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Play Brand #1: The Barbie wave

Keva Epale
Bootcamp
Published in
11 min readAug 5, 2023

A special Barbie, the brand.

A Barbie story © Mattel. Layout, Keva Epale.

Today, I would like to reflect on the burning news. I have been pretty excited to tackle this Play Brand theme, and as I have many in mind, I have decided to make it a three-part series. Let’s begin with “The Barbie Ecosystem”.

What is a Play Brand for me?

A Play brand is a brand that has Play as a mission, solution and expression.

These brands embody a spirit of youth and innovation, some of them disrupting conventional norms. They are built on the foundation of play and infuse it into their DNA. What if Play was more than play? They go beyond just offering entertainment and amusement, that is when branding power and culture come in.
As a species, we are drawn to play, seeking entertainment, games, competition and stories, in a nutshell, a world of imagination. Play brands leverage that inner superpower and skillfully invite us into their captivating Play world.

The Barbie wave is revived

© Mattel. Layout, Keva Epale.

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Bootcamp
Bootcamp

Published in Bootcamp

From idea to product, one lesson at a time. Bootcamp is a collection of resources and opinion pieces about UX, UI, and Product. To submit your story: https://tinyurl.com/bootspub1

Keva Epale
Keva Epale

Written by Keva Epale

Art director, illustrator and brand strategist. Creator of the newsletters: ''Your Creative Letter'' and ''Your Branding Letter''.

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