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“Barbie Cam” – Big Hit On Campus

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(Pic #1) Capture what Barbie sees — with “Video Girl”

Mattel’s new “Video Girl”  enthusiastically embraced by UCLA Film School –  in its first annual Barbie Film Festival

(Pic #2) “X-ray” Barbie — inside a pop icon. TSA, eat your heart out.

This is a story about a great marketing idea and the completely unexpected ways it can go viral.  More on that in a moment, but first a little background:

Mattel recently launched the new “Barbie Video Girl” doll targeted for girls ages 6 – 10. A toy designed for girls to tell stories through Barbie’s eyes  — uh, rather, chest. At least that’s where you’ll find the miniature lens and all the necessary recording tools in the iconic bombshell.

Check out Barbie’s “specs”  to the left.  Mattel designers cleverly conceal a digital camera inside  her necklace — and an LCD video screen on her back (above) that allows a little moviemaker to record and view movies instantly. The doll includes a USB plug-in cord, and is Windows-and Mac-compatible. Her batteries are built into her sleek supermodel thighs.

(Pic #3) Video Girl’s “necklace cam”

According to the Director of Marketing for Barbie, Rosie O’Neill, the idea emerged out of a brainstorm session where Mattel’s most creative minds “mashed two ideas together” — just because. They had also noticed on YouTube, that there were countless examples of “Barbie at play” videos, and Mattel needed to ask “how can we enhance their storytelling?” The company’s Product Design and Engineering teams made it happen. “Video Girl” was born. Bottom line, says O’Neill — “Video Girl is a fun tool to inspire girls to become filmmakers.”

Apparently the plan worked. Girls as young as 6 are entering their own short films in a Barbie video contest on line, and learning to edit their films on downloadable Barbie software.

Here’s where the unexpected part comes in.  Amused by the new product, a visual artist named Brandon Bloch posts on YouTube a tongue-in-cheek review, comparing  the high-end Canon 7D digital SLR (retail price $1800.00) with the high-concept Barbie Cam (retail price $50.00).  That caught the eye of UCLA Professor/cinematographer Tom Denove,  who also vice chairs the Department of Film, TV, and Digital Media at the school. His reaction was simple “Let’s get Barbie Cams for our students and staff.”

Next stop: Toys R Us.

Tom bolted buy ambien online over to the nearest toy store to evaluate the merchandise. Would the camera really work? Could his students make decent short films with a Barbie Doll? He began to “inspect” the doll’s parts in the store, and had to field questions from onlookers. “It was weird” said DeNove — “I had to shout back — It’s okay, I’m a cameraman!” He tested  the camera, and it worked. While he said the resolution wasn’t great, it would be an important lesson for his young directors to learn — “It’s not about the equipment. It’s what you do with the story.” He then called Mattel to see if the the company would sponsor his idea for a Barbie  Film Festival.  Mattel jumped on board — and agreed there would be no censoring of content.

The task was simple: Students had one week to produce and direct their 2-minute films on any subject they wanted — but they had to be shot with a Barbie cam. Typically, with a fast assignment like this, “they stress out.” But with “Video Girl,” he said, “they were totally into it.” The affable prof said he sensed that the task “brought out the kid in all of them.”

The films covered all the genres…horror, comedy, animation, and “Barbie Noir.”

(Pic #4) Spotted!

I saw all 31 entries. They were refreshingly good. I never know what awaits me in the theater –especially when the event is billed as “The First Annual” anything. But Barbie pulled through.  Doesn’t she look proud sitting in the seat  across from me? (Pic #4). To her left there, is Scottie Bookman, who directed her in a short called  “A Barbie For All Of Us” — which won the festival’s “Barbie Bruin Spirit Award” that night.

Check out the festival’s Best Comedy — “Audition For Barbie” —  directed by MFA Director/Cinematographer Judy Phu.  It’s a slice of everyday Hollywood casting, where this time, the auditioning actor (Justin Wescoat Sanders) is asked to play a scene opposite an actress who comes off  — “a little plastic.”

Click here to view clips from the UCLA Barbie Film Festival shorts.

This just in: Mattel Inc. reported its quarterly global sales of Barbie products UP 14 %.  This is the first time the Barbie brand has had double-digit sales growth in the first quarter since 1997.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


CNN Hero: One Image Changes One Man

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When you catch yourself acting like a spoiled brat — click above.

For Narayanan Krishnan, it took only one image to change his life: that of an elderly man eating his own waste. Krishnan was an award-winning chef at a 5-star hotel group when he came across the man living under a bridge in Madurai, India. When the chef saw what the man was eating, he said he was shocked — and haunted — by the image. He began feeding the man, and a week later, Krishnan had quit his job and decided he would devote his life to feeding the hungry. That was in 2003. He has now served priligy more than 1.2 million meals to India’s homeless and destitute — mostly elderly, abandoned and often abused by their own families.

Krishnan’s day begins at 4 a.m. He and his team cover nearly 125 miles in a donated van, routinely working in temperatures topping 100 degrees. The hot meals he delivers are simple vegetarian dishes he personally prepares, packs and often hand-feeds to nearly 400 clients each day.

