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where dolls come from

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clay dube
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where dolls come from

Barbie was originally produced in the Taishan district of New Taipei City (Wikipedia article). Mattel produced Barbies there 1967-1987. It subsequently relocated production to China. Here's a 2011 article about attempts to revive the memory of Barbie and doll clothes production and more.

In 2009 Mattel built a Barbie sales palace in Shanghai. (Here's the NPR story about "life begins at 50 if you're Barbie.") There's a 10+ minute documentary about the place. (Click here to see the architecture of the place.) In 2011, it shut it down. One analyst said they tried to make the dolls sexy rather than cute. Other analysts contrast Mattel's approach with Wal-mart's, crediting the retail giant with experimenting more.

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Message from rfontana

Thanks for posting this information! I am sure my girls will love it. I was wondering about The Display of Dolls that Sei Shonagon mentions in her Pillow Book. I think it is in relation to Tale of Genji, but I am not sure. Anyone have any background on this? Dr. Dube???

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Message from rfontana

We looked at bunraku puppets a little in class today. Here is the Youtube video I use in my class. I am sure there are other really good ones out there in addition to this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV938f46Wpg

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Message from mjones

I found this article very interesting regarding global marketing because it directly relates to our International Marketing Class. It is hard for me to imagine a six story building in China dedicated to Barbie. I agree with the statement in the article, “To succeed in dynamic markets such as China and India, managers need to learn rapidly what and how to localize—while avoiding the risk of catastrophic failure from inevitable mistakes.”
When Wal-Mart entered China in 1996, it experimented with different store formats to figure out which would have the greatest customer appeal. However, there is a lower-risk for a multi-brand retailer such as Wal-Mart than for a single-brand retailer such as Barbie.
Coca-Cola understands the balance between localization-globalization. While Coke is pretty much a globally accepted product, most of the company's sales outside the U.S. come from products and brands created locally for the unique needs and desires of local customers.
According to this article, emerging markets such as China and India are changing at three to four times the pace of developed markets. This means that today's perfect blend of localization and globalization could easily become obsolete three years from now.
edited by mjones on 8/13/2011

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Message from igonzalez

Great piece of information! I often focus on contributions and inventions from various cultures, it would be great to explore where dolls came from.