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Can Mattel recover with defensive branding? Borat Vs. Kazakhstan Can Mattel recover with defensive branding?
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Can Mattel recover with defensive branding?
 
 Mattel is confronted with a daunting task of restoring the trust of millions of customers. However, in case of the toy-maker, things haven't yet reached the 'intractable' stage. Remember the case of J 
amitesh jasrotia - September 1, 2007
 
 Its a classic case of trust and goodwill built up over years being destroyed in a flash. But the genuine doubts that most consumers might have in their minds is " Didn't Mattel realise the potential hazards earlier- or was it an attempt to push the limits to the extent possible?" . There seems to be a totally erroneous judgement by the top brass at Mattel somwehere. The road ahead is really uphill. 
P.A.Arun, Regional Co-ordinator Qualitative Research, Pan Arab Research Centre - September 3, 2007
 
 It is probably too easy to condemn Mattell, but they were only doing what many others are doing - and doing it rather better by all accounts. Laudatory articles in the NYT in July exhibited the level of thought that had gone in - even if the timing was in retrospect unfortunate.The key issue, that faces all who make offshore, is that of shared values - which can only be built, not enforced. Across cultures, this is a long term exercise. Add to this the extension of supply chains within China by the local manufacturers, and the risk factors multiply exponentially.The recall comes at a time when business is under pressure anyway, and on the runup to Christmas with the issue fresh in purchasers minds. Mattell's record is such that they deserve to survive this incident, but the odds of them doing so in their current form have to be long. A shame. 
Siggy - September 3, 2007
 
 Mattel's ability to restore trust will depend on whether or not they are determined to be at fault or the victim of an event that could (and maybe will) happen to any company. A lot will depend on how they handle the situation and whether there is bad news upon bad news.

Carol Phillips 
Carol Phillips - September 3, 2007
 
 I'm rather optimistic about the Mattel situation. The timing of the recall is certainly unfortunate. On the other hand, product recall is now a fabric of American consumer life. I think consumers are quite used to recalls of all sorts of products. Of course, toys have more emotional power than mobile phone batteries. And, this particular recall involves imports, which in contemporary American political discourse, equal "job loss" for American workers. So, there is a political undercurrent as well. In addition, most problems revealed through this recall are industry-wide issues rather than Mattel specific. If Mattel can play by the many rules of crisis communication in this type of situation and also be particularly attuned to the larger political debate, it will be able to leverage the good will accumulated over time among consumers and survive this episode. 
jj wang - September 3, 2007
 
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