Barbie was born in 1959 and is now over 60 years old.
With only a pink poster, it set off a global discussion boom.
Only less than 5 % of the film, but also by virtue of the lines and conception of a strong circle.
As many as 100 + brand names, covering almost all aspects of clothing, food, housing and transportation, 'Barbie pink marketing' swept all major industries.
'She' was once highly sought after, but also controversial and questioned. The trend of more than half a century has not only failed to eliminate Barbie, but has grown from a plastic doll to a 'global idol'.
So in the past sixty years, how did Barbie deal with the controversy and crisis, and how to achieve ' not old ' and ' always popular ' ? The brand strategy and action may have a very great significance for the current brand marketing.
As governments roll back women’s rights, Barbie emerged as a symbol not only of female empowerment but the necessity of fighting to recapture power that’s been taken away.
Barbie-related searches have soared on Google, and even when searching for words with ' Barbie ', Google 's search bar will automatically turn pink.
01. From dolls to 'idols', Barbie IP history
In 1959, Ruth and her husband Eliot Handler co-founded Mattel Toys.
At the New York Toy Show, they unveiled the first Barbie doll - an adult female figure in a strapless black-and-white striped bathing suit with a blond ponytail.
This doll with an adult posture subverted the toy market at that time.
Before that, there were many kinds of toys for boys, almost including all kinds of professional experience, but only a variety of children 's dolls were available for girls to choose.
The girls ' future imagination is framed in the role of 'caregiver'.
Therefore, the birth of Barbie is full of the meaning of female awakening from the beginning.
'She' allows countless girls to see themselves in the future, not only as a wife, a mother, but also as any kind of role.
Over the next few decades, Mattel launched more than 250 Barbie dolls with professional images, including costume designers, astronauts, pilots, doctors, white-collar workers, journalists, chefs, and even Barbie in the presidential election.
'They ' vividly interpret the brand 's original slogan- 'Barbie’: a role model for young girls.At the same time, they also enrich the brand culture with a confident and independent image, creating a feminist IP full of avant-garde meaning.
However,Barbie dolls show the perfect proportion of the body, to some extent, also led to the female aesthetic deformity.
Many people fall into appearance anxiety due to the 'Barbie standard', and many girls even go on a morbid diet and cosmetic surgery in order to pursue the devil 's body.
Barbie, which originally symbolized the ideal of teenage girls, has gradually become a gazed female image. With the further awakening of female consciousness, Barbie has become the object of resistance and criticism.
The release of the 'Barbie' live-action film is also a value reshaping of the ' Barbie culture' by Mattel.
From the perspective of Barbie,it makes an in-depth analysis of the self in the context of the new era, and makes a critical thinking on the existing value system. Finally, it focuses on the theme of " how a 'person' should find the real self and accept himself."
This makes the role model of "Barbie" IP, no longer limited to gender, began to radiate to the wider population. Judging from the amount of public opinion and reaction aroused by the current film, this strategy is obviously successful.
02. How did Barbie become a Popular IP?
Throughout the history of "Barbie" IP development, it is not difficult to find that :
One of the secrets of its longevity is that it always adheres to the image of Barbie and the value of Barbie culture.
Relying on the doll carrier, Barbie actually sells the Barbie culture which symbolizes ' dream, courage and freedom '.
People who play with Barbie dolls will grow up, but there is always someone who needs such a culture.
From the perspective of brand marketing, 'Barbie' is still inseparable from the continuous exploration and attempt of Mattel in IP building and marketing path expansion.
In the 64 years of development, Barbie has formed its own unique ' Barbiecore' aesthetic style, and has also developed a super symbol with unique memory points-Barbie powder.
This color comes from the "Babrie Dream House" built by Mattel for Barbie dolls, a dream castle used to house many Barbie doll accessories.
As this color matching continues to reappear in the Barbie world, 'Barbie' and 'pink' have gradually formed a strong correlation and stabilized as a major brand visual symbol.
In 2007, Mattel applied for the exclusive Pantone color card-Barbi powder PANTONE219C for Barbie. As a result, 'Barbie powder' began to kill in the fashion and marketing circles.
For example, working with Airbnb to create a realistic version of "Barbie's Dream Mansion"extracting lucky users to stay, enjoying the immersive Barbie experience, and 'pink icon' achieving excellent offline marketing space.
For example, with NYX, Barneyland, ColourPop, Colorkey Karachi, Mac, OPI, sugar, Glasshouse and other beauty, nail, pupil wear, aromatherapy brand co-launched a joint cooperation, with the girl's heart to leverage female consumption leverage.
As Mattel President and COO Richard Dixon said in a 'Forbes' interview, Barbie has evolved from a doll into a franchise brand with a far greater ability to expand and market the brand than any product itself.
Mattel, which has pushed Barbie to the forefront, is enjoying the huge brand effect brought by "Barbie" IP.
It regards Barbie as an artist, web celebrity and collaborative canvas( Richard Dixon ), hoping that the outside world sees itself as a 'pop culture company'.
Through the continuous development of the cultural added value behind the toys, the expansion of its own influence and the stronger radiation and driving role of "Barbie" IP are realized.
As the 'Barbie' movie poster says : 'Barbie is everything.'
Barbie can be a color, can also be a style; it can represent subversion and legend, and can also symbolize attitude and omnipotent belief ; it can be an exploration of a way of life, or it can be a manifestation of the inner self.
Barbie IP is open to the world regardless of gender.
Post time: Dec-13-2023
