BARBIE: THE MARKETING STRATEGY THAT MADE EVERYONE THINK PINK
The Barbie movie took the world by storm within the last year, way ahead of its July 2023 release. Whether you’ve seen the movie or not, you were sure to be caught in this genius marketing blitz in stores, online, and in pop culture.
The catalyst that started it all was a first look at Margot Robbie as Barbie in April 2022. It stirred excitement and led to a “leaving breadcrumbs” strategy - a little bit of intrigue and a lot of strategically planned teasers. We next saw a sneak peek of Ryan Gosling and Margot filming in California, and in theaters audiences were greeted with a Barbie x Space Odyssey teaser that whetted appetites and kept everyone guessing on the premise of the movie. Each was a cumulative piece of the puzzle that created intrigue and brand awareness without revealing much of anything.
In April 2023, the Barbie selfie generator was launched, inviting people to join Barbieland digitally by creating their own versions.
This was an inclusive way to build hype and connection to the movie before the release. The selfies went viral across multiple social platforms, with brands and influencers alike having fun morphing into their own Barbie. This felt like the first time Barbie reached across the aisle and expanded beyond women as the main target demographic. All genders, all ages, anyone online was creating and enjoying these selfies.
The icing on the cake was the purchasing power Barbie built - partnering with brands such as Vans, Beis, Swoon, Ruggable, Chi, Crocs, NYX, Kitsch, FUNBOY, and more.
All of these partners gifted products to varying tiers and niches of influencers to spread buzz and connect everyone to Barbieland to such a degree that they were able to mimic it in reality - via their outfits, decorating their houses, carrying luggage, and the foods/drinks being consumed. The star of the show was anything that could be made in Barbie Pink – the instantly recognizable shade, which brought in the nostalgic elements from childhood that made people excited to get involved in any way they could. When asked about the amount of brands that wanted to partner with Barbie, Warner Bros. President of Global Marketing Josh Goldstine said:
"I’ve been doing this for 35 years. This is one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had."
Each tactic strategically led to the LA Premiere featuring a Pink Carpet where Warner Bros invited larger scale talents such as Alix Earle, Claudia Sulewski, Finneas O’Connell, and Patrick Starr – stirring up even more excitement for moviegoers ahead of opening weekend. Though people speculate that the marketing budget is what made Barbie stand out (thought to be $100-150M), Goldstine laid that thought to rest, saying “I won’t comment on the budget.The reason people think we spent so much is that it’s so ubiquitous. That’s a combination of paid media and how many partners came to play with us. . .”
“Because it pierced the zeitgeist, it has the impression that we spend so much. In fact, we spent responsibly for an event movie.”
Domestically, it raked in $162 million in its opening weekend and reached the $1 billion mark barely 3 weeks into its release - emphasizing strong female leads and a female driven story can pull weight and that emotion sells.
Greta Gerwig's popularity amongst women combined with the girl power of Barbie herself broke broke through the barriers of a typical male perspective, broke box office records, became culturally significant, and connected people beyond the box office (i.e. Barbiecore, Barbieheimmer, etc.).