It’s a Barbie world — even the advertising one.
The Barbie film is just some days away from its official launch on July twenty first, and its promotion continues to be a shining advertising instance.
The marketing campaign has all of the substances to shine your eyes. I’m speaking in regards to the intelligent utilization of one of the vital recognizable model colours worldwide, tons and tons of product partnerships, and even using AI and interactivity.
Possibly you have been a child who performed with Barbies, possibly not. But it surely’s a indisputable fact that the advertising marketing campaign has struck the correct chord to pique the curiosity of this new and anticipated viewers for Warner Bros’ upcoming movie: us, adults.
As folks say, “The satan works arduous, however the Barbie film advertising crew works tougher.” And we are able to study rather a lot from them.
So, I invite you to affix me on a go to to the Barbie world and take a more in-depth have a look at the advertising behind the brand new film.
Barbie is among the strongest manufacturers on the planet – and it is aware of it
Are you able to think about the satisfaction of realizing that your model could be acknowledged and convey a message with out utilizing any written language? Only a single colour.
You don’t should be a client of the model to acknowledge {that a} particular shade of pink represents Mattel’s iconic doll. The Barbie film advertising crew understands this and has cleverly exploited it.
I bear in mind a specific occasion when my two-year-old niece noticed a pink keychain hanging from my purse. She pointed and mentioned, “Look, it’s from Barbie!”
It wasn’t truly a Barbie keychain. It was merely pink (the correct shade of pink). And that alone was sufficient to create model recognition in a two-year-old.
In fact, this technique might by no means have been employed within the advertising of the 2023 Barbie film with out the doll’s greater than 60-year historical past.
As Eliana Dockterman, a journalist from TIME, aptly acknowledged throughout an interview with the movie’s lead actress, Margot Robbie: “The phrase ‘Barbie’ has the sort of globally acknowledged standing that solely manufacturers like Coca-Cola obtain. Since her debut in 1959, she has been a cultural staple.”
Not solely the colours but in addition each distinctive attribute of Barbie has been meticulously explored, from the form of the foot to the intricacies of the units and costumes. All to actually carry the pink toys of our childhood to life in a live-action setting. Quoting the well-known Aqua tune: Life in plastic, it’s improbable.
There’s positively a nostalgic appeal to it as properly, and it’s extremely efficient.
Mattel’s ups and downs
You may’t be a model with over six many years of historical past and anticipate to sail by your journey with out dealing with any challenges.
Barbie, particularly, is a model that carries complexity.
Whereas it goals to encourage youngsters to think about themselves as astronauts and politicians, it has confronted vital (and legitimate) criticism for selling unrealistic physique requirements and probably impacting the conceit of youngsters, with its historically thin-waisted, blond, doll-like look.
In 2016, Mattel launched a brand new line that includes Barbies with various physique sorts. Nonetheless, it took a while to get better. In response to Statista, Mattel skilled a decline in annual internet gross sales from $6.5 billion to $4.5 billion between 2013 and 2018.
As I discussed, Barbie is a model that sparks controversy. So, how did the advertising for the Barbie film sort out this subject? By embracing the controversy itself. Because the trailer boldly declares, “In the event you love Barbie, this film is for you. In the event you hate Barbie, this film is for you.”
AI and interactivity
In April, our social media feeds have been flooded with folks sharing images of themselves on the Barbie film poster.
Clearly, this buzz didn’t occur by probability. The Barbie film advertising crew created a man-made intelligence instrument that permits anybody to add their photograph and generate a film poster with the customizable tagline “This Barbie is a ____.”
In fact, the web did what the web does and created countless memes of the outcomes:
From a advertising standpoint, this was sensible for no less than three causes: synthetic intelligence, interactivity, and widespread sharing.
Integrating synthetic intelligence into the movie’s promotion was a genius transfer. Let’s be trustworthy: individuals are captivated by something that includes “AI” these days.
And executing it on an interactive platform that permits user-generated content material and encourages natural sharing is the right recipe for producing buzz and selling any firm.
Partnerships within the Metaverse and the sport universe
Not even the metaverse escaped from the Barbie film. Ceaselessly 21, in partnership with the enduring doll, not solely launched a clothes line in bodily shops but in addition replicated it throughout the digital realm of Roblox.
And there’s extra: the partnership additionally included a contest the place the winner and their trend fashion have been recreated within the on-line sport platform.
Xbox can also be bringing Barbie into its universe.
The gaming console, owned by Microsoft, will not be solely internet hosting a contest the place one fortunate winner will obtain a pink console housed in a mini reproduction of Barbie’s Dreamhouse, however gamers of Forza Horizon 5 will even be handled to an in-game reproduction of Barbie and Ken’s automobiles from the film.
The partnership additionally features a contest to award winners Barbie dolls wearing Xbox-branded gear.
Barbie merchandise, however not only for youngsters anymore
Final, however definitely not least, let’s discuss essentially the most timeless and traditional facet of the Barbie phenomenon: merchandise. Numerous merchandise, created in collaboration with a big number of manufacturers.
What’s fascinating to notice is that, in contrast to the standard concentrate on youngsters that has characterised Barbie’s legacy for the previous 60 years, these merchandise are actually focused in direction of adults, catering to the movie’s supposed viewers.
I’m certain the ‘Barbie woman’ inside you’ll be thrilled to have the chance to remain at Barbie’s Malibu DreamHouse alongside Ken. Nicely, because of Airbnb, that dream can truly come true.
The record of partnership merchandise appears to be unending, starting from the anticipated, like make-up and clothes, to the surprising, reminiscent of a Barbie-themed toothbrush and even a Barbie Cruise expertise.
You’ll discover that a good portion of the Barbie film advertising wasn’t truly for and from the live-action advertising crew.
It comes from the care that Mattel has taken with the model, permitting it to be very well-established for many years (though we now have to confess, the film crew did a wonderful job of embracing all of the elements, even the controversial ones).
It additionally comes from overlaying numerous factors of promotion, together with the newest tendencies like AI, the Metaverse, and the world of gaming—completely positioned to focus on the movie-specific viewers, which, I need to point out, isn’t the identical as the standard Barbie doll viewers, including an additional problem.
And, properly… from the world. It’s fueled by the thrill generated by folks and strategic partnerships with different manufacturers.
Like I mentioned, it’s a Barbie world — even the advertising one.
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Cowl photograph: Jennifer Killens
