Be Like Mattel. The Marketing Campaign Behind Barbie And Putting Its Elements Into Practice

• Published date: 18 September 2023
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, Trademark, Advertising, Marketing & Branding, Broadcasting: Film, TV & Radio
• Law Firm: JWP Patent & Trademark Attorneys
• Author: Marta Michalik

In the last few weeks, the colour pink has completely taken over the mainstream, all because of the premiere of Greta Gerwig's new feature film about Barbie. The controversial doll, which evokes so many emotions, both positive and negative, is now the talk of the world. Especially the marketing campaign, carefully planned and impossible to miss, drew a lot of attention. It's scale, and particularly the amount of money spent on it (the estimated number is around 150 million dollars, more than the cost of the film production itself) is quite surprising.

Marketing on such a large scale (the film was advertised globally) was possible thanks to the popularity of Barbie dolls; however, first and foremost, it was the effect of Mattel's multiple licensing agreements with other brands. Barbie was literally everywhere, from pink billboards with the date of the premiere, through pink burgers at Burger King Brazil, a line of clothing created by Zara, to the pink Barbie mansion, a replica of her Malibu Dreamhouse, where you could spend the night.

Source: https://news.airbnb.com/barbies-malibu-dreamhouse-is-back-on-airbnb-but-this-time-kens-hosting/

The Barbiecore trend, a reference to the candyland-like world of Barbie, started in 2022, when clothing companies represented by big stars began promoting the colour pink in all its shades. This fashion was not a coincidence - Barbie was talked about even back then, and the brands preparing their new collections for future seasons included lots of pink, fuchsia and pastels in them. Already in 2022, photos from the set of the film with actors portraying the main characters of Barbie and Ken - Margot Robbie and Ryan Gossling - provoked great interest not only in the production itself, but also in the actors' outfits, which the fashion industry profited from. And, since the day of the premiere, many fashion brands have chosen to enter into a licensing agreement with Mattel (who owns the Barbie trademark) to create collections referencing Barbie. They included Zara, Gap, Forever 21, ALDO, Sinsay, Pepco, or the luxurious fashion house Balmain. Products available only for a limited period of time or in small numbers attracted customers and sold out exceptionally fast.

Source: Zara's Barbie collection inspired by the doll and the film (Photo: Press release)

Beside the fashion brands who referenced the film, new lines were created by cosmetic and even technology brands, such as the pink Barbie console created in collaboration...