Barbara Millicent Roberts (lovingly called Barbie), daughter of George and Margaret Roberts from Willows, Wisconsin, recently hit a theatre near you. Despite a strong franchise and a legendary product, BARBIE, the movie ran an all-out marketing campaign. Why not? At The End- It Is All About- ”Come on Barbie- let’slet’s go party”. The excitement is high, and the movie on day one did more than decent business during the weekend, inching closer to the 20Cr mark.
Barbie like Lego toys, and then the play-station has been a divider than a unifier. There were two kinds of kids, Barbie owners and non-owners. And after the movie, you will have a perfect 2X2 matrix of Barbie owners and movie watchers. And everyone would want to be at ‘Owned a Barbie – watched the movie quadrant’.
Dolls And Toys Have Huge Emotional Links.
To fill the void from childhood, where soft toys were a luxury we could never indulge in. Where the friends played with us but never allowed us to play with the teddy bear she had. I bought a giant teddy bear from my first salary. So, I can understand the huge emotional pull the movie will have on Barbie owners and non-owners. Many of these toys are kept and treasured like memories.
Barbie International Success.
There are more than 1 billion Barbie dolls sold since 1959, and she is still going strong, with more than 100 Barbie sold per minute and an estimated revenue of $2 billion in 2022.
Barbie till now has more than 250 inspirational careers, meaning there are many more Barbies to own. You can get $25,000 plus for an original 1959 Barbie in pristine condition.
Children find a place for their toys and dolls on the show shelf or child memory kits when they grow up. The girl never grows her Barbie. And, there is a Barbie in every girl’sgirl’s world – the fantastic world they live in and run wild with imagination. Barbie is, after all, an entirely fluid idea. She plays on the reflective dreams of young girls and is what they want her to be.
Barbie Ecosystem And Digital.
The Barbie app boasts over 70 million active users, with 19 million plus followers across social media platforms. I see it as an underselling of the legend on screen. It has evolved and kept pace with time. Be it the dress sense, ethnicity options, boyfriends, cultural ethos, continuous marketing, or accessories. Thus creating ab hugely successful ecosystem.
Barbie Proactive Marketing.
The 29 cm legend has remained a girl child favourite globally. The US figures claim that 90% of girls own at least one Barbie and that the average girl owns 10 Barbie dolls.
There is a Barbie world out there- stories like her breakup in 2004 and getting back with Ken in 2011 keep the imagination high.
The screen outing of Barbie should be much stronger than the first outing of Batman, Superman, Superwoman etc., in the overall pull, interest and lifetime revenue or impact on Barbie as a franchise.
The movie Barbie will be a family outing with a girl child. It will further boost the Barbie world and expand the universe of Barbie kids while retaining and igniting the nostalgia in the ”I once had a Barbie’Barbie’ audience. The old generation, fully dripping in childhood memories and remembering the time with Barbie, will be the brand ambassador inviting the new generation into the fold. I will not be surprised if many moms play Barbie-Barbie with their daughters in the next few weekends.
Barbie And India
Barbie has not seen the same success in India. However, it remains aspirational and a large franchise. There has always been a question of Indian relatability to Barbie and acceptance of her sexuality and beauty parameters, including body measurements. It is a futile debate. For girls owning a Barbie, the Barbie is the prime princess in her playgroup. The body measurement is not something the kid looks at. Even the plastic hollow air-filled INR 7 dolls in a rural market have the same makeup. So where is the problem?
The brand Barbie will get more mileage and traction post the movie launch and later with reruns over channels.
Not Without Controversies.
On the other hand Barbie in recent times, has had controversies due tosome negative body image, perceived sexism, upholding gender stereotypes, pushing impossible beauty parameters and lack of Barbie diversity- however, it has not really impacted her popularity. On top of it, with ever-new introductions and expansion of the ecosystem, the brand further fuels the insatiable hunger of wanting a fresh Barbie.
Brands and Barbie Ecosystem.
The brands participating in the movie promotion leverage the Barbie ecosystem, and the captive audience are riding a marketing juggernaut. All these linkages were years in the making in a well-controlled campaign. Brands, including Crocs, Boohoo, Kitsch, Gap, Funboy, Primark and Mattel, have marketing product associations with limited editions and other merchandise from the world of dress, fashion trends, new clothing, barbie parties, perfume, shoes, brushes, eatables and more.
The brand has been fairly active in outdoor activation and social media. The selfie filter was a huge hit, and the outdoor campaign was a great curiosity generator. There were social media filters, UGC and metaverse associations, to list a few.
It is more than just painting the town in Barbie colours. It is like colouring the hearts of the older generation, which proudly claimed ”I lived in a Barbie world” to the new audience who want to live the Barbie world in Barbie colours.
More Than The Movie.
It is futile to see marketing efforts as just movie marketing. If there was a word for a concept, it is one of the largest surrogate advertising for Barbie for being future-ready and expanding the Barbie lover segment in an era where kids are turning more to screens than playing with toys.
The movie got a PG13 certificate abroad. It is nice for the brand in countries with a large following. It is UA certified in India and will work for the movie. The kid’skid’s pressure may not be high, but the adult would support the outing.
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Barbie, the movie marketing looks to have gone overboard if one looks at it as simple movie marketing. Then the task was simple, fill the theatre for the first 4 days and let the experience market the movie. There was no option to undersell and risk it overall.
If the movie and the brand manage the expectation and experience gap well, it will be great; otherwise, we may see the movie fail in no time.
I feared the marketing campaign may have extended the expectations, and the experience may not live up to it, hurting the movie, if not the franchise. Like the non-pet owners in a pet café, you will find many non-barbie owners at the shows- it is Barbie, after all. She had parted during the weekend on the large screen in Indian cinemas.
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