By Dr Sarah Montano, Deputy Director of Education (Digital) & Senior Lecturer in Marketing
Department of Marketing, University of Birmingham
This blog contains spoilers from the film.
The launch of the Barbie movie has been highly anticipated. Directed by Greta Gerwig and staring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, Barbie suffers an existential crisis that leads her to question her world and very existence. With cinemas experiencing difficult times during the pandemic lockdowns, the Barbie movie is hailed as the resurgence of cinema along with Oppenheimer, with some customers even watching both movies “Barbenheimer” in the same day. The BBC are reporting that Barbie has won the battle of the box office, with the movie making approximately $155million in its opening weekend in the US. The film is on track to become the biggest film of 2023. As we have seen for many years, along with successful movies comes a simultaneous merchandise launch; if Barbie is cinema’s heroine, does the same apply to retail?
History of Barbie
Barbie was created by Ruth Handler in 1959 and named Barbara or Barbie after her daughter. Ruth created Barbie following inspiration from a German doll Bild Lilli. Over 1 billion dolls have been sold by Mattel and every 3 seconds a Barbie doll is sold somewhere in the world. Mattel believe that Barbie strives to show girls that they can be anything they want to be. Barbie has had a wide range of careers such as a Pilot, Astronaut, Palaeontologist and of course President.
The original Barbie was tall, blonde and slim, however, today Mattel are keen to ensure that Barbie is representative of all women; there are currently 175 different Barbies with varying body shapes, skin tones and hair types. It is debatable if a doll can really change how girls see themselves and their careers, however, when Barbie was launched in 1959, part of the attraction was that Barbie had her own money, (dream)house and varied careers. In fact it wasn’t until 1975 that women could open their own bank accounts. In that same year, The Sex Discrimination Act made it illegal to discriminate against women in work, education and training, and in 1983 The Equal Pay Act (Amendment) ensured that women were to be paid the same as men for equal work. However, as Barbie finds out, 2023 is not utopia for women and there are many challenges and structural barriers that still exist. America Ferrera’s monologue to Barbie articulates very well the difficulties of being a woman in 2023, “It is literally impossible to be a woman [and]…somehow we are always doing it wrong.”
Barbiecore, Shopping and a Barbie Selfie
Can a Barbie really drive retail sales? To a certain extent, yes… Whilst you may see the film once or twice, you may buy merchandise many times over, increasing profitability.
From iconic movie outfits to lipsticks and accessories, Mattel is using the film release to licence a huge range of merchandise to create the “Barbiecore” aesthetic which is now an Instagrammable trend. On Mattel’s website there are 404 Barbie products with the key toys from the film prominent on the home page. Products such as President Barbie, Barbie in Pink Gingham Dress, and Ken in his denim matching set are all available. And we cannot talk about barbie without mentioning the glamour of the Barbie Dream House, available at Argos for £350.
Mattel has also entered into a number of brand partnerships that are driving retail sales and extending the reach of the brand. Mattel has partnered with the likes of Primark, who has launched a 73-piece collection including iconic Barbie and Ken looks from the film. NYX has Barbie themed makeup and a sold-out Barbie phone mirror. GAP has a Barbie hoodie and, on a T-Shirt, have replaced the famous GAP logo with “KEN.”
A key driver to stores are the Barbie themed retail outlets, many outlets have the Barbie Box where you can pose for your selfie as if you are Barbie in a box. Selfridges has created “The Corner Shop” which imagines how Barbie would hang out in London. You can enjoy renting Barbie’s wardrobe, book Barbie inspired beauty treatments, and in two shop windows iconic movie scenes have been created. So, not only can you shop Barbie, you can be fully immersed in a Barbie themed world. This is a key retail strategy today – that of immersive and experiential retail.
However, Mattel see their merchandise strategy as not only about product sales, they are using the movie and products to recontextualise what future generations think of Barbie. The key theme of the movie is about empowerment, creativity and imagination, Mattel want to demonstrate that Barbie is needed for this moment but that she is also timeless. Therefore, Barbie now has 35 skin tones, 97 hairstyles and 9 body types to mirror the “world around us”. Mattel aim to inspire the next generation and enable children to play out their own story.
But it’s not just children that Mattel is targeting with their marketing. The Barbie film is rated a 12A and so, to reach older audiences, Mattel has employed the strategy of nostalgia branding. Many of us will remember playing with Barbies or her UK rival Sindy and creating an imaginary happy, sunny, and glamourous world. In fact, we may feel nostalgic for a time when life was easier and all we had to decide was which outfit Barbie should wear that day. Retro or nostalgia branding is a powerful marketing strategy that uses heritage or nostalgia as part of the brand’s identity. Given that Barbie is nearly 65 years-old, she will be nostalgic for many customers today, encouraging adults to see the film and buy the merchandise. Many of those adults will now be parents, and the familiarity and reminder of happy memories may also encourage them to buy their own children Barbie products and merchandise.
Such wide-reaching brand partnerships and extensive merchandise has enabled Mattel to revitalise Barbie for both children and adults alike, ultimately supporting the brand’s longevity as we’re all encouraged to immerse ourselves in a Barbie world. Whether it is gift giving for children to inspire them as Mattel intend or it is to wear pink to see the film, as customers we are not short of choice! In conclusion, she’s Barbie and he’s just Ken!
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Birmingham.