When I joined Mattel 20 years ago this September, I could only have dreamed that one day I would see crowds dressed in hot pink clamouring to see an actress dressed as Barbie walking the pink carpet for the doll’s Hollywood debut.
Sales of the iconic doll had peaked in the mid-nineties and begun a steep descent in the early noughties – around the time I joined Mattel India as managing director.
Two decades on, Barbie has never been as relevant or popular as she is today – on the eve of the 21 July release of the Barbie movie.
And it is more than just a movie – we’re seeing a cultural moment. It’s a coming together of fans past and present in a celebration of almost 65 years of Ruth Handler’s creation – and an opportunity to redefine what Barbie means for future generations.
The making of a cultural moment
How have we turned Barbie’s fortunes around and how has this moment come to be?
I could list the visionaries and the hundreds of people working hard behind the scenes from Mattel and Warner Bros., but the true heroes for me in Barbie’s success story are the retailers.
Our trusted retail partners have, for decades, shared our belief in Barbie’s purpose – to allow children to take an 11-inch doll out of her box and dream big.
And now it’s retailers again who are helping us pull off this incredible omnichannel Barbie takeover, quite literally from A to Z – Amazon to Zara.
The Zara Barbie collection dropped on 17 July and items like the pink gingham movie-inspired dress have already sold out. Our trusted toy retailers are seeing people looking for the dolls, indeed any toys, inspired from the movie.
You can go and see the movie in a Primark T-shirt emblazoned with the movie’s name – something it would be hard to do with any other blockbuster this summer.
Bringing Barbie magic to everyone
As the Greta Gerwig film finally opens, I’m excited that the full extent of how much we’ve painted the town pink will be revealed. It’s one of the largest retail activations by a toy brand, and our biggest-ever investment in retail.
Storefronts, aisles and websites – even Google itself – are turning pink, with exclusive Barbie products in key retailers across the full spectrum of sectors: grocery, value channel, lifestyle and luxury.
For the consumer, the key here is accessibility. We are meeting consumers wherever they are – online, or in stores – with toys and licensed products at affordable price points across multiple touchpoints: from morning teeth-brushing to PJs at night.
This matters because, amid a cost-of-living crisis, we want everyone to be able to take a piece of the Barbie movie magic home with them, whatever their budget.
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Kidults crave fun
I think it’s also because of the times we’re living through that people want the joy that Barbie brings right now. I say people, but it’s adults who are consuming the news. We’re the ones who need a little escapism from the “polycrisis” and summer is the time to unwind.
It’s also adults who are driving the Barbiecore trend – as well as toy sales. Since 2019, toy sales to children have fallen in Europe by €200 million. But they have grown by €bnB for so-called “kidults” (those that are over 12).
The same kidults, who, as I write this, have viewed the YouTube trailer, starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, more than 42 million times. And created a huge buzz around the soundtrack album, also released on 21 July, which features artists including Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Sam Smith and Billie Eilish.
Barbiemania is now reaching a crescendo, fanned by a truly humbling media response across the EMEA region, covering our key launches of the replica dolls and clothes from the movie and, very sweetly, the stars’ responses to seeing their Barbie likenesses.
Barbie forever
The release of the Barbie movie marks the culmination of a carefully orchestrated pivot to being an IP-driven company, which will continue long after the popcorn’s been swept up.
Our commercial activity around the film will keep the Barbie party going well into Q4 with a Barbie-inspired toy collection across our entire portfolio, from UNO to Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price.
You don’t need to book a stay in the Airbnb Malibu DreamHouse to enjoy a slice of Barbie life – we’ve built a Mega DreamHouse replica that’s bound to be on Christmas lists.
And many of Mattel’s well-loved toys will be following in Barbie’s footsteps and receiving the Hollywood treatment in the years to come.
During the two decades I’ve been with Mattel, we haven’t always got everything right, but we’ve learned that the key to our success lies in creating traffic and excitement to enable our retail partners to succeed.
This summer, together, we’ve pursued retail excellence and I hope we can all take a moment to just enjoy the feeling.
Sanjay Luthra, is executive vice preseident and general manager of Mattel in UK & EMEA
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