BARBIE LAUNCHES A VIRTUAL WORLD
BarbieGirls launched globally, providing girls with "virtually" everything they could want online, including giving girls the opportunity to create a highly personalized avatar and "move" it throughout the Barbie Girls world, design their own rooms, shop with B Bucks (virtual currency) that girls can also earn, play games, watch videos and have real-time chats with other girls online. With 4 million users registered to-date, the site had been a runaway success.
ABOUT BARBIE GIRLS VIRTUAL WORLD
Learning that all consumers, not just adults, were spending more time online, Mattel created a virtual world for girls where they could create their own characters, design rooms, shop with virtual money, play games, watch videos, chats in real time with other girls and send e-mail all in a safe parent-controlled environment.
The Barbie Girls experience was released in two parts to consumers. The first was as an online virtual world and the second as a physical product (an MP3 player) that, in addition to playing music, would unlock customizable fashions, accessories, room decorations, and other premium virtual goods.
Barbie Girls was the result of listening to what girls want, researching how they play and fusing it with the right technology to deliver a completely new experience.