Aside from their ageless power to enchant and move us, movies can also teach us a thing or two about making marketing magic.
Whatever your take on Greta Gerwig's smash hit, Barbie (pure, pink-infused fun or feisty feminist manifesto?), it's a treasure trove of marketing insights.
OK, none of us (I'm assuming) has a marketing budget of around USD 150 million, but any of us can make these four dead brill marketing strategies work in our businesses.
Colour your brand to match your vibe and values
Pantone 219C, aka hot pink, has always been synonymous with the Barbie brand, but right now, and (I suspect) for some time to come, it's everywhere. While the movie parodies and celebrates Barbie's girl-powered pinkness, in pure marketing terms, pink is associated with joy, fun, and hell, yes ... femininity.
Top Tip:
Colour-coding your brand calls for a mix of intuition and research. Start with your gut-led feeling for colours you love, then back that up with a bit of colour theory research. DIY design site Canva has this helpful guide.
Maximise' good timing'
Releasing Barbie on the same day as the season's other epic movie, Oppenheimer' double, triple quadrupled the 'Barbenheimer' buzz around both films.
Top Tip:
Amplify the impact of at least some of your marketing by matching it to global or local events that resonate with the good things you make or do.
Wondering what's on when on planet Earth? Here's a calendar.
Talk it up
Barbie stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling did a stellar job promoting the film everywhere. They dressed the part, coined buzz terms (kenergy) and did a disarmingly direct and genuine job of spreading the movie's multiple messages. Watch Ryan Gosling giving kenergy for a minute straight
Top Tip:
Create a 'press kit' (it's less scary than it sounds, honest!) for pitching you and your business in the print press, on podcasts and at networking events.
Need help getting clear with key messages and creating docs that do the press kit biz? Give me a shout
Partner up
Everyone from top fashion and luggage brands to a Brazilian branch of Burger King wanted in on Barbie core, the film's vibrant, very-much-pretty-in-pink 'look.' Cue a global explosion of lucrative Barbie-inspired goodies. Not all of them were welcome. Mattel took British fashion giant Burberry to court over Burberry's attempt to trade mark a BRBY range. The top takeaway here? Keep a weather eye out for anyone looking to mess with your brand's identity.
Negotiating juicy, ginormous partnerships probably isn't front and centre in your business strategy. But reaping the mutual benefits of gentle collaborations could be part of your plan.
So where do you even begin with that? Here are three simple starting points
So get inspired by the world's most famous doll in a box. Do some or all of these four things. I dare you. But above all else, offer the world that good thing you've got with genuine joy and excitement.
Need a nudge to be more Barbie?
If you feel like your marketing is 50 shades of grey (No, not those ones!) or you're sick of tossing your marketing budget down a black hole, I can help.
Build Marketing Momentum is my marketing skills and mentoring program for small business owners and 'go to' marketers. You can join a good vibes group of heart-driven humans or opt for individual mentoring. You'll get all the marketing moves for attracting and keeping your ideal customers.
Either way, you'll unstick your marketing. We'll start with a stellar marketing plan for creating splendid sustainable colour and movement. Then we'll put it to work. If you're ready for rosy, robust, real-world marketing.