Barbie's last online stand?

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O'Neil added that the new BarbieGirls.com site is the first virtual world designed exclusively for girls, and that could go a long way to appeal to its target audience. (Mattel officially launched its new virtual world on April 26, and so far, BarbieGirls.com has registered half a million kids, according to O'Neil.) "We're growing at a rate that's unprecedented," she said.

"There is a large group of girls who still love Barbie, they're just playing with it in a different way."

--Rosie O'Neil, brand manager in marketing, Mattel

"There is a large group of girls who still love Barbie, they're just playing with it in a different way," she added. "We found that with girls 7 to 12 they love the online experience. This is fusion of those worlds."

Mattel introduced Barbie in 1959, and she has been the No. 1 fashion doll for the last 49 years, according to the company. But Barbie has faced declining sales in the last five years in the face of new technologies and newer, racier rivals like Bratz.

In-store sales of Barbie in the United States, for example, were down 20 percent in the first quarter compared with the same period a year before. But Oppenheimer & Co. financial analyst Linda Bolton Weiser said in a research note that if the new Barbie MP3 player could leverage similarities to Webkinz's viral growth, Mattel could see some upside: a maximum annual sales potential of about $100 million.

Still, she warned of some weakness in the product, including the design of the virtual world that doesn't encourage "movement through the world and discovery of the content."

Like many major retail brands, Mattel has tried many Internet initiatives. As early as 1998, Mattel began letting kids customize a version of Barbie via a Web site. In the late 1990s, it launched a Barbie-themed PC, which failed to captivate the market. And during the dot-com boom, it also bought girls-game company Purple Moon, which operated a community site for girls. That site has apparently morphed into Mattel-owned EverythingGirl.com. It's even penned a Barbie blog, which seems to no longer exist.

That said, Bradner believes Mattel has an opportunity to capture the girls market online by differentiating itself with an MP3 player and a safe haven on the Web.

Mattel said it has infused safety in the product and virtual world. Among the safety features of its virtual world are filtered online chat that prevents hate language or girls from giving out personal information. It also requires that owners of Barbie Girls MP3 player physically connect the device to a friend's computer before they can be "best friends" in the virtual world, giving them special chat privileges like sharing that personal information.

Mattel could ultimately be hobbled by the nature of its business, however.

"In an industry like toys, companies have to go from cranking a product for Wal-Mart store shelves to creating a brand experience that extends online," Bradner said. "And it's hard for brands to do content--that is not their primary business and it involves huge investment in time and resources."

[thedreaming]

A Virtual World, Just For Girls...

...and their stalkers...

[thierry marigny]

Barbie and avatars !

I think the best site for girls including avatars is www.minifizz.fr, where you can use real garments for your doll. Just try it !