Our Approach

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.

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. We 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 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.