The BoF Podcast | Richard Dickson on How to Recapture the Magic of Gap

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Background:

This yr, Barbie-mania swept the globe. A key architect of that phenomenon was Richard Dickson, who served as president and chief working officer of Barbie’s mother or father firm, Mattel, for nearly a decade. There, he revived Barbie, a reputation that had misplaced its cultural relevance, and introduced it firmly again into the zeitgeist. Now, Dickson is taking his expertise for revitalising fading icons to Hole, the place he was appointed CEO in July 2023.

“Evolution retains the model related, however objective makes a model immortal,” says Dickson.

This week on The BoF Podcast, Dickson joins BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed to debate the ability of manufacturers and his imaginative and prescient for rebooting Hole in a reside dialog from BoF VOICES 2023.

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Key Insights:

• When Dickson arrived at Mattel, the Barbie model was at a low level, with lagging gross sales and diminished relevance. Dickson pushed the model to embrace dolls with completely different physique varieties and ethnicities. “The method itself was actually going again to the roots, going again to the aim … What made it so nice to start with? The origin story of the model was that it was designed to encourage the limitless potential of ladies,” he explains.
• Figuring out objective is what fuelled his work at Mattel; now, he’s making use of the identical mindset at Hole. “There may be nothing extra inspiring than taking that cue and determining learn how to create that cultural dialog as we speak, utilizing our manufacturers as a platform to truly create a greater world.”
• Dickson recognises that Hole wants a stronger viewpoint. “We’re not going to get to the place we would like in a single day. However we now have extraordinary folks. We have now a tradition that’s going to be unlocked with extraordinary creativity… and I’m privileged and honoured to be the chief at this specific time,” he says.

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