Barbie mania: Meet the architect behind the branding blitz

In this instalment of our weekly video series, My Business Leader Secret, we talk to Josh Silverman, who is the executive vice-president and chief franchise officer at Mattel.

Californian toymaker Mattel makes the Barbie doll range. Barbie was first introduced in America in 1959 and was developed by Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel. As part of a strategy to use its IP in more diverse ways, Mattel teamed up with Warner Brothers to release Barbie as a film last year.

It of course dominated both the box office and cultural conversation.

The successful and innovative marketing of the Barbie movie even became a news story in itself. Josh Silverman was the chief architect overseeing the franchising and brand partnerhsips that were a key part of this.

Silverman joined Mattel in 2022. In his role, he oversees many areas including franchise management, consumer products, publishing, promotions, live experiences, digital gaming, music and licensed entertainment. Prior to joining Mattel, Silverman held senior leadership roles with The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Entertainment.

Mattel is currently trying to build a "Mattel universe" of brands, including films, similar to the Marvel one.

Silverman and his team at Mattel executed more than 165 brand partnerships in order to promote the Barbie film, working with a diverse range of companies, including Burger King, Crocs, Primark and Airbnb.

Silverman explains some of the cornerstones of the Barbie marketing strategy.

It was a "party to which everyone was very much invited", he says, as they set out to paint the world pink. However, they also had to ensure that each brand partnership was "a brand asset, not a brand withdrawal". So each collaboration had to stay true to Barbie's "DNA".

Coordinating the timing between all the different campaigns was also a challenge, as they had to "crescendo" with the release of the film.

Watch the rest of the My Business Leader Secret series.