Meet The New Disney Princess

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Tiana in 'Princess and the Frog'

by Charisse Jones
USA Today

Move over Snow White, make room for Princess Tiana.

For the first time, Disney is creating a film with an African-American princess, whose doll made its debut Monday at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.

For Disney, it's not just about being culturally and politically correct, it's also about growing its lucrative - but aging - Disney princess franchise in a tough economy. Created in 1999, Disney Princesses had $4 billion in global retail sales last year.

The cocoa-colored doll, which sports a tiara, a flowing blue gown, and is roughly the size of a Barbie, is expected to sell for about the same $10 to $15 as Barbie. Disney hopes it will boost the franchise through rough times. The $22-billion toy industry saw sales fall about 3% last year, and sales of dolls dropped a hefty 8%, according to the Toy Industry Association.

Though Princess Tiana was on the drawing board long before Barack Obama was elected the nation's first black president, marketing experts say she signals a growing awareness by industries from toy makers to cosmetic companies that diversity is critical in a nation where people of color will be the majority in little more than 30 years.

"It's very significant," says Lisa Skriloff, president of Multicultural Marketing Resources. "It's like a stamp of approval for one of the most outstanding family (entertainment) companies to say this is important."

Tiana, whose story will come to the big screen later this year in the animated musical "The Princess and the Frog," is the first princess introduced by Disney since "Mulan" in 1998.

Disney executives say that they did not set out to make a social statement.

"It was much more about the storytelling," says Kathy Franklin, vice president, global studio franchise development for Disney Consumer Products. "This was not about a conscious decision to say we need an African-American princess."

Yet, industry watchers say that when Princess Tiana dolls hit store in the fall, they will bring diversity to a marketplace where it's been sorely lacking.

Mattel, which has the license to create the Princess Tiana dolls, is planning to release its own line of black dolls in September. Part of the Barbie family, the So In Style dolls are being touted as having a more authentic appearance, from their hair to their varying skin tones.

Disney, which has had great success with its Princess franchise, predicts that sales will surge with the arrival of Tiana.

"We expect our sales of Princess Tiana products to be significant, and not just to African-American households," says Franklin.

Tiana merchandise will range from Halloween costumes to backpacks. There are plans for Tiana-themed MP3 players and digital cameras to be in stores by the end of the year, and a line of Princess Tiana and "The Princess and the Frog" books will go on sale this fall.

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Blogger Note: I do recall that Mattel had created special black Barbie dolls I believe in the 90's. I just can't quite remember the names.

Are Massive Outlay of Ads No Longer in Vogue?

Here is a pretty interesting article that I read recently in the Wall Street Journal on how some fashion magazine's were reducing the number of ads featured in the magazines. Even though the current fall magazines don't seem to be lacking any glossy ads in my opinion.

Style & Focuse PR

Massive Outlay of Ads No Longer in Vogue
Condé Nast Title, Others Sport Leaner Fall Looks As Marketers Hold Back

By SHIRA OVIDE
August 11, 2008; Page B7

Last year, the all-important September issues of fashion and beauty magazines such as Condé Nast's Vogue and Hearst's Cosmopolitan were thick enough to throw out the backs of mail carriers across the country. The champ, Vogue, weighed in at a hefty 4.9 pounds, thanks to 725 pages of glossy ads.

It is a different story this year. As September issues begin hitting the newsstands, two-thirds of the 16 top fashion and beauty magazines by number of ad pages are smaller than a year ago. W magazine, also published by Condé Nast Publications, a unit of Advance Publications, has 18% fewer advertising pages. Vogue has 674 pages of ads this year, down 7%, while Hearst's Cosmopolitan is six pages, or 3.2%, lighter.

Until recently, fashion and beauty magazines had been something of an oasis amid the steady stream of red ink being reported by print-media properties. Last year was a record year for many titles in the category, and a number of publications were still selling ad pages at that pace into the first quarter of 2008.

The magazines' core marketers in luxury goods, clothing, jewelry and beauty products have been slower than advertisers in other categories to shift spending to the Internet. At the same time, the magazines have a rich history of readers who flip pages as much to see ads for the latest fall fashions as to read the stories, a factor that help keeps advertisers loyal.

But now things are starting to get ugly for the beauty magazines. Ad pages for the top fashion and beauty titles were down about 8% in the second quarter, and publishers acknowledge the downturn largely has held or grown steeper since then.

While luxury advertisers mostly are hanging in, many middle-market clothing and cosmetics firms are paring back ad pages or pulling out completely as a cooling economy quiets their cash registers. Other categories that traditionally advertise in these publications, such as autos and liquor, are also bumpy. At prices that can climb to $120,000 for one full-page ad, every missing page hits the magazines hard.

Of course, the appeal of fashion and beauty magazines' September issues hasn't suddenly vanished. Those pages are still considered a must-buy for many advertisers wanting to pitch new car models, back-to-school shopping and fall fashions. And a number of tony brands are still ubiquitous.

"We have definitely the biggest fall budget we've ever had for advertising," says Alex Bolen, chief executive of Oscar de la Renta. Mr. Bolen says the designer increased its U.S. print media budget by 15% this year, including lavish spreads in the September issues of Hearst's Town & Country; Elle, which is part of Lagardère's Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.; W; and Vogue. The ads featured items such as a $4,750 Goya handbag.

But in most cases, increased spending by advertisers such as Oscar de la Renta isn't covering the cuts by midtier marketers. Apparel retailer bebe stores took out four pages with In Style -- a magazine published by Time Warner's Time Inc. -- last September and none this September. Nordstrom's had a six-page spread in Elle last year to promote its "via C" clothing line but has nothing this year.

As with other segments of the magazine industry, advertisers are increasingly willing to yank ad spending at the last minute and are less inclined to make commitments far in advance. Most magazine executives aren't optimistic about a turnaround. "Everyone is facing 2009 cautiously," says Valerie Salembier, publisher of Hearst's Harper's Bazaar, which increased its September advertising take by 3%. "I'm nervous, and I think all magazine publishers in our field feel the same way, whether they admit it or not."











Corrections & Amplifications:

An earlier version of this story incorrectly implied Hearst's Marie Claire is a magazine that lost advertising pages this September.