Bonnie Robertson, John Salcido, Alex Durand

I_BUS 380-P02

6/15/18

Market Entry Project

African Barbie Dolls

The Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, Co-founder of Mattel. Ruth observed her

daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls for hours and that sparked her vision to create a 3-D

doll for girls to play out their dreams. The first Barbie was produced in 1959 and made its debut

at the New York toy fair, named after Ruth’s daughter. In the early stages, the Barbie received a

lot of skepticism by the industry. Now, over 55 years later, the Barbie doll is a global icon which

inspires girls around the globe to be anything they want to be.

The American toy company Mattel, which manufactures Barbie, is an American toy

company. Mattel was founded in 1945 at its headquarters in the El Segundo, California. Mattel

manufacturing company produces products like Fisher-Price, Barbie, Monster High, Ever After

High, Winx, Club, HotWheels, Matchbox, Master of the Universe, American Girl, board games,

and WWE. The company operates through 3 business segments: North America, International,

and American Girl. It is the second largest toy maker in revenue after the Lego group. In the

1960’s the Barbie was produced in Hong Kong, by the 1990’s it was made in Indonesia, now

present day the Barbie is manufactured in China.

Our country of planned entry for the Barbie doll is Africa; specifically, Kenya, Somalia

and South Sudan. We believe Africa is the best country for planned entry because of its diverse

nature with ethnic and cultural mixing occurred throughout their culture. Kenya is located in the

continent of Africa, it covers 569,140 square kilometers of land and 11,227 square kilometers of
water. With a total area of 580,367 square kilometers, Kenya is the forty-ninth largest nation in

the world. Located in the Horn of Africa, the Federal Republic of Somalia has been occupied

since the Paleolithic period. Total land mass for Somalia is 627,337 square kilometers of land

and 10,320 square kilometers of water, making the total area 637,657 square kilometers. With a

very large population of 10,817,354 people, Somalia is ranked eighty-third in the nation, but with

the total area they have they are the forty-third largest nation in the world. South Sudan beats

Kenya and Somalia on both area and population. With a total area of 644,329 square kilometers,

South Sudan is ranked forty-first in the list of largest nations. Total population is incredibly

dense, 12,530,717 people make up the population, putting South Sudan seventy-fourth for

population.

Kenya’s ethnicity is not homogeneous; Kenyan’s are made up of 13 primary ethnic

groups with an additional 27 smaller sized groups. The majority of Kenyan’s belong to ‘Bantu’

tribes while the remaining people belong to the ‘Nilotic’ tribes. Much of the population is made

up of African descent, but 13 percent are of non-African Descent-Indian, Arab and European.

According to the Kenyan Constitution, all people have freedom of religion. Almost half of the

population is Christian, 10 percent is Muslim, and there are also small Hindu and Sikh

minorities. Christians tend to be towards the west and central parts of the country while Muslims

cluster in the eastern coastal regions. Kenyan people are interdependent rather than

individualistic. They believe in mutual assistance, effort, responsibility and community self-

reliance. This practice has been historically implemented by every ethnic group that has roots in

cooperative farming or herding. Since Kenya has such a strong group-oriented culture, the

extended family is the basis of their social structure. This includes relatives on both sides of the

family and close friends. It is common for the husband’s parents to live with the nuclear family
when they age and can’t take care of themselves. When two people marry in their culture, they

join their families, this ensures that there will always be a group to turn to in desperate times.

Like many African’s, Kenyans put a great emphasis on the relevance and respect of their

deceased ancestors. One’s ancestors are thought to be able to influence events in life since they

are closer to God, because of this they may make offering to their passed ancestors or name a

baby after them so that their spirit can live through the child. The Kenyan culture demonstrates

respect towards ancestors and is believed to maintain harmonious relationships within the family,

extended family, clan or tribe.

Etiquette and customs play a large role in the Kenyan culture. Just like in American, the

most common greeting is the handshake. When greeting someone of a higher status or an elder,

they grasp the right wrist with the left hand while shaking hands to demonstrate respect. The

most common greeting following the handshake is “Jambo?” which means “how are you?’.

