Even without all the numbers in, it’s clear that this holiday season was all about the shelves. That’s according to Geoff Walker, senior vice president at Mattel, who has been with the company for 15 years and is pleased with the bump the economic downturn has given relationships between Mattel and retailers. “With budgets tighter and very few brands planning growth, the marketing and retail teams have been forced to be more creative and more focused on the programs they put together,” he said. “It allowed our planning to be more effective. It was a weird outcome of the recession.”
With both manufacturers and retailers concerned with consumer budgets, in-store promotions were put front and center, Walker said. “We expected the consumer to do a lot more price-based shopping and making decisions in the store. That meant working in conjunction on ads that tied into driving key items with price reductions and offering value.” Walker oversees the team of 43 responsible for brands like Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Tyco, Uno, and Apples to Apples. Walker said the most successful programs involved in-store display units where consumers could either touch the toy or see how it worked. He gave the example of Rocky the Robot Truck, which retailed for $59.95. “At several accounts, we had plexi displays where people could see how it worked. It was a higher priced item, and allowing consumers to see how it worked and get comfortable with it helped the item succeed and sell out.”
Closely linked
Walker said he expects the focus on in-store experience to continue. “Display units allow that SKU to be wildly productive,” he said. “And retailers these days are focusing on having fewer SKUs that are more productive. ”
Although the in-store experience is always important, Walker said the industry as a whole, and his company in particular, put a large emphasis on it in 2009. “We expanded the categories it went into,” he said. “I think that trend will continue as retailers continue to focus on in-store experiences and SKU productivity.”
Similarly, marketing and merchandising have always been closely linked, but Walker said the downturn has made this connection even more critical. “We have been forced to link all the components together even better because everyone, retailers and manufacturers, needed the ROI on these programs to be more effective than ever.
To that end, Walker and his team meet with six to 12 retailers every quarter. “And it’s not just the top guys; we make sure to work with the mid-tiers because they have good growth opportunities.” To accommodate retailers’ busy schedules, Walker’s team goes on the road. “We find it’s easier to work in their back yard. We sit down once a quarter to update business plans because they’re fairly fluid,” he said.
Walker said that now, more than ever, there’s a feeling of partnership between Mattel and retailers of all sizes. “We sit and plan together on building an advertising plan that ties into a promotional plan that links to the in-store units that ties to the retailer ad plan—so they all work more effectively as budgets get tighter and tighter,” he explained.Eliminating roadblocks
You might expect a toy manufacturer’s employees to be passionate about kids, and at Mattel’s El Segundo office that’s exactly what you’ll find. The company’s sales force is scattered across the nation, but the marketing team and retail bizdev team work closely together in Southern California, and Walker said it’s all about giving kids great experiences that will translate throughout their life.
“Play can be a very empowering thing for kids,” he said. “You find that kids that learn how to play when they’re young transition throughout their life. That’s how we view it as a company, and I think because of that, people really enjoy working here.”
Indeed, Walker said his division has had zero unplanned turnover in the last three years. That number may also reflect is leadership style, which he describes as all about empowerment. “I hire really smart people and get out of their way. I want the teams to build business plans and go execute them—my job is to help clear the way if they run into roadblocks,” he said.
Walker does not see any significant blocks in the road as when he looks at the next couple of seasons. “I think the spring will be positive for us,” he said. “Retailers wanted to carry less inventory heading into last fall, and sales were fairly positive. That means less inventory heading into the spring, so we’ll have to replenish that, and I think the spring should be okay.”
He is also bullish about fall 2010, which he said will continue to be about consumer experiences at retail and a focus on in-store conversion. “We’re focused on the unplanned consumer going into the store that understands big brands like Hot Wheels and Barbies, helping them decide within the brands and swing them from other brands through in-store experiences and promotional pricing,” he said.
On the marketing side, keeping up with the broadening media landscape is of utmost importance. Walker said the marketing mix between TV, direct response TV, Web marketing, and social media continues to fluctuate. “You have to figure out what’s best for the brand and the consumer target you’re trying to hit so you can keep the share of voice and visibility to the brand.”
And that, he said, is perhaps the best part of his job. “The easy way is to just run more kids TV, and that’s not necessarily the right way to do it,” he stressed. “There are so many other touchpoints these days, and figuring out what those are and where they translate the best is what makes the job fun.”
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