In this article:
- Mattel’s entry in the LA Car Show is a Fiat convertible designed to match its Barbie® Extra Vehicle with winged doors, star-shaped headlights, and colorful hubcaps.
- Similar to Fisher-Price’s real-life toy-phone, Mattel taps into nostalgia-marketing around the holidays
- Some of us don’t have an all-time loved toy at our disposal, but can still replicate the experience
The car becomes a marketing vehicle for Barbie® fans..
While toy cars typically are designed to look like real ones, when it comes to the Barbie universe that order is inverted. As Cnet reported, the full-size car is “actually based on an all-electric Fiat 500e.”
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However, the style and components are completely based on the car designed for the doll. Working off that model for the real thing, Cnet, reports that it took 2 ½ months to make.
Mattel’s “design team worked directly from the CAD files for the toy car, scaling it up to fit a full-size vehicle.” The asymmetric –22 inches in the back and 20 inches in the front — were individually 3D printed and then hand painted to match the colors on the toy.
The full-size version is not just a car but a marketing vehicle that literally showcases the toy car right near it at the car show. The November appearance brings extra attention to the toy version of the car offered for sale (priced at $29.99 at Walmart) for the holiday season.
Mattel isn’t putting all its marketing eggs into the auto show basket. It also made sure to send out several free cars to get top reviews for the product on its site. The toy company certainly knows that even when appealing to existing customers (because usually, only Barbie doll owners would buy the cars for the doll) you need to launch products in a way that makes a strong impression to really capture their attention and interest with so much competition at this time of year.
Nostalgia-marketing and you
Having a worldwide, household brand at your disposal must be nice but it’s a privilege few of us have. And this method of grabbing attention (remember Fisher-Price’s actual, working toy phone?) by pulling at our nostalgia strings works like it always has. But even Barbie had to start somewhere and we bet it had to do with getting the right message to the right audience. So yes, you can still offer your customers a version of that warm, cuddly feeling ahead of the holidays. Turning your several-segments into tens and then hundreds are good first steps. It’ll help you tailor your messages to their intended recipients, allowing you greater flexibility in what to offer and which heartstrings you want to draw on.