Then, it is the norm to ask about health, family, and business, to skip or rush this element in the

greeting process is shown as disrespectful and having poor manners. Women over the age of 21

are addressed to as “Mama” and men over 35 are addressed to as “Mzee”, and children typically

refer to adults as Aunt or Uncle whether there is a familial relationship or not. Kenyan’s table

manners are also relatively formal. Dining patterns vary according to ethnicity, location and

socio-economic position for the host, the best course of action is to behave formally and

respectfully. Gift giving is also a practice that Kenyan’s take part in. They give gifts for

significance in a person’s life as well as days of religious significance. Practical gifts are

preferred since Kenya is a poor country. It is customary to give small gifts to servants, trades

people, and service workers at Christmas, they should be nicely wrapped as well. Lastly, gifts

should be given using the right hand only or both hands, never use the left hand. The Barbie Doll
would make a great gift because it is small and inexpensive, it will also be made to tie into the

African Culture and it will come in a beautifully wrapped package.

Somalia is located on the outer edge of the Somali Peninsula, also known as the Horn of

Africa. It is bordered by the Gulf of Aden on the north and on by the Indian Ocean on the east,

on the southwest by Kenya, and on the west and northwest by Ethiopia and Djibouti. People of

Somali typically practice Islamic religion and the official language of Somalia is Arabic and

Somali; this is an Eastern Cushitic language. However, Somali did not become a written

language until 1973. While the origin of Somali people is uncertain, current theories suggest that

the Somali originated in the southern Ethiopian highlands and then migrated to northern Kenya.

The Somalis are tall and skinny in stature, with aquiline features and elongated heads, they also

have light brown to black skin. Women in Somalia are known for their beauty and they also

typically manage household finances. Men are often the head of the house and children as well

as elders share the same level of respect.

People from South Sudan live in a patriarchal society where women are of a lesser status

than men and class and social status are determined by birth. Currently, they are in a transitional

government where they are moving from military junta to a presidential system. Also, their

government is one where governors are appointed rather than elected. One way to determine

wealth and status in their culture is the cattle herd size; the larger the herd, the wealthier one is.

In South Sudan, only twenty-nine percent of paid work is women, they tend to take care of all of

the domestic tasks. Religion varies, 70 percent of people are Sunni Muslim, 25 percent follow

traditional indigenous beliefs, and 5 percent are Christian. Culture and religion are both

important in South Sudan.

 The women in Kenya wear clothing consisting of a red kanga around their torso and

waist, with a lot of bright decorations like necklaces, bracelets, and bead headdresses. The

Kenyan woman is natural and beautiful. She has dark skin and is physically strong as well as

mentally strong. The Kenyan Barbie doll we are creating will embody all of these attributes and

the aesthetics will tie in with their culture, clothing will be bright and colorful with lots of

patterns. Somalian women also have a darker complexion. For the Somalian Barbie doll there

will be two different looks; day-to-day and formal. Women typically wear a guntiino which is a

long piece of cloth that is tied over the shoulder and then draped around the woman’s waist. For

formal evens like religious celebrations, women wear a Dirac; a long dress made of 100 percent

cotton and worn over a slip and a brassiere. We believe it is necessary to create the formal look

because religion is important to their culture and we want to incorporate that into the doll. We

will also create shashs and veils for women who are traditional and conservative, we strive to

respect their Islamic beliefs. The Barbie for the women of South Sudan will also stay true to their

culture. Muslim women in the north wrap themselves in tobes from head to toe, because of this

we will create a Barbie to match that. Religion is also very important and many daily things have

religious overtones so the dolls will embody that. Each and every doll will fit into its specific

culture and will make young girls in Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan be proud of who they are.

These Barbie dolls will be beautiful just like the women purchasing them. Although there are

some Barbie’s out there, ours will be more economically friendly and easily accessible. Ours will

be popular because they will look like the women in the country and they will have many

cultural and religious overtones.

