How Barbie The Movie Turned The Internet Pink: A Digital Marketing Masterclass

Purpose of This Research

Identify the content and marketing strategy employed for the Barbie movie release to:

• Assess how they increase engagement with their audience
• Highlight factors that helped create a successful digital campaign
• Identify key players in the distribution of content

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Key Takeaways

WHY BARBIE?

In July 2023, Barbie, the highest-grossing film of the year was released.

• The highly anticipated movie featured an allstar cast and crew directed by Greta Gerwig.
• The movie grossed $1.38 billion USD, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023.
• While elaborate activations and stunts helped drive awareness, even more impressive was the team’s digital strategy, which used an AI selfie generator to fuel UGC and build momentum going into launch.

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CAMPAIGN RESULTS OVERVIEW

In 2023, the Barbie Movie Generated…

Pinterest achieves the lowest traffic amongst social platforms, but has carved a niche for visual audiences looking for shopping and aesthetic inspiration

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TIMELINE

Tease launch assets months in advance to maintain viewer interest before launch.

Barbie started their launch in December 2022 leading up to the July 2023 drop.

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SEARCH INTEREST

Start releasing assets more frequently 4 months before release.

Starting in April 2023, Barbie activations were released 1-2 months apart as opposed to 5.

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PRE-LAUNCH: MOVIE TRAILERS

Create three trailers, launching them over the 6 month release schedule.

Trailers saw an average viewership growth rate of +70%.

• Use trailers as a reference to give viewers information about the movie without giving it away. The first trailer referenced a scene from “2001: A Space Odyssey”. A group of hominins are introduced to the idea of tools for the first time, comparing it to the way young girls are introduced to Barbie.
• Introduce the setting of the film in your second trailer. At 1:45 minutes in length, the second trailer invites the viewer to experience more context around the film and its plot.
• Use the final trailer to introduce the main conflict of the film. The viewer can grasp the purpose of the movie without witnessing the outcome.

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ORGANIC SOCIAL CONTENT

Build community with TikTok, videos on this platform generate 4x more engagements than Instagram.

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Empower Your Audience

Encourage creators to share content by leaning into the fan experience.

Influencers at Barbie premier parties helped encourage the public to dress up and embrace their own Barbie spirit.

Popular Organic Videos:

• Barbie fashion aligned with the trendy “Get Ready With Me” style videos, resonating with many individuals looking to share their outfits and makeup choices.
• Those who didn’t go to official premier parties instead took to their local theatres in full Barbie attire, sharing their experiences online.
• Barbie-inspired videos also gained traction as fans extended the spirit to other creative realms such as food and beverages.

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Examples

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USER-GENERATED CONTENT STRATEGY

Between April and July 2023, the barbieselfie.ai website saw 14M visits with site traffic peaking at 4.48M visits the week of launch on April 4th.

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Don’t overlook the impact of making a website for a marketing initiative.

The movie’s Selfie Generator website saw more traffic than Mattel* did when the movie launched.

Encourage creators to share content by leaning into the fan experience.

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Barbie Selfie Generator

PRE-LAUNCH: UGC

Enable users to interact with and personalize assets related to your initiative.

On April 3, 2023, Barbie released their selfie generator. This AI-powered tool allows fans to create an instant, shareable Barbie-aesthetic image.

Tactics

• Barbie generated 1.9M views with 234K engagements after posting across all their social media channels encouraging fans to go to the selfie generator site.
• The next day, Barbie unveils the movie cast via character posters in the same format and style as produced by the selfie tool, giving fans even more motivation to try it.
• The AI selfie tool exploded in popularity with brands and celebrities taking part. To date, the tool has been used over 13 million times.

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Selfie Generator Assets

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#Barbiemoviepremier

PREMIERE WEEK: PARTNERS

Create touchpoints for the community at all stages of your release.

Barbie held a series of international premiere parties between July 9 -19, 2023 starting at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Details & Tactics

• Go against the grain and make premieres a less exclusive event.
• The #barbiemoviepremier amassed 111M total views on TikTok.
• Use influencers to inspire their viewers to take similar actions as them. Barbie leveraged their partners' audiences by convincing viewers to dress up when they went to see the movie as well.

