Research Project

Olivia Herrock

Marketing 3001

Professor DeNardin

July 31, 2013

“Researching ‘American Girl’ Marketing”

American Girl is a nationally known company that

began in 1986. The company was originally called the

Pleasant Company and released its first doll that same

year, according to the American Girl website. This company

manufactures dolls for girls between the ages of 3 and 13.

The reason the company is called “American Girl” is

because they create dolls that come from important times

in American history. For example, the dolls include girls

from the Victorian era, the pioneer era, the World War II

era, the depression era and the Civil War era. Each doll

has her own name and a book series that talks about the

lifestyle each girl was living during that time in

history.

According to the website the dolls are 18 inches in

height and come with a short biography about each girl

(“American Girl”). Along with the dolls the company sells

doll furniture like beds, bathtubs and tables and chairs,

as well as, clothing, books and even movies. The America

Girl company also sells baby dolls called “Bitty Baby” and

“Bitty Twins.” These dolls are marketed towards younger

girls between the ages of 3 and 6. The website also sells

matching clothing for the girls who buy the dolls.

In 2004 the company began producing American Girl

films. These are based on each of the dolls and highlight

the lives these girls would’ve lived during the specific

time in history they live in (“American Girl”). They have

released 7 movies in the past 9 years. These movies go

straight to DVD though so the opportunity for vast

advertising hasn’t really been seen. These products are

based off of the wants of the consumers. This isn’t

something the consumers need but it is a toy for younger

girls.

For the American Girl company it had to research and

develop a marketing concept to understand what consumers

want. As consumer demands have usually been consistent

when it comes to certain products for younger girls the

dolls would easily be successful. What the company needed

to do was decide on the image of the doll and how they

wanted to market the product, which will be explained in

more detail below.

This company is manufactured in Middleton, Wisconsin.

There are two warehouses and distribution facilities,

according to the American Girl website. The American Girl

company is a B to C company. B to C means the company is

business to consumer (Lascu and Clow). The company sells

directly to consumers through the online store and through

the 17 retail stores the company has.

All of these dolls are marketed for younger girls

between the ages of 3 and 13 but the target audience would

also include mothers because they’d be buying the dolls.

This company provides a wholesome doll that also teaches

girls about American history in a creative way outside of

the classroom.

Dolls have always been a staple for little girls.

What the American Girl company needed to do was decide the

type of girls they wanted to represent in these dolls. One

way to make a decision about the product was by

understanding the values of the consumers. The American

culture has always been known as the melting pot and this

company managed to include different ethnicities and

lifestyles of groups of people from so many different

times of the United States’ history. This can be

considered as acculturation. The textbook talks about

acculturation saying it means to learn about a new culture

(Lascu and Clow). Because of the number of different

cultures in our nation the American Girl company managed

to create something unique and different from every other

competition product out there. And since they have

copyrights on their products that means these dolls and

the backgrounds and ideas the company has created can’t be

copied.

The company also has trademarked a number of the

products they’ve created. I’ll include a list of these

trademarks.

Next we’ll move into

target marketing. The textbook

explains that companies use

target marketing to “identify

segments of consumers who are

similar with regard to key

traits, select the segments

that the company can serve

most efficiently and offer

products to the market” (Lascu

and Clow). All of these target

marketing tactics help the

company understand what type

of market it’s looking to

focus on.

Trademarks    Addy  Walker  AG  logos  American  Girl  AG  Boutique  and  Bistro  AG  Café  AG  Crafts  AG  Fashion  Show  AG  Mysteries  AG  Place  AG  Programs  AG  Publishing  AG  Trading  Cards  Bitty  Baby  Bitty  Twins  Caroline  Abbott  Cecile  Rey  Chrissa  Maxwell  Dress  like  your  doll  Felicity  Merriman  Follow  your  inner  star  History  Mysteries  Josefina  Montoya  Kirsten  Larson  Proud  to  be  an  American  Girl  Runaway  Pup  Your  story  your  star  

Target marketing targets the consumers the company

knows will buy the product. The marketing has to be

specific to those who are most interested in the brand.

This can be done by branding the product. As the textbook

explains, branding is a name and/or symbol that becomes

the identity of the product or seller (Lascu and Clow).

The brand is used to set apart the product from

competitors products. The textbook also says the brand is

a guarantee that the product will always be the same when

any consumer purchases said product (Lascu and Clow).

The textbook describes a brand as “a name, design,

symbol or a combination thereof that identifies the

product or the seller and is used to differentiate the

product from competitors’ offerings” (Lascu and Clow).