For our target market and consumers, we are looking to sell to younger adolescents or

whomever the Barbie doll may attract. The youth will be more attracted to this because, for
example, many younger kids in the US played with Barbie Dolls. The Barbie doll was originally

created for the founder’s daughter to play with. For the positioning portion of our product, we

plan to be better than what anyone that has familiar products on the current market. Our product,

The Barbie Doll will have aesthetically pleasing and attributes along with the satisfaction of the

many cultures within the markets we bring them to. Also, younger kids would love to have a

product that is well put together and at a relatively cheap price, and that is what we plan to bring

to the market.

The Barbie Doll will come in many different styles, and we plan to bring in the culture of

Africa when designing the clothing for the Barbie dolls. For example, Kenya has around 13

major ethnicities’ and around 27 smaller ethnic groups. We plan on bringing enough Barbie dolls

to provide a selection for many different groups of ethnicities. The Barbie’s will have different

skin tones, along with different colors and types of hair. Some long, some short. Some straight

and some curly. The differences will be great in some Barbie dolls and very discreet in others.

But none the less, there will be many different types of Barbie’s for the many different types of

individuals in the country. We plan to use the clothing and maybe even put headwear on the

Barbie’s to express the different cultures and values that are within the African country. Also, we

will see how our product does on the market against the competitors and make changes and take

constructive criticism from our consumers and hopefully make those changes for the better, then

bringing the new and improved Barbie back to the shelves. The amount of Barbie Dolls that we

plan to sell is really unknown, this is because there really isn’t any other product like this that

will be this diverse in the African culture such as our product. But we hopefully plan to sell

around 50,000 Barbie dolls the first year and obviously the goal for the next years will be to

increase that number greatly.

 The pricing for our Barbie doll will be relatively cheap. That is because we plan to

manufacture overseas for the cheaper manufacturing costs. The Barbie Dolls will be designed in

the US and produced in Africa. This is because the labor in Africa is so much lower compared to

the US. The ability for us to design in US and manufacture and ship from Africa to Kenya and

the other countries, allows us to keep the cost down. This means that we are able to make profit

on them and still sell at a price that the people of Africa are able to afford. We will have very

cheap packaging options and also ship in bulk so that it will keep overall shipping cost down. No

fancy boxes or anything like that. Just simple, not over the top, little packages for the individual

Barbie dolls. One of our pricing strategies will be to maximize our profits, that is the main reason

we will be manufacturing overseas. The prices we will be selling these Barbie dolls in Africa at

will be around $5 give or take depending on how in depth a certain Barbie doll is. The most a

Barbie Doll will reach could be around $10 US dollars. The currency that will be used in the

different countries in Africa will be The South African Rand, The Somolia Schilling, and the

Kenyan Schilling. The US dollar is far greater in value then these currencies. So, keeping the

cost relatively low is very important to us for making profit and hoping to have sales high. But

with many Barbie’s being sold at $2, the cost to produce those will be around $2, so we will be

making around $.50 per Barbie. Our sales at $2 will be around $100,000. That’s If we make our

goal product sale of around 50,000 Barbie’s. The cost of our goods sold will be around $25,000

at $.50 a Barbie. We plan to profit around $75,000 before our expenses as a company. Shipping

cost shouldn’t be that expense, along with labor. So, we are allocating around $10,000- $15,000

for both labor of the 50,000 Barbie’s and the shipping to Kenya. Gross profit will be around

$60,000 for our first year. We only hope to go up from here depending on how our sales go.
 For our promotion decisions, we’ve decided to target our Barbie dolls towards the youth,

like stated before. But the Barbie doll isn’t limited to just kids, anyone is welcome to buy the

Barbie doll. A majority of buyers will more than likely be adults buying for their children or

siblings. But our target audience is primarily younger children. Not often you see an adult

playing with dolls, but they have the option to buy them. Some of the promotion strategies will

be to coordinate sales, advertising promotions, and the continuous broadcasting of our product.

Not many people have cell phones in Africa as it is a 3rd world country. But one thing we plan to

do is advertise via billboards or signs throughout the country. But other than that, word of mouth

through the county will best spread the news of the Barbie doll entering the market. Also,

another way for us to advertise is the radio. We will have a short 15-30 second radio commercial

to boost product sales. The reason for advertising on Billboards verses say, a T.V. commercial, is

because not many people have T.V.’s. This also goes for the radio. There happens to be more

radios then T.V.’s in Africa. The way we will be advertising will hopefully boost sales and we

will see more products being bought.

