After the pandemic, movie theatres have been suffering from lack of movie goers. However, Barbie managed to break the curse.
Whether you are team Barbie or Team Oppenheimer, you can’t deny that Barbie has managed to create unparalleled hype around it.
The hype not only managed to drive people to watch Barbie, but also see it as a package deal with Oppenheimer. Therefore, driving ticket sales for both films.
So, what are the lessons you can learn from the Barbie marketing campaign?
Lesson 1: Consistency is Key in Branding
Branding plays a crucial role in establishing a favourable perception of a company and its products. This process involves six key elements, including brand voice, brand identity, brand promise, brand values, brand targeting, and brand positioning.
By carefully developing and integrating these elements, businesses can create a powerful and cohesive brand image that resonates with their target audience and fosters long-term loyalty.
The Barbie brand has held a prominent place in the hearts of young girls for many decades, being the quintessential doll since the 1950s.
Throughout its history, Barbie has evolved, adapting to changing times and societal expectations. Despite these changes, the iconic Barbie pink colour remains deeply associated with the brand, instantly recognizable when thinking about Barbie. This consistent element has contributed to maintaining a strong and memorable brand identity.
The recent Barbie film showcased the effectiveness of sticking to a well-established branding strategy. From the movie itself to the limited-time products created in conjunction with the film, the brand maintained its core identity.
By staying true to its iconic Barbie pink colour and the essence that generations of young girls have cherished, Barbie’s film successfully leveraged its strong branding to create a seamless and engaging experience for its audience, further solidifying the brand’s enduring popularity.
It’s important for marketers to understand that consistency is key in branding. By adhering to a set of well-defined brand elements, companies can establish a strong and recognizable identity in the minds of consumers.
The Barbie brand’s success is a testament to the power of maintaining core elements, like the iconic pink colour, while still evolving to stay relevant.
A consistent brand image helps build trust and connection with consumers, contributing to long-term brand loyalty and recognition.
Lesson 2: Strategic Launches Are Vital
The Barbie marketing team stands out for their exceptional ability to orchestrate strategic launches that create a peak point of activity.
By generating a sense of scarcity and excitement, the team captivates its target audience, ensuring maximum attention and hype.
The success of the Barbie movie teaches marketers to identify key milestones in their own campaigns and channel resources effectively to create a peak moment that leaves a lasting impact.
Meticulous planning, cohesive execution, and offering exclusive limited availability during the launch period are essential to driving consumer engagement and fostering brand loyalty. They cleverly teased different elements of their movie to build curiosity.
Marketers can adopt this tactic by thoughtfully identifying crucial moments in their own campaigns and investing resources strategically to create buzzworthy launch experiences. Careful planning and coordination of all marketing activities maximize the impact of such teasers.
Following the Barbie team’s example, withholding specific details initially and gradually revealing more as the campaign progresses keeps consumers engaged and eager for more information. This approach fosters anticipation, driving consumer interest and active participation with the brand.
Lesson 3: Keep Your Potential Customers Engaged
The Barbie marketing team understood the assignment well. They created highly shareable content with the goal of going viral.
Their marketing strategy extended to online platforms connecting people all over the world. They made good use of social media platforms through different targeted campaigns on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.
They also collaborated with different influencers from different backgrounds to foster a sense of inclusivity and community.
In addition, the Barbie marketing team demonstrated a deep understanding of its audience by creating entertaining and engaging content. Utilizing interactive filters like “she’s everything” and “he’s just a Ken” added an element of fun and excitement, capturing the interest of potential viewers.
They also encouraged people to dress up as their favourite Barbie or Ken for the movie. This turned into a Barbie movie ritual, adding to the anticipation and building a unique experience around the film.
This clever marketing approach not only kept the audience entertained but also fostered a sense of enthusiasm and anticipation. Thus, it enhanced the movie’s overall impact and created a memorable experience for fans.
Marketers can learn from this approach by focusing on campaigns that offer unique perspectives and valuable insights. This helps spark curiosity and engagement among their target audience. It also encourages interactions, comments, and sharing, amplifying the viral potential of the content, building a strong sense of community around the brand.
Lesson 4: Upselling Is Your Friend
Marketers can learn from Barbie the ways to make customers happy while selling additional products. Barbie’s team uses a smart trick called “upselling” to do this.
Upselling means offering special things or discounts that make customers want to buy things quickly. For example, when the Barbie movie came out, they offered limited-edition toys and cool promotions such as collectible Barbie car popcorn containers to make people excited to buy them right away.
This helps the company earn more money and makes customers feel special because they got something unique.
To be good at upselling, marketers need to know what customers like and what they want. By understanding this, they can suggest things that customers will love.
They can also create packages that include extra items at a better price. For instance, they might offer a set of products together, which makes customers happy because they get more for their money.
But remember, the most important thing is to be honest and not pushy. Marketers should care about what customers need and give them things that truly make them happy.
When they do this, customers will keep coming back, and the company will be successful. So, by using smart upselling, marketers can make people happy, sell more, and build strong relationships with customers.
Lesson 5: Opportunities Come Once in a Lifetime, So Act on Them
Barbie’s latest idea resulted in it getting free promotion from BTS’s Jimin. This started with viewers noticing that Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken, was wearing a similar outfit to Park Jimin’s Permission to Dance music video outfit.
Everyone was rightfully squealing over this as it is a well-known fact among the BTS fans, also called A.R.M.Y, that Jimin’s favourite movie is the Notebook. This connection created a lot of excitement and buzz around Barbie among K-pop fans.
Ryan Gosling who plays the main male character in both movies posted a video recently. In the video, he gifts Ken’s guitar to Jimin in the spirit of Ken stealing another Ken’s outfit.
Now, Jimin filmed a video of him holding the Ken’s guitar. He thanked Ryan Gosling and expressed his support for the Barbie movie.
This shows that sometimes great opportunities can come out of nowhere. Being open to unexpected moments and quick to act on them can lead to successful marketing campaigns.
Barbie’s success with the BTS’s A.R.M.Y was largely due to the brand’s awareness of the fanbase’s deep connection to BTS.
Marketers should invest time and effort in researching their target audience, understanding their preferences, and identifying shared interests. Tailoring campaigns to align with the interests of the audience can lead to more meaningful connections and higher engagement levels.
So, which lessons will you take from the Barbie marketing team to incorporate into your company’s marketing strategy?
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