From toy to titan: the activations behind the Barbie effect

The marketing budget for Barbie was $150m, more than the $145m for the movie itself—and it shows.

Operation Barbie Summer (the internal codename from Warner Bros) is in full swing. Since its release on July 21st, just two weeks ago, the Barbie movie has shattered 11 box office records. With its current earnings standing at over $800 million, it’s poised to be on the list of fastest-grossing films to reach the $1 billion milestone soon.

While that marketing budget alone is enough to ensure some top tier partnerships, some of the hundreds of activations stood out to me as particularly innovative and well-designed. Their innovation wasn’t purely visual or technical, it was also embodied in a democratization of these activations, making them easily accessible to everyone by using moments of delight to create viral loops.

Barbie AI Selfie Generator

Warner Bros., PhotoRoom, and agency Bond created an AI-based Barbie selfie-generator that turned people into Barbie movie characters. Launched prior to the film’s release, the filter removes the backgrounds from user-uploaded photos and places them directly into the promotional posters of the movie. Since its launch, the tool has been used over 13 million times with people creating and sharing their own poster, and ones of celebrities and characters.

This is a testament to the inclusion of AI in design and marketing to capture attention. Users could effortlessly transform their images creating a personalized and engaging experience. The tool took less than an hour to implement, and shows the potential for similar activations in future campaigns.

Google Confetti Takeover

When searching Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig and Ryan Gosling, you’ll get another classic Google takeover design, this time full of confetti. I previously wrote about designing these moments of delight to make an emotional connection with people.

Malibu Dream House

The Malibu Dream House is an an essential part of the Barbie universe, and it’s no surprise we see some real world crossovers here.

In a partnership with Airbnb, this Ken-ified Barbie dream house in Malibu was available for exclusive stays July 21st and 22nd. The house was previously listed in 2019 in honor of the brand’s 60th anniversary.

Margot Robbie also took viewers inside the movie set design for Architectural Digest, and Twitter had opinions. Some hotels like the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur started offering the ultimate Barbie experience.

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Brand Colors

There aren’t too many brands that could do a single color billboard with a stylized serif font and be instantly recognizable. Capitalizing on decades of consistent and strategic brand imaging, Barbie’s signature pink color has become instantly recognizable, making an enormous impact with simplicity. This is a fantastic example of powerfully designed color psychology in practice. The film production infamously caused an international pink paint shortage.

Bondi Icebergs Makeover

In an ambitious move, the famed Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club in Sydney, Australia, underwent a Barbie-themed transformation. This “Barbie does Bondi” makeover provided some unique photo opportunities and amplified the film’s visibility.

Giant Barbie

Sky News on Twitter: "A giant virtual model of Barbie standing in an enormous box and next to Dubai's iconic landmark, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper has gone viral. Watch more: https://t.co/8xyWy2cBPY pic.twitter.com/9hnoSxiwNz / Twitter"

A giant virtual model of Barbie standing in an enormous box and next to Dubai's iconic landmark, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper has gone viral. Watch more: https://t.co/8xyWy2cBPY pic.twitter.com/9hnoSxiwNz

Dubai: Margot Robbie's 'Barbie' matches Burj Khalifa in a stunning advertisement; video goes viral

To cap off these innovatively designed and high-impact marketing activations, Eye Studio in Dubai fabricated a 3D ad featuring a giant Barbie positioned beside the towering Burj Khalifa.

This activation quite literally embodied Barbie’s transformation from a beloved toy to a global pop culture titan.

See More:

• Design for Moments of Delight: Google “The Last of Us”
• Barbie Selfie Generator
• Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse is back on Airbnb – but this time, Ken's hosting
• Twitter Is Obsessed With Margot Robbie's Barbie Dreamhouse Tour Video
• 'Barbie' Does Bondi: Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig Begin Promo Blitz
• Watch: This Giant Barbie Stands Nearly As Tall As Dubai's Burj Khalifa

From toy to titan: the activations behind the Barbie effect was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.