Millennial, Gen-X Parents Opps: Mattel taps marketing VP (Score 13)
Mattel hired Alexandra Ries as VP of marketing, global brand strategy and creative in June 2022. Ries most
recently served as CMO of Me & My Big Ideas. She will now lead global brand strategy and creative for Mattel's infant/preschool business. Ries will also be responsible for Fisher-Price brands such as Little People, Imaginext, Thomas, Power Wheels and Barney. This hire could lead to spend shifts as well as agency reviews, so keep an eye on this company.
According to Pathmatics, Mattel earned 890.2m impressions YTD through Facebook ads (49%), Instagram ads (35%), desktop video ads (11%), desktop display ads (3%) and Twitter ads (3%). It placed the majority (99%) of these ads directly onto sites such as facebook.com, instagram.com, youtube.com, twitter.com and poki.com. It placed the remainder (1%) indirectly through Amazon DSP and Yahoo DSP onto amazon.com, finance.yahoo.com, dailymail.co.uk, aol.com and yahoo.com. It spent approximately $7.1m on digital display ads YTD, the same amount it spent during the same time period of 2021. Full-year spend jumped by 42% from $16.8m in 2020 to $23.8m in 2021.
Per iSpot, Fisher-Price has not allocated any budget toward national TV ads YTD, but it typically waits until the holidays (Q4) to air most of its TV ads. Full-year spend dropped 24% from $9.6m in 2020 to $7.3m in 2021. In 2021, it placed ads during programming such as PAW Patrol, Bluey, 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, Peppa Pig and Blaze and the Monster Machines.
iSpot also reports Mattel spent $1.8m on national TV ads YTD, a 50% increase from $1.2m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2021. Full-year spend fell by 64% from $6.4m in 2020 to $2.3m in 2021. This year, it placed ads during programming such as SpongeBob SquarePants, PAW Patrol, Peppa Pig, The Loud House and Blaze and the Monster Machines.
Sellers-- Mattel and its subsidiaries target millennial and Gen-X parents. The company allocates the majority of its budget toward digital display and national TV ads. Mattel has been ramping digital spend up for the past two years. Meanwhile, it has been increasing TV spend so far this year after it decreased in 2021. Fisher-Price decreased TV spend in 2021. Mattel also invests in print and local broadcast TV ads, per Kantar. Sellers should reach out to offer relevant ad space.
Agency & martech readers-- Mattel currently works with Spark Foundry (media buying/planning AOR), Weber Shandwick (PR AOR), Golin (PR AOR), BBDO San Francisco (creative/digital AOR), Pereira & O'Dell (creative), RAPP Worldwide (digital) and Tongal (creative). Fisher-Price works with Wieden + Kennedy (creative AOR), GroupM (media buying/planning) and Market Vision (multicultural). Start reaching out to Ries soon to be top-of-mind in case she outsources any of her new duties.