One of the political and economic issues which could affect entering the market in Kenya

is the environment issues. The environmental issues which are going on in Kenya are

deforestation, desertification, poor water quality and a shortage of water, flooding, poaching, and

industrial pollution. From an economic and political standpoint, it would be challenging to enter

the market due to high environmental concerns. Even though this country has a lot of legal and

political issues surrounding their environment there is a way for the Barbie to be successful in

the country. The manufacturing will be done in Africa, but not Kenya because we understand the

environmental issues but for every 10 Barbie’s we sell our company will donate clean bottled
water to the cities in Kenya who are in need. This is an external marketing strategy which can

help gain customer awareness which can help our business grow and help the Kenyans as well.

In the country of Somalia, the biggest issue is the country’s government. Somalia’s

government is extremely weak, dysfunctional, and corrupt which they have established a

reputation for having a corrupt government. With Somalia having a weak government correlates

with having a weak economy. The weak economy affects the country greatly but there is room

for Barbie to be successful in this country. Barbie will gain revenue in Somalia because of the

high level of women in their population. Today, in Somalia there is a strong percentage of

50.19%. This percentage has been rising over the years from 2006 when the women population

was only 48.24%. By having the percentage of women on the rise creates opportunity to sell the

Barbie doll to young girls in Somalia.

For the political and economic issues, in the South Sudan the last country we are trying to

enter the market in there is a major civil war which is taking place. This civil war has been going

on for years between the government and the opposing forces. With a civil war, which has been

ongoing for years creates an unstable government and a weak economy.

These countries have a low-income rate compared to the world average. The average per

capita income in Kenya is $1,246 and they use the currency is Kenya Shillings. The conversion

rate for the Kenya Shilling is 101.21 to $1 US. For Somalia, the average income is $1,300 and

for currency they use the Euro. The average income per capita in South Sudan is $1,808.20. and

in the South Sudan they use the pound for currency. In these three counties, all the average

incomes are roughly the same because they are all third world countries with low-economies.

Gross National Product is the total value of goods produced and services provided in a

country during one whole year. This is equal to the gross domestic product plus the total net
income from all foreign investments. The gross national product was a total of 151.5 billion

dollars. Compared to Kenya the total gross national product was a total of $6,887 million dollars.

This average dramatically different because the effect on the economy and how the country is

underdeveloped. Lastly, for the South Sudan the gross national product is a total of $20.17

billion dollars. For all three of the countries the highest gross national product is Kenya. This is a

positive attribute for Kenya because it displays how out of the three Kenya has the most stable

economy.

A market strategy that we going to use to access the market is to get in touch with the

cultures values and traditions they abide by. We decided we would structure our marketing

strategy all around the values and traditions by making the Barbie resemble the way people look

and dress in their culture. For the dolls clothing we will make sure they are dressed in a way

which will resemble their culture so the girls playing with the doll can relate to the clothing. The

other strategy for the countries is to have the dolls resemble the same skin tone along with hair.

By having the same hair and skin tone as the people do in the country will give the kids

something to relate to. The girls who play with the dolls are more likely to relate with the dolls if

they have the same characteristics as themselves. All three of these countries will have Barbie’s

that are diverse and share the same physical traits and cultural traditions as they do.

For the economic analysis, we have narrowed it down to three traits which we believe

people are willing to purchase the Barbie doll. Overall, the Barbie is extremely affordable even

though in the country they average around $1,500 per year. Second, there is a worldwide love for

Barbie already due to its strong reputation of the best girl’s toy on the market. By Barbie already

having a positive reputation makes it easy to market because you do not have to market the

product as hard due to the popularity already. Lastly, we chose all three of these nations because
they all have a high population with a positive percentage of the population being women. We

believe if we enter the market in these three countries we will able to gain revenue and grow

Barbie to new international counties.

 References

Kenya Guide (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-

guides/kenya-guide

Somalia and Sudan. Countries and Their Cultures. (n.d) Retrieved from

http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Somalia.html