There are a couple of different ways American Girl

brands these doll products. One way is through the brand

logo. The logo simply says “American Girl” but there is a

star next to the word “American” and then stars in place

of the dots over the “I’s” in American and girl. Another

way the dolls are branded is by their appearance.

The dolls could also be considered the company

character. While each doll has a different hair, eye or

skin color, all of the facial and body features are

similar. These features, as well as the company logo, are

what create the brand image. Consumers look at the

products and know what to expect from the company. The

textbook says the brand image is “the consumer perception

of the particular brand” (Lascu and Clow). The consumers

also see the brand image through the brands identity. This

identity includes the brand name, mark, logo and

characters, according to the textbook.

To properly market these products American Girl must

go through many processes. The textbook explains that a

company must have a marketing concept, which means the

company can compete effectively by researching consumer

needs, wants and preferences (Lascu and Clow). The company

must also look at personal interests of the consumers it

is targeting. One way to do this is by examining the

sociodemographic and cultural environment. This

environment looks at demographics, subcultures, cultures

and other things about the consumers like backgrounds,

interests and values, according to the textbook. The

textbook also explains how demographics play into

marketing by saying “demographics are the statistics that

describe the population, such as gender, age, ethnicity,

education and income” (Lascu and

Clow).

Over the years the American Girl

company has developed dolls of many

different ethnicities. In 1993 the

company debuted Addy Walker, an

African-American girl from the Civil

War era in 1864. In 1997 Josefina

Montoya, a New Mexican girl from 1824,

was introduced to consumers and in

2002 the company presented Kaya, a Nez

Perce girl from 1764. Each of these

dolls, along with the rest of the

dolls, describe moments in history for the girls who buy

the product.

More specific ways the company markets the products

is through advertisements and social media. The company

has a catalogue that has been around for about 15 years.

This catalogue presents all of the new

dolls, furniture and clothing the

company has created. The company also

has a magazine that was first

published in 1992, according to the

company’s website. This magazine has

articles that are age appropriate and, as the website

says, “affirm self-esteem, celebrate achievements and

foster creativity in today’s girls.”

The company also advertises in print and online. The

ads usually consist of a young girl one of the dolls,

smiling and looking at the camera with the American Girl

logo prominently placed on the ad. These ads promote

simplicity and also address the exact demographic and

target audience the company is looking to sell to.

When it comes to social media the company has a

Facebook page and a Twitter page. Both of these media

sites provide plenty of opportunity to interact with

consumers but they do differ. With Facebook, the company

posts pictures of new products and sweepstakes the company

has. These are effective because the pictures and posts

show up automatically in the consumers’ news feed. Of

course, in this case most of the consumers are too young

to have social media sites so the company appeals to the

parents of the young consumers. With Twitter the posts

also show up automatically in the newsfeed but there are

links to pictures.

Twitter has less of a visual aspect because it

consists of clicking on a link that may take the parents

away from the main page. Facebook gives more visual

opportunities. While visually Facebook is in the lead when

it comes to connecting with the parents and consumers

Twitter is much more effective. This reasoning is because

Twitter has more of a texting feel to it. Consumers can

ask questions about the dolls or upcoming sweepstakes and

giveaways. Twitter really helps the company interact with

the consumers in more of an intimate setting than

Facebook. American Girl does not have an official

Instagram to post pictures.

This company has numerous marketing techniques that

are very useful in advertising the products to consumers.

When trying to find different ways to brand the company it

was difficult to come up with more ideas because the

company is effective in what it’s doing currently. When it

comes to creating different marketing strategies I think

it really comes down to research. I’d create a research

group and start by examining consumers, specifically what

products are we selling the most.

I’d have statistics gathered and graphs made to

understand what’s being sold. Then it would be time to go

out to the consumers and talk to them. What makes them

want to purchase this doll over another? Or this type of

furniture? What do they like about the American Girl

company? What should the company change in their opinion?

Is there some product the company currently doesn’t have

that the consumers would like to see? I’d say it’d be

important to start by talking to at least 50 consumers and

even talk to 100 of the customers. And not only should we

talk to the parents who buy these products for their

children, but we should also talk to the children since

that is the target audience. Kids can have a lot of incite

when it comes to things that are important to them.

