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Our world has exploded in pink and Barbiemania has officially taken over.
Mattel’s bet that Greta Gerwig’s new film Barbie can help re-energize the 64-year-old brand is paying off: the film sold an estimated $155 million in tickets at U.S. theaters. Barbie also collected an additional $182 million overseas. And the cherry on top: it is the biggest box office opening on record for a woman director.
Barbie has been on a journey to reinvent itself and become more relevant to today’s audience. Here are lessons marketers can take from Barbie on how to re-energize a legacy brand to reflect today’s world while staying true to the brand’s mission and story.
Drive inclusion in the product’s evolution
Today, Barbie is one of the most diverse and inclusive doll lines in the market. Barbies represent over 35-plus skin tones, 94-plus hairstyles and 9-plus body types. Barbie has also strived to inspire girls to pursue careers in fields traditionally represented by men (pilot, astronaut, firefighter, paleontologist and president).
Mattel brought Barbies to the marketplace that reflected permanent disabilities, including a doll with a wheelchair and prosthetic leg, also offering a Barbie dream house with a wheelchair-accessible elevator. Mattel has also pledged that as part of Barbie’s Role Model series, more than 50% of the dolls honored will be Black, indigenous or women of color.
The brand’s vision to become more inclusive has not been without its share of controversy over the years. They launched an Oreo Barbie, who was Black (oreo is a racial slur that can be targeted to Black individuals, as author Petiri Ira describes being called “Black on the outside, white on the inside). They launched Mexican Barbie, which was criticized for perpetuating stereotypes. And finally, Barbie was slammed for promoting its 2020 Summer Olympics collection that didn’t include a doll who appeared to be Asian.
This is an important reminder for marketers: the road to driving inclusion in products doesn’t happen overnight. Mistakes will be made along the way. The U.S. multicultural consumer spending power is now over $5 trillion, and the spending power of the LGBTQ+ community and individuals with disabilities is also too often overlooked. If you want to re-energize your brand, it’s time to look up and realize that the world around us continues to change.