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Examples

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BRAND COLLABORATIONS

Don’t limit yourself to specific industries with your partnership approach.

Barbie collaborated with 30+ brands ahead of the July 2023 movie release.

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Barbie Partners

Stick to your core values. Barbie elevated women-owned brands of all sizes to stick to their theme of empowering others.

Partnership Details

• NYX partnered with Barbie to create and launch an entire line of makeup and accessories including the popular flip phone mirror.
• Tangleteezer partnered with Barbie to promote a limited edition hairbrush in the classic pink colourway.
• Swoon and Barbie teamed up around their shared vision of creating a happier and healthier future, launching a new beverage flavour aptly named Barbie Pink Lemonade.

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Examples

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Barbie Partners

Complement partnerships that leverage brand values with out of the box connections that send the message of "something for everyone".

Partnership Details

• Xbox launched a number of Barbie-themed hardware and in-game content, aimed at breaking down gender stereotypes within the gaming world.
• Airbnb partnered with Barbie to bring the Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse to life, inviting lucky guests to live out their Barbie fantasies.
• Bumble and Barbie also teamed up to launch a kindness campaign aimed at promoting compliments within the community.

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Examples

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PAID ADVERTISING STRATEGY

Barbie spent $25.4M on ads, allocating the most on Facebook and Instagram at $7.1M and $6.6M of the budget respectively.

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In total 3.1B impressions were delivered, with Facebook and Instagram producing 1.1B and 961M respectively.

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Prioritize Video content, Instagram and Facebook ads are both overwhelmed by this format.

Note that it may be worth experimenting with photo or carousel content as those are under-represented formats.

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Prioritize a majority of ad spend just before launching.

In total Barbie spent $11.8M pre-launch in July, accounting for 46% of the total ad budget

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Tease unique moments from the film not featured in any trailers.

The launch month saw 12 creatives with a spend of $4M, the top performing one receiving $849K ad spend.

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Promote 15-30 second videos on TikTok that feature trailers and film info from the cast speaking directly to viewers.

The launch month saw 8 creatives with a spend of $914K

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Barbie spent $1.7M in the pre-launch month across OTT but saw the highest avg. CPM ($26.4), +224% more than average for all paid channels.

Prioritize post-launch advertising on OTT as the content moves to streaming services as opposed to pre-launch advertising.

OTT Learnings:

• Consider leveraging OTT to promote the film once launched and available on digital platforms rather than allocating a majority in the pre-launch phase.
• Consider using more 15-second spots to catch viewer attention quickly. The majority of OTT ads featured were 30 & 60 seconds in length.

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Keys to Pre-Launch Success

Create short and high-energy ads ending with a relevant and timely call-to-action.

Advertising Tactics

• Short and sweet. The duration of top ads were generally under 15 seconds. This pace is optimized for TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook where audiences are used to rapid scrolling.
• Capture audience attention. Use unseen footage, fresh edits, upbeat music, and celebrity star power to keep attention and reduce ad fatigue.
• Tell viewers what to do next. Ads ending with a strong call to action prompt viewers to do something after engaging with the content (i.e. watch the full trailer, view showtimes, buy movie tickets, etc.)

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Examples

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As movie content becomes available for streaming, re-invest into advertising as a reminder to purchase or watch again at home.

Barbie peaked in the post-launch period in September 2023 at $3.7M.

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Keys To Post Launch Success

While ad spend has slowed, Barbie is still advertising in 2024.

Barbie continues to post across paid and organic channels, leveraging social proof and behind-the-scenes content to stay top of mind.

Advertising Tactics

• Barbie utilized social proof principles in ads highlighting award nominations from prestigious organizations such as the Oscars, PGA, and SAG to encourage fans to watch or rewatch the movie.
• New post-launch content also featured insightful commentary on different aspects of the movie such as costume and set design, giving fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the screenplay and production of the movie.

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Performance (Jan 2024 - March 2024)

Examples

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METHODOLOGY

How the Activation Breakdown™ Methodology Works