'Nostalgia marketing': How Barbie's massive marketing campaign worked so well

This past weekend was a huge one at the box office, with “Barbenheimer” proving it’s more than just an internet sensation.

Barbie smashed expectations, bringing in $162 million at the box office – the biggest opening weekend of the year.

And Oppenheimer, airing the same weekend, brought in more than $82 million, combining for the fourth largest box office weekend in North American history.

A big part of the history-making weekend was the memes that sprung up around the idea of doing a double feature of both films back to back, an idea which gained speed on social media due to the humour behind two films that couldn’t sound more different – one set in the world of a vividly pink toy franchise, and the other a historical film depicting the story of the development of the atomic bomb – sharing the same air date.

“That kind of excitement level is something we just haven’t seen in theatres for some time,” film critic and CTV News contributor Richard Crouse said of the reactions to the “Barbenheimer” craze. “And I love that it was organic, this wasn’t a marketing strategy.”

But while Barbenheimer certainly increased the hype, Barbie was already on track for a record box office before the memes kicked off.

“There’s not a corner of the globe that hasn’t turned pink,” President and COO of Mattel, Richard Dickson, said.

The marketing of Barbie’s first live action film was deliberate -- and seemingly everywhere.

By some counts, there are more than 100 different Barbie collaborations, from clothes to carpets to spending a night at the Barbie dreamhouse through AirBNB.

While some collaborations – a clothing line with Zara and cosmetics with NYX Cosmetics – may seem like a no brainer, there are other, stranger tie-ins, including a deal with Burger King Brazil for a burger with hot pink sauce on it.

“It’s probably one of the most partnered, or line-extended brands that I’ve ever witnessed, which speaks to the strength or the equity of the Barbie brand,” David Kincaid, founder of management consultancy firm Level5 Strategy, told CTV News. “People don’t partner with you if they’re a little concerned about the strength of your brand or how it’s going to be presented in the marketplace.”

It helps that Barbie and the colour pink are fun and escapist, Sheri Lambert, a professor of practice in marketing at Temple University, told CTV News.

“Barbie itself is something that we call in the industry, ‘imaginative play’, so it’s all about the imagination,” she said.

The movie allows us to be transported into Barbie’s world instead of creating a world for Barbie, so it is a different escape than playing with the dolls is, she added.

Kincaid pointed out that one of the big advantages of Barbie is how many different generations have a connection to this longstanding toy brand.

“Good brands become great brands when they foster generational loyalty,” he said. “And fifty years later, think of how many generations (can enjoy this movie) – parents, little girls and little boys, I mean, I heard that 40 per cent of the audience at the movie, at the opening this weekend, was male, so Barbie’s a bigger brand than maybe many people give it credit for.”

“People like to think about their childhood and when you do nostalgia marketing like Mattel is doing on this brand, people really are excited about it. It takes them back to their past, to happy times,” Lambert added.

And the strategy used to promote this film may change how movies are marketed – if they’ve got the brand longevity required.

“I think (it’s) possibly shown others a blueprint for where and how this could be done in the future,” Kincaid said.

Experts say this type of marketing only works for brands with big followings and intergenerational loyalty, which is why movies based on popular toys such as Hot Wheels and Polly Pocket are also in the works.

“That formula – interest, relevance, purchase and loyalty – that is a difficult thing for any brand to accomplish, so if it has that kind of a head start that some of these toys or action figures provide, I think the owners of the IP are crazy not to fully exploit it,” Kincaid said.

Lambert added that it would be “extremely difficult for anyone to replicate” exactly what Mattel has achieved with their marketing for this movie.

Mattel has been trying to reinvent Barbie for years, releasing more inclusive and representative dolls, and the film continues that effort, tackling complicated subjects with humour and a whole lot of colour – most of it being a shade of pink.