opening of six-story flagship store signals toymaker mattel's interest in potentially huge asian market
ariana eunjung cha，washington post staff writer
shanghai -- jiang xiaoyun stared wide-eyed at the pink cupcakes, pink t-shirts, pink purses and pink dolls in the towering new six-story barbie flagship store and declared the place a dream come true.
"i just thought, 'wouldn't this be great if this was my home?' " jiang gushed as she and her cousin snapped photos of themselves with mannequins and talked about how wonderfully "princess-y" everything was.
in the united states, barbies and barbie products are considered toys and are marketed primarily for girls 8 years old or younger. not so in china.
jiang, a 23-year-old administrative assistant, was part of a crowd of 20- and 30-something women who mobbed the newly opened barbie store on a recent weekend. few were there for the dolls. instead, they were browsing the store's animal-print scarves, gourmet chocolate from laris, one of shanghai's most exclusive restaurants on the bund, a famous avenue, and a $10,000 wedding dress designed by vera wang.
like many other multinational firms, mattel -- the world's largest toymaker -- is looking toward the 1.3 billion potential customers in china to make up for slow sales elsewhere.
winning over young urban professional women in china like jiang has become an obsession for such companies. less concerned about price than their male counterparts but with similar disposable incomes and a love for western brands, these consumers have the potential to make or break a company's quarterly sales.
estee lauder has teamed up with sony to produce a 40-episode digital sitcom that began in december and includes product placements for clinique cosmetics and other products. the plot revolves around a college student in shanghai. and unilever launched a chinese version of "ugly betty" that features a script about the company's campaign for "real beauty." the first season featured 3,300 seconds of the dove brand.
barbara millicent roberts, better known as barbie, made her debut at a toy fair in new york city in 1959 and has since become a subject of both controversy and adoration. the 11.5-inch doll's va-va-voom figure has been criticized throughout the years as being an inhuman ideal, but she has continued to be so popular that the average american girl owns eight barbies.
through the years, barbie has had more than 108 careers and has worn costumes from 50 nations. but sales have stumbled. for mattel, the fourth quarter of last year was especially depressing: sales fell 11 percent to $2 billion while operating income was down 36 percent.
"when barbie entered american supermarkets, its brand image was damaged. mattel is thinking to rebuild the brand image here as a dream, a paradise not only for little girls but for their mothers, too," said sun yimin, a marketing professor at fudan university in shanghai.
to celebrate barbie's 50th birthday this year, mattel organized a glitzy fashion show in new york and a celebrity party at a replica of the barbie dream house in malibu. the shanghai store, which opened in march, is the cornerstone of the company's campaign to revitalize the brand.
located on shanghai's equivalent of fifth avenue, the 35,000-square-foot building includes a luxury spa and restaurant in addition to its vast retail space.
"chinese consumers barely know anything about barbie except that barbie is a pretty doll," said laura lai, general manager of barbie shanghai. this has given the company an opportunity to rewrite the doll's story. "we're targeting girls of all ages -- no matter whether they are 6 years old or 60 years old."
if the long checkout lines at the shanghai store are any indication, mattel's strategy is working. pan yangzhou, a 21-year-old who was visiting from the nearby city of nanjing, bought some blush and lipstick. tang xuyu, a 25-year-old shanghai native who works as an assistant to the ceo of a local restaurant group, purchased a notebook, some chocolates and a card.
cui xiujao, a 25-year-old who works for a software company, had bought a pink t-shirt for her sister, who is also in her 20s, and was browsing for something for herself.
"barbie attracts me because she's very feminine and independent. she's in charge of her own life. and she has many different roles," cui said, justifying her spending. "but most important are her pretty clothes."
researchers liu liu in beijing and rebecca kanthor in shanghai contributed to this report.
