A Marketing Case Study: Mattel's Aristotle and Strategic Missteps

This marketing case study examines the reasons behind Mattel's failure in the tech-toy market with its Aristotle product. The failure is attributed to several factors, including privacy concerns raised by the proposed features, unethical data usage, and improper strategic planning. The case study highlights the negative impact of these issues on Mattel's profitability and brand image. It suggests that Mattel's initial market positioning was flawed, leading to a perception shift from a virtual assistant to an intrusive nanny. The study proposes a product development strategy focused on repositioning Aristotle as a parental aid rather than a child-centric gadget, emphasizing ethical considerations and parental control. This strategic shift aims to target parents, leveraging their decision-making power and addressing consumer concerns about privacy and child safety.

Running head: MARKETING CASE STUDY
MARKETING CASE STUDY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Answer to Question 1
Failure of Mattel in Creation of Tech-Toys
There are various concerns which led to the overall failure of the Aristotle in the entire
market. This was being seen and analysed that there were few proposed features of Aristotle
wherein this was worrisome for the kids in which this required the kids to say please and Thank
You which was creating issues and this gave rise to the different privacy concerns for Mattel.
Privacy Related Issues: This is the first issue which was faced by Aristotle in which
there was a petition against Aristotle which showed that the product is intruder and the bedrooms
of the children should be free from corporate kind of snooping. With such privacy concerns, this
will be difficult for the Mattel to handle such issues and this affected their profitability (4).
Unethical Usage of Aristotle: The Aristotle product is unethical in nature as the
Aristotle’s microphone and the camera which are being installed in the different bedrooms and
the Aristotle can collect the different data and this can share with the different retailers and
advertisers. This can prove to be dangerous in nature as there is huge breach of privacy of the
different individuals (5).
Improper Strategic Planning: The Mattel has improper kind of strategic planning as the
company Mattel did not apply the different marketing strategies which would have been
beneficial for the success of the firm. The improper kind of strategic planning is different as the
kids’ market have been targeted and the tech savvy nature of the same has affected their
marketing activities in a negative manner (4).

2MARKETING CASE STUDY
Answer to Question 2
From the case study it can be largely understood that the market positioning as adopted
by Mattel with respect to Aristotle was wrong and as the company wanted to provide a virtual
assistant to the children who would help them to grow and reach a later stage till adolescent.
While some of the features of the assistant were considerate, however, the other features like not
completing the tasks till the chores will done seemed to be disturbing which changed the positing
in the eyes of the customers (1). Earlier, it appeared as an assistant but turned out to be a nanny
instead. Hence, Aristotle will be required to apply a product development strategy and thereby
change the features of the product and along with it plan a new positioning for itself in the
market (2). Instead of targeting the children, it can target the parents and thereby position itself
as an assistance to the parents who can then manage their child in a fun way.
This positioning will then help to ensure that the life of a child is not altered and that
ethically, a parent will be looking after the child. This way the consumer decision making
concept would then stress upon the use of the product for the different parents and not actually
with respect to the child. This way the product can reposition itself as a help to the parents along
with the children rather than just the children (3). The following strategy is the best marketing
strategy to be adopted by Mattel as it has already spoilt its positioning as a gadget for the child
and hence, could be repositioned as an assistance to parents.

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References
(1) Chernev, A., 2018. Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.
(2) Marshall, G., 2014. Marketing management. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
(3) Philip.; Keller Kotler (Kevin Lane.; Ang, Swee-Hoon.; Tan, Chin-Tiong.; Leong, Siew
Meng). Marketing management. Pearson; 2017.
(4) Jennings mm. A look at the types of ethical issues in financial news headlines. Corporate
finance review. 2015 jan 1;19(4):38.
(5) Weiss JW. Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. Berrett-Koehler
Publishers; 2014 Jul 14.