Why Barbie Wants to Show Dads Playing Dolls With Their Daughters

Why Barbie Wants to Show Dads Playing Dolls With Their Daughters

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After introducing a diverse new array of dolls, the brand wants to shift consumers’ perceptions about its cultural relevance.

After debuting Barbie’s new look in January 2016, the brand set its sights on another ambitious marketing push: Get consumers to like Barbie for more than just her looks. The marketers at Mattel wanted to shift consumers’ focus to Barbie’s purpose and get parents “to reappraise the role of Barbie in their world and to really see Barbie as a vehicle for storytelling and imagination,” explained Michelle Chidoni, Mattel’s vp of global brand communications.

While Barbie began working with BBDO in October 2015 to showcase the “imaginative possibilities,” as its first work for the brand dubbed them, of playing with Barbie, the unveiling of its three new body types, seven new skin tones, 22 eye colors and 24 hairstyles allowed the brand to stress purpose-driven messaging in its marketing. Cut to 2017: Barbie debuts its “#DadsWhoPlayBarbie” campaign during the NFL’s AFC Championship Game on Jan. 22 with a 30-second spot called “Doctor.” The effort, from BBDO in San Francisco, shows a father and daughter playing Barbie and features lines like, “I’m a typical man’s man” and “Sundays are always football, and…

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