Then we’d need to compile all of the information we

received and start making a marketing plan based off of

what the consumers said. After we’ve established some new

ideas we’d need to select a small amount of the consumers

to come in and sample our new products. Once we do this we

can poll them again about their experience with the new

products or new ideas we have. This would be a great way

to connect with the consumers and it’d also be a great way

to sample the new products the marketing team has

designed.

After sampling the products we’d need to get rid of

the stuff that didn’t work or redesign the products to

what the consumers were hoping for and do another test run

on the new products. I feel that doing something like this

really helps the company connect with consumers. The

marketing team would be able to make notes of things to

think about in the future and it shows the customers that

the American Girl company wants ultimately wants to

satisfy the customers and create great products.

One way I’d market the product is by creating an

Instagram account and taking photos of production and

other things happening around the company. I’d

specifically stage photos of the dolls so consumers could

see the products the company is looking to sell. In this

day and age the consumers want visuals. They want to be

able to see what they would be buying and using Twitter

can be hard to do that. Also, Twitter usually links the

consumers to Instagram so by creating an Instagram account

it’s really cutting out the middleman.

Another way to brand the company is through more

promotions and advertisements. Since American Girl has a

limited target audience that means the news outlets may be

limited as well. I’d also include more diversity in the

advertisements. The company has been very diverse in the

different dolls it creates and sells so I’d add that into

the advertisements for the company.

To promote diversity though you need even more

diversity amongst the dolls. I’d talk to production about

creating even more dolls with different cultural

backgrounds. This is not only to appeal to those

demographics but to also create more learning for the

consumers purchasing the products. The company has plenty

of books. Promoting the books even more would help get

people aware of the products as well as the company.

Because the company presents such a wholesome product I

think it’d be interesting to talk to production about

creating a television series for consumers. These

television shows can give even more depth to the dolls and

make the products more mainstream. With the types of

television shows being aired these dolls could represent a

positive aspect and encourage learning for the young girls

who would be most interested in watching the television

show.

Another way I’d market the American Girl products is

by lowering the prices of the goods. The company would

start by creating a team to do pricing research. This, of

course, would mean there would need to be meetings with

the production team about demand for the products and how

the price cut will affect the income the company receives.

This isn’t a simple solution and needs much more thought

and planning because you can’t simply cut down the price

of the product until you factor in how much the production

costs and what your outsourcing of money costs. But it

would be important to understand how consumers feel about

the price of the product. Do they find it unreasonable or

is the price understandable because of the quality of the

products they are purchasing? All of this must be taken

into account before the company can really make any

decisions. Also, the company needs to come up with

marketing strategies in case they lose business from the

expensive prices. How can they get those consumers back?

Does the company move on from those consumers and look for

ways to bring in new customers? It is very important to

think of all aspects of it and also do some of the math on

how the decrease in customers or the increase in prices

would affect the company, as well as the consumers.

The American Girl dolls are sold in store and online.

The website says to buy one doll and the accompanying book

costs $110. To buy the doll, book and accessories it will

cost $129. The doll and boxed set costs $138. After

polling American Girl consumers I found that 12 out of 30

said they would purchase American Girls for their

daughters and 7 of those 12 said they already have

purchased dolls for their daughters.

One of the consumers said she purchased one of the

dolls for her daughter’s birthday and found that since it

was the “big” present she was getting her daughter that

$110 dollars was a reasonable price. Another consumer said

she had planned on purchasing a doll for her two daughters

but found that spending over $200 was out of her price

range. This consumer explained that having more than one

daughter automatically doubles the cost of the toys she

buys because she wants to buy one for each daughter.

The Walt Disney Company has recently released the

“Princess and Me” dolls in Toys “R” Us stores around the

country. Their website shows that one of these 18 inch

dolls costs $49.99. To buy one outfit the website has it

priced at $14.99. This price is considerably lower than

the American Girl dolls.

I talked to the 30 consumers and asked if the lower

price made them prefer the Disney products to the American

Girl dolls. Out of the 30 only 5 said they’d consider

switching to the “Princess and Me” dolls. The consumers

explained that their children have some of the Disney

movies but when buying dolls for their children the

parents were more interested in buying the American Girl

dolls because of the history that their daughters can

learn while playing with the dolls. One consumer said she

loved the old clothes some of the dolls have and her

daughter ended up loving the pretty clothing that came

with the doll.

The Walt Disney “Princess and Me” dolls come from an

already established brand name. When it comes to promoting

these products consumers know they can trust this company.

Also, these princess dolls already have very well-known

movies that have been around for numerous years. These are

household names that establish trust with the consumers,

which the Walt Disney Company is capable of playing to its

advantage.

