Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Communispace and Mattel Win Prestigious Analyst Award for Using a Customer Community to Get it Right with Moms

Boston, MA - October 29, 2008

Communispace, creator of online customer insight communities for more than 100 of the world’s leading brands, and its client Mattel were awarded a 2008 Forrester Groundswell Award in the “Listening” category for getting it right with consumers during a 2007 worldwide toy recall.  Communispace was also a finalist in the “Embracing” category with its client MTV.  This is the second year in a row that Communispace has won in the “Listening” category for the Forrester Groundswell Awards.

Mattel’s Playground Community of 500 moms with children ages three-ten, created and managed by Communispace, allows Mattel to truly connect, listen to and gain insight into these moms' lives.  The award-winning client story demonstrated how Mattel’s target consumers offered candid guidance and advice during the 2007 toy recalls, providing their opinions on Mattel's response plan and thoughts on what the company could do to address their fears and concerns.  Listening to the voice of its customer during this critical time led to a tremendous positive impact on Mattel’s business as the company headed into the busy holiday season.

"We are so fortunate to have this dynamic and insightful group of moms who are at the ready to help us, not only during a difficult situation but also on an ongoing basis,” said Michael Shore, vice president of Worldwide Consumer Insights at Mattel.  “They open up and share their lives with us in the community so we can continue to create the best products to meet their needs.  The community truly is a strategic business asset for us."

Mattel created the private online community with Communispace to help Mattel's research organization listen to and gain insight into moms' lives and needs in order to help the company drive growth and innovation.  Through the efforts of Mattel and The Playground Community, the company won praise for its timely and thorough response.  On August 18, 2007 the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Mattel did everything it could to get its message out, earning high marks from consumers and retailers.  Though upset by the situation, they were appreciative of the company's response."

“Mattel’s community shows that when you engage your target customer in a truly authentic way and create vibrant conversation there is really nothing they won’t do to help you be better – whether it’s creating new products, improving the relevance of marketing messages or weathering a difficult time. We are so thrilled to be recognized for driving real business results through listening with our communities, and it goes way beyond traditional feedback; these moms have an ongoing impact on Mattel’s business,” said Corey Schwartz, senior community consultant with Communispace.  “It really demonstrates the key difference with our communities: it’s listening to engage, putting consumers and their voices at the heart of the brand and its products.”

The second annual Forrester Groundswell Awards recognize excellence in accomplishing business goals with social applications.  Forrester developed the awards program to support and recognize the principles outlined in the Forrester book Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008).  Winners are selected based on specific results demonstrating the successful use of social technologies to advance an organizational or corporate goal.  More information about the Forrester Groundswell Awards is available at: http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2008/10/2008-forrester.html.  Communispace’s 2008 Groundswell Award submissions can be found here: http://www.communispace.com/news/groundswell.

About Communispace
Communispace Corporation is the leader in building, managing and facilitating private branded communities that deliver the voice of the customer and enable businesses to generate continuous insights, drive faster innovation, and drive revenue.  Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 300 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels.  Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta and San Remo, Italy.

About Mattel
Mattel, Inc., (NYSE: MAT, www.mattel.com) 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 Little People®, Power Wheels® and a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines. Mattel is recognized as one of 2008's "100 Best Companies to Work For" by FORTUNE Magazine. With worldwide headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel employs more than 30,000 people in 43 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 nations.  Mattel's vision is to be the world's premier toy brands -- today and tomorrow.

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For more:

Liz Boal
Greenough Communications
617.275.6522
lboal@greenoughcom.com

Jennifer Buatti
Communispace 
617.607.1345
jbuatti@communispace.com

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