Barbie in the Nutcracker
Barbie in the Nutcracker
There are times when I am astonished at how successful some marketing campaigns can be. There are some products that come and go in a few months and then there are others that last for years. It isn't that one product is so much better than another, but I do think the way they are marketed makes all the difference and this is especially true with children’s toys. Somehow parents are more willing to buy their children toys that they had fun playing with.
Barbie dolls have been around since 1958. Almost fifty years on the shelves of toy stores makes her a classic. Why has she been so successful? Well the answer is not that difficult.New marketing ideas on an annual basis. Sure a big reason for the new marketing is to sell more Barbie’s, but it is also to keep her current with the times. The marketing has not only kept her clothes up to date, but has also built story lines around her. Barbie in the Nutcracker is one example of how two classics were combined to market products. The Nut Cracker has been a holiday favorite for many years. How best to keep that story going but to have Barbie in the Nut Cracker. This makes it appealing to a wide audience.
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Adults are interested because they most likely saw the Nut Cracker as a child and children are interested because it stars one of their favorite toys. The marketing does not end with getting parents and children to buy the movie. Suddenly the shelves in the stores are filled with Barbie in the Nut Cracker dolls,clothing and accessories. And kids being kids, when they see the new merchandise they want to have it, even though they may already have several Barbie dolls at home. This is a brilliant marketing ploy. It makes children want what they already have at home.
And ofcourse,Barbie has also played other roles in other movies with the same out come. There is Barbie as Cinderella as well as princess Barbie. This not only sells additional dolls but books, coloring books and child size costumes as well. My daughter went as a different Barbie character for Halloween for three years. She always insisted that she was a Barbie Cinderella or a Barbie princess, not just a generic princess. I hope that who ever originally came up with the idea of Barbie dolls is getting royalties from the multiple products that have been marketed through the past forty-seven years. It makes me wish that I could come up with a concept that would be so successful.