The “Princess and Me” dolls are sold exclusively at

Toys “R” Us stores. Consumers can also buy matching

outfits so the girls who own the dolls can wear the

outfits as well. This changes the marketing technique from

the American Girl company because Disney is focusing on

making girls feel like princesses. This is the angle the

Walt Disney Company takes in selling the products.

When it comes to promoting these “Princess and Me”

dolls the Disney company differs from American Girl in a

vast way. This is because Walt Disney has many different

products in so many genres to appeal to kids of all ages

whereas American Girl focuses on one specific target

audience. Because Walt Disney has so many different

products, the social media sites they use must promote all

of the products the company has. This is the case for Toys

“R” Us as well. This is a marketing tactic that could put

Disney at a disadvantage from American Girl because the

Disney Company’s focus has to be on all products and not

just these particular dolls.

The packaging for these “Princess and Me” dolls is

very simple. They come in a box with a plastic front. The

in-store packaging is much more appealing because the

clothing is set up on smaller hangers so younger girls can

go shopping. Everything in the store has really been

shrunk down to accommodate these younger consumers and the

small dolls.

When trying to think of different ways to package

these products I found it difficult because I don’t see a

way to really change how it’s being done. You can’t simply

add more dolls because the princesses are based on the

Disney Princesses from the movies. But as new movies are

made it’d be important to continue creating these dolls.

One thing I’d consider is broadening the locations I’d

sell these dolls. I’d specifically start selling them in

Disney stores and look into selling them at stores like

Wal Mart or Target. This way the dolls can get more

attention. I’d also have sales in local newspapers for

some of the dolls or just the clothing. I’d also consider

creating a specific Twitter or Facebook page for these

dolls and for the Disney Princesses in general. By doing

this you can be more one on one with the customers and

promote the new arrivals.

These are not the only products being sold by the

Walt Disney company, nor is it the only product being sold

in Toys “R” Us stores. As already mentioned, this makes it

a challenge to promote these dolls on social media sites

because there are other products to show to the public.

Toys “R” Us has many different toys for girls and for

boys. They have video games and board games. But when it

comes to other toys for girls there are numerous products.

For example, the Strawberry Shortcake dolls, the You and

Me 14 inch Hugs and Holds doll and of course the Barbie

dolls are extremely popular amongst the target audience.

The “Princess and Me” dolls appear to be durable

dolls. They are big enough to not get lost or stuck in

small places but not so big that you can’t take them in

the car on road trips or simply to run errands. These

dolls are lightweight and the clothes are also made of

durable fabric.

Another brand that is also sold exclusively in Toys

“R” Us stores is the Journey Girls. These dolls are

extremely similar to American Girl dolls but they are

lacking in the products that come along with them. These

dolls are also 18 inches in height just like the “Princess

and Me” dolls as well as the American Girl dolls. The Toys

“R” Us website has these dolls priced at $32.99. To buy

one outfit it costs $16.99. In appearance these dolls are

similar because of the facial features and hair types.

These products are also diverse when it comes to ethnicity

of the dolls but there are only 6 dolls whereas the

American Girls currently have 13 dolls.

Toys “R” Us also sells furniture for the Journey

Girls, which is just like the other two products we’ve

discussed. The difference with these dolls is that they do

not have background. They don’t have any books or movies

to go along with them. Now, a background isn’t required to

buy these dolls but it lacks marketing opportunity because

there is nothing to add to them. With the American Girl

dolls you know you’re buying something that has a

historical element to it. With the “Princess and Me” dolls

these also have a history of the movies that have been out

for so long. The Journey Girl dolls aren’t as prominent in

the doll world because when consumers are looking to buy

dolls there are more obvious dolls that stand out because

of how the company has branded them.

For the Journey Girls I’d change branding by giving

the dolls some background. Not just giving them a name but

a little history to go along with who they are. I’d look

into books and different ways of promoting these dolls. As

it was mentioned with social media and the “Princess and

Me” dolls, these Journey Girls have less opportunity to be

advertised on social media sites because Toys “R” Us has

numerous other products to promote. And not only do they

have all other types of products but they also already

have the “Princess and Me” dolls. This is a problem

because it is huge competition alone between the two

brands and the fact that they’re sold in the same store.

For Journey Girls I’d be looking to sell them in other

stores like Wal Mart and Target. I’d really try to make

profit from that and do it before the Walt Disney Company

had a chance to also look into these stores.

