I take advantage of the fact that the premiere of the Barbie movie is very close to analyze some details of everything that has happened and has been commented on around her. Later we’ll talk about how good the movie is.
As of this writing, I have read a lot about “Barbie The Movie marketing”. Many marketers, advertisers say that it is the best they have seen in recent years. Precisely the “peak” of all that was discussed is precisely the billboard that went viral in many media, without having any image or anything written except on the day of the premiere. Obviously, the material was recognized because all it had was the color “Barbie pink”. And yes, I think overall it was a very clever idea.
At this point I stop to reflect again on the question: are the marketing efforts for the Barbie movie the best in recent years? Frankly, I don’t know, but I do believe that it is a success story at a strategic level, because it takes advantage of the best of its brand to generate a “buzz” in all spheres and niches of advertising, conversation, social networks, niche markets. and, even more, the premiere itself has become a trend. A marketing effort that has become a trend is an action that is reserved for the most important Love Brands in the world. And of course Barbie is and has been for decades.
This strategic vision is a gem, if you ask me. And I will explain what I mean. If we analyze the advertising and marketing efforts up to now, there is no titanic promotion like in other movies (like Super-Heroes in particular), where you find action figures, promotions with fast-food restaurants and an impressive amount of impacts both online and offline (and now that I think about it, maybe I’ve seen “few” OOH ads actually). The fact that there is no such aggressive promotion does not mean that there is no per se. I think the bottom line is that they let advertising be done at the level of word of mouth as has rarely been seen in recent years (here I do agree): precisely this element is a key factor in the success of the campaign: everyone is talking about Barbie and the movie. And when I say everyone, I mean brands, people, media and a very long ETC.
The first effort that I remember properly branded 100% by Barbie were precisely some filters on Instagram that quickly became a trend and also went viral as memes. Everyone wanted and put their Barbie or Ken filter. And the film was talked about to infinity. The conversation and impacts were sown and generated by the users themselves. It was precisely at that moment that the film entered the conversation scene at all levels.
Until a few days ago, I saw many impacts from the media and people who talked about the clothing of the protagonists on the red carpets. Something curious is precisely that they appeal to nostalgia marketing (very similar to what happened with the Mario Bros movie); so everyone talked about the outfits of the actors (who were strategically very well curated, of course). Again, they took the conversation away. Furthermore, everything that happens around Barbie goes viral and becomes a trend.
And so it will continue for at least a few more weeks when the film is released, there are thousands of memes, trends and everything else. Many predict that it may be the highest grossing movie of the year and some even say that it is one of the highest grossing in history. It is still early to know this. What we do know well is that Barbie has eclipsed the conversation of other brands, movies, events and trends: it is the users who have generated so many impacts that they are the main ambassadors of the product. That is precisely the secret behind the marketing: because it is enough to put on a pink garment to recognize that you are part of an advertising campaign behind the movie. Right now pink has all the marketing connotations.
Precisely the last of the efforts of this appropriation were the photos that circulate in the network of the taquería that has pink “Barbie” tortillas. And again they became a trend and everyone is talking about it. I don’t doubt for a moment that there are lines asking for her Barbie tacos.
Again the conversation that the film generates. He word of mouth it becomes the most important element and all the appropriation of the character and its elements, like the color pink.
We’ll talk about the movie later, in due course.