Mattel has launched a new global Barbie campaign aimed at reaching both young girls and older brand fans, with the tagline “See What Happens when you Play with Barbie.”

With media by Carat Canada and global creative by Mattel’s in-house creative department, the campaign kicks off this weekend with an experiential event in Toronto at the March break Spring Fling at the Rogers Centre, Adriana Gut, marketing manager for girls at Mattel Canada, tells MiC. The event will include activities like a role-play station promoting Barbie’s latest DVD, Barbie: A Mermaid Tale 2, as well as a place for girls to get a hair makeover.

“This campaign is a new statement we are making about the Barbie brand,” she says. “We are inviting girls to come and play in Barbie’s world and experience something that only Barbie has to offer, and that is the transformative world of fashion play. We know when a young girl picks up a Barbie, she is transformed into a world that is created by her imagination.”

Mattel is also continuing its sponsorship of MasterCard World Fashion Week, this time incorporating the campaign into its activation by inviting visitors to go into Barbie’s closet and try on some of her iconic outfits, says Gut.

In addition, print ads promoting the campaign will run in Elle Canada next month, and a TV spot will run on Corus Network channels, says Gut. The campaign is set to run until the end of the year.