Mattel Senior VP Speaks to Smith Undergraduates About Living Brands

Smith undergraduate students were treated to a presentation by Richard Dickson -- Mattel Brands senior vice president of marketing, media and entertainment, worldwide -- on Oct. 23, 2007 in Van Munching Hall. Dickson graduated from Maryland with a degree in consumer economics and was excited to be back. Prior to joining Mattel, Dickson spent over 15 years in the fashion and beauty industry working with top names in retail and design at Bloomingdales and Este Lauder.

In 2000, Mattel tapped Dickson to aggressively extend Mattel's brands into new categories at an international level. With Barbie commanding 92 percent of the doll market and possessing 99 percent brand recognition, Mattel had come to realize that incremental growth would need to come from exploring a variety of multimedia and cross-platform opportunities for the Barbie brand.

Dickson's achievements during his seven-year tenure at Mattel are numerous. He has successfully extended Mattel's renowned brands into new categories worldwide in areas as diverse as entertainment (movies, music and live stage shows), online (Barbie-branded Web sites receive more than 64 million visits each month), cosmetics ventures with Este Lauders MAC line, and numerous co-branded initiatives with top fashion designers such as Adidas, Anna Sui and Cynthia Rowley. Among other honors, he was named one of the Top 10 Marketers of the Year by Brandweek magazine and one of the Top 40 Licensing Leaders by Variety magazine.

Dickson started out his presentation, Barbie: A Living Doll, by reviewing Barbie's cultural relevance over the decades. Relevance is key to the brand Barbie is and has been a reflection of style, trends and culture, stated Dickson. After this overview, he discussed the need for Mattel to adapt to a world of increasing media messaging and fragmentation through positioning Barbie as a Living Brand.

In Dickson's definition, a living brand is a brand that lives in real time being simply a lifestyle brand anymore just isn't enough. For us, a living brand is one that experiences culture and trends at the same time that consumers do, remarked Dickson. According to Dickson, the three critical elements to developing a living brand are gaining and staying attuned to pertinent cultural insights, analyzing how those insights can be manifested in Barbie's brand behavior, and enabling consumer activation through brand extension. Authenticity is the name of the game - a living brand strategy must walk the walk and thrive on change. Dickson then went on to provide specific examples of his successes in activating cultural insights through groundbreaking, multi-faceted marketing programs.

Students seemed impressed both by Dickson's multimedia presentation and his accessibility. In addition to answering questions after his presentation, Smith Freshman Fellows students had the opportunity to dine with Dickson prior to his presentation and ask him questions in an intimate setting.

Dickson is just one of many speakers that the Smith School has welcomed this semester as part of its Undergraduate Fellows Speaker Series.Read highlights from Sonny Vaccaro's talk in September. Vaccaro is a sports marketing legend best known for brokering major endorsement deals with basketball stars the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant

▓ Pete Baird, MBA Candidate 2009, Smith Media Group