It’s been almost a year since the Barbie film hit cinemas and turned the world pink with branded content.

The question about how the brand will top the monumental success of 2023 is “hot on everyone’s minds”, according to Mattel’s senior vice-president of Barbie and global head of dolls Krista Berger.

“What I’ve learned is there is always another mountain to climb. There’s always the next big thing for Barbie,” she tells Marketing Week.

This year, Barbie marks its 65th anniversary. As part of the celebrations, the brand is launching the Barbie exhibition at the Design Museum to “continue the dialogue” with consumers in a post-Barbie movie world.

“What am I going to do to top the Barbie movie? I’m not ready to give you the answer,” says Berger. “We’re going to do something because we always have. I think the proof point of a brand being in its 65th year is almost enough confidence in that.”

Berger took on her current role in February after spending a year at American Girl, a subsidiary of Mattel. Prior to that, she spent 15 years elsewhere at Mattel, much of it focusing on the dolls portfolio. She is currently responsible for Barbie, Polly Pocket and Monster High and also works alongside the brands’ entertainment partners, such as Disney.

“I know the power of this brand,” she says. “Barbie is a reflection of culture, and culture doesn’t stand still.”

Barbie is at her best when she’s in a two-way dialogue with society and culture, so when she is both a reflection of and an inspiration to culture.

Krista Berger, Mattel

2023 was a colossal year for Barbie. As of April 2024, the Barbie movie had grossed $1.45bn (£113bn), putting it among the top 20 highest-grossing movies of all time.

Following Barbie-mania last summer, worldwide doll sales increased 16% year-on-year in its third quarter, growing from $519.6m (£430m) in 2022 to $605.1m (£500.8m) in 2023. For the entire year, gross sales of Barbie reached $1.5bn (£1.17bn), slightly down from its peak in 2021, but well above the ten years prior.

At the time, the business’s CFO Anthony DiSilvestro praised Mattel’s “robust marketing efforts” for helping Barbie doll sales.

“Our results benefited from the success of the Barbie movie, which became a global cultural phenomenon, and marked a key milestone for Mattel,” he said.

Alongside sales, Berger emphasises that brand health has been a crucial metric for assessing its position, highlighting that it currently holds its “highest market share on record” within the doll category.

However, Barbie hasn’t always experienced positive growth. In 2015, after facing criticism for promoting unrealistic body ideals and perpetuating gender stereotypes for years, the doll brand experienced its lowest sales volume in over 25 years with $900m (£702m).

Throughout the brand’s 65-year history, Berger says she can pinpoint moments when Barbie “stopped evolving” with society.

“We can look back at really pointed moments where we know that from societal engagement, cultural conversation, and brand sales when we misstepped,” she says. “We hear from our consumers that they’re not as inspired or engaged in the brand.”

Berger says she’s learned the “danger of not keeping pace”, highlighting the brand’s “critical responsibility” to ensure it is in lockstep with culture and its consumers.

“Barbie is at her best when she’s in a two-way dialogue with society and culture, so when she is both a reflection of and an inspiration to culture. She’s always been a lightning rod for conversation,” Berger adds.

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She credits the Mattel Playbook with driving the brand’s transformation toward greater representation, calling it the “biggest change” to its marketing fundamentals.

The Mattel Playbook approaches brand reinvention in four ways: Purpose, design-led innovation, cultural relevance and executional excellence.

“We really focus on ensuring that every brand within our portfolio has a distinct reason for being and a unique brand purpose,” she says, adding that customer feedback is also key in determining what products to create.

“We are in constant conversation with our fans around the world, getting that feedback from them about what they’re looking for, what they’re responding to, and then we’ll take that input and plan accordingly,” she adds.

65 years of Barbie

The Barbie exhibition, which launched on Friday (5 July) will feature over 180 dolls including the rare first edition Barbie from 1959. It will explore Barbie’s changing appearance in relation to cultural shifts around diversity and representation and share insights into Mattel’s design process.

The exhibition is about “inspiring stories” and “highlighting the impact that Barbie has had on culture for the past 65 years”, says Berger.

The ultimate goal is to strengthen Barbie’s relationship with consumers.

“Anytime you show up in a new and interesting space or give consumers a window into something that they don’t necessarily know about the brand, or to celebrate what they love about the brand, that’s how you strengthen that relationship,” she says.

Alongside the exhibition, the brand will be rolling out new consumer products and partnership dolls across the year.

Barbie is a reflection of culture, and culture doesn’t stand still.

Krista Berger, Mattel

This is Berger’s third “tour of duty” at Mattel and the second time she’s been tasked with continuing the brand’s momentum after a high point. In 2016, Barbie was on the cover of Time Magazine after the brand introduced the first ‘curvy’ doll to represent more diverse body types, a move that was highly praised and credited for the uptick in sales.

“This role feels a lot like coming home and revisiting moments of my career,” she says.

Much like her current role following the Barbie movie, Berger faced the challenge in 2016 of elevating the brand beyond its newfound heights.

“I walked into the role with this self-limiting idea about how the biggest thing the brand has ever done has been done, and my job now is just to keep the train on the tracks and keep things running,” she reflects, highlighting that since then, the brand doubled the global business.

“As I step into this role, there are no self-limiting beliefs – I know the power of this brand.”