How To Save American Girl, By An Expert in American Girl Dolls
- Admin
- May 1, 2022
- 2 min read
To Mattel,
I've been a fan of American Girl for half of my life. I own every doll. I can't tell you math formulas, but I can tell you the entire history of American Girl dolls. I even once beat American Girl employees working in the headquarters at American Girl history- did you know the first Girl of the Year to release on January 1 was Nicki Fleming in 2007?
I want American Girl to succeed and thrive. I love the dolls and their stories, but because you have been forgetting about the essential elements that make children gravitate to your dolls over a brand like Barbie, as well as rising prices in the face of a recession and inflation on essential goods, sales have been slipping. I don't want American Girl to go out of business in my lifetime and want girls to be able to play with these amazing dolls for years to come, but American Girl needs to make some changes in order to thrive even more. So here's my thoughts on how to save American Girl, from American Girl's biggest fan!
More focus on the historical dolls. The historical dolls are what differentiates American Girl from every other 18 inch doll brand, including Our Generation and My Life As. Without a focus on historical dolls, which are what the brand is known for, American Girl just looks like a run of the mill doll brand. Sure, there are Girls of the Year and other modern lines, but those are execution-based. Historical dolls always work out somewhat because of the recognition of a new historical. More stuff and stories, as well as online content, for the historical characters would be key to getting sales back up.
Focus on character, not clickbait. American Girl's YouTube channel has been flopping lately when they don't use their videos as ads, and it's because they just have been using the same footage and using clickbait keywords like "puppies" and "dancing". They need to make more creative and less duplicative content featuring the actual characters, not random Truly Me dolls like Glam Fam and Travel Twins.
Make more relatable characters. I feel like Corinne would have sold better if her story was about her skiing in a random mountain in Colorado, not in wealthy Aspen. It would be more relatable for a girl if she was closer to Nicki or Mia instead of living in a fancy $350 bedroom while the income gap rises.
Lower the prices! Even though the pandemic's almost over, the economic struggles it brought to light have not gone away and will likely not go away for the next few years. If a family needs to pay rent or buy an American Girl doll, of course they'll pay rent! All items need their prices lowered. Sales are frequent, so I know it can happen!
Basically, get back to the heart of the dolls.
Sincerely,
Sydney
What I wish to share with you and Mattel:
I've been collecting AG since it was Pleasant Company, and what I always loved was the attention to detail, historical accuracy, and high quality accessories and outfits. The historical stories were vital to the product lines, and the stories showed hardships, fear, sickness, and death. It seemed so important for hard topics, universal topics, to be addressed with a young audience full of questions.
My suggestion may go in the opposite direction of other views expressed here, but if the prices are going to be high, bring back high-quality production and materials. Have you seen the re-sale prices on Grace's Bakery and Joss's VW bus? These items were expensive when the…
I'd like to add to your points, just to make this post more effective. You see, if this was taken into a business meeting, the first thing they will do is argue why over half of these things just can't be done. I think we need to examine why American Girl HAS been lax on getting these things off of the ground, seek to fix that first, and then push for it in the future.
1. Historical Focus
I agree that what makes American Girl stand out from other run-of-the-mill doll brands, like Our Generation, is their historical side of things. However, the biggest problem with the historical side of things is that it is the MOST expensive to create.…
I agree, they should focus on their historical dolls more again. I'm so sad to see them turning away from that line, that line was what got me into AG to begin with.
I think they've forgotten who their target audience is. The collaborations with Stoney Clover Lane and now Love Shack Fancy, prove they are under this crazy impression that everyone who shops there has tons of money to just throw around. Especially in this economy, partnering with high end companies isn't the best move.
I totally agree with the fact they've moved away from the historicals and that has hurt them. The stories of those dolls taught me so much. But maybe they have done that because it seems younger girls today don't care about that kind of stuff. They just want something short and fun to read and then move on, and that's a shame.
I miss the historical dolls'…
yes to all of this! :D