Bluey has beaten Labubu in the final round of voting to take home the top prize.
Source: Ludo Studio
It has been a hard fought contest, but BBC Studio’s Bluey has taken home the coveted prize of Marketing Week readers’ top marketing initiative of 2025.
Bluey beat Pop Mart’s Labubu in the final round of voting, with both brands having previously knocked out serious competition from the likes of M&S, Sainsbury’s, Vitality and Fairy.
The winning initiative
Few brands have built the same level of cultural capital as Bluey. Since launching in 2018, the Australian children’s programme has become a globally recognised franchise, airing in 140 countries, with audiences consuming 95,000 years’ worth of content.
It’s the number one show across all genres in the US and the most-watched children’s show in the UK. On YouTube alone, the Bluey portfolio has amassed more than 21 million subscribers and over 13 billion lifetime views.
The brand has grown into a billion-dollar business, supported by consumer products, live experiences and licensing partnerships. A movie is also scheduled for release in cinemas in 2027, signalling further expansion of the franchise into long-form entertainment.
Such is the success of Bluey, BBC Studios, which co-commissions the show with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and manages its global distribution and merchandising outside Australia and New Zealand, has restructured its marketing team and hired three senior brand marketers for Bluey.
The company transitioned from a genre-led approach – where teams are divided into shows depending on type, such as scripted and factual content – to a brand-led strategy. This shift created dedicated teams for properties like Bluey, as well as Doctor Who and Strictly Come Dancing, as it looks to put Bluey and other shows at the heart of the business.
The long-term ambition, according to Shelley Macintyre, interim CEO of brand and licensing, is to achieve 100% awareness and position Bluey as “the next Mickey Mouse”.
The impact is reflected in BBC Studios’ financial performance. In its 2024/25 full-year report, the company posted record revenues of £2.2bn, alongside a fourth consecutive year of EBITDA exceeding £200m, reaching £225m, an 11% year-on-year increase on the previous period. GG