5 Marketing Lessons from Barbie
In honor of Barbie becoming the year’s highest grossing film, and the highest grossing film by a female director ever, we had to ask: what can we, as hotel marketers, learn? After all, Barbiemania was like nothing we’d ever seen before—pink everything, memes galore, a domino-effect of influencers adding fuel to the Barbie fire—it was a marketing feat like no other. So, why did it work, and how can we replicate this magic for our hotels?
Build a long runway.
The campaign for the Barbie movie started a year before the movie was released with a photo of Barbie and Ken rollerblading in SoCal.
To do: prep and *leak* campaigns two months early to build anticipation.
2. Collabs are a win-win.
$100M marketing budgets aside, collabs with accounts that share a similar audience (or an audience you’d like to attract), will always make sense.
To do: Think of every partnership as an opportunity to cross-promote your hotel. Collabs are a win-win, so don’t just stock your rooms with a new amenity, ask the partner to share or *collab* on Instagram. They’ll reach your audience, you’ll reach theirs, and your content will be amplified tenfold.
3. Inclusive marketing speaks volumes.
Greta Gerwig took the most polarizing doll on the planet and made it inclusive with a cast of characters and relatable plot twists.
To do: Instead of a 'one size fits all' approach, focus on targeted messaging to attract your ideal audience. Make sure the people you hope to attract can see themselves—and the people they love—represented.
4. Be bold, get noticed.
A month before the movie premier, we got our first whiff of Barbiecore: a global shortage of pink paint.
To do: Instead of throwing endless promotions at the wall to see what sticks, double down on core messaging. Push the message out consistently and creatively across all channels so your prospective guest is clear on what to expect.
5. Imitation makes the algorithm go round.
When the Barbie memes starting flowing, and the official Barbie collabs filled the shelves, copycats followed en masse, stretching the $100M marketing budget further. Imitation is so much more than flattery; imitation creates virality.
To do: Create content that’s shareable, and jump on trends to get a piece of the pie.
You don’t have to have a $100M marketing budget to make magic.
You need a team who can identify what’s working and why, and apply those trends to your hospitality brand. We love working with clients who understand the nature of hospitality marketing, are willing to invest in content, and put their trust in us to make marketing magic for hotels and restaurants.
