What the Barbie Movie can teach us about marketing

Come on Barbie, let’s go party. Oh, oh, oh yeah. Come on Barbie, let’s go party, for you have created one of the best marketing campaigns in modern history!

Unless you’ve been snoozing for the better half of the year or you’ve avoided all pop culture, social media, television, stores, restaurants, billboards and most aspects of modern life, you’re by now very aware that the Barbie Movie premiered over the weekend. Making its way into theaters the same weekend as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the Barbie movie was a success for the franchise long before it smashed records with its $165 million dollar North American weekend debut (and $337 million global weekend debut - wow!)

So what got the Barbie movie loads of visitors dressed in pink and eager to relive their youth? The Barbie figurine and the nostalgia was a part of it —- sure. But the biggest piece was Warner Bros. landing over a hundred partnerships with brands like Gap, NYC Cosmetics, Homesick Candles, Crocs, Xbox, Cold Stone, Aldo, Beis, Pinkberry, Chi, Burger King, and so many more. For a list of all the Barbie collabs currently out, look here.

One of the most enticing partnership for the Barbie movie is the one Warner Bros. made with Airbnb, advertising a real life Barbie Malibu DreamHouse hosted by Ken. And why tell you about it when we can show you:

We’ll have to wait til all the reviews are in, but we have no doubt that Ken is currently in the running for Airbnb host of the year!

Meanwhile, in other places across the country, Barbie theme nights were thrown, in Orlando, Florida, a Barbie Convention took place, and in Boston, Massachusetts, a Barbie themed boat cruise set sail across the harbor.

The marketing campaign for the Barbie movie has cost $150 million dollars, exceeding the budget for the production of the film itself. That number landed at a nearby $145 million. What’s more is the genius behind the Gretta Gerwigg movie starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken is that at it’s core, the film is an advertisement for the iconic figurine that most of us have grown up with.

Barbie movie hype has been strong since filming of the cotton candy pink film took off in Santa Monica in early 2022. The response from California locals was strong and before long the colorful images of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling twinning on rollerblades on Venice Beach carried through the social media world like an electric storm. Over a year before the movie’s debut, it was all too clear that this movie was going to be a smashing success.

The marketing team behind the Barbie movie was strategic every step of the way. They lured its audience in through a breadcrumb approach, only offering us bits and pieces of information about the movie at a time. Over the course of the year we saw brands pinkifying their products and buying into Barbiemania more and more. By the time the movie was released in late July of 2023, it felt like brands were outliers if they weren’t creating Barbie themed merchandise.

Movie trailers for the film were is brilliant as ever. The first Barbie movie trailer stated “If you love Barbie, this movie is for you” — words resonating with millions. And then came the next phrase “If you hate Barbie, this movie is for you”, inviting nay-sayers to reconsider what Barbie now stands for (a far more feminist Barbie than once was), while offering an opportunity for those who didn’t buy into the idea of Barbie in the past to still have a seat at the table. Upon the release of the film, a full Barbie soundtrack was launched and leading upto it, a remix of Aqua’s 90s hit “Barbie Girl” remixed by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice and later, Tiesto, became songs attached to what felt like every Instagram reel in the summer months. Barbie created a powerful movement and with it came the biggest selling weekend in box office history since the pandemic, and the 4th ever (with Oppenheimer helping those numbers land as high as they have).

So what can we learn from the marketing success that is the Barbie Movie? Well, quite a lot, in fact. Leveraging merchandise and strategically partnering with brands will lead to a lot of sales. The early Barbie partnerships led to greater and greater mass appeal, to more selling opportunities, and more purchases.

The Barbie marketing campaign encourages us to think about the value in thinking about the entire customer journey and creating customer experiences that make the purchaser feel more connected to the brand. While majority of brands don’t have $150 million to tack onto one major campaign, every brand can create the kinds of experiences that will resonate with shoppers in a way that will make the shopper want to return for multiple repeat purchases. By personalizing shopper experiences, connecting on a deeper level, and rewarding shoppers for their loyalty, marketers can create a cult following in their own world.

It takes 5x more money to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing customer, who you have a 60-70% chance of selling into, so the key is to understand who your buyer is and to treat them extremely well. Oh, and don’t always take things too seriously either. For reference, take a closer look at the humor behind the Airbnb advertisement, which highlights Ken’s “beach off” and the opportunity to take home Ken’s impala skates and surfboards.

What’s more is as the old saying goes, timing is everything. Through coordinating well timed social media campaigns, advertisements, content releases, and partnerships at a steady speed and building more and more momentum, success will follow. Knowing who you’re selling into and segmenting towards your target demographics through different channels will lead to even more retention.

Fortunately for each of you reading, our team of marketing experts is well versed in all aspects of personalization, segmentation, and customer loyalty. We’re also huge Barbie fans (well, mostly, anyway).

Want to take your marketing strategy to the next level? The Scoop Brands will set your company up for marketing success in 2023 and beyond. So what are you waiting for? Get started with us today!

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