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Reinventing Hot Wheels

Reinventing Hot Wheels

FromTeamistry


Reinventing Hot Wheels

FromTeamistry

ratings:
Length:
26 minutes
Released:
Jul 5, 2021
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

In 2016, a research video played in a conference room of Mattel Inc. caused deep concern. It showed an eight-year-old playing with iconic Hot Wheels™ toy cars. "Imagine doing this for an hour," the boy said, as if it was torture. The moment confirmed what many Mattel employees already knew: kids were shifting from physical toys to digital games at increasingly younger ages. And it meant that Hot Wheels, the best-selling toy on the planet, was losing its primary audience to digital gadgets and putting the company's future in jeopardy. The moment galvanized a small group of forward-thinking employees and a risky decision was made: everyone's favorite toy car would ride the digital wave – instead of being totalled by it. The team navigated strong resistance – after all, how do you fix a toy that isn't broken? – to introduce Hot Wheels™ i-d. It's a never-before-seen product that blends the physical toy with a digital platform. And guess what? It crashes and burns. But rather than sinking the venerable company, it benefits Mattel, Inc. To find out how, host Gabriela Cowperthwaite talks with both the innovators who challenged the status quo and the decision-makers who had trouble stomaching the risks. Hear from Chris Down, chief design officer at Mattel, Inc., and Ron Friedman, former director of global marketing. Also hear from senior leaders Steve Totzke, Mattel's executive vice president, and Ricardo Briceno, vice president of franchise marketing.Teamistry is an original podcast from Atlassian. For a transcript and extras about this episode visit: www.atlassian.com/blog/podcast/reinventing-hot-wheels.
Released:
Jul 5, 2021
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (30)

How do we meet the challenges we face as organizations, countries, or even as a species? Whether we’re locked in fierce corporate competition or struggling with matters of life and death, one constant stands out: teams working together. And when teams, and teams of teams, focus on combining their unique abilities, expertise, and experience to embrace uncertainty, innovate, and tackle massive challenges? No problem is unsolvable. Teamistry is all about the chemistry that exists between groups of people who team up to achieve more than they ever thought possible. Join host Gabriela Cowperthwaite as she turns her filmmaker’s eye toward stories of teams working together to change their fate and even the course of history.