Special Feature - Barbie

More than a movie - a cultural moment

John Baulch caught up with Sanjay Luthra, Mattel’s Executive vice president and managing director EMEA, to hear how Mattel will be delivering its largest-ever campaign of retail activations in the UK and EMEA to coincide with the launch of the Barbie movie this month.

It is always a pleasure to catch up with Sanjay. In his 20 years at Mattel, he has gone from managing Mattel India’s business to his current position heading up the EMEA operation. His collaborative, partnership-driven approach with customers has played a big part in strengthening Mattel’s relationships across the entire retail spectrum, which is hugely important when a phenomenon like the Barbie movie comes along. Yes, it’s a major summer blockbuster movie, but it is shaping up to be so much more than that: Sanjay describes it as “a cultural moment”, and with the media frenzy and momentum it has been building ahead of the film’s release, it’s hard to disagree.

I was invited to meet with Sanjay to hear how Mattel will be using “the most-anticipated movie of the year” to execute what he describes as “one of the biggest-ever retail activations which any toy brand has ever done. It will also be the biggest-ever investment at retail for Mattel and the Barbie brand.”

Looking at the plan of activity, I can see why he says that. You name a retailer across the region, and they are involved: all the key toy players, as you would expect that includes Smyths, Amazon, Carrefour (France), El Cortes Ingles (Spain) to Hamleys and Selfridges for the UK … the list is exhaustive. Although the list isn’t limited to toy retailers: leading fashion retailers like Primark and others to be announced are very much part of the over-arching plan too. As Sanjay points out: “Toy retailers are obviously very excited about the movie, as is the fashion channel. Nevertheless, as a toy magazine, our focus is on the toy channel – and it’s fair to say that the retail activation plan that the Mattel teams have for the toy market is hugely ambitious and literally all-encompassing. Sanjay is unequivocal: “ Our aim is to own that core time period. The scale of what we are investing across the region is huge. We are really appreciative of our relationship with toy market. What do retailers need? They need traffic and they need excitement. We are creating the biggest blockbuster movie with Warner Bros to bring everyone to the cinema, and then drive them to retail.”

And once those customers get to retail stores, they will be met with a series of best-in-class, hugely impactful retail executions: a full 360 franchise approach with an omnichannel presence is guaranteed. What’s more, it won’t be a ‘one size fits all’ approach: each retailer is getting bespoke activity, tailored to what they need, giving them a point of difference. “It’s important to maintain brand consistency”, explains Sanjay, “but we also need to create unique differentiation for each retailer. I believe the teams across the region have achieved that. Retail has supported us brilliantly, which I think is testament the strong relationships we’ve built over the past five years.”

Early evidence suggests that the plan is already translating into strong sales. The movie range went live at retail in the same week I met with Sanjay, and he was delighted to report that many dolls across the region had sold out within hours.

The bold creative vision and execution of the retail support plan is just what you would expect: fresh, modern and high impact. No surprise then that some retailers have already asked if they can keep their installations beyond the initial movie window, to maintain visibility. The strong messages from the movie and the brand as a whole – highlighting girl empowerment and the ‘You can be anything’ philosophy embodied by Barbie – come across emphatically, helping to redefine Barbie for future generations.

Sanjay believes this is important for the future of Barbie the brand and Mattel the company: “Ultimately, we want to be more than just a high-performing toy company. And this is more than just a movie – it’s a cultural moment. The film has the opportunity to recontextualize what Barbie means to future generations of fans.”

Of course, the level of expectation for the Barbie movie and what it can deliver to toy retailers t is matched across EMEA and the globe. Thankfully, we only have to wait a few more weeks before the movie will be released and the world turns pink.