Research in early 2009 showed that 6-to-11-year-old kids were dramatically shifting their time and attention to online activities. To keep current Barbie® fans engaged while brining new girls to the brand, Mattel charged Studiocom with extending the brand experience into an online environment that blended young girls’ love of music, fashion and social connection while encouraging independence and self-expression.

The result was BarbieGirls.com, the first global online community designed exclusively for girls. In this interactive digital world, girls can highly-customize their own virtual Barbie® characters, design their own “rooms,” play games, hang out and chat live with other girls. The community utilizes a three-pronged security system and is capable of supporting thousands of concurrent users around the globe.

After the first week alone, BarbieGirls.com had more than 200,000 registered users. After only six weeks, that number grew to more than 1 million, and to 5 million registered users within the first four months. By working with Studiocom to embrace the idea of cross-platform “play” as opposed to “toys,” Mattel has transformed as a company, even creating a dedicated “play” division to activate more real-world brands into dynamic, digital properties.