New Research: January Trend Hunter Report Explores Family Wellness

January 29, 2019 | From child-reminding routine watches to allergen-eliminating car purifiers, TrendHunter.com’s latest  free monthly report for Toy Association members, titled “Family Wellness,” explores products and services families are using to encourage health, wellness, and overall bonding.

“Today’s busy parents value services and solutions that can make their lives easier and prioritize health and wellness, especially in their kids,” said Anne McConnell, senior director of market research & data strategy at The Toy Association. “The report showcases examples of how toy brands can incorporate interactive and health-conscious features to their products to appeal to this demographic.”

The report features the following topics, among others:

• Child Subscription: Subscription services based on offering meals and snacks for children and infants are increasingly common as millennial parents seek to balance work, families, and personal lives. Little Spoon’s baby food subscription service makes it possible for parents to pick a meal plan that best fits their schedule and child's needs, and have the fresh, organic infant meals delivered on a bi-weekly basis.
• Automated Family: Millennials are prioritizing familial bonds – especially on social media. Services that facilitate familial closeness via digital means connect the dots between digital and emotional needs. The 'Talsam' wearable necklace is a Swarovski-infused “smart” piece of jewelry that is integrated with wireless communication technology that will allow loved ones to send you a notification or a message to let them know they're thinking of you. This will have the jewelry piece discreetly light up to keep family members and friends connected to one another.
• Streamlined Motherhood: Subscriptions and platforms are aiming to offer moms, or parents in general, easily accessible options to meet their shopping needs. Such services showcase the demand for convenience for time-strapped consumers, and how brands are adapting to meet the needs of more niche markets. Target’s 'Cat and Jack' baby subscription box ($40 a month) is curated by the brand's designers and contains six to seven different clothing items that have yet to be released in-store. The box caters from newborns to 24-month-old children with leggings, onesies, t-shirts, bibs and more.
• Childlike Veganism: With veganism not typically being a diet that children choose to subscribe to themselves, brands are aiming to cater to younger demographics via playful designs and offering foods that have historically appealed to kids. This shift offers vegan or ultra-health-conscious parents some more effective strategies for introducing their children to vegan eating. Bobo's Toast'r pastries are gluten-free, non-GMO, and vegan products, and offered in flavorful varieties like Strawberry Jam and Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed, as well as Chocolate Peanut Butter and Chocolate Almond Butter. The pastries are fortified with protein from nuts as opposed to laden with sugar, sprinkles and thick layers of glazed icing.
• Sensorial Streamlining: Children with autism are likely to be extremely sensitive to sensory stimulation, and so various toys and children’s products are being streamlined in order to better benefit these children. Last spring, Zappos partnered with PBS Kids to create 4Ward, an autism-friendly clothing collection that includes t-shirts and pants for infants from 18 months to kids of the age of six. The ultra-comfortable pieces of apparel feature no buttons, dissolvable tags, and styles that can be worn either frontward or backward.

This report is the latest in a series from Trend Hunter offering in-depth perspectives and trends in various areas related to the toy industry and beyond youth markets to help spark unique ideas. For additional relevant trends, toy companies may click on the report’s consumer insights examples, scroll down, and click the images for further information.

Members are encouraged to send topic suggestions for future trend reports to The Toy Association’s Anne McConnell.

TrendHunter.com has accumulated nearly 3 billion views from more than 100 million visitors. The data research company helps clients “Dive Deeper,” “Work Smarter,” and “Save Effort” in order to increase the overall success of their companies and brands.