Julia Jensen is a busy woman these days. As vice president of public
relations for Mattel’s Girls’ Division, the launch of
the company’s new Flavas dolls in July has kept her Palm
Pilot humming. But when describing a recent visit to the Toys R Us flagship
store in Times Square, Jensen is as enthusiastic as one of her 8-year-old
customers.
“People kept coming up to [Flavas designer] Dom Brown and I and asking
about the dolls,” said Jensen. “What surprised me was the overwhelming
response we were getting from parents. One woman came up to me with a
doll in her hand and said, ‘This is exactly what my eight-year-old son
wears!’”
"An 8-year-old’s reaction to hip-hop
is very different from a 38-year-old’s."
It’s that kind of recognition that Jensen and the Flavas design team
were striving for. “If you listen to the way girls talk, you hear ‘Keep
it real,’” said Jensen. “We wanted to stay true to that sense of authenticity.”
But what about concerns that the Flavas, with their exposed mid-riffs,
“bling-bling” and baggy pants, present an inappropriate role model for
young girls?
“An 8-year-old’s reaction to hip-hop is very different from a 38-year-old’s,”
said Jensen. “They don’t read the newspapers and associate the music with
bad behavior. They hear the music and see the dancing, and to them it’s
just about fun.
“What’s been reassuring is the reaction we’ve gotten from girls and from
retailers,” Jensen continued, “and that’s all been positive.”
According to Jensen, part of Flavas success can be attributed to good
timing. “Hip-hop is 20 years old now, but even five years ago it was still
mostly for an MTV college-aged listener,” said Jensen. “Today, Disney
radio has 7-10 hip-hop inspired songs it plays daily.”
Neither Jensen nor Mattel see the Flavas as competition to the institution
that is Barbie. “Our intent [with Flavas] was to create a brand that could
live outside Barbie,” said Jensen. “Barbie had $1.7 billion in sales last
year. She’s known and loved worldwide.”
Besides, says Jensen, the age group Flavas is being marketed to have
different wants than do Barbie fans. “For girls ages 3-6, it’s all about
fantasy and nurturing,” said Jensen. “It’s cool to wear a ball gown to
go to Ralph’s supermarket to buy milk. It’s role-play activity, but still
based in fantasy.”
What the 8-12 crowd wants in a doll, claims Jensen, is the aforementioned
authenticity, and there’s more of that to come from Flavas. “We have a
whole new line of dolls and accessories coming out for spring that will
take us into a new slice of life in the hip-hop world.” Jensen wasn’t
at liberty to go into detail about the new line, only saying that it will
be “very clever and very true to hip-hop.”
Flavas ship worldwide this week, so Mattel will soon find out if Tween
girls in other countries will embrace hip-hop dolls as passionately as
they’ve embraced Barbie. Looking to the future, Jensen is sanguine. “Good
toys come and good toys go, but venerable brands endure. We are a house
of brands.”
