Category
Life-Stages
Constructible Franchises
Trend cluster
Category
Toy
Activation
Toy brands are marketing their products via pop-ups.
3.8
Trend score
Trend
What is the Toy Activation trend?
Toy Activation: Taking the fundamentally interactive nature of toy stores and streamlining it, brands are immersing parents and their children in smaller, more targeted toy pop-ups. With adult consumers being highly receptive to interactive marketing, it is only fitting that the interactive nature of toy stores is packed into more personalized experiences in order to market to better market to children.
Trend themes
Themes within the Toy Activation trend
Three behaviours holding the trend together01
Pop-Up Experiences
Brands are creating smaller, more personalized pop-up experiences to market toy products more effectively to children, with interactive elements that appeal to adult consumers too.
02
Educational Pop-Ups
An increasing number of pop-ups are integrating educational experiences with toys, catering to an audience interested in STEM designing and computer coding.
03
Interactive Retail
More and more retail stores in the toy industry are prioritizing interactive, personalized features to engage customers and create memorable brand experiences.
Industry implications
What the Toy Activation trend means for industry
Where the trend changes the playbookFor
Retail Industry
The toy industry, much like other retail categories, is prioritizing interactive and personalized retail experiences for customers.
For
STEM Education Industry
Pop-up toy stores with an educational component are creating innovative ways for kids to learn about STEM.
For
Advertising Industry
Interactive and experiential pop-up stores cater to ad campaigns in retail, providing innovative opportunities for consumer engagement.
Workshop question
How can your brand streamline one of its fundamental products/services to make it more personal?
Trend signals
Trend signals for Toy Activation
Trend score 3.8 out of 10, from popularity 55%, activity 51%, freshness 8%.
Popularity55%
Activity51%
Freshness8%
Audience
50%Men
50%Women
- Gen Alpha
- Gen Z (not a primary audience)
- Millennial (not a primary audience)
- Gen X (not a primary audience)
- Boomer (not a primary audience)
Market
North America
Europe
Asia-Pacific
Evidence
Examples of the Toy Activation trend
5 featured examples from May 18, 2016 to Sep 12, 2018CategoryLife-Stages
Pop-Up Toy Cafes
The Shopkins Macaron Café Brings the Collectible Playsets to Life
Brands in the toy and collectibles industry can explore partnerships and collaborations to bring their products to life through interactive experiences.
CategoryTech
Preschool Coding Game Pop-Ups
Primo Toys' Pop-Up is Teaching Preschoolers About Coding
Toy companies have an opportunity to innovate by incorporating coding education principles in their products for younger children.
CategoryBusiness
Character-Themed Tech Shops
This Kakao Talk Popup in Seoul Featured Emoji-Inspired Art and Prizes
Opportunity for messaging app companies to create character-themed pop-up shops that resonate with their Millennial and Gen Z audiences.
CategoryLife-Stages
Holiday Toy-Testing Pop-Ups
intu's Toy Testing Lab Has Kids Help Santa's Elves
Retailers can leverage pop-up toy testing events to boost foot traffic and drive toy sales during holiday seasons.
CategoryEco
Mobile Science-Themed RVs
Purple Me Green Offers STEM Toys and Educational Classes
The education industry can benefit from incorporating more engaging and accessible approaches to STEM learning, such as mobile science-themed RVs.
