What was the strategy behind marketing Barbie?
We all saw Barbie everywhere 2022-23, but how did they do it? The Barbie marketing strategy was pretty simple: draw us into the Barbie world and spread intrigue.
There were next to no mentions of buying the Barbie dolls, or even pushing the movie itself. Instead, the Barbie marketing campaigns consisted of colouring the world pink (even Google went pink for Barbie!) and spreading positive vibes, making us all wonder what this big movie would be like.
What makes Barbie’s movie marketing so good?
There’s no question that the marketing team for the Barbie movie spared no expense. In fact, they had a budget of $100 million. Dreamy, eh?
Marketing Barbie in today’s world had become an issue – so it was time to think big!
The marketing team at Mattel used every avenue available to them.
1. Collaborations with influencers
How they did it:
They used the Mattel name to connect with relevant celebs and influencers to promote their product.
What can we take from this?:
Influencers come in all shapes and sizes. From nano influencers with small audiences who can be affordable to smaller companies, to those with millions of followers charging 100k plus per post. Wherever possible – get those with influence in your industry to speak about your brand.
2. Getting Margot Robbie aka Barbie seen EVERYWHERE
How did they do it?
With endless red carpet appearances, Margot Robbie sported beautiful Barbie inspired outfits at events around the world. Photos of these circulated around social media and left us all craving some Barbie in our lives.
What can we take from this?
We may not have red carpet invites coming out of our ears, but this is a lesson to all of us to get our brand infront of the customer whenever possible. Take opportunities for exposure, spread the word on social media, and show what you can do!
3. Leveraged partnerships with companies such as AirBnB.
How did they do it?
Mattel really thought about what brands Barbie would use in real life, and they went after them for partnerships.
What can we take from this?
Partnerships give the opportunity to reach new audiences. Something we’re all looking to achieve with marketing our own businesses. As small business owners, we can reach out to other, complementary businesses and seeing how we can work together. Why not offer them a product of yours for free, that they can share with their audience in a competition? You get exposure, they get to offer value to their audience, everyone wins!
