THE context
Most of us left childhood years ago. So how do we understand what it's like to play as a kid again?
Our client, a giant in the toy and entertainment industry, commissioned a behavioral study from us to help them understand specifically what young girls were looking for in a play experience.
the CHALLENGe
Help a group of business-minded adults understand how girls navigate the play of today, in order to help them build their worlds of tomorrow.
THE CLIENT
Confidential - All confidential client data has been changed or removed.
SKILLS BILLED
Consumer Insights
Design Strategy
Visual & Concept Design
Presentation Design & Storytelling
It's a girl's world, after all. At six years old, girls take big steps in a bigger and more colorful world of school, extracurriculars, friendships, and even politics. Like their play, these new spaces are mixed up and spread across the digital and physical worlds.
Play is one of the most impactful ways that girls learn to navigate a rapidly changing childhood.
A whole lot changes between the ages of six and nine. Girls like to have followers, not be them. At six they’re being included in family decisions, but by nine they’re trying to leave their mark on the wider world.
With so many telling girls what to do, girls are ready for someone to ask what they want to do. Today's six- to nine-year-old girls are less interested in subscribing to someone else's idea of what a girl should be, and more invested in finding out who they are, on their own terms.
We identified three distinct (and often overlapping) archetypes to help us understand the whys and hows behind play at different ages.
Girls like to have followers, not be them. At six they’re being included in family decisions, but by nine they’re trying to leave their mark on the wider world. With so many telling girls what to do, girls are ready for someone to ask what they want to do.
THE RESULTS
Our team leveraged the human truths about how girls play throughout the brand ecosystem of our client. Archetypes from the behavioral study evolved into Essence Principles to guide brand plays, from the perspective of girls.
We designed a playbook for each individual brand, containing frameworks, prioritization exercises, and scoring rubrics to help our clients make their next move.
EXTRA CREDITS
C Space Team: Tiff Branum, Jane Ottensmeyer, Steff Robbins, Kevin Swann, Sarah Timmings, Jenny Williams
