MGA Entertainment (MGAE) came up with a new edition of Bratz, the dolls that rocked the toy industry in 2001, becoming Mattel’s rival brand, where the popular Barbie doll reigned supreme.
The brand has decided to make a truce of this enmity, so it decided to congratulate Barbie within all its social networks on International Friendship Day, which drove millions of digital followers crazy.
With a simple photo and a ‘sincere’ message, the brand that today seeks to return to the market congratulated its longtime rival, where the publication received reactions such as:
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”, “His brand sank to the point where he is doing anything for the interactions”, “Am I interrupting something, best friends?”
Hey Bestie! ?#InternationalFriendshipDay pic.twitter.com/TjOO3hCeLp
– Bratz (@Bratz) July 30, 2021
Although the message seems ‘friendly’, the truth is that the intention of Bratz is to rekindle the war between the characters, however, it seems that Mattel and Barbie let this strategy pass without pain or glory, since they have not replied to the publications, to even though they have been tagged on more than one occasion.
It should be noted that both the world and consumers continue to change, where the reconstruction of an image and brand for the Mattel doll has led it to update itself according to the needs of the market, as well as with social movements in favor of women.
Desperate Bratz?
As part of the celebration of its 20th anniversary, the Bratz dolls returned to the most important chains with a new edition starting on May 21.
MGAE’s strategy began in the market for Hot Topic, where they were sold in the first instance online and in physical edition until June 2. In other retail chains such as Amazon, Target and Walmart, the sale of this new line came in July of this year.
“Bratz completely revolutionized the industry at the time when Barbie was the norm and the purist perception of what a woman should be,” the daughter of the creator of the Bratz, Jasmin Larian, told MGAE.
Larian also asserted that the dolls were, or rather, they are “great, avant-garde and rule-breaking”, as they showed a very diverse group, something that was very innovative and surprising for the time.
First images thrill fans
Before the news, images of what will be the new launch of the Bratz began to spread on social networks, which come to compete again in a market that has led the successful Mattel product, Barbie.
The post reads comments like “OMG, they look amazing This is the best day of 2021 so far!”, “But what does the back look like?”, “I’m crying because OG dolls are selling in the hundreds on eBay. I could finally have a chance now, ”so MGA Entertainment’s strategy certainly hit the mark.
The prices of these editions will be between 19.99 and 25 dollars, according to several blogs on Facebook, which is equivalent to a cost between 400 and 500 Mexican pesos, depending on the change when making this note.
Will they beat Barbie?
In recent months Mattel has had considerable growth, which it plans to not stop, so during the first quarter of this year the company reported a worldwide gross turnover from the sale of dolls for 381 million dollars, which represented growth 69% compared to the same period in 2020.
However, this increase was registered mainly by the sale of products from the Barbie and American Girl line, mainly in North America, so with the arrival of their old rivals to the market, these numbers could be affected.
And it is that Bratz will not only return with a line of toys, he also launched Bratz Total Fashion Makeover , a game for mobile devices available on iOS and Android systems created by Outright Games, as well as many other news to be revealed in the coming weeks, so MGA Entertainment (MGAE) could look to reposition itself in the market.