One of the most-anticipated films to drop this year is the Barbie movie. The film, directed by Greta Gerwig, stars Margot Robbie as the titular, multi-talented Barbie, whose perfect life in Barbieland is turned upside down when an inner crisis forces her to depart for the real world.
If you haven't seen or heard anything about the movie yet, you must be living under a rock or on a remote island without Internet. The Barbie movie has seen one of the most prolific, memorable marketing campaigns in recent memory. Everywhere you look, it seems like there's an [Brand] x Barbie collection. According to reports, Mattel inked more than 100 brand partnerships ahead of its premiere.
Juggernauts like Mattel and Lego are, of course, in a different league when it comes to multiplatform strategies. But there is a lot to learn and to draw inspiration from them.
Enter Barbieland From viral marketing, to merchandising, to real estate, a wide range of PR tactics have been implemented to create awareness and excitement for the movie release. One of my personal favourites, is Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse on AirBnB:
But there's so much more. It seems like the whole world has turned pink. Here and there are overviews over who else jumped on the Barbie bandwagon, including entertainment brands like Hot Wheels, Xbox, and the Food Network. Barbie is everywhere where her audience is.
And that's exactly key when it comes to multiplatform strategies for kids' content, according to Ellen Doherty, Chief Creative Officer at Fred Rogers Productions, who I interviewed for this article. We want to be wherever our audience is, she states. So where are kids these days and what are their media habits?
Gen Alpha Media Habits With the advent of digital technology, children's media consumption habits have evolved. Many kids now have access to smartphones, tablets, and other devices, and they consume content on multiple platforms simultaneously. They still watch traditional TV; they also use YouTube and other social media platforms as wells as streaming services.
Therefore, Gen Alpha's media habits are characterised by a preference for digital content, multi-screen consumption, social media proficiency, short attention spans, and a desire for personalised content. If you want to learn more about Gen Alpha, check out my Meet Gen Alpha article.
By employing a multiplatform strategy, content creators can reach a wider audience and make their content accessible to children on their preferred platforms. However, with this audience it's not just about reaching them, it's also about engaging them.
Interactivity and Personalisation Kids today expect interactive and engaging experiences from their content. These interactive elements can include games, quizzes, polls, and social media integrations. This enhances the overall experience and keeps children actively engaged with the content. Plus, different platforms offer unique features that can be leveraged to provide personalised and customised experiences for kids. For example, streaming platforms can recommend content based on a child's viewing history, while mobile apps can offer personalised avatars or customisable settings. A multiplatform strategy allows content creators to tailor their offerings to individual preferences, enhancing the overall user experience.
Ellen Doherty explains that at Fred Rogers Productions they want kids to experience their TV shows and to enrich and deepen the connection with characters such as Daniel Tiger, Donkey Hodie and Alma. Therefore, their characters have a digital home on PBS KIDS, where kids can explore, for example, Daniel Tiger's neighbourhood, which includes games, stories, videos, art, and songs. They also try to reach the parents and educators via social media. Ellen says: Social Media started out as marketing, but now it's become content, too.
Meet the Characters IRL Engaging kids online is one thing, but for Fred Rogers Productions, real-life events where kids can meet the characters and interact with them is key. For them it's about reflecting children's communities. It's always about neighbourhood. It's about community and about being aware of who the people are in your world , according to Ellen Doherty. That's why they call these local brand activations, community engagements. An example for that is the Be my Neighbour Day, Fred Rogers Productions organises, together with local stations in many markets throughout the United States.
When it comes to their multiplatform strategy, Fred Rogers Productions is looking for engagement and impact and there are two goals in particular they want to achieve. Firstly, there is a learning component which is mission and impact-driven and gives kids a supported experience in social-emotional learning as being part of a community. And secondly, they aim for brand awareness. They want the kids and parents to know about the shows.
Commercially-focused companies will have another goal: additional revenues.
Diversify Revenue Streams A multiplatform strategy also allows content creators to diversify their revenue streams. They can explore various monetisation models, such as licensing deals, advertising partnerships, merchandise sales, and subscription services across different platforms.
The diversification reduces reliance on a single revenue source and provides more opportunities for financial success. It also enables content creators to extend their brand presence and reach into different media and markets. For example, a successful children's TV show can leverage its popularity to create related mobile apps, online games, merchandise, as well as live events. Cross-promotion across platforms strengthens brand recognition and creates a cohesive experience for kids across different touchpoints. Barbie is ce
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
One of the most-anticipated films to drop this year is the Barbie movie. The film, directed by Greta Gerwig, stars Margot Robbie as the titular, multi-talented Barbie, whose perfect life in Barbieland is turned upside down when an inner crisis forces her to depart for the real world.
