All retail brands and businesses are tasked with keeping pace with rapidly changing consumer behaviors and intense competition — even Mattel. Alexis Hoopes recently worked with the company’s technology organization, brands division and marketing group to launch an innovative direct-to-consumer (DTC) online business that leverages rich content, first-party data, a customer data platform and direct customer interactions to create a highly tailored online shopping experience.  
 
By collecting and unifying its first-party data in BlueConic’s customer data platform, Mattel was able to identify and engage brand loyalists and ultimately launch Mattel Creations, a best-in-class digital destination for toy collectors of their classic physical products such as Hot Wheels and Barbies. The ecommerce platform features limited-edition, curated items for sale that can’t be found anywhere else, creating a sense of urgency and excitement among collectors that love Mattel’s brands.  
 
Mattel Creations also incorporates a strong content and community strategy that includes discussion forums, high-end collaborations with brands and pop culture artists like Kartell, Gucci, Daniel Arsham and MADSAKI, livestreamed events, exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews and more. By engaging with the adult collectibles market in this new and high-profile way, Hoopes and team not only created a direct one-to-one relationship with consumers but also opened up new revenue sources for the company.  
 
In less than three years, Mattel Creations is now one of Mattel’s fastest-growing business units.