• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, August 30, 2024

Mattel is getting back to Barbie basics with a new campaign that reminds parents just how powerful pretend play can be. The ad will launch during Barbie night, halfway through one of the WNBA’s hottest games.

Themed “Give Limitless Possibilities,” the ads are aimed squarely at gift-givers, “asking them what they wish they could really give their children," Krista Berger, Mattel’s senior vice president of Barbie and global head of dolls, says.

In voiceovers in the 75-second film, adults run down the list of those gifts: "Curiosity. A wild imagination. Confidence. The knowledge that you can do hard things. The ability to hold on to your magic."

Berger tells Marketing Daily that the new ads, created by 72andSunny, reinforce the brand’s ongoing “You Can Be Anything” tagline. They’re an effort to keep Barbie moving forward after last year's smash performance of the Barbie movie.

“Barbie” grossed $1.45 billion, making it the top-performing movie for all of 2023, resonating with women of all ages.

Berger says those brand connections pave the way for the next step in the 65-year-old Barbie’s brand evolution. “This a moment to harness that energy and set the stage,” she says, reminding parents that Barbie dolls turn kids into storytellers, able to invent any kind of world they like.

And there’s no better moment to launch than halftime during Barbie Night, hosted by the Chicago Sky, including star Angel Reese, and Indiana Fever, with player Caitlin Clark. The game is the final match-up between the two teams in the regular season and one of the hottest tickets in the WNBA.

Those two players starred in NCAA 2023 playoffs that generated record viewership, vaulting coverage of women’s athletics to the next level. And they are both in competition for the league’s Rookie of the Year Award.

“This is the most anticipated sporting event post-Olympics,” Berger says. “We remain dedicated to honoring women in sports, highlighting the powerful role of play to show girls that anything is possible.”

Defining Barbie’s target audience is increasingly difficult, given how many generations flocked to theaters to see the movie. “We are a brand for all ages,” Berger says, “so our sweet spot changes based on what we're doing or which aspect of the brand we're activating.”

She says the WNBA’s rising stars, combined with the buzz of the recent Olympics, “beautifully intersects with our audience. The world is paying attention to women's sports like never before, and these two teams, in particular, have incredible talent. This is a fantastic moment, and our audience really believes that if girls see it, they can be it.”

Mattel recently introduced a Sue Bird Barbie, honoring one of the league’s greatest, and Berger says that by spotlighting such role models, “the WNBA helps inspire that confidence and belief in girls that they too, one day, can and aspire to and achieve their dreams of playing in a stadium.”

In quarterly earnings released last month, Mattel reported a 6% decline in gross billings of Barbie products, lapping the film’s release last year, moving to $266.1 million from $282.7 million in the second quarter of 2023.