How should a leading global toy brand translate its key values into kids’ apparel with timeless appeal?

15 families

2countries: Germany, UK

"The team at intO has the skills and knowledge to take insights through to innovation. intO provided an excellent quality of analysis with results that were innovative and actionable for the business."

Client (Consumer Insights & Experience Innovation Lead)

Methods
  • Brand development
  • Co-creative workshops
  • Collaborative approach
  • Ethnography
  • Stimulus
The Opportunity

Loved around the globe by children, parents and generations either side, the DNA of this client’s toy brand is rich in heritage and carries timeless values centred around creativity, imagination, fun, care and quality. This project focused on a licensed collaboration between the toy brand and a children’s play wear textile company. Both parties sought to better understand how the toy brand’s values could translate to clothing that echoed its values and pre-empted the long-term needs of both kids and parents.

Our Approach

Our research with families in Germany and the UK was organised into two phases and was designed to excite and engage with stakeholders throughout the project. The first phase generated conceptual proposals for the clothing and apparel brand characteristics. Here, we used anthropological methods such as ethnography, observation and narrative analysis, as well as creative methods designed to stimulate responsive co-creation with children. The second phase contextualised insights by using sociological methods, such as discourse analysis and actor-network mapping, to uncover wider sociocultural norms and influences and validate the conceptual proposals generated by phase one.

Business Impact

intO proposed and validated the brand features for the children’s apparel range, and the narrative to be applied at launch. In addition, we developed a tool to support design implementation, retail strategy and marketing narratives. Our insights revealed potential opportunities and inventive clothing ideas that continue to evolve into real products, even after many years since the completion of our research.

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