Articles Tagged ‘Mattel’
Thomas to be integrated into top-five Mattel brands
COMPANIES / CONSUMER PRODUCTSMattel, the world’s largest toy company, has acquired Thomas & Friends brand-owner HIT Entertainment for US$680 million in cash from a consortium led by Apax Partners. Sixty-year-old Thomas stands as the centerpiece of the deal and will be integrated into the company’s top-five core brands, which also include Fisher-Price, Barbie, Hot Wheels and American Girl.
Kidscreened
- Mattel inches closer to a US$789 million buyout of Hit Entertainment (The Wall Street Journal)
- McDonald’s serves up an in-store TV channel (Los Angeles Times)
- One unlikely brand makes a successful viral game out of YouTube videos (Mashable)
- American Academy of Pediatrics updates its stance on the effects of media on babies and toddlers (YouTube)
Sales up 9% for Mattel
CONSUMER PRODUCTSNet sales for Mattel – the world’s largest toy company – rose during the company’s third quarter by 9% to US$2 billion. The spike was largely driven by this year’s Cars 2 property and strong performances by Barbie and the new Monster High dolls.
Retailer Gilt gets into kids brands
CONSUMER PRODUCTSIn an increasingly crowded retail environment, differentiation is becoming the most elusive and valuable commodity for brand owners looking to inflate their bottom lines. In the kids space, New York-based Gilt Group has aligned itself with major brands like Disney and Mattel and developed the Gilt Children banner to offer unique deals in the space.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. designs Hot Wheels car, apparel range
CONSUMER PRODUCTSMattel’s Hot Wheels brand is teaming up with NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to design the Hammerhead toy racing car along with a corresponding line of licensed apparel.
Kidscreened
- HIT sales rumor #252 surfaces – Mattel apparently back in the running as a buyer (Express)
- Rising ad sales the reason for Viacom’s booming profit (Bloomberg)
- Beauty is in the eye of the Nokia N8 camera, which Aardman Animations used to shoot a record-breaking short (Recombu)
- Surprise, surprise. American teens choose their all-time favorite vampire (CNN)
Kidscreened
- Mattel to pay its rival MGA Entertainment US$310 million in damages, fees and other costs (Los Angeles Times)
- Meanwhile, the conflict between Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation wages on (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Are virtual goods no longer the object of gamers’ affection? (MediaPost)
- Why Untold Entertainment’s new web game, which was co-created by a five-year-old, is clicking with parents and kids (Joan Ganz Cooney Center)
Kidscreened
- Making magic out of mayhem – how the Winnie the Pooh movie songwriters found their inspiration (The Huffington Post)
- An increasingly competitive tablet market leads Blackberry maker RIM to cut 2,000 jobs (The Toronto Star)
- Will DreamWorks lose its ‘mojo’ by teaming with Netflix? One analyst believes so (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Mattel co-founder and Barbie creator Elliot Handler dies (The New York Times)
Monster High graduates to video games
CONSUMER PRODUCTS / INTERACTIVEThe girl-oriented Monster High franchise, which currently boasts a series of webisodes and fashion dolls, is making its video game debut this fall through game developer THQ.
Cars 2, Barbie drive Mattel profits
CONSUMER PRODUCTSIt looks like Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2 franchise has paid off for Mattel, according to the company’s second quarter financial results. The world’s largest toymaker saw global net sales increase by 14% to US$1.16 billion and overall profits totaled US$80.5 million for the period, a 56% rise from last year’s US$51.6 million.
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Children’s Museums: Not just for kids
Photos
MIPCOM 2012 - Closing MIP Junior party at the Martinez