Bobbi'S Road To Chinese Market

In April 16, 2011, the reporter visited the once splendid Bobbi flagship store. This luxurious storefront on the Huaihai Road in Shanghai has been more than a month since its death. It is bad news for Bobbi fans all over the world.

In 2009, when Bobbi celebrated his 50 birthday, the world's largest toy manufacturer, Mattel Inc, built a "luxury house" of about 3530 square meters for Bobbi in Shanghai. This is not only the first Bobbi flagship store opened by Mattel Inc, but also the hope that Mattel Inc hopes to bring Bobbi brand into a new life.

But over the past two years, the dream of brand growth and brand extension has broken down. The localization marketing of foreign brands is not as simple as imagined.

Unable to make ends meet

One-stop experiential marketing meets cost challenges

In the history of Bobbi's legendary marketing, storytelling has always been its usual practice.

They sell toys while selling a whole set of lifestyles.

According to MATTEL's design, Bobbi should have his own life and thoughts, need friends, like dressing up, and have his own "fairy tale world".

MATTEL decided to move this marketing strategy to China to show Bobbi's lifestyle and real experience at the Bobbi flagship store instead of simply selling Bobbi dolls and its derivatives.

According to the Mattel Inc's plan, the flagship store with an area of 3530 square meters is equipped with facilities such as spa, cosmetics counters, bars, restaurants and so on. It sells more than 1600 related products such as Bobbi dolls and its clothing, jewelry, electronic products and so on.

Consumers can enjoy a series of Bobbi's life in shopping centers, shopping, beauty and dining.

In order to create a more realistic Bobbi's life, MATTEL is painstaking.

The bottom of the flagship store even gave up the display of goods. The pink rotary staircase became the only access to the dream world, showing the growth history of Bobbi dolls on both sides of display walls and counters.

In order to attract more people, the flagship store often organizes related thematic activities to encourage mothers to take their children to participate in the Bobbi theme show.

Children can put on Bobbi's clothes and walk to T to realize the dream of pink princess.

But Bobbi soon discovered that the popularity of painstaking planning did not effectively plate into sales.

For most consumers, flagship stores are more like a sightseeing place than a shopping mall.

Bobbi's VIP member, Liu Li, told reporters in the China business newspaper that taking herself and her friends as an example, most of the consumption was concentrated on the purchase of Bobbi dolls and related accessories, while other extended products sold in flagship stores, such as cosmetics and clothing, were rarely bought, because no matter from quality inspection to style, they were very general.

Such an extension product can not highlight the competitive advantage compared with the fast fashion brands such as ZARA and H&M on the same street.

In addition, flagship shops such as spa and restaurants are rarely asked. "At the very beginning, it may be consumed by curiosity, but for a long time, there will be no repeat consumption because of fewer choices."

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At the same time, Bobbi's flagship store's business model is also faced with high cost challenges.

According to the reporter's estimate, the rent of the shop is about 50 yuan / square meter / day, the Bobbi flagship store with an area of about 3530 square meters, the annual rent is about 63 million yuan, and the total amount of the two years is over 100 million yuan.

Such a high cost really makes Bobbi a bit of a food.

In 2010, the sales target of Bobbi's flagship store in Shanghai dropped by at least 30% from the beginning of March 2009.

In the view of brand expert Li Guangdou, the shopping mall mode with sales, brand display and user experience as a whole is easy for the flagship store to get into a cost dilemma.

Once sales can not reach a certain goal, it is inevitable to make ends meet.

According to Yang Da Yun, general manager of Greater China, UTA management group, the integrated store mode is not easy to get through in China. Disney, for example, has not yet opened a large-scale integrated store in China, but has gradually infiltrated into the Chinese market in the form of a special store or special counter.

Positioning embarrassment

Wrong positioning can not cater to the needs of consumer groups.

Despite the huge cost, Bobbi did not really win the hearts of Chinese consumers.

Judging from the current results, this is directly related to consumers who do not understand the Chinese market in Mattel Inc.

At the beginning of the flagship store, MATTEL executives said they should target girls who "regard Bobbi as their best friend and those who regard Bobbi as a fashion and lifestyle".

Such a target consumer positioning has obviously surpassed Bobbi's position as a doll, putting it on young fashion women in China and trying to extend consumption by using Bobbi's original brand awareness.

Unfortunately, such consumer positioning does not seem to cater to the aesthetic standards of Chinese young and fashionable women.

As early as more than a year ago, Lei Xiaoshan of the China market research group predicted Bobbi's failure. He thought Bobbi was too concerned about the tastes of local consumers. Chinese women preferred the charming and maiden pink clothes, such as Hello Kitty, instead of the sexy and exposed feldsworth design (editor's note: Patrick's Fields: Patricia drama "sex and the city" clothing Guide).

In addition, in order to attack young women's fashion market, Bobbi also used the way of selling luxury goods for sale.

From the price point of view, the cheapest Bobbi also needs 69 yuan. Most of them are up to 200 yuan.

Li Guangdou is not optimistic about this mode of sale. "In the traditional toy market, the concept of Chinese consumers is quite different from that in the United States: in the west, games are regarded as the nature of children.

In China, toys are regarded by parents as plaything.

Chinese parents may be willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the consumption of early childhood products, but not willing to invest too much in toys. "

Bobbi wants to sell herself to luxury fashion women like China, but she doesn't know their taste.

In the traditional toy market, it has encountered the challenge of price and concept, and has been caught in an awkward position.

Market miscalculation

Limited localization and brand marketing

The blind optimism of China's market and the failure to localize effectively are also the main reasons why Bobbi has been blocked in the Chinese market.

In fact, in order to let Bobbi integrate into the eastern life as early as possible, MATTEL also worked hard.

Using their good story telling skills, they designed Bobbi Ling, the first friend who came to China for Shanghai. The Shanghai Ling, with black hair and charming black eyes, was designed as a modern Shanghai girl with Chinese traditional elements and fashionable taste.

"Shanghai Ling" has been applied to Bobbi's localization marketing many times. For example, Mid Autumn Festival, Bobbi launched the mid autumn moon cake, all of which are Chinese stories told by "Shanghai Ling".

MATTEL made a series of marketing activities using traditional Chinese festivals. Lai Yuxin, general manager of Bobbi Shanghai commercial limited, told reporters that the company had used a series of tricks in localizing marketing, such as letting Chinese consumers design their own "Shanghai Ling", by finding friends for Bobbi, showing more Chinese stories and so on.

Yang Dayun, general manager of Greater China in UTA management group, believes that like many foreign brands entering the Chinese market, Bobbi has not yet paid enough time and patience.

Bobbi's brand promotion and cultural extension obviously are not enough. In the impression of people, Bobbi has a strong shadow of American culture in the 60s of last century. Now entering China, we need to do more communication work when we integrate into the new brand connotation, so that we can get a sense of identity in the minds of consumers.

According to MATTEL, Bobbi will be on a national tour after the closure.

Bobbi's future in China is uncertain.