Need to Know
22 : 09 : 21

UK – Children’s extracurricular organisation Scouts is expanding its offering to welcome 4–5-year-olds. In a programme called Squirrels, young children will be encouraged to explore outdoor areas, make new friends and learn new skills. This offshoot comes as a response to the isolation that pre-school and reception-aged children have experienced during the pandemic.

Squirrels will initially be launched in areas that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. And with its focus on outdoor areas, the programme also ensures that nature remains accessible to all young people. ‘Squirrels is part of our commitment to help young people, families and communities come back stronger from the pandemic,’ says Matt Hyde, CEO of Scouts. ‘If you’re four, you’ve spent a third of your life in lockdowns. We know this has especially impacted children in communities hardest hit by the pandemic.’

By offering such a service, Scouts is pro-actively responding to the development needs of Generation Alpha – and looking beyond the content of conventional school curriculums.

US – In a bid to connect with new audiences, clothing retailer Hollister is launching a long-term programme to support the Latinx creator community. For the initiative, Hollister Good Vibras, the brand will work with emerging Latinx creators across the fashion, music and comedy verticals on Instagram and TikTok. To mark the launch, the brand is also releasing a bilingual, made-for-TikTok hip hop album that was produced by the collective.

In ongoing initiatives Hollister will tap into the Good Vibras community to co-create branded content. By doing this, the brand recognises the importance of working directly with Generation Z to inform brand decisions – particularly when reaching specific cultural groups. ‘Our customers made it clear that they not only love seeing Latinx representation within the creators we work with, but also wanted more programmes developed specifically for the Latinx community,’ says Kristin Scott, global brand president at Abercrombie & Fitch Co, the parent brand of Hollister.

Despite being one of America’s largest multicultural groups, Hispanic audiences have historically been left uncatered for. Now, the community’s emerging youth are galvanised to redefine their representation.

Across the globe, people on the left of the political spectrum are generally more open than those on the right to taking personal steps to reduce the effects of climate change. According to a study by Pew Research Center, this mindset is particularly apparent among US citizens.

The research shows that left-wing US citizens are more than twice as likely as those with right-wing beliefs (94% versus 45%) to modify how they live due to climate change. Meanwhile, those in Canada (98% versus 72%), The Netherlands (84% versus 59%) and Australia (90% versus 67%) are similarly divided when it comes to beliefs about responding to the climate crisis.

Tapping into these ideological differences, environmental organisations are experimenting with messaging designed to appeal to those with more conservative beliefs. One example is Among Equals’ climate campaign, which uses war-time language to communicate the urgent need to address the climate crisis.