Need To Know
14 : 06 : 21

California – In its latest sustainability push, toy brand Mattel has introduced a line of Barbie dolls made from recycled ocean-based plastic.

The brand’s Barbie Loves the Ocean collection includes three dolls whose bodies are made from 90% recycled plastic parts. The accompanying accessories and play set are also created using plastics that would ordinarily be polluting the ocean. To promote the line, Mattel has also launched a campaign, The Future of Pink is Green, using the brand’s association with the colour pink along with the sustainable connotations of green.

Through this initiative, the brand is both supporting parents with greener toy options and educating children about environmental issues. Richard Dickson, president and chief operating officer at Mattel, says: ‘This Barbie launch is another addition to Mattel’s growing portfolio of purpose-driven brands that inspire environmental consciousness with our consumer as a key focus.’

With Millennial parents hyper-aware of the impact of plastic waste – the material typically used in toy manufacturing – brands are stepping up to provide eco-friendly alternatives, something we explore in Conscious Play.

UK – Recognising that saving for a house deposit can feel like an overwhelming task, money-saving app Nude is stepping in to motivate aspiring home-owners.

Designed to help people save a deposit for a house, the app uses time as a motivator – featuring an in-app countdown for tracking financial progress. Once users input how much they need to save for a deposit, Nude will give them a time estimate of how long it will take to raise that amount. To incentivise users, the app also provides personalised ideas and habit-building challenges to help reduce their predicted saving time.

‘By transforming ‘how much you need’ into ‘when you’ll buy your home’ we’re making it real,’ explains Crawford Taylor, co-founder of Nude. ‘The design of the app also creates a more accessible approach to mortgage saving, avoiding conventional fintech cues and instead taking inspiration from lifestyle brands.’

Fintech brands are increasingly borrowing cues from the lifestyle industries to engage consumers. Previously, we identified how mortgage brokerHabito is using unexpected branding to reframe the home-buying experience.

While canned food often has a bad reputation for being less nutritious than fresh produce, US shoppers are beginning to change their view as a result of the pandemic.

New data from Morning Consult finds that 39% of people who ate more packaged fruit during lockdown now consider it healthier than they did before the pandemic. This compares to 52% who say that their views of the item remain unchanged. More generally, 78% of Americans consider packaged fruit as just as healthy, while only 12% newly perceive these products as healthy.

This behavioural change seems to be related to increased product exposure among consumers, with canned and packaged produce brand Del Monte Foods reporting a 200% year-on-year increase in sales in March 2020. ‘We experienced a double-digit increase in demand for our products over the past year, and we continue to see positive demand,’ says Bibie Wu, chief marketing officer at Del Monte.

We’ve been tracking a change in attitude towards the nutritional value of frozen foods, and this data shows that a similar mindset may be emerging when it comes to canned produce.