Challenge

Mattel called us in 2003 because they wanted to move
Hot Wheels from a toy brand to a boy brand. The first
meeting still ranks as one of our most memorable, trying
to impress the client at the Licensing Trade Fair while two
huge men dressed as He-Man and Skeletor had a sword
fight over our heads. It must have worked since Mattel
challenged us to create a brand design guide for licensing
in Europe to move Hot Wheels into the lifestyle arena.

Approach

Mattel had always designed their guides based on what
they thought boys wanted. We wanted to approach it from
a 4-6 year old boy’s perspective. We used a web based
boys’ networking site to recruit ‘detectives’ to photograph
and report what was ‘cool’. We conducted interviews
with mums as gatekeepers and studied trends from
around the world. We used the resulting insights as the
basis for the design guide and the creation of compositions,
patterns, icons, cars, flames, skulls, explosions, dinosaurs,
skateboarders. The guide was a breakthrough in Europe;
so much so we were invited to LA to discuss Hot Wheels’
on a global scale. We worked with Hot Wheels for
over seven years creating many world-class global design guides.

Results

The Hot Wheels brand is now the number one boy’s
toy brand in the world. During our time working on brand
licensing, that side of the business grew to be worth
more than $500m.