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Momvertising Opps Update: Barbie launches new dolls with disabilities, vitiligo in push for diversity, inclusion

Update: To mark its dedication to diversity and inclusion, Mattel's first foray into Barbies with various certain health conditions or disabilities, and it reflects the push the company has made over recent years to tackle ableism. Gen-Z and millennials tend to invest in the cause-, diversity- and inclusion-aware brands more than other audiences might, so this launch will help Barbie reach its target demographic.

The brand tends to target Gen-Z and millennial moms via national TV, digital display, paid social and local broadcast. I expect to see promotional activity around the new dolls' debut, so sellers should contact soon to offer high-ROI strategies among this audience. Read more details regarding recent spending in the article below.

Agency & martech readers - Keep Mattel on your radar for future project-based work. For now, Barbie works with PR AOR BBDO San Francisco.

The article below was originally published on April 19:

Mattel dolls are no longer in orbit, they will head to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, which will eventually display them. Calling it "one giant leap for dollkind," Mattel plans to build this partnership to fuel future efforts to close the Dream Gap. This initiative launched in 2018 and focuses on research that indicates that girls begin to see themselves as less competent and intelligent than boys early as five.

Mattel will also release a special edition of its "You Can Be Anything" series that highlights careers in space.

Finally, a new Barbie space exploration line will soon make its exclusive debut at Target.

I don't doubt we'll see promotional material around the space initiative, so sellers should get in touch soon to see what kind of opportunity is available.

So far this year, iSpot reports Barbie has spent approximately $14.4m on national TV commercials, only around half of the approximately $26m it had spent by this point last year. The brand ended up spending approximately $74.2m on national TV last year, 32% less than the approximately $108.6m it spent in 2020. Barbie's 2022 commercials have targeted kids watching shows such as Craig of the Creek, The Amazing World of Gumball, Teen Titans Go!, We Baby Bears and Total DramaRama.

Per Pathmatics, the brand has allocated roughly $457.3k toward digital ads YTD, up 34% from the roughly $340.4k it allocated within the same 2021 timeframe. In 2021, Barbie's estimated full-year spend jumped 95% to $3.7m from that of $1.9m in 2020. Since the beginning of 2022, the doll brand has earned ~60.3m digital impressions via Instagram (42%), Facebook (41%), Twitter (17%) and desktop video (1%) ads.

Barbie tends to target kids and their moms, especially moms.  The fact that TV spend is dropping while digital spend rises leads me to believe the brand is particularly targeting Gen-Z and millennial moms right now. To do so, Barbie may make future forays into additional digital channels such as OTT and/or podcast. According to Kantar data, the brand also invests in local broadcast.

Agency & martech readers - Mattel doesn't show major signs tight now of upcoming agency reviews, but project-based work may be possible. To the best of my knowledge, Barbie currently works with PR AOR BBDO San Francisco.