11. December 2008
Role model, friend and big sister all in one: Steffi Love plays an important role for little girls.
Steffi Love is 21 years old and more modern than ever. She is staggeringly successful, although the market for girls’ toys is changing and time and time again the topic of dress-up dolls ends up before the courts. Nevertheless, her father Michael Sieber, CEO of the Simba Dickie Group, is completely relaxed when looking ahead to their future together.
YO-YO: Mr Sieber, the "War of the Dolls" flared up once again recently. For years Californian doll manufacturers Mattel (Barbie) and MGA Entertainment (Bratz) have been fighting before the courts. It’s all about idea theft and copyright infringement. Are you worried about Steffi Love?
MICHAEL SIEBER: No, because there are no similarities with Barbie at all, apart from the fact that they both belong to the product category dress-up dolls. Mattel is the market leader with Barbie and there are other suppliers in the market. We are not an insubstantial supplier. There are occurrences in the toy industry that can be likened to those between Tempo and Softies, Coca Cola and Pepsi... If all those involved do their jobs properly and stay fair, there isn’t a problem.
How did Steffi come about?
Simba already enjoyed a strong position in the classic dolls sector. Entering the dress-up doll market was a consistent step. That was in 1987.
Who developed the first doll and how long did it take?
We did that in-house. My father had already transferred to me the task of product development in the girls’ segment, so I was responsible for the prototype. The major strength of Simba Toy was already evident back then: our short development times. The first collection of ten articles was created within just six months and was immediately well received by customers and consumers.
How many Steffis have there been since then?
Over the years we have presented more than 1,300 new Steffi products. The range currently consists of 168 articles along with Evi, Steffi’s little sister.
And how many Steffi Love dolls have been sold to date?
Well over 200 million dolls. If you count clothes and accessories as well, every two seconds a Steffi Love article is sold today.
How important is the product line within Simba Dickie Group’s portfolio?
With the big 29-centimeter dress-up dolls and the little Evis and Kevins, the Steffi Love product line represents an entire world. This mini cosmos developed into an enormous success extremely quickly and therefore represents a fundamental building block for Simba Toys.
Who makes sure that Steffi Love is always up-to-date?
We have a whole department working on this including product managers and fashion and product designers. This team is in charge of constantly making new ideas ready for series production. In addition, external doll head and body designers are continually revise existing Steffis for us.
These are all adults.
That’s true. The best trend scouts are of course children. This is why we frequently invite focus groups who we present our themes to. But the field of girls’ products is still what I do best.
Is it true that you take it extremely seriously?
I must admit that if I’m given a Steffi Love with a wonky eye or smudged make-up, I go crazy. It upsets me because I really love these beautiful faces.
The accessories are, on the one hand, amazingly consistent and, on the other, remarkably modern. How is that so?
Well, little girls just love classic themes, „evergreens” like riding, weddings and princesses. But a strong factor for success is reflecting the zeitgeist and the associated trends. The iPod is today what the Walkman used to be. At the beginning Steffi was dressed in an apron with a coffee grinder in the pocket. Today she is fashionably dressed and has a PDA and coffee to go.
Has her figure changed over the years?
We have been constantly fine-tuning Steffi’s head, body, make-up and hair. Aesthetic and functional improvements. But her basic "desirable" appearance has remained practically unchanged.
Isn’t Steffi Love too thin? Critics claim that the body measurements of these role models could lead to eating disorders.
Those who spend time paying attention to Steffi Love and dress-up dolls in general realize that her body is a fantasy product, despite its human resemblance. The discussion about eating disorders has ebbed away again. This is partly thanks to model casting shows, which show healthy, slim girls. At the moment, the more pressing issue is overweight children. An attempt was recently made to blame a toy line – not ours – as the cause for general grievances. Luckily, things are back to normal now and children can play with an open mind.
What have been the most important changes over the years?
From a corporate point of view, mainly the positioning and significance of the line in the market: from a small number of products to a line with a substantial market share throughout the whole of Europe. The changing times are of course most visible in Steffi’s make-up, haircuts and fashion and not least in the packaging. But also within individual themes – for example the bathroom – you can see the consistent realism in detail.
How many new models are there per year?
Around 100 products in the category Steffi Love, divided between the themes family, fantasy, fashion and basics. In addition to these are the licensed themes such as „Hello Kitty” and „Paris Hilton”.
Why is Steffi Love so popular?
Because she covers practically all of the interests of girls within the target group. In contrast to other dress-up dolls, with Steffi you can clearly perceive her European origins, so girls can identify with the dolls easily. I think that our attention to detail and her face itself are persuasive factors. In addition, hard business facts like price level and quality features are also key elements in the story of her success: Steffi Love offers a unique price/performance ratio at exceptionally high quality.
In which age do girls enter and leave the Steffi phase?
Over the last ten years there has been a dramatic shifting towards younger children. Our core target group is four to eight years old, sometimes with around two more years, i.e. up to around ten years old, depending on which EU country we’re talking about. Some of our licensed themes manage this, such as Paris Hilton. In the past, kids of up to twelve played with dress-up dolls. This is only the case nowadays in new booming markets like Russia.
How does the Steffi story continue?
There is still a great deal of potential left in the product line. By building upon our strengths and conscious, but cautious brand development, much is still possible.
Do fashion dolls have a future in the age of technical toys?
There will be further shifts, but product cycles come in waves. The dress-up doll will never disappear if you view the changing times as a challenge and gear yourself towards this. As we do.
