Mattel's "Barbie" movie is taking the world by storm, appearing everywhere from Times Square advertising to brand collaborations. Marcus Collins, University of Michigan Ross School of Business Marketing Professor, joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the marketing phenomena surrounding the doll-inspired film, commenting on the cultural presence it has taken on and how well it will draw in moviegoers.
(SINGING) You can find me under the lights, diamonds under my eyes.
And from there, well, fans certainly got lost in the pink glittery Barbie world. 2022 was the year of Barbie core a fashion trend, spotted on Valentino's runway in the fall and also embraced by a number of celebrities including Lizzo, Anne Hathaway, and Zendaya. Well, hashtag, #barbiecore has over 420 million views on TikTok, and the marketing is everywhere.
Mattel released a line of Margot Robbie Barbie dolls. And as apparel collabs with GAP, Forever 21, and Hot Topic, Bloomingdale's is doing a Barbie-themed pop-up shop. Well, that is not all a luggage collaboration, custom Xbox controllers, a makeup collection, Uno Cards, and Aldo shoes.
Progressive, getting in on the fun with a commercial about ensuring Barbie's dreamhouse. And Barbie's house is even up for rent on AirBnb. Well, we decided to get out on the streets in New York City and see what people think of the movie's marketing techniques.
- I just feel like I've been inundated with Barbie stuff. I'm almost over it, and it hasn't even opened yet.
- The marketing, like the ad with her foot up, that's what got me for real.
- Well, let's talk more about this viral marketing campaign. We want to bring in Marcus Collins, University of Michigan Ross School of Business marketing professor, also author of "For the Culture." Marcus, it's great to have you here. So even just what we're hearing from people on the street, it almost seems like everyone has heard that the "Barbie" movie is hitting theaters in just two weeks. What do you think it is about this marketing technique that has made it so effective?
- I think that, one, they've borrowed on the equity, the capital that is Barbie. This is a well-known, well-beloved brand that's now being contemporaries, which is actually really cool. But I like the way they brought the brand to market by marketing the movie like it was a Disney movie, right?
They find all these different partners that could benefit from the movie, winning. You find complements, the peanut butter to their jelly, if you will. That if the movie does well, these other brands do well. And finding different cultural aspects that the brand the movie could be a part of, the conversation, the cultural discourse will create much more opportunity for people to find out about the movie and, hopefully, for the brand, at least, people to know more about the movie.
- Marcus, how much of this, though, hinges? When you talk about the potential success of it all, does it hinge on people actually going out and watching the movie? Because as you pointed out in your notes, like there could be a lot of hype, there could be a lot of interest, But if that doesn't translate into people going into the theaters and watching this movie. What does it ultimately mean?
- Yeah. I mean, this is, sort of, the double-edged sword that, sometimes, the marketing be so good, that it overshadows the movie, that people get so enamored, so excited about the marketing for the movie, they never show up at the theater.
And that's the part that gives me a little bit of pause when I think about the excitement that's happening around all the marketing for the "Barbie" movie is that there's a lot of talk about how cool the marketing is, how it's showing up in all these different places.
Yet, I haven't heard a lot of the discourse in the social channels, at least, about people saying, I can't wait for it to come out. I've already bought my ticket. I'm so there. Who's going with me? There's not a lot of intent signaling.
In fact, if you look at Google Trends, the search traffic, a lot of the search queries are about all the marketing partnerships, not about the movie per se. And since the core product is the movie, that should draw a little bit of pause for the folks who are putting this thing in the world.
- Marcus, have you seen this much excitement around a movie like this? I need to draw the comparison to what we've seen from Disney movies, but I'm scratching my head. I'm struggling to really think of another movie that has gotten this much attention, this many brand partnerships ahead of its release. Is this almost unheard of?
- It happens rarely outside of Marvel movies and Disney movies, which is Disney, of course. But I think about-- the last time I've seen something in this kind of capacity, this kind of fidelity would probably be the "Stranger Things" season 3, I think that was, when they partnered with all those different brands, like Burger King, Baskin-Robbins, LEGO, Microsoft, Coca-Cola.
All these brands got into the launch of this new platform. I think it's the last time I've seen that outside of a superhero movie or a Disney film. But even then, when we see these brands work with movie releases in this way, they don't always mean success, meaning most recently, look at the "Buzz Lightyear" film that came out last year, just recently.
They had a lot of traction behind it, a lot of different brand partnerships. It was on cereal boxes. It was the McDonald's toys, but they didn't convert into actual ticket sales. And that's what we're after. How do we turn all of this cultural conversations, how do we turn into intent that ultimately leads to action?
- The movie aside, though, there's also the question about what this means for Mattel, the brand, and their ability to be able to connect with potentially newer generation and get that runway going or extend the runway for Barbie. Our Brian Sozzi and Brad Smith sat down with Mattel's CEO earlier, asked him about how important the movie is for the brand beyond dolls. Take a listen to what he had to say.
- The next chapter of that is going to be unlocking the value of this IP through storytelling, whether it's theatrical, television, live action, content, gaming, live experiences, all of the different category partnerships that we've created in consumer products, where this movie is really a catalyst for future monetization in the consumer product space, apparel, sporting goods, home, accessories.
- So Marcus, that was a conversation over at Cannes Lions, but can Mattel build on this? Can they already can claim this as a win, just given how much they've already made-- the brands made its way into the conversation?
- Oh, absolutely. Mattel has definitely won in this regard. It reminds me of the music industry that, nowadays, people release albums. So they can go on tour. And in this way, Mattel releasing this movie, whether it succeeds at the box office, it's a mega success or not, the fact that it has contemporaries the brand and introduced it to new people who weren't even thinking about or talking about Barbie is definitely a win for the IP.
It creates a new canvas for it to draw and to create new ways to engage with the brand. As the CEO mentioned, whether it's through product, whether it's through more toys, whether it's through more movies, through gaming and the like, I mean that the possibilities are endless, now that it's creating a new chapter for people to see the world of Barbie. Barbie is now has a new cultural lens to it. Now whether the movie is a success or not, it still benefits from that win.
- Marcus, what do you think we're going to see moving forward, when you take into account some of the other legacy brands out there, some of the lessons that they can learn from this Barbie revival. How does that shape, do you think, future marketing campaigns?
- Well, it's all, kind of, creating a blueprint. For the ones that fail, you go, I know what not to do. And the ones that succeed, you go, I know what to pick from that. But I think what ultimately matters, we're bringing new ideas to the marketplace through marketing communications. It requires some familiarity and some novelty.
So we can borrow from things that worked in the past and create new builds on top of it. I mean, even the AI meme generator that Barbie used back in April, I think, that was, we saw that happen with "Straight Outta Compton" for the biopic for NWA happened some years ago.
Same idea, but a new wrapper, a new lens on it. So when we pair familiarity with some novelty, it creates a great opportunity to get people's attention, but ultimately get people to talk, and then, prayerfully, get people to take action.
- Marcus, you just cued up the segment nicely for us, when you talk about memes. We couldn't do the segment without getting in on the action. So can we pull that up? There's one for me. Look, Shawna is-- what is this?
- I'm hitting the dance floor.
- And mine says, this Barbie is an optimist. I'd say that's pretty accurate. Have you made your meme, Marcus? Have you played around?
- I made my meme. I did make my meme that said, this Barbie is all smiles.
- Oh, there you go. There you go. Perfectly done. Marcus Collins, it is great to talk to you today. We'll all be watching to see if the success translates to success over at the box office. Thanks so much for that.
- Absolutely.