As mentioned earlier, this is not the only product

the Toys “R” Us company sells. As for Journey Girls, the

clothes, furniture and dolls are the products sold by that

brand.

The Journey Girls are also durable dolls that are big

enough to take with you on trips but lightweight to where

they can’t hurt a child in any way. The clothes are also

durable and won’t fall apart.

When asking the 30 consumers about the Journey Girls

dolls I found that most of them had never heard of these

dolls. 23 out of the 30 said they had never seen the dolls

whereas the other 7 said they have seen the dolls when

shopping at Toys “R” Us but haven’t ever purchased them.

When asked if they cared about the dolls having a

background or books to go along with the dolls 11 out of

the 30 said they didn’t care about the backgrounds and

books. Others said they simply chose American Girl dolls

for their daughters because the dolls were recommended by

family members or friends.

There are many ways to discuss the

characteristics of the American Girl products. The

textbook discusses the characteristics of services, which

are intangibility, perishability, inseparability and

variability (Lascu and Clow).

Let’s go through each one and see how it applies to

these products. First we have intangibility, which the

textbook says is “referring to lack of tangible goods that

can be seen, touched, smelled, heard or tasted before a

purchase” (Lascu and Clow). Because the American Girl has

a store and has an online store as well the consumers can

instantly see what they are about to buy. Online shopping

means the consumers won’t be able to actually touch the

product but if the consumer was making an in-store

purchase of any American Girl products they would be able

to touch the product and hold it to understand what it

feels like.

Next we have perishability, which the textbook

describes as the “inability of a service to be inventoried

or stored”(Lascu and Clow). The American Girl dolls are

made of plastic therefore they will not perish. These

products can be stored in a warehouse until the consumers

are ready to purchase them. Inseparability “refers to the

simultaneous production and consumption of a service,”

according to the textbook. According to the American Girl

website these dolls are basically made by hand. The faces

are sculpted by hand, the eyes are painted by hand and the

bodies are sewn and stuffed by hand. This can affect how

quickly the product can be made to meet the demands of

consumers.

The last characteristic is variability, which

the textbook says “refers to the unwanted or random levels

of service quality customers receive when they patronize a

service” (Lascu and Clow). This has a lot to do with

customer service and it’s important to make sure employees

of the company know what needs to be said to consumers

when placed in a difficult position.

If I was personally branding the American Girl

product I’d start by limiting the licensing. The textbook

explains that licensing “involves the owner of the brand

name allowing a manufacturer or a reseller to sell the

product under the owner’s brand name in return for a

licensing fee” (Lascu and Clow). The textbook also

explains that too much licensing can weaken the quality

and the name of the brand (Lascu and Clow).

Also, I’d copyright the brand name, logo and the

names of the dolls to protect from counterfeiting. The

American Girl company does not currently co-brand with any

other company. The textbook explains that co-branding

“involves using the brands of two different companies on

one single product” (Lascu and Clow).

When packaging the American Girl dolls the doll

comes in a rectangular box. The top of the box is hot pink

and has a circle cut out of the top to show the dolls

face. In the center of the top of the box is the brand

logo in the center. The book that comes with the doll lies

on top of the doll in the box. This is the initial

packaging but, of course, if the company was shipping the

doll then this box would go into a cardboard box with foam

peanuts to protect the product. This packaging is classic

to the American Girl company. The class textbook describes

the term of packaging as “all the activities involved in

designing the product container” (Lascu and Clow). The box

the doll comes in is very sturdy and won’t bend easily

therefore the doll will be protected during shipment.

When it comes to the product life cycle the

textbook explains that this is “the performance of the

product in terms of sales and profit over time” (Lascu and

Clow). As most businesses start, the American Girl company

started in the production introduction stage, which is

when “the product becomes available for the first time.”

This began when the company first started in 1983 and

introduced the very first doll. Then comes the growth

stage which the textbook describes as the “PLC stage

characterized by increasing competition, with new product

variants offered to the market…” (Lascu and Clow). This is

the stage the American Girl company has been in for the

last few years with the Walt Disney Company creating the

“Princess and Me” dolls and the Journey Girls.

The American Girl company has continued to grow

and present new products to consumers with rise in

competition. By adding new dolls of different ethnicities

this opens up the range of consumers who might be

interested in purchasing the product. The company has been

in this stage for a while but could soon shift to the

maturity stage, which the textbook describes as “a

slowdown in sales growth as the product is adopted by most

target consumers and by a leveling or decline in profits

primarily as a result of intense price competition” (Lascu

and Clow).

