At 64 years old – she celebrated them on March 9 – Barbie would be old enough to retire, even in France. But the doll is far from it. Not a single wrinkle, all her teeth, and still dominating a toy market that she hasn’t stopped taming since her debut. To find your bearings: 58 million Barbies are still sold each year in the world in 150 countries – more than 100 per minute, and more than a billion since its creation. In 2022, 20% of girls aged 4 to 14 spontaneously mentioned Barbie as one of their favorite toy games*, making it the most cited brand for this category of children. The proportion even rises to 33% among 4-6 year olds. And beware of those who don’t have one: Barbie is the most envied toy.
“In France, it is fourth on the toy market,” informs Frédérique Tutt, market expert in games and toys at Circana. In front of her: Pokémon, Vtech Baby and Paw Patrol. Toys generally for younger brats, “which makes Barbie the real number 1 for girls over 4 years old”.
“Barbie is not even a brand anymore, it’s a type of toy on its own”
First secret of this endless reign: the gap she dug with the competition upon her arrival, now almost unattainable. “When you think of a doll, you automatically think of Barbie. Just like when we think of a game to build with bricks, it is directly Lego that we visualize, recognizes Bruno Bokanowski, director of the Toys and Games sector at Infopro Digital. Barbie is not even a brand anymore, it is a type of toy in its own right”.
Delphine Quelin, consultant for Junior City, a study institute specializing in youth, adds a new diamond to the crown: “In the field of dolls, there is Barbie, and the rest of the world”. Sometimes, epiphenomena manage to break through and take some market share, such as Rainbow High or Witches a few decades ago. But it never lasts very long. Especially since Barbie can adapt to everything. Bruno Bokanowski: “If fashion is for fairies, a Barbie Fairy doll will come out right away. Mattel has such a lead that they just have to stay awake and follow the trends to make sure they never get left behind.”
An adaptable and consensual barbie
And to follow the trends, Barbie multiplies, diversifies, metamorphoses. Forget the iconic image of the blonde with blue eyes and luscious shapes that shocked America in the 1950s: “55% of the dolls we sell in the world have neither blond hair nor blue eyes”, claimed recently Lisa McKnight, general manager of the brand. Barbie is a metamorph: 9 body shapes, 22 skin tones and 76 haircuts, lists Frédérique Tutt. All with the most beautiful CV in the world: astronaut, mathematician, footballer… We are not going to list all of the 200 jobs she has had.
No need to be afraid of the passage of time either, it plays in its favor. “Barbie has become a transgenerational toy. The mother who had a Barbie as a child is happy to offer one to her daughter, ”notes Delphine Quelin. The passing decades have also cooled the controversies, develops the consultant: “We have gone beyond the debates of the 1980s and 1990s saying that Barbie was going to create a generation of bimbos and bitches. Today, Barbie has become consensual and socially accepted. »
Keep Barbie alive and remember her forever
But don’t think such success is automatic. To keep her throne, Barbie is not unemployed, on the contrary, the secret of her longevity lies in her overactivity and her media omnipresence. “Barbie is not enough, you have to remember her. She needs to live,” says Bruno Bokanowski. A film therefore, but also series, cartoons, a Youtube channel (11 million subscribers all the same)… What we call in the middle of “marketing activations”. “The child must have seen Barbie on TV to want to buy one,” summarizes the director. And here is Barbie gone from the woman-object to a heroine for the brats: she is the third favorite fictional character of 4-10 year olds, behind Miraculous and the Snow Queen.
“Being a transmedia license is essential to last. Licenses account for 25% of the toy market,” underlines Delphine Quelin. Among other examples: Spider-Man, Pokémon and almost all the Disney franchises. With this side “Seen on TV”, Barbie is then available in many objects: 45 categories of products exactly, including food, fitness and fashion. For the specialist: “Today, there are so many ancillary products that a girl can breathe Barbie from morning to night if she wishes. »
Invincible Barbie?
But the doll is not invincible. Because slowly, her influence is eroding against an opponent even more powerful than her: “A few years ago, Barbie attracted girls between 7 and 12 years old, recalls Delphine Quelin. This is less and less the case because of screens, which arrive earlier and earlier in children and make them abandon toys. Barbie rarely lasts until college, whereas it was the norm before”.
From now on, Barbie makes more the happiness of 5-8 years. “Children start playing with it earlier, but also leave it much earlier.” Barbie is therefore trying to make a breakthrough among the youngest, with the release of My First Barbie, a range suitable for the little ones with rounder shapes. Adapt. Innovate. Never stop. These are the prices of success.