Category
Fashion
Smile Cosmetics
Trend cluster
Category
Empowered
Playtime
A desire for more positive role models for children gets a response in toys.
3.2
Trend score
Trend
What is the Empowered Playtime trend?
Empowered Playtime: Replacing the celebrities and princesses of days past, positive role models are taking over the toy sphere, specifically for young girls. The fight for gender equality has come far in the past few years. To keep this going, the focus is now turning to teaching children to continue with the progress through subtle measures like adjusting playtime to reflect a more empowered ideal.
Trend themes
Themes within the Empowered Playtime trend
Three behaviours holding the trend together01
Positive Role Models in Toys
The trend towards featuring positive role models in toys, particularly for young girls, to promote gender equality and empowerment presents opportunities for designers to develop more diverse, educational toys that inspire children to learn and play while fostering independence, curiosity and creativity.
02
Inclusive Toys
Developing inclusive toys, such as ethnically diverse dolls, gender-neutral dollhouses and toys for LGBT children to promote diversity, respect and acceptance presents opportunities for designers to invest in creating toys that foster meaningful concepts in children at an early age.
03
Female Empowerment in Media
The increasing demand for greater gender equality and empowerment is driving the trend of more ads and products featuring strong, female protagonists, particularly in the male-dominated entertainment industry, which presents opportunities for developers to create new, thoughtful ways of portraying gender in media.
Industry implications
What the Empowered Playtime trend means for industry
Where the trend changes the playbookFor
Toy Industry
The toy industry must stay current and relevant by investing in meaningful ways to promote diversity and inclusivity in toys for children.
For
Entertainment Industry
The entertainment industry can promote and support gender equality by creating diverse content that accurately reflects society and encourages positive role models for young audience members.
For
Design Industry
Designers can invest in creating toys and media that positively influence children by promoting gender equality, inclusivity, respect and acceptance, with a focus on empowering and inspiring young girls.
Workshop question
How is your brand reflecting the shift in how consumers think about gender? How could you do that in a way that reflects well on your brand?
Trend signals
Trend signals for Empowered Playtime
Trend score 3.2 out of 10, from popularity 49%, activity 39%, freshness 8%.
Popularity49%
Activity39%
Freshness8%
Audience
10%Men
90%Women
- Gen Alpha
- Gen Z
- Millennial (not a primary audience)
- Gen X (not a primary audience)
- Boomer (not a primary audience)
Market
North America
Evidence
Examples of the Empowered Playtime trend
5 featured examples from Aug 20, 2014 to Nov 12, 2015CategoryLife-Stages
Gender-Neutral Dollhouses
This Modular Dollhouse Collection Promotes Shared Play
The toy industry can innovate and create more gender-neutral toys with modular designs to encourage shared imaginative play.
CategorySocial Good
LGBT-Friendly Children's Books
This New Book Helps LGBT Youth Tackle Insecurities and Fears
Publishers have the opportunity to expand their offerings of children's books that celebrate diversity and tackle contemporary issues faced by children.
CategoryLife-Stages
Ethnically Diverse Dolls
Ikuzi Dolls Offer Little Girls Options When it Comes to Toys
Toy manufacturers can capitalize on the demand for ethnically diverse dolls by creating a wider range of inclusive options.
CategoryLife-Stages
Inspiring Educational Dolls
The Miss Possible Doll Toys for Girls Feature Enpowering Role Models
Manufacturing companies that specialize in the production and distribution of educational dolls.
CategoryLife-Stages
Female Action Hero Ads
This Ad Features GoldieBlox Female Dolls as Iconic Male Protagonists
Opportunity for disruptive innovation in designing and manufacturing action figures that promote gender equality and female empowerment.
