The cultural phenomenon of Barbie has been embedded in popular culture for a long time. The entity of Barbie has been popular for both right and wrong reasons, but with Greta Gerwig’s announcement of the movie, it saw a response which the marketing team responded to so cleverly that it deserves a standing ovation of its own.
The Barbenheimer
With Barbie’s star cast, it’s name was not going to dissolve into people’s minds very easily. It was going to stand out for it’s own idea, the idea of the Barbie live action movie, representing stars like Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and would have fetched attention on it’s own, as it initially did when the initial leaks of the BTS photos were released. But the marketing team of Barbie capitalised on the seed of interest buried in people’s minds and worked their way to grow it into a strong and long tree, with deep roots and a thick trunk.
With the release of the movie Oppenheimer on the same day, a great deal of attention was attracted to the contrasting premises of both the films and an avid interest was drawn into the clash of both of these films, but the rivalry was cleverly exploited to assist in increasing the popularity of each film individually. The amusement of the audience of this rivalry was fodder for the marketing team and they did not leave any chance missed for them to spread their wings and conquer their audience worldwide.
Barbie’s Partnerships
The marketing team submerged themselves into a realm of partnerships, utilising their resources to the fullest extent of their capabilities, from Barbie themed burgers, to Barbie themed X-boxes. They left so stone unturned for the branding of their image and leave a bright, hot pink mark on the impressions of the audience. Fashion items like custom pink crocs, Gap’s Barbie themed clothing line, Zara’s clothing line, fragrant candles by Glasshouse and hair dryers were also introduced and even non media culture influenced companies like General Motors and Progressive Insurance used Barbie in digital advertisements.
The team has secured more than 100 partnerships deal up to July 21, the date of the release of the film. Barbie’s dream house, brought alive in a rather spectacular manner, was featured in Architectural Digest with a complete and thorough tour of every pink part of the mansion. Fans can also book a stay at the house at the courtesy of Airbnb. There were many local pop-up promotional events in Chicago and a boat cruise in Boston and Warner Bros About $100 million was said to be spent on the marketing of the film and based on reports, the film would make it’s money back in the first week of its release.
Profits earned
Shares of Mattel, the company who makes the barbies, have are up 18% in the past month because of heavy attention to the brand attracted due the film, plus all the partnernships are worth a profit of $70 million to Warner Bros. and Mattel. Since January, close to half a million articles have been written about Barbie, 86,000 of which were published in the past month alone, according to MuckRack data. 1.6% percent of the article was about the trailer itself and the rest were all about partnerships, celebrity buzz and promotional events.
The cast of Barbie had set out on a tour of promotional events before the SAG-AFTRA strike and the work done on the wardrobe of Margot Robbie was exquisitely delightful, not disappointing the spirit of the movie and getting the fans excited themselves with the consistent efforts to stay on theme and true to the core of the movie.
Reviews
In the dull shadow that has fallen on Hollywood because of the strikes, the ambitious and interesting rivalry have been a source of great interest for most of the world and with opening box office earnings reporting to about $41.4 million for Barbie worldwide, with stellar ratings like the Rotten Tomato’s of 90% and many positive words for the film, the marketing team should sit back in the dream house themselves and take a sip of their margaritas.
