While major HVAC manufacturers have yet to release a line of hot pink heat pumps, the Barbie doll’s signature color has been popping up everywhere this summer — the results of the movie Barbie and its extensive marketing campaign.

With a $150 million marketing investment, which exceeded its $145 production budget, Barbie seems to have transcended time, society, culture, and movie-going. And the cinematic phenomenon that is now the Barbie movie (earning over $1 billion less than three weeks of its release), as well as the increase in sales around the Barbie brand in general, owes much of its success to that investment in its marketing campaign.

Barbie’s marketing approach was full of calculated risks involving a breadcrumb strategy, storytelling, consistent messaging, partnerships, and an overall investment in their brand.

By applying the same concepts to their own marketing campaigns, HVAC contractors can enhance their own brands and generate buzz about their companies in much the same way.

“When you can find that little nugget or element of your story and own it, and be super intentional and excited about it, that’s where the magic happens,” said Emily Fleniken, creative director at Lemon Seed Marketing. “Then you can create hype and buzz just like Barbie did.”

Breadcrumbs

Long before the Barbie movie hit theatres, it was anticipated, talked about, and visualized. Warner Bros. and toy company Mattel, the maker of the Barbie doll, worked in overdrive detailing their marketing plan. Little by little, breadcrumbs about the movie were dropped, more pink was seen around the world, and more people talked about Barbie.

Ben LeDonni, president of BNP Engage, said one of the favorite strategies Barbie’s marketing campaign was the timing.

“Starting as early as they did to drum up interest and excitement in it was huge,” LeDonni said. “It allowed it to snowball.”

The time allotted for the marketing to really take effect teased and led the future audience closer and closer to the movie with each step taken, creating a Barbie movement.

“The Barbie movie was very outside the box with their branding,” said Chris Swere, digital marketing department manager at Mediagistic. “HVAC contractors can use similar strategies.” These include applying a breadcrumb strategy themselves when adding a new service, building partnerships with industry influencers, promoting special offers, and more.

What does the breadcrumb strategy look like in the realm of heating and cooling? Fleniken shared the example of an HVAC contractor planning to add an electrical division. Rather than posting one Facebook post about it, the acquiring contractor could tease out facts about electrical, or best practices and tips that homeowners can use, to build their authority leading up to the release of that new division.

Barbie did the same thing, and by doing so, producers were even able to get some TikTok influencers to talk about the brand, without having to pay them.

“Contractors could start with some really good tips on YouTube, for example,” LeDonni said. “If you know something that other people don't know, or you're trying to bridge a gap with your audience, there’s content opportunities to be able to use those as the breadcrumbs to seed social media that resonates with whatever kind of business.”

Storytelling

Barbie also leveraged the nostalgia that the doll conjures up for many people.

“They used the nostalgia that many adults felt for the Barbie brand, and not only was this reflected in the products that were released as part of their brand collaborations, but in their overall marketing campaign tone as well,” said Gianna Finazzo, social media strategist with the inbound marketing team at Mediagistic.

Part of that was achieved by how the marketing campaign prioritized storytelling.

“They realized they could peek into a whole bunch of cultural and current events,” said LeDonni. “They tapped into that by saying, ‘We know there's a Barbie generation, we know they're probably raising kids right now, and we could leverage that to be able to have those parents get behind the movement.’”

HVACR contractors can create brand engagement the same way, no matter the size of the marketing budget or company, by figuring out what resonates with their customers.

“By tapping into your audience's fond memories, you can create an emotional connection with your brand, and then boost your customer loyalty,” said Finazzo. “For social media marketing, you can start small by just coming up with a Facebook post that poses a question in the caption … and asking your audience to chime in in the comments generates engagement.”

Another important factor of Barbie’s marketing campaign was its consistent messaging across the board. One thing that’s evident in every piece of Barbie’s marketing was the color pink — so much so that the color has seemingly become completely synonymous with the Barbie brand.

“Barbie’s overflowing of pink, no matter where you saw it — a collaboration, video, display, whatever it may be — just having that consistent messaging resonates for that brand recognition, which HVACR contractors can definitely apply,” said Swere.

“You hear the word ‘Barbie’ and the first thing you think of is a color, you see a logo in your head, then maybe you see the doll,” LeDonni said. “It’s super visual … So first and foremost, HVAC contractors have to make sure they have a solid brand that can resonate something like that. Identify and nail down brand identity, make sure the trucks match the color scheme of your website, your logo, things there able for people to visualize your brand.”

Partnerships

Not only was nostalgia reflected in the overall marketing tone, Finazzo said, but also in the products released as part of brand collaborations with Barbie. Over 100 different brands have partnered and collaborated with Barbie, releasing their own Barbie-themed lines of shoes, ice cream, luggage, accessories, Airbnbs, and more. Part of Barbie’s success with these collaborations was the lead time it provided. Long before the movie was released, Barbie’s marketing team was already at work with various brands creating Barbie-themed lines.

“I remember walking through the mall with my daughter and everywhere you looked at, before the movie launched, they were collaborating with everything … and people were actually having conversations about that,” said Swere.

HVACR contractors can leverage partnerships in much the same way — they just have to get creative.

“If you're looking to hire, [contractors] could partner with their warehouse, supplier, or on the community side, find some nonprofit boards and community events that you can get involved with; organizations that kind of align with your values,” Fleniken said. “When you partner with different organizations, you can create this image/persona where you're more than just a technician or a company — you're our neighbor that lives here in this community. You've then created something that's so much larger than a technician who can fix your air conditioner.”

Invest

HVAC contractors likely won’t be doing $150 million worth of marketing, but they can take what Barbie did and do it for their brands on a smaller scale. Not without a budget, though.

LeDonni can’t begin to explain all the times he’s worked with a company looking for a certain amount of growth, but not willing to invest in the cost of marketing.

“[Barbie’s] marketing costs and production costs were about the same,” said LeDonni. “That’s crazy for a movie to spend as much as marketing as they did on the production.”

But look at the payoff — the movie is already grossing over $1.3 billion — and suddenly it doesn’t seem that crazy anymore. Barbie showed the world there’s no denying the power of investing in a brand.

“Over time, it just builds equity, which led to the success of Barbie,” said Swere. For HVAC contractors, a significant brand investment could, long-term, lead to lower cost per acquisition, potentially improved SEO for more searches, and more leads overall, he said.

Fleniken said contractors might think they need to hold off on marketing until they have enough funds to make a splash, but that’s not always the case.

“It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg — which comes first?” said Fleniken. “But when you're intentional, when you put your money where your mouth is, that's where you can really see how committed to your goals you are.”

Finally, a key element of Barbie’s entire marketing campaign was finding something special about their brand that transcended worlds to connect with all different types of people.

“One of the most successful things that this Barbie marketing campaign did was expand its targeting from children, which is the standard demographic we think of when we think of Barbie, to adults,” Finazzo said.

HVAC contractors can do the same thing. For example, the industry has turned indoor air quality technology — relatively unknown before the pandemic — into a standard add-on for any HVAC purchase. It could also mean selling to previously overlooked markets, like homeowners in need of window air conditioners.

“In HVAC, we identify key segments within our target market, and we create customized marketing campaigns that cater to those needs and preferences and behaviors,” Finazzo continued. “And through that personalized approach, we're able to deliver the right message to the right people at the right time. So by broadening that target audience, you can potentially reach a larger market that you maybe weren't reaching before.”