Has Barbie changed how we approach marketing?
Marketing for the Barbie movie has been over the top, and I have loved every second about it. I was personally not a Barbie girl growing up (but after seeing the movie I am obsessed - it may have changed my life and I encourage everyone to see it). As a marketer, you have to be somewhat excited about this shift and viewpoint on marketing - Barbie was a great example to launch (or push really) this new view of brands and marketing - building worlds and experiences. Now most brands will not have a $100 million marketing budget like Barbie (so far, the box office numbers seem worth it), but developing stories and meaningful partnerships with brands and creators can be done.
While Barbie did open up the availability for brands to license their colors and logo, it led to some really cool (and unexpected) collabs - some of which I think really helped these brands.
Here are a few of my favorites (FYI skipping the clothing collabs):
Airbnb Barbie Dreamhouse - They actually starting working on this years ago for Barbie’s anniversary, but this collaboration seemed natural as everyone knows Barbie’s Dreamhouse is iconic. Additionally, this is a perfect fit for the brand to hold events and influencer activations.
Beis x Barbie - Shea Mitchells luggage brand has been on the come up for a while, and honestly seems to be the dominating luggage brand on social media.
Crocs x Barbie - Crocs is no stranger to collabs and this is a seamless fit.
Homesick x Barbie - I love this one as it’s not completely pink. This gives consumers a way to participate without pink-washing and who doesn’t want to have one of their senses met - I absolutely want my house to smell like Barbies!
Swoon x Barbie - This was a bit of a shock as I didn’t think Swoon was a huge brand, but they made it happen. Not only did we see these lemonades all over the press tour, but they even moved placement for this product to the TOY SECTION of stores. How insane!
Not only did all of these brands get into the Barbie fun, any brand can really get in on it. This is exactly why posting around trends can be helpful for your brands. Our brands have posted Barbie related content over the last two months and they have been our top performers.
Looking for some inspo of your own? Because Barbie is a legacy brand build around Barbie world this may have seemed “easy” and may not feel as approachable for your brand.
Here are a few brands that have done well at telling a story and integrating partnerships into their marketing:
Now, how can your brand make this happen?
Build a world and tell a story: This is step one. If your brand doesnt have a clear story to tell or purpose in this world (other than selling a product) you have a LOT of work to do. If marketing doesn’t come naturally, if influencers have a hard time creating content to your brand, and if your website only talks about product features it’s time to do some core brand work.
Use the data: This is everything and really one of the first steps. Use your brand’s data to learn what direction to go in - starting small with understanding what content they engage with (more than others), who your audience is and what influencers they pay attention to, etc.
Build relationships: Developing relationships with creators, influences, and brands will be key to tell your story. When your brand is solid and other people/brands are able to fit themselves into that seamlessly is brand GOLD. Do more than the simple giveaways, what value is this collab brining to consumers, why will they care, and how can you help them in telling your brand’s story?
Go to your consumers: Showing up to your consumers can be so much more than just pushing paid ads in their face. Brands flock to this type of marketing because our ad managers give us data points we like, and other partnerships cannot be tracked at meticulously. Now that we are out of the pandemic out of home marketing and activations should really be on your radar.