Who are the audience for the Barbie marketing campaign?

‘It's Barbie's dreamhouse, not Ken's dreamhouse.’  Barbie as a brand has always had an influence on societal beauty standards and the stylish aesthetic of what is now known as ‘Barbie Pink’. A popular toy brand across America that has always been targeted towards the idea of ‘American girlhood’, while being able to resonate with audiences globally through the process of Americanisation. Through this, it has always been catered towards younger children, however the live action film took a different approach to target the film towards an older audience.

Fig 1, Margot Robbie as Barbie  

This was evident throughout the initial promotional tools of trailers and interviews, the phrase throughout the trailer ‘If you Love Barbie, this movie is for you. If you hate Barbie, this movie is for you’ (Zeisler,2023). This reinforces the idea of the film being targeted towards any demographic. Throughout the campaign, there has been a strong emphasis on the feminine aesthetic. Barbie has always been seen as a brand for girls (Chance, 2023) therefore with the live action film being based off a product with an established audience it is relevant to assume the intended audience would be the same. With this, the campaign can aim their marketing strategy towards adults and teens who potentially grew up playing with Barbie or the controversial idea of Barbie.

Fig 2, Margot Robbie with fans

Through the objectives of the film being focused on culturally relevant topics such as feminism and patriarchy, the demographic of Gen Z would be appropriate to be part of the intended audience. This is due to the aspect of them being exposed to the internet and seeing culturally relevant conversation taking place in society (Dagostino,2021). With this, to attract a Gen Z audience it is valuable to avoid labels and the Barbie film avoided this as the entire film was kept a mystery from the public (Francis,2018). Following this, the demographic of millennials would be a potential audience for the marketing campaign. Many of these millennials may have a loyalty to the brand due to growing with Barbie, they have become long time consumers to pass on Barbie to their children. Furthermore, a survey conducted on US consumers about whether they liked the marketing of the ‘Barbie’ movie which included Gen Z adults, Millennials, Gen X and Baby boomers (Statista,2023). This shows a range of audiences were targeted with the primary core audience being of people who used to play with Barbie. 

Fig 3, Statistics of Barbie audience

Arguably, having the intended audience to be mainly female can link to themes that are presented throughout the campaign of female empowerment that can lead to an individual feeling inspired and represented. This can also lead to politically challenging conversations being opened where all marginalised groups can feel seen. Through marketing communications, it can allow brands to position their consumers to recognise and understand the identity of the brand (Fill,2013). The live action film applies this by not drastically changing their intended audience. There is a strong focus being on generations who grew up with Barbie and this allows for adults who collect Barbie’s to be intrigued while still being able to reach a mainstream audience with this campaign (Lerman,2023). However, having the campaign positioned towards a feminine audience leads to a niche audience being targeted which may limit the reach of a gender-neutral audience. In addition to this, there may be criticism surrounding stereotypes of the campaign being heavily feminine focused.

Fig 4, A Person Profile

Fig 5, SWOT Analysis

On the other hand, it raises an opportunity for the marketing campaign to rebuild an audience that is separate to the Mattel brand, while Barbie’s main goal is marketing the film to be open to everyone regardless of whether you like or hate Barbie. This further suggests the aim is to change the way people perceive Barbie as a brand (Fill,2013). This is due to Barbie previously being viewed negatively by the public due to receiving criticisms regarding body image representation and the impact it can have on young girls (Witcomb,2019).  Furthermore, it also raises the opportunity to reach a Gen Z audience through digital marketing where they can discuss the marketing strategy across social media that results in earned media for the campaign (Chaffey,2022), with this it also raises the opportunity to work with influencers that allows for more exposure of the campaign globally. Digital marketing offers opportunities to have ‘geo specific’ marketing that can allow for a wider customer base (Subbian,2021).

However, there is a risk of cultural sensitivity as the misrepresentation or insensitivity to cultural differences within the campaign could result in backlash. This could lead to the campaign being seen as stereotypical or tone deaf.

Fig 6, A scene from Barbie

Reference list

Chaffey, D (2022) Digital Marketing. Montreuil: Pearson.

Chance, Z. (2023) The secret of the Barbie movie’s marketing success. Yale Insights. Available from: The Secret of the Barbie Movie’s Marketing Success | Yale Insights (Accessed on: 31st October 2023)

Dagostino, A. (2021) Here is how Gen Z is changing the way we communicate. Forbes. Available from: Here Is How Gen Z Is Changing The Way We Communicate (forbes.com) (Accessed on: 11th November 2023)

Dockterman, E. (2023) We’re ignoring the real reason Barbie might dominate the box office. Time. Available from: Barbie Is Directly Targeting Women—A Rare Thing in Hollywood | Time (Accessed on 31st October 2023)

Fill, C. (2013) Marketing communications: brands, experiences and participation. Pearson Education.

Francis, T. (2018) ‘True Gen’: Generation Z and its implications for companies. McKinsey. Available from: Generation Z characteristics and its implications for companies | McKinsey (Accessed on 31st October 2023)

Lerman, R (2023) Hoping to win over adult audience, ‘Barbie’ movie is banking on nostalgia. Washington Post. Article, Newspaper.

Subbian, P. (2021) Audience Perception and response towards digital marketing elements. Turkish online journal of qualitive inquiry

Statista (2023) U.S ‘Barbie’ film marketing’s appeal for Gen Z. Statista. Available from: U.S.: 'Barbie' film marketing's appeal for Gen Z 2023 | Statista (Accessed on: 31st October 2023)

Victor, D. (2017) Pepsi pulls Ad accused of trivialising Black Lives Matter. The New York Times. Available from: Pepsi Pulls Ad Accused of Trivializing Black Lives Matter - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (Accessed on: 11th November 2023)

Witcomb, G. (2019) Barbie at 60: instrument of female oppression or positive influence? The Conversation. Available from: Barbie at 60: instrument of female oppression or positive influence? (theconversation.com) (Accessed on: 11th November 2023)

Zeisler, A. (2023) Barbie has never been a great symbol, but she’s an excellent mirror. The New York Times. Available from: Opinion | The ‘Barbie’ Movie Explains Why We Still Care About Barbie - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (Accessed on: 31st October 2023)