American Girl: A Girl’s Best Ecosystem
In our capitalist society today, there are new products being produced constantly, ads pulling our attention at every turn, and companies trying to convince us that they are the right choice for us. The products that end up succeeding, however, are the ones that fit seamlessly into our lives, and help connect parts of our lives that were at one point separate. The companies that create an entire ecosystem of products to help connect our lives are the ones that overpower the competition, and the world. In some cases, it is a “chicken or the egg” situation when trying to figure out whether the consumer dictates the needs and the company delivers, or whether a company creates products that fill a need consumers never knew they had (or may not have, but are convinced of having). Whatever the situation, it takes an extreme amount of strategic planning and consideration when thinking of the main story and purpose of a company’s ecosystem, while also making sure each individual touchpoint provides a good experience on its own.
One company ecosystem that I think is extremely effective is American Girl. American Girl started out as a just a high-end doll company that created doll characters that grew up in different periods of American history. Not only could girls own a doll with multiple outfits and life-like hair, but each doll came with a book about the backstory of the doll that taught girls about key points in American history through the eyes of female characters of different cultures. Though the idea was meaningful and highly successful, at this point, the company was not yet providing an ecosystem of products. The experience started and stopped with playing with the dolls and reading the books, and could possible be extended with the gift of additional outfits for the doll. However, with the success of the company came plenty of opportunities to branch out. The company created brick and mortar stores all over the country that provided an immersive experience for customers. Each doll had its own exhibit that matched the real-life setting of their storybooks, and had all of their outfits and additional props displayed in context. Girls could go to get their doll’s hair done, eat a “fancy” lunch with their mom and friends while their dolls sat in special chairs at the table with them, purchase matching human outfits and doll outfits, and even send their doll to the “hospital” if it got broken. With these stores, the American Girl brand meant so much more to girls than just the dolls, it was the joy of the museum and mall-like experience that was centered around the experience of girls just like them. This brand could have stopped at enriching users lives through the doll’s stories and products, however, they began to assume a more important role in focusing on enriching the actual user’s lives through helping them grow as strong, confident women. They produced books that talked about healthy friendships/ relationships, books that helped girls manage the entrance into puberty, healthy lifestyle books, and even STEM books/ activities that encouraged girls to be interested in science. American Girl became a girl’s companion throughout her entire journey of girlhood to teenager. What is successful is that a girl can enter the ecosystem easily through any of the products or services, and will immediately find other products that connect the first and enhance the experience. There are American Girl products that fit into almost every aspect of a girl’s life, and amazingly, in a non-intrusive way. The only downside to this company is that the dolls and merchandise are at a relatively high price point, so the audience is limited to those that can afford it. However, the products such as the books and movies are at an accessible price point, and the online games are free to play.
American Girl started out as just a doll company, but realized their scope and impact could be much larger. The most interesting part is that a user interacts with the brand’s ecosystem, and the brand is also a part of the user’s ecosystem they call life. This was a gradual process that took many years of planning and execution. In this situation, the company started with a set of specific touch points that fit well with each other, and grew into an ecosystem of connected physical and digital products. My final thought about this topic is that a tricky question to answer is where should a company start, at the ecosystem level or the touchpoint level? I would be interested to view the process of a company that started their sights high at the ecosystem level, and then worked to create products to fill the system in a meaningful way.
Amy Zasadzinski
