Have you seen it?!
We were a little late to the party, having missed the initial week of buzz and talk about it. However, we eventually got to see it about two weeks after its release in Dublin! Having gone with very little expectations, as a mother of a daughter, I was pleasantly surprised!
Did everyone wear PINK?! Yes, about 99% of the audience had pink clothing! Why is that? Because we were Barbie brain washed in advance! Admittedly, my own Barbie brain washing goes back to the 1980s. My daughter, aged six, was just as influenced as me, if not more though! The power of Barbie marketing is certainly one to be admired.
So, what lessons did we learn from a marketing perspective?
1. The power of marketing in advance – 2 years and more
So, if you had never heard of Barbie, what rock have you been living under?! Barbie has been a doll in existence for generations. However, the talk of the Barbie movie has been circulating for about two years. That is serious pre-event marketing lead in time. Apparently, as far back as 2009 the talk of making the movie with Mattel started. When the movie started to be made, we started hearing of the release date for what seemed like AGES later. July 2023 was the Big Day.
2. More marketing in advance – 2 months and more
More advance marketing. Really clever to create the Barbie Selfie Generator. It spread like wildfire in April this year. On social media we could create Barbie branded selfie templates. From what we observed, they were EVERYWHERE at the time. They did die down a little after, but what a great way to make the Barbie brand foremost in our minds. Really clever!
3. The main event – Barbie EVERYWHERE
The PR, advertising, branding and marketing is to be hugely admired. From July there was Barbie pink everywhere we looked. In Dublin, the Dundrum Town Centre event branded the glass elevators to look like you were in a Barbie Box. Lots of brands and businesses seemed to get in on the action. The launch event in Dublin was awash of pink branding. Cleverly, lots of celebrity influencers, including radio show hosts were invited to the premiere event in Dublin. There was huge radio coverage as a result.
So, what did we think?!
The marketer in me sat back and observed the before, during and after marketing associated with the event. The cynic in me said “they have a big budget”!! The mammy in me wondered if it was the right thing to do to bring my daughter to the movie. The Barbie fan in me was DYING to go! Was I disappointed? No! Not at all. I absolutely loved it. What I loved more was that my daughter could understand the difference between reality in the Real World and Barbie fiction. I also loved the life lessons in the movie. Am I a feminist? I don’t think so, but maybe a little! Would I recommend it? Yes!!!!