Mattel did their Toy Fair presentation today. Here's the American Girl stuff:
-Their goal for the brand is to reclaim their leadership position in the large doll category and to turn around sales.
-An example they provided was with Julie: they made premium products like the pinball machine, digital content about her on YouTube, and the immersive experience 'Julie's Groovy World' at the AG store in New York.
-These efforts have paid off: Julie-related sales increased 37% from last year in quarter 4 of 2019, and historical sales have been rising.
-To keep this growth going, American Girl is focusing on several key tentpole events throughout 2020:
*Girl of the Year 2020 Joss Kendrick release: her release's response has surpassed expectations- her world has sold 20% better than Blaire's already. This is due to Joss's unique storyline, quality products and relevant digital content like the stopmotion series. Her release got 800 major media posts- triple the amount of Blaire's release.
*American Girl is also partnering with Team USA in time for the Summer Olympics. The partnership, which involves Truly Me dolls, includes relevant products including a Team USA soccer outfit, a stopmotion series called 'Go For The Gold', and meet and greets with real athletes from Team USA.
*In Fall 2020, American Girl will release their first new Historical Character in three years.
-To help AG grow, they've focused on their YouTube channel, which has gotten 150 million views- up 87%. Engagement is up 287%, and subscribers have tripled since Q4 2019.
-They have also redesigned their website, which was designed with a 'mobile-first focus' in mind. Since upgrading, online sales have rose, as well as average order value.
-American Girl's new experiences like Julie's Groovy World, doll hospital and girl salon at the Chicago store have also caused sales, traffic and units per transaction to rise.
TLDR? Things are looking up for American Girl, and I'm excited for AG's new adventures, including the Team USA collab and the new historical!