Barbie just shy of 34 years.  He had survived the war in Viet Nam, the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of Germany, the second war with Iraq and has managed to outlast the President of the United States 10.  But he might just meet her match with two survivors of cancer.

And correct any problems.  Barbie franchise, one of the largest and longest-staying in all toys-dom, recovering from a decade of being rude.  Competition from Bratz the movie Barbie Girls and Liv have flat or negative growth for much of the year 2000 according to the Wall Street Journal.

In the process, Mattel had lost a great opportunity for Barbie; the opportunity to actively engage with fans that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter must be empowered.  Mattel might argue that valuable rack space and the proliferation of Barbies limited-appeal will dilute the brand, but the opposite is true.  Shelf space is irrelevant in a world of virtual stores and scarcity of brand attributes that are most valuable.   Companies that are still mired in command and control model of 1950 ‘s imagined that “caving” demands of special interest groups will require major changes to the lineup and long-lead complex account selling process is missing the point.