The American Girl company could come to a point where

they even out and the sales become steady and consistent

because of other competitors like the Walt Disney Company

and the Journey Girls.

One thing the American Girl company should consider

is the price of the products. In today’s economy it’s hard

to spend over $100 on a doll. Some family’s do it and can

survive but for most of the population that may not be

doable. The problem with lowering prices is that most of

the doll parts are hand made. This slows down how many

dolls can be made in a given time and it also means that

more money is being spent on the quality goods the company

is using for the dolls. Now, the expensive doll does mean

that consumers should understand they are purchasing a

quality product. But the company should look to

accommodate other consumers. This could be a great way to

broaden the target market.

The name “American Girl” has been around for many

years so people know the product and they expect a quality

out of the product they are purchasing. If the company

can’t bring down the cost of the dolls then they should

look at how they could bring down the cost of other goods

the company sells to consumers. This is a product that

could last for a long time.

There is also the decline stage, which the

textbook explains is when the product is “rapidly losing

ground to new technologies or product alternatives” (Lascu

and Clow). The American Girl company has yet to reach the

decline stage of the products.

As it was mentioned earlier, dolls have been a

necessity for young girls for hundreds of years. It’s a

staple in most households so the decline stage for the

American Girl dolls could possibly not come for a long

time. Now the company can get to a point where the

products have been around long enough so that the girls

who purchased some of the first American Girl dolls will

now want to share that memory with their own daughters.

This could be a great way for the company to appeal to

consumers. It would be a new way to market and advertise

the product by appealing to the nostalgia a mother may

have. The company could create an advertisement appealing

to how a mother can share her own childhood memories with

her daughter through this doll and through the memories

the mother made when she was a child. This will be

something the company could really market well and it

could easily benefit the company in a new way that the

competitors like the Walt Disney Company’s “Princess and

Me” dolls or the Toys “R” Us Journey Girls may not be able

to match.

Another way the American Girl company could appeal to

consumers is through new age appropriate products. For

instance, the target audience is girls between 3-13. But

what about when the girls get older? How about creating

things that are also appropriate for a 14-15 year old

demographic? This could be something that would not work

for the company but it is always worth coming up with

possible ideas and then gathering consumers to test the

product. By the time a girl turns 14 the stage of playing

with dolls is coming to an end. Since this is the case the

American Girl company could instead focus on books for

these girls. Something age appropriate that discusses the

coming of age for a girl and things girls will deal with

as they get older. These books would need to have age

appropriate content but also something fun, interesting

and appealing for these 14-15 year old girls that doesn’t

have to do with playing with dolls anymore. This could be

a new marketing tactic the company could explore.

Because the American Girl Company has been around for

30 years there is an opportunity for the company to create

new marketing tactics. By talking to consumers and being

aware of new target markets this company can continue to

be successful in the United States and also around the

world. The opportunity to teach young girls about

different times in history and different ethnicities this

company has something that is very unique from other

competitors. The goal now is to continue to set the

American Girl company apart from said competitors and to

also continue to give the consumers something they can’t

receive from any other company.

By focusing on customer satisfaction this company can

strive to create an atmosphere of learning and playtime

that gives younger girls the chance to experience

different ways of life and new ways of thinking. The

marketing tactics I have explained could be new and

possibly good ways for the company to broaden its way of

thinking as well as its way of connecting with the current

audience and even new audiences in the future. The best

ways of doing this is through promotions and

advertisements. Also, by examining the current economy and

understanding the current salary of the average American,

this company could also look into lowering the prices of

products to bring in a new wave of consumers.

It’s important to make sure your brand is known as

won’t easily be forgotten. Through new advertising

projects the company can appeal to older girls as well as

mothers who also grew up knowing the American Girl

company. By creating books for older girls the company

will be able to keep the connection alive and have a

positive influence on the next generation of girls.

During this paper we have examined the American Girl

company and the products it sells. We have looked at the

target market and how these consumers may view this

product. We have also looked at the social media for the

company and created new ways the company might be able to

connect with its customers. By doing this we have a better

understanding of this company and we have also been able

to apply the marketing tactics and examples taught over

the course of this class.

Works Cited

"American Girl." American Girl. N.p.. Web. 30 Jul 2013.

<http://www.americangirl.com/index.php>.

Lascu, Dana-Nicoleta, and Kenneth E. Clow. Marketing

Principles. 4th. Textbook Media Press, 2004. Print.