Life In Plastic IS Fantastic: How The Barbie Team Has Taken PR To A Whole New Level

Here at WPRO, we’ve been wowed and impressed by the buzz surrounding the new film Barbie. Mattel, the company behind the iconic doll, has created its own film studio and is launching Barbie as its flagship film, leaving no crumbs when it comes to the marketing efforts behind it. Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz stated about the decision, ‘We’re looking to create movies that become cultural events,’ and they’ve certainly achieved it with Barbie. The PR and Marketing team behind the movie have managed to turn the press circuit into a global phenomenon.

For the last few months, it’s been hard to look anywhere without some form of ‘Barbie’ content popping up. For starters, its box office clash with the much-anticipated Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer became non-stop headlines and has been discussed ever since. The clash, which has become the latest meme trend, with such memes posing the question, ‘Will I even understand Oppenheimer if I haven’t seen Barbie first?’ and another that shows frantic costume changes on July 21st from the pink hues of Barbie to the grey palette of Oppenheimer. From the get-go, this movie has had people talking

The Impact of a Diversified PR and Marketing Strategy

The Barbie marketing team has managed to extend into a huge range of industries, from transport to AirBNB, music to fashion - Barbie is there. The reach of these campaigns has been phenomenal, with millions of people now anticipating the upcoming movie.

To kickstart the PR, Barbie released a selfie generator that allowed fans to create their own movie poster and tagline. This led to some hilarious results that circulated on social media and soon became viral. Aware that a large number of Barbie fans are no longer children, the marketing team took on brand collaborations in a range of sectors outside of toys, such as homeware, beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and even a pinked-out version of an iconic Xbox console. Barbie has become so much more than just a doll.

The official movie soundtrack was released early and features global popstars, generating hype in the music industry. The playlist draws on nostalgia with musical references to the iconic ‘Barbie Girl’ Aqua song (despite Barbie previously suing the band!) Leaning into the nostalgia even further, cassettes of the playlist are also available for pre-order. This marketing team knows what their audience wants and is happy to provide it.

It goes on and gets crazier. A pop-up Barbie cafe (roller skating rink included) appeared in Chicago, Ryan Gosling’s smiling face has been plastered on the side of pink buses, and in Malibu, an entire Barbie-themed hotel has been constructed. Architectural Digest took a tour around the hotel with a glowing Margot Robbie, advertising its launch on Airbnb for anyone to rent and live out their Barbie dreams.

Throughout the press tour, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling have been careful to look the part by wearing pink, pink, and more pink. Vogue’s social media has regularly shared Robbie’s looks as she’s drawn on fashion nostalgia and recreated classic runway pieces, again reaching a wide audience. Speaking of pink, the movie set used so much hot pink paint that it resulted in a global shortage. This became a viral news story that earned the film fantastic exposure.

What Is WPRO Taking Away From This?

Our first takeaway is never to underestimate the power of nostalgia. In marketing, nostalgia is an incredibly powerful tool, and it was leveraged perfectly by the Barbie PR team, resulting in impressive and widespread results. Second, marketing that creates unique and shareable experiences, like the ‘This Barbie is’ selfie filter, is always successful. Audiences love to partake in campaigns for brands they love, especially when the results are personalized and funny, and in doing this they’re marketing the brand themselves. Third, the carefully considered brand partnerships that the film has made have also been impeccable and led millions of people to reconnect with Barbie without touching a single doll. The movie has highlighted the power of PR, once again proving how effective the right strategy can be for visibility and credibility. This Barbie is great at PR.

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