The Power Of Barbie Pink Marketing – A Year On!
The infamous colour, ‘Barbie’ pink, circulated A LOT this time last year, thanks to last years blockbuster Barbie Movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. It is one of the highest grossing films directed soley by women and made staggering amounts from global box office sales. Barbie even had the highest UK launch week awareness of any Warner Bros release in its 100-year history – exceeding the performance of Harry Potter!
What’s the relevance of Barbie this year, we hear you ask? Well, 2024 marks their 65th year! Plus, they’ve taken on a new athletic-style partnership for a sportier looking profile (rather timely for the Olympic year). You can also find the Barbie doll at London’s Design Museum for a 7-month stint. The Barbie marketing team pulled out all the stops and Barbie mania is real, whether you like pink or not!
In the words of a senior media analyst: “This is a marketing campaign that’s become bigger than the movie itself.” Keep on reading to find out what we can learn from Barbie marketing and how you might be able to pull out all the stops for your own campaign!
Barbie’s excellent execution
Pink EVERYWHERE
Apparently, there’s not a corner of the globe that didn’t turn pink, in fact, it was reported that there was a global shortage of pink paint last year! So much pink paint was used in the set construction, that there wasn’t Kenough to go round. (Sorry…) In the words of the film production designer Sarah Greenwood, ‘the world ran out of pink’. Contrary to popular belief, the colour pink isn’t actually trademarked by Barbie, unlike the UPS brown or the iconic Tiffany & Co egg blue. However, Mattel does own ‘Barbie Pink’ ( also known as Pantone 219c, arguably the less catchy name) hence this has been popping up on all those wonderful marketing opportunies that the Barbie movie keeps finding!
Nostalgia wins
Why did the blonde and pink loving doll win over so many unsuspecting fans? Well, for many it was the nostalgia factor, appealing to a wide range of generations. I for one loved my barbies (and Sindys!) and have great memories of swapping Barbie clothes and using After Eight wrappers as their shopping bags. Yes, really. Saying that, Barbie today isn’t necessarily how you once knew her. Now a virtual influencer, The Conversation quantifies her host of followers (back in July 2023):
- 11.4 million YouTube subscribers
- 2.4 million Instagram followers
- 1.1 million TikTok followers
Message delivery
Another reason is the message that it spreads (no spoilers!), and how well it delivers that message, without prejudice or sexism, that Barbie can be anything she wants. But what seems to really have won people over is the absolutely astounding marketing campaign. It has been everywhere and more.
Whether discrete or all out Barbie mania, many businesses of all sorts gave a nod to Barbie. Whether that be Innocent Smoothies with their typical light-hearted post, or brands such as Heinz suddenly changing their branding to pink. Barbie pink certainly lived its best moments in marketing. I was all up for it, although I drew the line at pink burger buns…
It would seem many brands were also pushing out products that would have been approved by Barbie. Here are just a few of our favourites!
Of course, Google was in on the marketing craze. Leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI), it was possible to turn Google pink! When the Barbie Movie was released, if you did a search for ‘barbie’ in Google and hovered over the Google logo you could watch pink sparkles dazzle your screen! Many cinemas and toy stores even had lifesize Barbie boxes for you to pose in as your very own Barbie of dreams! Cute, huh! I mean, even Yellow Cherry turned Barbie Pink Cherry for the day of the release! Check out our Facebook or Instagram to find our snap!
Instagram and TikTok had dozens and dozens of Barbie filters and reel templates too and naturally, rich in memes.
Even Xbox got into the craze with interchangeable controller interfaces to match the outfits from the movie! We are always told less is more, but in true Barbie style, anything is possible and in this case, more seemed to be the perfect amount. But why did this marketing campaign not become tiresome? Why were we all embracing the pink dream?
The value of the branding and emotional connection
Well, ultimately the branding was spot on, celebrating and embracing the distinctive character of Barbie and her personality. Giving people, and brands, the confidence to be whatever they want to be. The perfectly executed marketing campaign allowed us to all be involved in the movie and marketing, whether that was becoming Barbie or Ken in reels, eating pink burgers or just letting pink be cool for a while, it made it feel like we had a personal connection to it. Think about it, the big Barbie boxes at cinemas mean you could interact with Barbie in the same way that you would have interacted with the Barbie doll as a wee child, dressing up in pink, sparkly clothes and bending those limbs to get a great pose. And who didnt love the camaraderie of shouting ‘Hi Barbie’, ‘Hi Ken’ at other movie goers! Its the personal touch, where everyone is invited and every day is the best day ever.
Whether or not it was your cup of (pink) tea, it was a huge talking point. Everyone knew about it and had something to say about it. The marketing campaign was nothing short of perfect. The branding, immense. As they say, ‘longevity is the ultimate test of a brand’ and Barbie has stood the test of time.
How to make YOUR marketing Ken-ough
How do you create a marketing masterpiece?
1. Know your objectives, the market, and your audience
This is something we can support you in establishing for your own business. We can provide consultancy services to lay out a solid strategy.
2. Realise the power of branding and make it stylish
As Mattel’s senior vice president of Barbie said “I know the power of this brand”. How well do YOU know the power of YOUR brand? Maybe one of our brand workshops will be for you.
Let’s also not forget the army of graphic designers to create all sorts of artworks (including posters, billboards and cardboard cutouts). Check out what our in-house Graphic Designer might be able to help you out with.
3. Maximise potential reach
Marketing theory tells us that customers need 7 touchpoints before converting (we know that Barbie’s team far exceeded this!)
Between Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, email marketing, figuring out a social media content plan, we can help with that!
4. Have all the right cogs turning at the same time
The collective success of Barbie wouldn’t have been what it was without a team working in unison towards the same goal. Our full-service team working from our studio in Inverness bring together the direction, vision, visuals, function, performance and ongoing enhancement of your digital presence. That means that all our different specialisms collaborate simulataneously to lift your business as a whole.
5. Budget realistically
You will have some great ambitions for your business, and rightly so! We’re all about managing expectations so you don’t end up teetering into dreaming of what might only be possible in Barbieland. We accommodate to budgets big and small but importantly look to fuse the optimal tactics which cater to your budget (and maximise on your return). We’ll be able to get a great handle on what you are seeking once you fill in one of our quotation forms.
6. Be consistent (and resilient)
Barbie’s well-established brand could have gone awry if even just one person stepped outside the brand guideline parameters (think use of colour, font, tone, communication, values…). We know that the Barbie team’s tone of voice is positive and playful…we guess that ‘Weird Barbie’ is maybe an exception to that rule. Imagine the consequences of breaking that consistency? We probably won’t be quite so reciprocative of Barbie if she was suddenly standoff-ish and we’d not shower her with praise on the message she was sending. Beyond that, our want to be associated with Barbie and our advocacy and loyalty to the brand would all diminish. Consistently aligning your brand to all your touchpoints will ultimately enhance brand recall.
Dare we say it but Barbie wasn’t constructed overnight. From the words of Mattel’s senior vice president of Barbie:
“What I’ve learned is there is always another mountain to climb. There’s always the next big thing for Barbie.”
Many of our clients stick around for a while as we adapt to their evolving needs, and so we’re keen to join you on your journey for years to come!
Ready for a marketing makeover?
The Yellow Cherry team can be your all-in-one marketing partner and have the Ken-ergy to make your dreams come true! Why not get in touch today?