Ahead of the summer season, Little Tikes has kickstarted a heavyweight PR, marketing, TV and digital advertising campaign that celebrates the art of playing outdoors with its core products, and encourages parents to ask themselves what play means to their families.
‘Let Them Play!’ will see the spotlight shone on the brand’s core outdoor toys – the iconic Cozy Coupe, Turtle Sandbox, Fountain Factory Water Table, My First Slide and a selection of new toys, including the new FOAMO 3-in-1 water table. The brand is encouraging families to put their own twist on the hashtag #LetThemPlay with a word that encapsulates what play means to them.
McFly star and dad of three Harry Judd kicked off the campaign with a bang ahead of the first May bank holiday with an engaging series of Instagram posts. The former Strictly winner shared a fun-filled snap of his family enjoying the sunshine with an assortment of toys from Little Tikes.
Harry took to Instagram to talk to his 615k followers about getting his garden summer-ready for his family – highlighting their love of imaginative play with his own twist on the hashtag, #LetThemImagine. In the fun-filled snap and stories, he says, “I love it when the sun shines and we can start having fun with toys in the garden, especially when water’s involved! It’s time to #LetThemImagine”. He even added that his youngest cannot wait to join the fun, “Not long until Lockie’s on that slide!”. The post received incredible engagement and was picked up in an array of showbiz titles, including Yahoo News.
The momentum continued as the brand launched a heavy-hitting influencer campaign on influencer content creation platform Tribe, which once completed will span an audience reach of over 750k and see content running throughout the summer months. This activity has been amplified with a series of giveaways and competitions on the Little Tikes social channels, driving audience engagement from fans attempting to win items from the core summer line.
This precedes a number of impactful press office and social media spikes taking place across July and August that will encourage families across the UK to play, have fun, explore and discover. All social activity has been grouped under the #LetThemPlay hashtag.
Alaina Cornish, Senior Brand Manager at Little Tikes UK, says: “Summer has always been a great season for us and we’re excited to get families actively playing outside this summer. We’re seeing families buying earlier than ever before and it’s lovely to see how popular some of our new outdoor products have been already. We love seeing parents put their twist on play and we can’t wait to see more.”
All PR activity will be underpinned by an extensive digital advertising programme which will run throughout the season. The current robust TV campaign is also mirroring this messaging.