BARBIE FASHIONISTA

TitleBARBIE FASHIONISTA
BrandMATTEL
Product/ServiceBARBIE
Category B06. Media Relations
Entrant HILL+KNOWLTON STRATEGIES London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation HILL+KNOWLTON STRATEGIES London, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement HILL+KNOWLTON STRATEGIES London, UNITED KINGDOM
PR HILL+KNOWLTON STRATEGIES London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Xavier Mortés Hill+Knowlton Strategies Account Director
Andrea Ordax Hill+Knowlton Strategies Account Executive
Guillem Rufí Hill+Knowlton Strategies Account Executive
Oier Verdugo Hill+Knowlton Strategies Account Executive
Beatriz Bravo Mattel Brand Manager of Barbie in Spain

The Campaign

In 2015 fashion icon Barbie had a full body revamp to take her off her tiptoes and into the twenty-first century. To celebrate the introduction of the new bodies of Barbie and highlighting her position as an immortal fashion Icon, H+K Spain created “Cover Girl”. The objective of the campaign was to place Barbie, the famous children's toy, on the front cover of Spain's fashion magazines, making her a genuine fashion icon.

Execution

We created an inclusive initiative that looked for the participation of Spain’s main fashion magazines, with Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vein, Neo 2, Telva, Tenmag, Glamour, L’Officiel, Instyle, Smoda and Mujer Hoyall helping to design 32 looks for the new bodies of Barbie. H+K managed all the sketches and designs with each of the magazines, guiding them through the new sizes of the dolls. We sent the sketches to different local artists who sewed all the outfits by hand, bringing the designs to life. The 32 looks were photographed, creating exclusive material for the media. After that we unveiled the designs, coinciding with the Madrid Fashion Week 2016, with an open exposition showing the 32 designs and Barbie’s new bodies to everyone that walked around the centric hotel Iberostar las Letras, through the shop windows of the hotel.

Since its launch in May, the initiative has been covered by 29 fashion magazines and fashion websites, reaching a total audience of 14.292.380 readers and a PR Value of 217.993,38€ (72.664,46 € AD value).

The Situation

As the world's most famous doll celebrated her 55th year, Mattel introduced a new Barbie body type that represented real women and encouraged children to see the doll in all shapes and sizes. H+K in Spain worked to retain Barbie's fashion icon status by presenting these looks at Madrid Fashion Week, making her a genuine fashion icon.

The Strategy

To celebrate the Spanish release of Barbie’s realistic new body, H+K invited fashion’s finest magazines including Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour to design 32 looks, and local artists who sewed the dresses. We unveiled the designs in an open exposition during Madrid Fashion Week.