In case you missed it, Barbie announced on Valentine’s day this year that she would be getting back together with former flame Ken, after having been separated for the past 7 years. Whether you think the decision is romantic, an affront to Barbie’s newfound independence and empowerment, or really just don’t care; you have to hand it to Mattel for embracing modern marketing techniques in order to revitalise this iconic brand.
Barbie has been catching up to the real world recently, with new careers and identities such as a computer programmer, slowly becoming more realistic and less of a vapid bimbo, spouting phrases such as “math is hard, lets go shopping” as appeared in a 1992 talking model. (Although the jury is still out as to the impact of Barbie’s “perfect” looks and body on young girls)
Aside from re-vamping her image, Mattel have created a huge social marketing campaign to generate interest as to whether Barbie and Ken should re-unite. Ken has been bombarding his 8000 twitter followers with messages of how much he loves Barbie and hopes she will take him back (as well as the occasional promo for his favourite brands). Barbie has also been using her twitter to ponder her relationship with Ken, bring it to the attention of hear 35,000 followers.
Mattel have also used foursquare check-ins, match.com and Facebook to encourage fans to vote at kenandbarbie.com as to whether they should get back together. Most elaborately, an internet reality show “Genuine Ken; The Search for the Great American Boyfriend” pitted eight ‘boy-next-door’ contestants against each other to see who would become the new face of Ken…quite literally. Winner Kurtis Taylor will be the model for the new “sweet-talking Ken”.
These savvy marketing techniques have been doing wonders for Ken and Barbie’s online presence, with Barbie having over 1.8 million Facebook fans, and Ken with a modest but not laughable 40,000. Whether or not you object to or love this fake courtship, it certainly has brought Barbie and Ken back into the public eye through savvy marketing, and is forging an emotional connection with adults, not just little girls and teenagers.
No Comments