Barbie is a legend. It’s undeniable. In addition to being a excellently marketed toy since being ‘born’ in 1959, she’s managed to make an iconic mark on popular culture by appearing in books, video games, comics, TV shows and films over the past six decades.
This summer, the most hotly-anticipated film of 2023 is due to be released – the first ever live-action adaptation of Barbie from beloved indie heavyweight director Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as her partner-in-not-so-plastic, Ken.
Barbie has also put her name to a gaggle of glamorous brands over the years, including Moschino, De Beers, Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, and Jean-Paul Gaultier and, most recently, MAC, Forever21 and Balmain. Croud’s planning director, Aisling Foster takes a look at her most recently announced fashion partnership with fellow all-American hero and asks the real question – can Barbie save Gap?
Barbie: fashion legend
“Barbie is a trendsetter, consistently achieving the perfect blend of powerhouse, muse, social mirror and career-hopping goddess in every move she makes, in every medium she crosses into, and in every genre she gallivants towards. For her collab with MAC, she even created her very own MAC lipstick colour. What shade was it? Pale pink encrusted with gold, obviously. What a kween.
Since the film started releasing teaser after tantalising teaser in the lead up to its 21 July release, the question on everyone’s lips has been… who will Barbie choose for her next partnership?
And last month, that question was answered. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t Ken (although let it be known that we’re all looking forward to Ryan Gosling’s performance with baited breath). Her newly-announced collab is *drum roll* … Gap. Good old, trusty retailer Gap.
Barbie x Gap. Yeah, really
It’s a choice that might seem really strange at first. I have to admit, I was sceptical. “Not Gap?!” was my first thought. “My mum used to wear Gap!” But, here’s the thing. Gap x Barbie might seem like a (heavily-eye-shadowed-right-up-to-the-lid) eyebrow-raising partnership but there’s loads of things that make this particular partnership a match made in consumer heaven. And I think I’m completely here for it. Here’s why.
Firstly, Gap and Barbie have more in common than you might think. They’re both all-American institutions. They were founded within ten years of each other – Gap in 1969 and Barbie ten years earlier in 1959. Very older, cooler sibling vibes.
Both brands have a rich history of flagship TV advertisements. Barbie was one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy based extensively on television advertising, which was copied in later years by other toys. Gap has an incredible history of powerful and successful TV ads. Who remembers Gap Khakis in the late 90s? Or the more recent American Dream ad?
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
Driving by to save the day
Despite these similarities, there are also inevitably many, many differences between Gap and Barbie. Namely, the fact that Gap has not had a brilliant time of it recently. It all started in 2011 when the company posted an unexpected decline in earnings in its annual report to shareholders and shuttered 20% of its stores in the US as a result.
In 2015, it closed subsidiary business Piperlime, and in mid-2020 it closed even more stores due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Also in 2020, it announced an ill-fated partnership with Kanye West/Ye (no, we can’t keep up either), which, despite gaining £34.9m in media impact value, ended sourly after just two years.
Recently, Gap Inc (Gap’s parent company, which also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic) reported a 6% decline in yearly net sales, while Gap itself reported a 9% decline in yearly net sales. Just last week, it announced lay-offs of 1,800 employees at its San Francisco headquarters.
With an almost desperate need to pull something out of the bag, Barbie couldn’t have driven by in her convertible Corvette at a better time. Gap needed a miracle, and – with a line of Barbie-branded t-shirts, hoodies, bags and accessories due to come out later in spring – this partnership could not have come sooner. Finally, Barbie is here to save Gap’s day! But how?
I’ll have a slice of the Gen-Z pie, please
Tapping into the core Barbie fanbase will help Gap connect with a key audience demographic who can help build sales that it doesn’t currently have. Yes, Gap is a good quality clothing brand but it also needs to get people into the store or it’ll probably go bankrupt. Gap’s audience has grown up with the brand so a huge proportion of customers are now aged 30+ – the retailer is severely lacking in younger audiences, particularly from the Gen-Z bracket.
The habit of retail
Gen-Z is the largest generation – it accounts for 25% of the world’s population – and Gap wants to invite them to the party. In the US, those aged between 12-25 have a purchasing power of $360 billion, with fashion being cited as the favourite “entertainment category” for Gen Z-ers to spend money on, outranking dining, video games and even music. 67% of Gen-Zers regularly use online shopping.
Gap is, of course, incredibly keen for a slice of that sweet Gen-Z pie – and people who buy the Barbie line will bring that to the business, with the collaboration exposing Gap directly to this crucial audience sector.
But by partnering with Barbie, Gap isn’t just opening its consumer outreach to young, female shoppers. The new collaboration is clever because it includes things for all the family to wear – and yes, that means canine and feline members too.
What’s even cleverer is that the broader collaboration is actually with toymaker Mattel – the company owns a host of other toy brands including Hot Wheels, American Girl, Minecraft and Thomas and Friends.
Hot Wheels keep on turning
With a Gap x Hot Wheels collaboration due to be unveiled later in 2023, presumably after Barbie bedlam has died down, there’s huge potential here for Gap to have regular access to a constant drip feed of Mattel-themed collaborations, meaning Barbie is just the beginning.
The broader relationship with Mattel will enable Gap to continually generate customer business and data for an entirely new consumer base which, in a tricky time for retail, is undeniably a brilliant coup. Sure, Barbie might be here to save the day today but there’s more to Gap’s relationship with Barbie and Mattel than meets the eye.
What Gap is doing is clear, strategic and a huge endorsement for unexpected and surprising retail partnerships. In the words of Barbie herself in “Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of The Rainbow” (2007): “Together, we are strong.”
