Download - page 7

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 7 of the 1998 Mattel annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 58

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58

show she’s not getting older — she’s getting smarter.
We will have more new dolls shipping each and every
quarter, strategically spread throughout the year, and a new
marketing plan to build a stronger Barbie brand relationship
with adults, older girls beyond 8 years, and our core girls 3
to 7 years of age.
A new “Generation Girl” Barbie doll segment, targeted to
an older girl, features friends from around the world, each
with a contemporary look and individual personality. And
Barbie will represent many new looks and body types
in her 40th year, including a new full-bodied friend known
and loved by all, Rosie O’Donnell.
Our Barbie collector products for 1999 will
be led by a 40th anniversary limited edition
Barbie and our very limited edition
Millennium Bride. Frank Sinatra, and
Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, will join
our growing celebrity collector busi-
ness, which already includes Lucille
Ball, Elvis Presley and Audrey
Hepburn. Our direct-to-consumer
collector catalog has been a very
successful tool for us and will be
made even stronger when it is avail-
able online starting in the second half
of this year.
Our Barbie media business grew 39 per-
cent to $80 million in 1998, versus our total
$100 million interactive business. We had 7 of
the top 10 children’s software titles in the U.S., and
Barbie CD-ROM titles achieved top 10 rankings in every
country in Europe in December. Our interactive growth
was led by the Barbie Digital Camera, which sold over
300,000 units, and was the #1 new software product of
the year, according to PC Data.
The Barbie Digital Camera was the #1 selling 5
children’s software title in 1998.