Last week (on March 9) Barbie turned 58 years old, and one things for sure, she is just as popular now as she always has been. While she’s lived through some historic decades, what really stands out is the lasting impressions that Barbie has left. I recently used our Social Intelligence platform to look at what people were talking about in the weeks around Barbie’s birthday. Among many other things, it’s clear that people still love Barbie as the sentiment around all the posts were 28% positive and only 4.2% negative.
However, what was really interesting to see was how much of an impact Barbie still has on the fashion industry, and how in a few short years Barbie has entered the conversation about body-image in a positive manner.
Barbie has long been a fashion icon, and there are a number of different Barbie fashion lines that are currently available for purchase, and I was curious to see which of the collections are people’s favorites. According to the Social Intelligence that I looked at, the answer, as you can see below, is clearly the “So In Style” collection followed closely by the “Barbie Look Collection.” Clearly people love Barbie’s stylish looks, and that’s why these collections are so popular.
It’s also worth noting that fashion is such a strong part of the Barbie brand to the point where two of the top six hashtags used when discussing Barbie have to do with fashion, style and looks:
- #Barbie
- #Mattel
- #BarbieStyle
- #Dollstagram
- #Dolls
- #BarbieLook
A few years ago Barbie decided to add more realistic body types to its collection of dolls and you didn’t need a Social Intelligence tool to know how great the response was to that decision. However, now that some time has passed, do people still talk about it? Are people still happy with it? As you can see below, there is no question that people are still talking about it. In fact it was the most discussed topic online about Barbies, even more than Barbie’s fashion.
But not only are people talking about the different body-image Barbies, they are also talking about them quite positively. The conversations around Barbie’s different body sizes were positive 19% of the time, with only 5.8% of posts being negative.
At 58 years old, Barbie is still just as much of a cultural icon now as she was back when she first hit store shelves, and it’s truly remarkable to see such longevity in a retail product. When I used our Social Intelligence tool to look at what people are saying about Barbie on Social Media, it became clear that the reason Barbie is still as popular and important now as she has ever been, is because of the ever-changing and adaptable impact she has on fashion, style and the way that women view themselves and others.
If you want to see how your product can achieve the amazing longevity and impact of Barbie, then feel free to reach out to us for a demo and we’ll be happy to show you what Social Intelligence can reveal about your products!