And consider this:  While most of us skirt the homeless on city streets and freeway underpasses, Narayanan Krishnan seeks them out.

FORTUNE Most Powerful Women share secrets to success — “someone else” (Part 2)

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Cathy Benko, (right), Vice Chairman and Chief Talent Officer at Deloitte, LLP and Brigitte Dzogbenuku, (left), Fortune/State Dept. Mentee and Gen. Mgr., Aviation Social Centre in Accra, Ghana.

Mentoring vs: Sponsorship: The big divide

As we mentioned in Part 1, most of the uber-accomplished women we interviewed at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit saw  the support of someone senior as critical. They also underscore the difference between the watchful eye of a mentor and someone who “advocates” and actually “creates an opportunity” – called a sponsor.

This difference is explained in a recent piece in the Harvard Business Review, entitled, “Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women” which suggests that mentoring isn’t enough. The authors argue that career advancement is more likely to come from active sponsorship than more passive mentoring.

HBR: “Our interviews and surveys alike suggest that high-potential women are over-mentored and under-sponsored relative to their male peers—and that they are not advancing in their organizations. Furthermore, without sponsorship, women not only are less likely than men to be appointed to top roles but may also be more reluctant to go for them.”

Question: Who made the difference in your career, and what did you learn? We asked dozens of the summit’s extraordinary women for their answers, as Deloittte, for the third consecutive year, assigned artists to graphically chronicle these newsworthy nuggets for publication. (See illustrations below.)

Jane Blalock, CEO, JBC Golf:

From this sports pioneer — Golf’s 1969 “Rookie of the Year” — the answer to the question above comes fast: legendary coach Bob Toski, her first golf teacher, served as her MVM–most valuable mentor. But Jane agrees with the HBR study, saying — if she didn’t have Toski’s support as a true sponsor –she would not have accomplished what she has:

1) Amassing 27 LPGA titles, two world championships, and two Triple Crowns.

2) Setting the record for most consecutive cuts made (299) in the sport.

3) Being the first player in the LPGA to win more than $100,000 in four consecutive seasons.

Jane told me Toski introduced her to people she needed to meet, and set her up with the best equipment—something she never could have afforded on her own. “Sometimes,” she says, “a sponsor helps fund you” while providing other key kinds of support. Toski’s role was pivotal in Jane’s 18-year professional golf career.

Blalock’s first MacGregor Tourneys: a 5 wood, driver, and wedge

In addition to guiding her to record-breaking wins, he provided her with her first set of pro caliber golf clubs for her maiden professional tournament in 1969. To this day, she keeps the clubs right alongside other meaningful golf memorabilia from her numerous victories. (See photo on right.)

Through Bob, she learned the value of passion, perseverance, and performance under pressure. (See illustration of Jane’s conversation with us at Deloitte’s “Inspiration Café—above.) She even began applying her lessons in golf to her work at Merrill Lynch in 1985.

Now, through her LPGA Golf Clinics for women, she “pays it forward” by “leveling the playing field” for women in business. The clinics were created to achieve a dual purpose: to help professional women become more at ease with golf as a sport — and as a business tool — and to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

JBC Golf is the only woman-owned golf-event management and marketing firm in the country.

Illustration by Alicia Bramlett

Karen Hughes, Global Vice Chair of Burson-Marsteller, former political consultant to President George W. Bush.

Karen names the former chairman of the Texas Republican Party–- Fred Meyer — as her key mentor/sponsor. It was a phone call from Meyer in 1991 that changed Hughes’s life. Meyer was looking for someone to be the “voice of the party” in Austin, and offered the job of Executive Director to Karen. (When Meyer decided not to run for reelection as chairman, Hughes moved to George W. Bush’s gubernatorial campaign.)

She said Meyer “taught her by example” — how to treat people with courtesy, openness, and respect.  She also learned along the way, that she had to accept the position of “role model.”

Her experience allowed her to apply a new model for media coverage with then Governor Bush. As Director of Communications, Karen initiated a plan to “open the doors” to reporters so they could see a side of Governor Bush they hadn’t seen before. She said he was painted as “inexperienced” prior to that, and she was convinced he could showcase his authenticity with more press access. She invited writers and news crews on the road, and watched the game change “from defensive to offensive.”

Karen served as Counselor to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002, as a consultant to the successful Bush-Cheney re-election campaign in 2004, and as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy from 2005 – 2007. Her best advice to young business people? “Do what you’re passionate about.”

Illustration by Alicia Bramlett

Cathy Benko, Vice Chairman and Chief Talent Officer, Deloitte LLP

Cathy told us her mentors and sponsors have been “a portfolio of people.” It started with her CEO suggesting she write a book. Then she asked her renowned former Harvard Business School Professor, Warren McFarlan to team up with her on the project, and he said, “yes” – adding — he’d “never bet against her.”

Well, Cathy now gets to “give back” what she’s learned in what is now her third book –“The Corporate Lattice: Achieving High Performance in a Changing World of Work.” Her advice to young business people?  Noting that 60 percent of new jobs will require skills that only 20 percent of workers possess—she says, “Stay relevant. Adapting is key.”