AN ANALYSIS OF THE BARBENHEIMER MARKETING TACTICS
BARBENHEIMER – ACCIDENTAL PORTMENTAU OR PURE MARKETING MAGIC?
Barbenheimer, Boppenheimer, Barbieheimer or Oppenbarbie, Accidental Portmanteau, or is it? Two summer blockbusters. Two genres. Two directors. One release date and one heck of an online craze!
Almost three months after their releases, Barbie and Oppenheimer continue to break multiple records at the box-office all over the world. Whether you’re a movie buff or not, it’s likely that you’re familiar with the portmanteau – “Barbenheimer” (a combination of the movie titles)
What does the phrase mean? Why and why was it such a trending topic online, it all started with a successful and seemingly “accidental” movie marketing strategy.
Counterprogramming [Setting the scene for Barbenheimer’s success]
When it comes to film distribution and release dates, a lot of factors have to be considered including (but not limited to) any other titles releasing on the same day. These decisions are made way before the press tours and marketing campaigns kick off or before a single teaser or trailer is dropped.
As a rule-of-thumb, the strategy of counterprogramming works best when both films appeal to different audiences. The effect usually leads to higher interest in both films before opening day and increased footfall at cinemas and digital/streaming sales thereafter.
Previous examples of counterprogramming include same day summer releases of The Bob’s Burgers Movie and Top Gun: Maverick and holiday releases of Avatar: The Way of Water and Puss in Boots: The last Wish in 2022. This ensured the success of all 4 films, leading the audience of one to watch the other.
In the curious case of Barbenheimer, unlike the examples previously stated where one film was decidedly “smaller”, both these films were considered blockbuster releases in their own right. Barbie, as directed by Greta Gerwig is considered a fantasy comedy with Oppenheimer identifying as an epic biographical thriller directed by Christopher Nolan.
Thematically, there doesn’t seem to be a direct link between the films. Jokes at the expense of both fan-bases were made with black and pink being the colors that represent the side you fell on, even the moods were considered different enough to separate the audiences of each movie.
Even before launch day, directors, actors, critiques and fans in general were discussing the impact of the Barbenheimer release on the entertainment world. All this uproar was started with a same RELEASE DATE and driven by extremely different marketing activities from both sides.
Marketing Activities [Turning strategy into profit]
Greta’s Barbie promoted the film extensively across various mediums to immerse viewers into the world of Barbie. From co-sponsored shows, merchandise collaborations, music, Barbie Dreamhouse rentals and Mattel’s behemoth advertising machinery, the Barbie team started their tour on a solid footing.
By the time audiences watched their first teaser an additional $150M was spent on marketing (on top of the $145M for production) at a record pace, whipping the audience into frenzy to watch the movie.
Whilst Barbie flooded every single platform and market, Nolan’s Oppenheimer took a very different approach by withholding as much information as possible.
Nolan secured a $100M budget for marketing (the same exact amount that he asked for production). Oppenheimer started its marketing tour using the ballsy tactic of counting down to the anniversary of the first atomic bomb drop.
After that, the team selectively chose where the first looks and trailers of the movie would be seen, the first pick was the screening of Jordan Peele’s Nope for an exclusive first look before even releasing it to the public.
By the time press tours rolled around and the first teasers were dropped, so little was still known about the movie that the curiosity naturally built up.
We can’t discuss the success of Barbenhenimer without mentioning the online showdown between fans of both directors, numerous fanarts, memes and viral conversations drove awareness for both movies and a sense of FOMO amongst the audience.
Whether you were a fan of Greta or Nolan, Cillian or Margot, or a fan of intense or light-hearted movies, you just had to watch both of them!
High budgets or not both movies rode on the coattails of each other’s marketing campaigns in one way or another to compete at the box office. They have both broken records together and individually with Barbie grossing more than $1.34B and Oppenheimer earning $866.7 as of September 4th
Was it planned marketing genius or a purely coincidental accident? Only the respective marketing teams would know that but either way, Barbenheimer is set to become a rule book for counterprogramming moving forward…and perhaps even Brands.
