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Dive Brief:
Mattel announced a new brand organization leadership team with the expressed goals of accelerating its brand management strategy and growing its entertainment business.
As part of the reorganization, Chief Brand Officer Lisa McKnight is exiting the company, and Roberto Stanichi has been promoted to the newly created position of chief global brand officer, according to a Tuesday announcement.
General Manager and President of American Girl Jamie Cygielman has been promoted to the newly created position of global head of dolls, including Barbie and American Girl.
Dive Insight:
Mattel is switching up some of its top leadership and integrating marketing across its global brands and franchise teams so messaging is more aligned.
McKnight’s exit follows 26 years with the company, where she once led the dolls category and, “was instrumental in transforming Barbie into the #1 Global Doll Property” including marketing efforts for the “Barbie” movie, per the company. McKnight also secured top entertainment licenses and relaunched Monster High.
As Stanichi steps into his new role, he brings with him two decades of company experience at Mattel in categories including infant, toddler, preschool, action figures, building sets, games and vehicles. He was most recently the head of vehicles and building sets and was a key player in the Hot Wheels franchise.
Stanichi has “successfully implemented the Mattel brand strategy across product and experiences to drive record-setting growth and will now bring that vision and execution to our global brand portfolio,” CEO Ynon Kreiz said in a statement.
Other people named to top spots have also been with Mattel for decades.
Ted Wu, who has been with the company for 22 years, is replacing Stanichi in the company’s vehicles and building sets division. For the past 10 years, Wu has specialized in vehicles design. Krista Berger has been with Mattel for nearly 20 years and will manage the Barbie brand.
In Cygielman’s previous role as president of American Girl, she led the brand’s return to profitable growth.
“The strength of Mattel’s Dolls portfolio is matched only by its unlimited potential to reach and inspire a whole new generation of fans,” Cygielman said. “I am excited to collaborate with the team to create new avenues of growth for Barbie and Dolls.”
In its latest earnings, the toy company announced that net sales were down 6% year over year to a little over $1 billion, while net income was down around 6% to $53.4 million.
Toy retailers have been dealing with the impact of tariffs more than some other sectors, given their high exposure to China, with Mattel expecting its total exposure for the levies before any mitigating actions to be around $100 million.