Barbie fever has well and truly hit the world.
As marketing teams look on in jealousy at budget size (a rumoured $100 Million), and those with a penchant for pink squeal with glee at all the available Barbie merchandise, the Barbie marketing and partnerships team are clearly having the time of their careers by making the most of some seriously epic promotional opportunities.
We wanted to take a quick look at some of the collaborations, activities and partnerships from the anticipated release of the Barbie movie which hits cinemas tomorrow.
Clothing collaborations
Barbie, Ken and the other inhabitants of Barbieland are known for their unique senses of style so it’s no surprise that partnerships with clothing and footwear companies have been coming thick and fast in the run up to the films release. From Crocs to a replica of the rollerskates seen worn by Barbie and Ken in the films first trailer, to watches and jewellery from Fossil, fans can kit themselves out from head to toe in Barbie inspired merchandise. It’s not just designer brands either, affordable clothing shops such as George and Primark have released Barbie ranges.
The Barbie dream house
The remarkable sets in the Barbie movie are not CGI or special effects. A talented team built life sized sets including of course the Barbie DreamHouse. Architectural Digest got an exclusive tour of the impressive set from none other than Margot Robbie herself. Giving Architectural Digest the exclusive on this helped to expand the audience wider than the realms of fashion.
By listing a version of the Barbie DreamHouse in Malibu that a lucky few can stay in this weekend, AirBnB have shown their PR and link building brilliance. The home was originally built for Barbie’s 60th anniversary, however it has been given a ‘Ken’ makeover in time for the release of the film. In just the last month alone, the AirBnB website has received 4,650 backlinks to the ‘Kens Dream House’ property listing on their website.
Pink mayonnaise
Whilst food collaborations here in the UK appear to be few and far between, across the world there are some deliciously pink items on menus. In a collaboration with Burger King Brazil, you can purchase a pink meal complete with pink mayonnaise on your burger. US Based Cold Stone Creamery have launched an ‘All Thats Glitters is Pink’ ice cream that looks positively delicious and US based drinks brand Swoon have launched a perfectly pink lemonade.
For us in the UK, perhaps a flump and strawberry milkshake whilst watching will have to suffice…
Selfie generator
A genius way of creating sharable, user generated content is the Barbie selfie generator. Powered by AI and launched alongside the official cast movie posters, social feeds were filled with personalised selfies, allowing fans to put themselves in the poster of the film.
Search engine results page overlay
Of course, even Google had to get involved in Barbie mania. We won’t spoil the fun for you, but popping Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Greta Gerwig or of course, Barbie into the Google search bar leads to a little bit of pink pizazz on the Search Engine Results Page.
What can we learn?
Besides the fact that Barbie is timeless and the opportunity to paint the world pink is always one worth taking, the Barbie marketing campaign proves the value in an integrated campaign, even for a brand that is well known. With various touch points for audiences to feel involved with the movie release and invoking those feelings we all had of playing with our Barbie’s as children, the campaign leading up to the film release tomorrow feels like we’ve all been involved in the film for months already before even stepping foot in a cinema.
Head of SEO
