National State Tourism Directors Mercury Awards > Social Media Campaign

Barbie Celebrates a Milestone Birthday in Arizona

About This Entry:

There are at least 100 ways to celebrate a centennial but Visit Arizona honed in on one particularly promising influencer to highlight the beauty that the Grand Canyon and the rest of Arizona could offer.

We reached out to Mattel with a grand idea: Would Barbie commemorate her 60th birthday with an Arizona bucket list road trip? And could that trip culminate with a shared celebration at the 100th birthday of Grand Canyon National Park? The brand immediately responded with a resounding yes, and the planning of this epic celebration began.

The primary objectives of this campaign were to drive awareness of and encourage travel to Arizona among @BarbieStyle account’s younger audience. The strategy was simple: Let’s entice the selfie-loving segment with Arizona’s beautiful landscapes and curate an itinerary of the state’s most Instagrammable locations. We selected renowned spots like Sedona, Scottsdale, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and, of course, the iconic Grand Canyon – all worthy backdrops for Barbie’s milestone birthday and her audience’s future travels.

Campaign Strategy:

Social media behaviors are in a constant state of change. But one thing continues to hold true: Influencers live up to their name and are an effective way to prompt target audiences to try something new and different.

The @BarbieStyle account has more than 2 million followers from around the world composed mostly of millennials and Gen Z. Visit Arizona and its marketing agency Off Madison Ave recognized the power this unique social media influencer had on the next generation of travelers and leveraged this to expand the Visit Arizona’s reach on Instagram by launching an influencer campaign with the world’s most famous doll.

We timed this partnership to highlight the Grand Canyon National Park’s centennial but also to promote tourism during summer, which is traditionally a slower travel time for the state. From the initial phone call with the Mattel team to the photoshoot, planning took five months. We worked collaboratively with our partner destinations, such as Visit Phoenix, Pink Jeep Tours, Experience Scottsdale and Visit Sedona to coordinate the locations for the shoot. When the creative and social media team behind @BarbieStyle traveled to Arizona to complete the photoshoots with our team, it was the first time Mattel partnered with a destination to promote travel.

We launched the partnership with a true-to-the-platform “flat lay” featuring Barbie’s suitcase and a doll-sized version of Visit Arizona’s Official State Travel Guide. The locations selected included both urban and rural destinations, and Barbie brought two of her friends (plus a pet) with her for the ultimate girls’ getaway. The selected locations highlighted a range of experiences available in Arizona and provided support to rural destinations that don’t always get the spotlight while Barbie’s friends showcased diversity and inclusion.

Results:

The photoshoots resulted in 11 Instagram feed posts and three Instagram Stories with a total of 14 frames. The partnership was unpaid; however, travel, meals and accommodations were provided at a budget of $6,000.

The campaign was a joyful, playful partnership and an epic success:
- The Instagram posts received 425,000 engagements and 4.9 million impressions, achieving the goal of promoting travel to Arizona.
- The campaign’s success attracted six segments and 40 articles resulting in $207,000 in publicity value.
- This media coverage garnered 103,355,000 impressions.
- Additionally, we received 83% growth in our Instagram net follower count during the duration of the campaign.
- We also saw a 1,830% increase in sessions to VisitArizona.com from Instagram, accounting in 1,878% increase in new website users.

Mattel and the @BarbieStyle Instagram account continue to share and highlight elements of Barbie’s road trip on social media even after the initial campaign had come to a close. In early 2020, @BarbieStyle participated in the Dolly Parton social media challenge where she featured the image of Barbie at the Grand Canyon. Later that year, to commemorate the anniversary of the @BarbieStyle account being created, @BarbieStyle shared its favorite moments including the road trip to Arizona with an image at Antelope Canyon. And 12 frames (a mix of stories and feed posts) remain in Barbie’s Instagram Travel Highlights for her audience to continue to see and be inspired by. We’re counting down to the next big milestone to celebrate together.

Why This Is A Finalist: 

The Visit Arizona campaign is impressive for many reasons, starting with the ability to provide a proposal strong enough for Mattel to engage it’s valuable Barbie brand for the campaign. The creative content campaign brought new audiences, and future travelers, to be aware of Arizona sites and engage with a variety of experiences. The results are incredibly impressive for this tight and well produced effort. The campaign defines thinking big and executing well. The proposal to Mattel must have been strong for them to engage their iconic Barbie brand. A great way to engage the next generation of travelers and increase awareness.