Global Perspective DO BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN IN JAPAN? PART TWO Recounts one American executive, “My first trip to Japan was pretty much a disaster for several reasons. The meet-ings didn’t run smoothly because every day at least 20, if not more, people came walking in and out of the room just to look at me. It is one thing to see a woman at the negotiation table, but to see a woman who happens to be blonde, young, and very tall by Japanese standards (5’8” with no shoes) leading the discussions was more than most of the Japanese men could handle.” “Even though I was the lead negotiator for the Ford team, the Japanese would go out of their way to avoid speaking directly to me. At the negotiation table I pur-posely sat in the center of my team, in the spokesper-son’s strategic position. Their key person would not sit across from me, but rather two places down. Also, no one would address questions and/or remarks to me—to everyone (all male) on our team—but none to me. They would never say my name or acknowledge my presence. And most disconcerting of all, they appeared to be laugh-ing at me. We would be talking about a serious topic such as product liability, I would make a point or ask a ques-tion, and after a barrage of Japanese they would all start laughing.” Another example regards toys and consumer behavior. For years, Barbie dolls sold in Japan looked different from their U.S. counterparts. They had Asian facial features, black hair, and Japanese-inspired fashions. Then about a decade ago, Mattel Inc. conducted con-sumer research around the world and learned something sur-prising: The original Barbie, with her yellow hair and blue eyes, played as well in Hong Kong as it did in Hollywood. Girls didn’t care if Barbie didn’t look like them, at least if you believed their marketing research. “It’s all about fantasies and hair,” said Peter Broegger, general manager of Mattel’s Asian operations. “Blonde Barbie sells just as well in Asia as in the United States.” So Mattel began rethinking one of the basic tenets of its $55 billion global industry—that children in different coun-tries want different playthings. The implications were sig-nificant for kids, parents, and particularly the company. In the past, giants such as Mattel, Hasbro Inc., and Lego Co. produced toys and gear in a variety of styles. But Mattel went the other direction, designing and marketing one ver-sion worldwide. Sales plummeted, forcing a Barbie make-over that most recently includes Hello Kitty clothes and a new video game, iDesign. Then, even at age 50, Barbie began making money again. Sources: James D. Hodgson, Yoshihiro Sano, and John L. Graham, Doing Business with the New Japan, Succeeding in America’s Richest Interna-tional Market (Latham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008); Lisa Banon and Carlta Vitzthum, “One-Toy-Fits-All: How Industry Learned to Love the Global Kid,” The Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2003, p. A1; John Kell and Melodie Warner, “Mattel Posts Strong Results, Raises Divi-dend,” The Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2012.
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