Mattel trys to crack China with Barbie again

Here is an excellent article from the BBC Business website examining Mattel's second attempt to make Barbie a success in China, having failed in it's first attempt 5 years ago. There are some valuable lessons from this ill-fated first effort that are business studies gold dust for many courses and exam boards.

Some of the most notable lessons are:

* Understand the culture - the first shop was lit pink, which was unfortunate since in China they have pink light districts instead of red light districts

* Get the location right - the first store had no parking and was no close to public transport

* Make sure there is demand for your product - in 2009 no-one in China had really heard of Barbie and Mattel struggled to find a way of making her known to the Chinese audience

* Get the price right - the new Barbie has been priced at a much more affordable level

* You might need to adapt the product - second time around Mattel has created a version based around a well-known Chinese actress/celebrity

A great article to use as examples for several concepts, in particular the challenges of overseas marketing.