NEW YORK and
EL SEGUNDO, Calif.,
Sept. 7, 2012 -- Mattel, Inc., (NASDAQ: MAT) the worldwide
leader in toys and family products, has announced an Open Innovation
initiative with Genius Crowds® to develop crowd-sourced product ideas
for their venerable brands of Hot Wheels® and Barbie® bicycles for
young children. Genius Crowds (geniuscrowds.com) is a platform for
opensourced product development, facilitating the development and
ideation phase online, and securing production relationships with
leading marketers.
In a
move towards open innovation and collaboration with their consumers,
Mattel is looking for innovative ideas for their Barbie® and HotWheels®
branded bicycles for children aged 4-6 years old. Mattel is among the
first manufacturers to welcome product ideas with this next generation
crowd sourcing platform, designed to enable marketers and manufacturers
to co-create products with their consumers.
Genius Crowds is a platform for consumers to get their product ideas out of
their heads and onto the shelves. The company partners with notable
manufacturers, marketers and retailers to bring good ideas for new
products to market, reducing the cost of R&D for marketers while
cultivating deeper bonds with customers.
"We are
thrilled to partner with Mattel on their Open Innovation efforts," said
CJ Kettler, CEO of Genius Crowds. "Mattel recognizes the value of crowd
sourcing and is committed to maintaining an open dialogue with
consumers about their insights and product needs through this kind of
idea exchange. "
Mattel Vice President of Innovation Programs & Inventor Relations,
Elisabeth Krisel,
stated: "Mattel is very excited to be working with Genius Crowds for
crowdsourcing new product ideas. We believe strongly in open innovation
and are thrilled to be on the cutting edge of new product development
processes including crowdsourcing that enable us to listen to, and meet
the needs of kids and their parents."
About Genius Crowds:
Genius Crowds (
geniuscrowds.com)
is a platform for everyday people to get new product ideas out of their
heads and onto the shelves. A robust community of active, creative
consumers submit new product ideas that are voted as crowd favorites by
their peers through crowdsourcing. All submissions are reviewed and
selected by professional panelists to bring the winning products to
retail and consumers may share in the proceeds or win a prize. Genius
Crowds is powered by the Chaordix® Crowd Intelligence™ technology
platform.
About Mattel:
Mattel,
Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture
and marketing of toys and family products. The Mattel family is
comprised of such best-selling brands as Barbie®, the most popular
fashion doll ever introduced, Hot Wheels®, Matchbox®, American Girl®,
Radica® and Tyco R/C®, as well as Fisher-Price® brands, including Thomas
& Friends®, Little People®, Power Wheels® and a wide array of
entertainment-inspired toy lines. In 2012, Mattel was named as one
of FORTUNE Magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the fifth
year in a row. Mattel also is ranked among Corporate Responsibility
Magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens." With worldwide headquarters
in El Segundo, California, Mattel employs approximately 28,000 people in
43 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150
nations. At Mattel, we are Creating the Future of Play. Visit us at
www.mattel.com,
www.facebook.com/mattel or
www.twitter.com/mattel.
©2012 Mattel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Media Contact:
CJ Kettler Genius Crowds, 9174882266,
cjkettler@gmail.com
