Why Did Barbie's PR & Marketing Work So Well?

It is hard to look back at 2023 without remembering 50 shades of pink everywhere you went, everywhere you looked and everything you consumed. Pink was everywhere- ‘Barbie’ was everywhere, and obviously so were Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig.

There are so many reasons why this huge blockbuster hit made such an impact on a global scale, making film history in various aspects. A few things are worth noting regarding the movie's success and its PR and marketing promotions. In my opinion, these four things propelled the world of ‘Barbie’ into everyone’s mind- whether they liked it or not.

1. Pink - the colour of Barbie’s brand

2. Brand Collaborations - ranging from accessible fast fashion brands like Shein all the way to luxury products like Balmain

3. Product Placement

4. Obviously, “Barbenheimer” core

Let’s take a deeper dive into these four elements and how they majorly contributed to the world’s largest pink big bang:

#1 Why It Worked: The Pink Theme

A simple colour made the whole entire globe think of a movie. If you think about it, no movie has ever had that much power of association before with something as simple but so powerful as one single colour. While Mattel’s doll Barbie has indeed always had a hefty amount of pink, and society has always associated the colour with the female gender, the colour pink had never really had so much power and attention at such a scale before. It became a whole aesthetic. You knew people would see Gerwig’s film in theatres because they wore a head-to-toe pink outfit. You could see memes online using pink elements, food items being dyed pink (and surprisingly doing pretty well in sales), and even public transportation turned pink, causing a nationwide shortage of pink.

#2 Why It Worked: Brand Partnerships

So many brands decided to hop on the ‘Barbie’ bandwagon so that you couldn’t escape the pink doll frenzy as a consumer. From a real life-size doll house in Malibu with AirBnB to fast-fashion brands like Shein, all the way to luxury brands like Balmain, all including unique ’Barbie’ items- all bedazzled and pink, of course!

Times Magazine made a list of all the brands that jumped to the “Barbiecore trend” these are some of the few that I feel made their way into our culture in smart ways, whether they used reversal and caused controversy or they were just hands down smart:

- Burger King’s Pink Burger

- Gap

- Superga, Aldo, Crocs

- Spirit Halloween (naturally)

- Moon Toothbrushes

- O.P.I Nailpolish

- NYX Make Up

- Dragon Glassware

- Xbox – Barbie Dreamhouse edition

- Uno Cards

- Bumble Dating App – Barbie & Ken help you find a date

#3 Why It Worked: Product Placement

It was hard to miss Margot Robbie, dressed in vintage Channel and inside a hot pink Corvette. Barbie's product placement was extensive and strategic, seamlessly integrating various brands into the film. For starters, as mentioned in The Guardian, the entire 114 minutes of the movie are an ad for Mattel.

In an era where traditional advertising methods face challenges, i.e., skippable ads, Barbie leveraged product integration to engage audiences and potentially drive consumer behaviour. What car does Barbie drive? What watch does Ken buy in “the real world”? What shoes does Weird Barbie offer Barbie the chance to enter the real world? Hint: Birkenstocks. These placements, meticulously chosen, contributed to the overall narrative and heightened brand visibility, leading to high increases in sales of those products.

#4 Why It Worked: Barbenheimer Core

What can be larger than two wildly anticipated blockbusters from two recognised directors, starring some of the world's most famous actors, premiering on the Same. Exact. Date. In the entertainment industry back in 2023, at least, not much. This collision of films possibly caused an atomic explosion (pun, please laugh!) worldwide, causing people to create whole itineraries around the two screenings. Taking social media platforms by an absolute storm, people from all over the world were sharing their ideal “Barbenheimer” day: Wake up, dress in pink, get frozen yoghurt, watch ‘Barbie’, change outfit to all black and throw on a pair of dark sunglasses, grab a cigarette and a pint of Guinness and head to the theatre to watch ‘Oppenheimer’, end day.

As seen above, many factors contributed greatly to this film’s promotion and PR, but it is hard to deny that it wasn’t all pretty genius and historical.

What or who will be the next to top this off?