原文链接：
六家旗舰店开业,玩具制造商马特尔目光投向巨大潜力的亚洲市场
(ariana eunjung cha,记者)上海——在高耸的新开六层芭比旗舰店里，蒋晓云（音译）睁大双眼盯着面前粉红色的纸托蛋糕，粉红t恤，粉红钱包和粉红色的玩偶，称这一切简直就是自己梦想成真。
“我只是想，‘如果这是我的家那该多好啊！’”蒋晓云一边和表妹与店里的人形模特合影，一边对这里所有“公主般”的物品赞不绝口。
在美国，芭比和芭比系列产品被认为是针对8岁及以下的女孩开发的玩具。但在中国并非如此。
23岁的行政助理蒋晓云，在最近的一个周末，成为一群在新开张的芭比旗舰店疯狂抢购的二三十岁的女子们中的一员。很少有人是为了玩偶而前往。她们浏览着印有动物图案的围巾，来自上海外滩独一无二的餐厅laris的美食巧克力，和由vera wang设计的价值1万美元的结婚礼服。
正如很多跨国公司，世界最大的玩具制造商马特尔看中了中国13亿的潜在市场，来弥补在世界其他地方的滞销状况。
对这类公司来说，能够赢得诸如蒋晓云一类的中国年轻城市职业女性成为重点。比起年轻职业男性来说，她们有宽松的收入，钟爱西方品牌，并且不太计较价格。这类消费者的购买极有可能构成甚至超过公司一季度的销售额。
雅诗兰黛已经与索尼合作打造40集的数字电视幽默剧，于去年12月开拍，里面穿插如倩碧等其他品牌的化妆品。此剧围绕一名上海的大学生展开。联合利华则启动中国版的“丑女贝蒂”，剧本描述了公司竞选“正品美人”的活动。第一季中有3，300秒的镜头关于多芬品牌。
芭芭拉·米丽森·罗伯茨，亦即为众人熟知的芭比，1959年在纽约一次玩具展览会上初次登台，随即成为融争议与推崇为一体的玩具。这个11.5英寸高的玩偶有着性感火辣的身材，这样的体型作为超人完美的典范也是历年来被批评的对象。然而她仍然十分畅销，平均每个美国女孩都拥有8个芭比娃娃。
历经数年发展，芭比已经拥有不止108个职业，并穿戴过来自50个国家的服饰。但是现今销售量已经有所停滞。对马特尔来说，去年第四季度最令人沮丧：销售额下降11%至2亿美元，而收益下降了36%。
“当芭比进入美国超市时，它的品牌形象已经被摧毁。马特尔决定在这里重建品牌，不仅面对小女孩也面对她们的母亲，把芭比打造成一个梦、一个天堂。”来自上海复旦大学的市场学教授孙一明说。
为庆祝今年芭比50岁的生日，马特尔在纽约举办了一场耀眼的时装表演，并在马利布的仿真芭比梦幻屋举办庆祝宴会。三月开张的上海分店正是公司重塑品牌的关键一步。
这座位于上海的“第五大道”、3500平方英尺的大楼除了广阔的零售区以外，还包括一家奢侈品中心和一家餐馆。
上海芭比的总经理劳拉·赖说：“除了知道芭比是美丽的玩偶以外，中国消费者可以说对芭比一无所知。”这使得公司能够重新谱写芭比故事。“我们面对所有年龄段的女孩——不管她是6岁还是60岁。”
如果可以将上海店付款柜台前的长队看做某种迹象，不得不说马特尔的策略是有效的。21岁的潘阳州（音译）是来自邻近城市南京的游客，她购买了一些腮红和唇膏。25岁的上海本地人唐絮语（音译）为当地一家餐饮集团的总裁做助理，她购买了一个笔记本，一些巧克力和一张卡片。
崔秀娇（音译）在一家软件公司工作，25岁的她给同样年过20的妹妹买了一件粉红t恤，之后她继续浏览准备为自己添置一些物品。
“芭比之所以吸引我，是因为她独特的女性气息和独立品质。她掌控了自己的一生。更何况她还有这么多的角色。”陈述自己的购买理由时崔秀娇说，“当然更重要的是她那些美丽的服饰。”