Barbie Joins LinkedIn

By Erin Yackavage, Marketing Intern
07/03/2014

She has over 2,600 followers, her business is consumer goods, and her big break was in 1959. That’s right, Barbie is on LinkedIn.

Barbie’s bio explains that she has had over 150 careers, but her “true calling remains – encourage generations of girls to place no limitations on their ambitions.”

A post on the page further explains that Barbie’s new business is a “Dream Incubator” where she acts as a “consultant, helping girls around the world play out their imagination, try on different careers, and explore the world around them.” The post even adds “Our company tagline is ‘If you Can Dream It, You Can Be it!’”

Barbie’s new place on LinkedIn has been met with mixed reviews.  Some are impressed with Barbie’s newest look, saying she is inspiration for girls to think with an “entrepreneurial mind.”

Others think that the page is a pointless marketing move on behalf of Mattel and that no amount of rebranding can change the damage Barbie has done in the past.

I can’t help but wonder, what is the point of putting Barbie on LinkedIn?

Barbie’s fan base is primarily young girls, who are not using LinkedIn. Is this just to make the adults purchasing the dolls for the young girls feel better about it? I think that’s only part of it.

Mattel has realized that in order to make Barbie successful in the 21st century, she needs to keep up with the changing times. Society isn’t telling girls that their place is in the home anymore. More and more campaigns have come out inspiring young girls to go out in the world and become whoever they want to be.  

Barbie has been around since 1959. Many of the girls who enjoyed playing with Barbie have since grown up and are part of the work force. By creating a LinkedIn page for Barbie as a part of a greater PR campaign to rebrand her, these adult women can still look to Barbie as a role model and be able to interact with her. The page has many posts with tips for women in business and highlights of positive companies anchoring a content marketing campaign for Mattel.

Barbie has been met with a lot of criticism over the years for placing pressure on girls to put emphasis on looks over smarts. Showing Barbie as more than a trendy mall girl is apart of Mattel’s goal to keep Barbie and all of her accompanying products relevant and desirable. A Time Square billboard shows Barbie as a businesswoman, an athlete, a doctor, an astronaut and more.

Barbie is clearly more business savvy over just cruising around Malibu in her pink convertible these days, but only time will tell if the public perception of Barbie will change. Showing girls they can do whatever they want is a great step in the right direction. 

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