Mattel is aiming to bolster consumer insights and engagement by expanding its relationship with Google Cloud as the Barbie and family entertainment giant seeks to forge greater connections with its global customer base.
The $5.38bn company, which has a presence in 35 countries and sells its products in more 150 countries, said that the technology will allow it to “synthesise millions of consumer touchpoints” in real-time, enabling the business to improve data-driven product innovation and insights, as well as hyper-personalise its engagement with its global customers.
As well as Barbie, the company owns the rights to Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends and UNO, while it has also been expanding its presence in the video gaming market.
However, it has been the 2023 Barbie Movie, which reportedly brought in $1.446bn at the box office and gave Mattel a movie to be $125m boost, which has arguably done more to build the brand than anything else before or since.
At the time, Mattel chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz said the movie had become a “global cultural phenomenon” for the company and marked a key “milestone”; it was also branded “a marketing masterclass”.
Now, by using Goggle Cloud’s advanced audience segmentation the business can now cater to distinct consumer groups, such as adult collectors and gift-givers, in a bid to drive deeper brand loyalty.
The move has given the toymaker access to real-time customer insight analysis, enabling it to analyse millions of customer feedback points across a number of channels, including social media, reviews, and direct communications, in mere seconds.
As part of the tech rollout, Mattel has automated the analysis of customer reviews, which means it can more quickly make adjustments and improvements to its flagship products.
The company has also trialled the technology to improve engagement for several best-selling products, including the Barbie DreamHouse and Fisher-Price Glow and Grow Kick & Play Piano Gym.
Mattel maintains it has seen a 100x increase in data processing capacity since rolling out the data analytics tool, reducing analysis time from a month to a single minute.
Mattel SVP quality safety & sustainability Joseph Vinhais said: “With Google Cloud, we’ve unleashed the power of our customer data, transforming millions of interactions – from social media buzz to direct customer feedback – into actionable insights, and, forging greater connections with our fans.”
Related stories
Barbie to the rescue as spend forecasts are revised up
Barbie: ‘Is this a masterclass in brand partnerships’?
Shrimp gag flags Hellmann’s role in a summer Barbie
