Toys for boys
Mattel turns to moms to pull kids away from mobile devices
NEW YORK — Just the other day, a bunch of mothers gathered in a penthouse suite at Manhattan’s Royalton Hotel for a brunch of bloody Marys, mimosas and a buffet. Their host was toy executive Matt Petersen from Mattel Inc.
Petersen had invited the women to discuss one of the great mysteries of modern life: Why don’t moms know how to play Hot Wheels with their sons?
For Mattel executives, it’s a burning issue .
he world’s largest toymaker pulls in more than $1 billion a year from sales of its iconic toy car brands, including its Big Three — Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Tyco R/C products. The more Mattel executives understand the disconnect between moms and their sons when it comes to these tiny vehicles, the better shot they have of bridging that divide and selling more toy cars.
Until recently, toymakers could count on television ads to generate enough “pes- ter power” — kids cajoling parents into buying them a toy — to drive sales. Yet in an age of video game consoles and tablets, the effectiveness of TV commercials has waned, leaving toymakers hustling to find new ways to connect.
Sales of Mattel’s three big car brands declined 1 percent in the fourth quarter. And Hot Wheels, the company’s biggest boys’ business, hasn’t seen growth in the United States for three years. With growth of traditional toys stalling, especially in the U.S., as more children turn to mobile devices for play, Mattel will have to find ways to reinvigorate big brands like Hot Wheels, which generates about 15 percent of its total sales.
“By talking to Mom, we’re extending the conversation to the actual purchaser,” Petersen says. “I know it sounds so silly. It’s kind of like, ‘Why didn’t you do that forever ago?’”
Understanding boys’ play patterns is not a problem mothers have with Mattel’s Batman or Buzz Lightyear action figures because those are essentially dolls. Building blocks are easy to understand, too, as a good way to spur a child’s creativity. Toy cars? Not so much, especially when boys crash them into each other or hurl them across the room.
Mom “has never played with them,” Petersen says. “She doesn’t get why cars, engines, and all the shapes and crashing and smashing are so cool.”
Moms, not dads, buy the overwhelming majority of toys, so selling mothers on the benefits of the boy-car connection is key to stopping the slump, according to Petersen.
“Having this conversation could be what takes the brand to the next level,” he said.
At the brunch, moms and executives sat at a long table with a Hot Wheels racetrack running down the middle. First, the mothers clipped pictures and words from magazines and made a scrapbook page that reflected their family life and got them talking about their kids. The ensuing discussion ranged from how playing with Hot Wheels can help develop hand-eye coordination to what it would be like to ride in a race car.
Raijean Stroud, a 32-year-old mother from Chicago who attended the breakfast, said she wants to better understand her 4-year- old son’s love of cars and why he often bathes with a couple dozen of them.
“I’m a girly girl,” Stroud said. “So it’s kind of hard to understand how these little plastic machines can be so much fun, versus a Barbie that you can change her clothes, cut her hair, and do whatever you want.”
Lawrence Balter, a child psychologist who writes parenting books, says Mattel might be onto something.
“There’s always a little puzzlement on the part of mothers about what their sons find so interesting in some of the toys they choose,” he said.
Besides reaching out to mothers through bloggers and social media, Mattel is planning to dedicate part of the Hot Wheels website to them. Content may include the benefits of vehicles, tips on playing with cars and using them to teach science and math, and a forum for moms of sons. Traditional advertising may eventually include messages to mothers.
The toymaker plans to make shopping for Hot Wheels easier at retailers such as Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where signs and posters will explain categories within the brand organized by themes such as stunt, showroom and city. Mattel is also creating a mobile shopping app that can track which Hot Wheel a kid already owns and offer mothers recommendations for new ones.