Love it or hate it, the nostalgia is real when it comes to all things Barbie! Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have been unable to avoid the striking ‘Barbie’ pink all across your feed. But, what makes this relaunch so special? In this blog, we’ll deep dive into the power of a strong brand and explore how Mattel and Warner Brothers’ marketing teams understood the assignment!

As a little girl, I always remember the joy of opening a new Barbie on Christmas morning. The art of imagination is priceless and allows us to express ourselves freely. Myself and my sister would spend hours creating scenarios, and we’d even rope in my cousin’s Action Men along for the ride. The rise of technology has slowly reduced the imaginative play that we’re so familiar with, but the new Barbie blockbuster by Greta Gerwig hits our screens on 21st July 2023 and will give us a rush of nostalgia that takes us back to Christmas of 1999.

Whether the film lives up to the hype is yet to be seen, but I’m all for the HUGE marketing drive that Barbie’s marketing team have no doubt spent months preparing for!

The marketing team have truly harnessed the power of an incredible brand and turned social media bubblegum Barbie pink.

With the rise of AI, Barbie’s smart marketing team created the ‘Barbie Selfie Generator’ website, which allows users to upload a picture of themselves, and essentially become a Barbie (everybody’s dream, right?).

Although it’s incredibly clever because, at the download screen, it encourages you to #BarbieTheMovie when sharing socially. As consumers, we love a gimmick! Creating something that’s easy and fun to share speaks to the masses very quickly, encouraging the sharing using hashtags means that the team can quickly manage the success of the campaign too.

The marketing team responsible clearly reached out to brands with access to their target audience and encouraged a collab and I’m here for it! The movie isn’t even out yet, and there are already over 30 collaborations.

With collaborations with Microsoft, OPI, NYX, Tangle Teezer, Kitsch, Boohoo, GAP and Crocs to name a few, they have proven the importance of creating strategic partnerships that help to spark conversation and FOMO.

Even the metaverse was on the hitlist, as the team partnered with Forever 21 to produce a clothing line in the realm of Roblox and even produced a matching clothing line in-store to look like your favourite Roblox character.

Your imagination isn’t deceiving you! All those Gen Z childhood dreams of staying in a Malibu Dreamhouse growing up could now come true!

Airbnb jumped on the Barbie Bandwagon and Barbie-fied a Malibu dreamhouse, which is a replica of that familiar dreamhouse some of us begged our parents for growing up. You can book a stay from 17th July, no prices are available yet – but what’s the price of reliving a childhood dream, seriously?

When creating a brand the goal should always be that it represents the company, its values and it should relate to its target audience. Once brands have gained heritage and been kicking about for a little while, they start to become recognisable by lots of different characteristics alone ranging from colour, font, symbol or even tone of voice!

The iconic Barbie brand is no different! The bold ‘Barbie pink’ colour is striking, and even without imagery stands apart on its own. The colour is playful, fun, and vibrant and creates an energetic atmosphere which is representative of the imaginative play seen in childhood. The ‘dollie script’ font used for the Barbie logo has become one of the key components to creating the overall brand identity.

Imagine being recognisable by a single colour alone?!

A huge round of applause to the team behind this incredible campaign – I salute you! Although with a rumoured advertising budget of $80 million, the film better is a box office triumph.

So, the takeaway lesson from Mattel’s masterclass is to create a strong brand identity and think strategically when it comes to launching or relaunching your business or product.

If you need support with creating a brand or relaunching your current one, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help you.

Come on Barbie, let’s go party!