I donât think you need another piece of content analysing the Barbie marketing. So instead, weâll look at how you can make Barbie, the brand (not the movie), work for your business.
Why havenât all big-budget movies the same all-guns-blazing Barbie marketing strategy? Because they canât.
What about the Barbie brand makes it an attractive licensing partner?
What stops it from feeling like overkill?
Three words: a powerful brand.
âBrandâ being the operative word. Not a business or company that sells stuff. A brand is essentially what people immediately think of or feel when they hear your name or your company name.
'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' â Maya Angelou
From Zara to AirBnB, Superga, and many more â all of these brands have invested in paying a licensing fee of 5%-15% (or a flat fee)⊠because they immediately see that thereâs an opportunity to make significant money by using the Barbie brand.
They see the commercial (financial) value in bearing the Barbie name and putting it on theirs.
Why? Because there's an extensive history of stories and feelings of empowerment (as well as controversy). Many of which the film itself uses to develop the story. Barbie as a product has a universe of touch points - from her Dreamhouse to her car, to her endless outfits. There are multiple entry points and opportunities to sell all kinds of products.
If it were as simple as having a huge budget, a lot of movies would have done the same thing many times over
So as you build your personal brand or your company brand, think about the layers of stories you're creating.
Those stories outlive the product you sell today and can be used to sell - pretty much everything in the future. Thatâs where longevity and scalability come from.
Barbie really is everything. And she can definitely sell everything too.
