As a continued celebration of Barney's triumphant return to television in the animated series Barney’s World, Mattel partnered with Heidi Klum for her annual Halloween Party, a celebrated event that features some of entertainment’s biggest and brightest stars. Given the hype surrounding Klum’s party and the caliber of celebrity that attends each year, Mattel saw this as a strategic and creative way to seamlessly integrate the beloved purple dinosaur into the buzzy pop culture moment, reaching millennial consumers - a key demographic for the new animated series - in an entirely new way. Heidi and Barney formally kicked off the partnership with a viral social media moment: a FaceTime video recording of Heidi personally inviting Barney to her annual bash.
On the night of the party, Barney and Mattel’s famed Skeletor walked the red carpet and posed with celebrities and influencers for the media in attendance. In addition to hosting the V.I.D. (Very Important Dinosaur), Mattel also used this moment to seamlessly highlight other franchises and iconic characters from their portfolio, organically activating across various touchpoints at the party through themed costumes adorned by influencers, experiences including a Magic 8 Ball fortune teller and roaming UNO card magician, and a Monster High photo booth.
The partnership formally kicked off with a viral-worthy social media post with Heidi Klum personally inviting Barney to her annual Halloween bash via FaceTime. From there, the partnership gave Barney a lot of beats and opportunities to go viral on social media.
As one of the event’s Title Sponsors, Mattel unleashed a wave of nostalgia beyond the red carpet. From the eerie to the iconic, Mattel offered interactive experiences from just a few brands within its vast portfolio, including a Magic 8 Ball Fortune Teller, a surprise visit from Skeletor, an UNO magician, and an immersive Monster High photo booth.
Highlights from the event included:
At the conclusion of the evening, Mattel distributed event photos to national news and entertainment sites to ensure brand mentions and inclusions in various roundup and feature stories. Given the hype surrounding Klum’s party and the caliber of celebrity that attends each year, it would have been easy for Barney and Mattel to get lost in the mix – but with a bit of luck and a major publicity blitz, Mattel ensured that their presence emerged as a central theme surrounding the party in both editorial and social coverage.
The successful partnership resulted in substantial positive press and social media coverage for the Mattel brand, garnering over 1 billion total impressions. Mattel and Barney were included in photo and story highlights from the evening reaching audiences and consumers far and wide through top-tier publications and news outlets such as The New York Times, Forbes, USA Today, Good Morning America, People.com, ELLE.com, The Hollywood Reporter, Women's Wear Daily, Vogue and many more. Photos included Barney taking over the DJ booth, Barney posing with Heidi Klum and celebrities in attendance such as Nicole Scherzinger, Kelsea Ballerini, Chase Stokes, Karissa Dumbacher, and many more. Many of these photos were the center of hilarious social media commentary and will live on in the cultural conversation for years to come.
