MARKETING
What Can Marketing Learn From Barbie and Oppenheimer?
Marketing Case Study
Quite a challenging article this is. And not due to the complexity of the plot, but because of the troubles in reaching its potential readers who massively spend their time enjoying Gerwig’s satirical manifestation of the zeitgeist and Nolan’s historical magnum opus. Regardless, this article will not heed the bits and pieces of astonishing mise-en-scène or Murphy’s distinguished performance. Today we’ll unwrap the phenomena of Barbenheimer through a marketing dimension and try to discover its significance within the history of the promotion.
Behind Barbenheimer:
Apparently, Barbenheimer is a remarkable promotional sensation, finding its term in a combination of two loud cinematic titles: Gretta Gerwig’s Barbie, and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
The first film, Barbie, is an ironic pink-littered piece starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the leading roles. With the equally overwhelming buzz, the cinematic community was awaiting Oppenheimer — a historical thriller, based on a true story about the pivotal Manhattan Project and its leader, Julius Robert Oppenheimer. The inventor of atomic weaponry, he caught the sharp eye of Christopher Nolan, who pictured its esteem and inner drama on a cutting-edge 70mm IMAX film. Oppenheimer promises to be non only the narrative, but also a technological leap in cinematography.
Notably, both films were set to premiere on the same date: July, 21.
“Now I Am Become Death in the Barbie World”
Barbie and Oppenheimer. On one side: based on an iconic toy vibrant narration about gender hierarchy, from another: a dramatic disclosure of atomic bomb creation. Did you see a direct controversy here? I guess your answer would be “yes”.
So did the majority of primarily the internet community. Being extremely susceptible to post-ironical worldviews, they massively coined the implication of the two most anticipated premieres as we see them now. The direct opposites as in footage style as in transferred message have rapidly become the most discussable topic not only on the Internet but among society at, spurring the staggering popularity of films.
Still, it would be hopelessly wrong to consider Barbie and Oppenheimer's originally unpopular projects. On just contrary, Oppenheimer was eagerly anticipated since its announcement of it in early 2021, as every Nolan film is a crucial event for cinematography, while Barbie loudly asserted itself with the cast reveal and overall story’s idea. Both premieres have been exponentially growing in awareness, hitting skyrocketing popularity. Apparently, the films would remain hyped even separately. But the Barbenheimer case showed us new levels of resonance in the informational dimension.
What If We Always Defined Collaborations Wrongly?
Let’s regard Barbenheimer from the other point of view.
Marketing collaborations have been trendy for really a long time. Nike and Off-White, Doritos and Taco Bell, WhiteBIT’s partnerships with FC Barcelona, Ronald McDonald Foundation, and Faceit. What do all these examples have in common?
Those collaborations are iconic, but they reflect the values and goals of each of the participants. Nike and Off-White are both fashion trendsetters, Doritos and Taco Bell have converged on the love towards Mexican cuisine, and WhiteBIT voices humanism and cooperation. Their collaborations highlight brands’ mutual resemblance, and that is a time-tested method of effective promotion.
But what do Barbie and Oppenheimer tell us about?
They turn the tides of the traditional definition of marketing cooperation and reveal that opposites attract. And that attraction results in much greater buzz than the ones we mentioned before.
Indeed, it is clear why big companies are reluctant to collaborate with something directly contradictory. Namely, it would look grotesque if Mcdonald's collaborated with fitness clubs. But just imagine, how much buzz would be around collaboration with cryptocurrency exchanges and centralized banking institutions. The remarkability of similar events would be difficult to exaggerate.
Alas, similar cases can only be found in cinematography for now, in which they received the term “counterprogramming”. However, the idea of counterprogramming rather differs from a controversial collaboration and specifically means releasing a tonally different film on the same day as a major film. Similar phenomena occurred with Avatar: The Legend of Water and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and was noticed by Keith Phipps in his article for GQ Magazine.
But Barbenheimer is still a pioneering case involving two major films, which are pivotally different. Even the scales of their marketing strategies were contrary to each other: while Barbie’s included fuchsia-colored Xbox consoles, apparel from Crocs, and even a real-life Barbie Dreamhouse bookable through Airbnb, Oppenheimer’s marketing team chose a more low-key strategy, and heated the interest to the film by trailers, shots, and a countdown in the 78-th anniversary of the first nuclear explosion.
This great difference did not make a trick, if it could be said. As we can see now, solely the controversy between Barbie and Oppenheimer turned out to be the decisive factor in gaining popularity and stimulating interest in the premieres. Accordingly, the unique approach which lies in the deliberate or unintentional juxtaposition of the contrasting products or companies is soundly risky yet overwhelmingly effective.
But the contradictions are what we expect less and surprise us more, aren’t they? And the promotion is inter alia about causing a sincere, positive reaction. Thus, why can it not become the new trend, driving marketing several stages further?
