Mattel and Genius Crowds Crowdsource New Product Ideas for Barbie® & Hot Wheels® Branded Bikes

NEW YORK and EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Sept. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- 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, [email protected]

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SOURCE Genius Crowds