Monday, February 7, 2011

Every Barbie Needs Her Ken...

Hello world (and my PR 107 class) and welcome to my blog. Not sure exactly what shape this blog will take, but I'm going to take it post by post, and share my PR journey and my thoughts on certain campaigns with you through out the semester.

To kick things off I wanted to share with you a campaign that has really caught my eye the last couple days.



Now I'm not sure if many of you know this, but Barbie and Ken broke up in 2004 ( I know what you're thinking, if they can't make it how will anyone!) Barbie left Ken for a new Australian surfer hunk named Blaine. But good news for all of you, Ken is trying to win Barbie back! (Check out the video above to see Ken finding Barbie on Match.com)
He went through a huge transformation and is now sharing all of his and Barbie's favorite spots via social networks.
(what a hunk)

Throughout the website Barbieandken.com you can see this history of Barbie and Ken, watch the Hulu show "Genuine Ken", and follow your favorite plastic toys on Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare (Check out below for links to both of their sites). Through these Ken is sharing his favorite activities that he used to do with Barbie, their favorite places, and much more. After this (or before if you just can't wait) you can vote if Barbie should take back Ken.

Barbie and Ken in Toy Story 3

I, personally, think this campaign is great. It uses all of the popular social networking sites to reintroduce you to Ken and Barbie. I love being able to follow their stories through the social media, and best of yet, this is just in time for Valentine's Day!

So what do you think? Should Barbie take back Ken? Or are they better off apart?

Till next time!
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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 7, 2011 at 8:41 PM

    Wow Heath, this is sick! Awesome post! Thanks for including where to find them on our fave social media sites! I think the partner ship between match.com and Matel's Barbie trademark is probably something to do with marketing but it really does show you how many levels there are of this industry and what it really takes to portray a brand and product in a certain light.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heather GFebruary 7, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    Thanks Charlsie! Yeah agree about the marketing with Match.com, but I thought the video was too cute to not include!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2011 at 4:59 PM

    Did we ever figure out exactly what this campaign was for? Is it just for Barbie and Ken or is it actually for a dating website? And, who on earth is this Blaine character? Pfft! Kids nowadays couldn't leave well enough alone and they broke B&K up! Haha

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  4. AnonymousFebruary 27, 2011 at 9:32 AM

    I just realized I wrote, "partner ship"... fail. *partnership

    ReplyDelete
  5. My name is Amanda, and this blog was created for an assignment for my PR Copywriting class, and now for my PR107 Campaign Class.March 15, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    Hey Heather its amanda nissenbaum

    I think the fact that the whole "barbie and ken" thing was a hot topic, is great for media, but the whole campaign does not really make sense to me. Yes they partnered up with match.com, and it was all over the news, but what I don't understand where Blaine came from, and how dolls became in the picture of television breakups. All in all your blog post is really good, I just don't agree with the whole media aspect.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Alexandra BackesMarch 22, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    I haven't heard of this before your post. I think this is a really cool idea! It's a great way for both companies to get their names back out there. It's something that is relatable to most people and like you said is a great love story.

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  7. PGuaraldiMarch 22, 2011 at 2:42 PM

    Never seen or heard of any of this before. Since Barbie dolls are not what they used to be for children as they were 20 years ago, I believe that Matel (or whoever create this campaign) needed to do something to get Babrie and Ken back on the market and relevant for young consumer and ultimately their parents.

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  8. AnonymousApril 26, 2011 at 10:00 PM

    I had no idea about this! I think the campaign was great because the partnership made sense. This campaign created buzz about the two brands, which was necessary in the process of coming back into consumer's minds. I might be bias though because I personally love Barbie and Ken.

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  9. Kirsten McKennaMay 17, 2011 at 12:45 PM

    Heather, I remember you mentioning this campaign to me at the beginning of the semester. I think that match.com and Mattel really matched their interests here-no pun intended. This marketing and pr initiative helped gain media exposure for a truly traditional toy company and the evolving technology of online dating.

    Integrated marketing communications are very apparent in this corporate partnership-and it truly makes sense! In addition, it is allowing traditional companies to create a new medium, the website "barbieandken.com."

    I think this is an extremely innovative angle and that both companies excelled in creating such an initiative.

    ReplyDelete
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