Marketing Barbie: How the launch of the new Barbie film is a lesson in marketing
I’ll be honest with you. I wasn’t ever that into Barbie dolls as a child. The most into Barbie I got was when Aqua released their Barbie Girl song. So when they announced they were making a Barbie film, I felt nonplussed about it. And when it comes to the film itself, I’m not overly fussed about seeing it but the marketing around the film? Safe to say that’s given me some major marketing flutters.
And we’re not just talking the activations around the film itself. Brands globally are latching on to Barbiecore in the most brilliant ways. From decked out store frontage to simple social content to Barbie inspired to AI filters flooding the internet. It’s campaign marketing at it’s best.
Here are some of my favourites so far:
Barbie-can
A photo emerged on the internet and swiftly earned viral status of Barbican tube station being renamed as Barbie Can. Sadly, TFL came out to break the news that the image had in fact been Photoshopped and they weren’t renaming the station but a perfect example of a very simple guerilla social campaign that got people talking.
Airbnb’s Barbie House
This was a revived stunt. In 2019 to celebrate Barbie’s 60th birthday, AirBnb launched the Barbie house in Malibu. They switched it up by giving it some “Kenergy” - aka if the Barbie house was hosted by Ken, this is what it’d be. Cowboy hats and rollerblades galore.
It’s an expensive stunt but one that has had exceptional social visibility. The property is bookable from the 17th July via Airbnb.
Architectural Digest’s Barbie House Tour
If you’re on the design side of social media as much as we are, you’ll be familiar with AD’s celebrity home tours. Big name stars open the doors to their home and tour their space talking about all the design features. It was exceptionally smart to make one of these house tours with Barbie ahead of the launch. For both brands, this is liquid gold.
Barbie Tardis at London Bridge
Dr Who fans got excited about this one. A pink-cladded, Barbie-inspired tardis opened up on the banks of the Thames by Tower Bridge. There isn’t much connection here other than both Dr Who and Barbie share a cast member (Ncuti Gatwa) but it made Dr Who part of the Barbie conversation.
Zara’s Barbie Collection
Fashion brand, Zara has launched a capsule Barbie collection. And they’ve nailed it. It’s filled to the brim with pink ready-to-wear, accessories and homeware. It’s not just for Barbie-lovers. Plenty of pieces for the Kens of the world to get involved too.
It’s safe to say that with something as globally iconic as Barbie, pulling off a stunt or launching a themed product line linked to the film is easier than it would be with something less known. But one thing worth noting is how there’s power in numbers. If you’ve got a campaign idea in mind for your brand or business, it might be worth having a conversation with like-minded, non-compete brands to join in the fun with you. By teaming up with others, you immediately create a story. This is super important if you have ambitions of securing press coverage from it.
Sometimes less is more. Not every creative stunt has to cost multi millions. As we can see with the photoshopped Barbiecan image, some digital wizardry or clever use of words can sometimes be all it takes to spark a conversation. It’s easy to overthink the complexity of a creative campaign - strip it back.
How do you get ahead of campaigns like Barbie? Do your research. Look ahead at what films or TV series are being released in the year and think realistically about whether or not it makes sense for your brand or business to get involved. Would it speak to your target audience? Are they the audience for the film or TV series you’re tagging on to? Always make it make sense! Tenuous links are likely to tank!
What’s been your favourite Barbie film stunt so far?
