Meet The New Play Personas
Mattel’s 2025 Shape of Play report found that 94% of people believe play is for all ages. As play becomes increasingly popular for both adults and children, future consumers will integrate this new outlook into their lifestyles. This will influence everything from how they decorate and what they eat, to the hobbies they pursue.
Our New Play Personas report, available to those with a premium My TrendBible subscription, explores how attitudes to play are evolving. This report identifies four new play personas impacting the market: The Everyday Players, The Expressive Creators, The Playful Hobbyists, The Collectors.
The Everyday Players
For The Everyday Players, play isn’t just an activity; it’s a lifestyle and a mindset. They prioritise joy, fun and connection over control and order. Humour, silliness and ‘weirdness’ are ingrained in their spaces, taking an ‘unserious’ approach to home and family life and nurturing imagination and light-hearted joys.
The Expressive Creators
For these consumers, creativity is a tool for play, expression and escapism. They prioritise time to create ‘for the sake of it’, treating creative experimentation as an act of play. This carefree attitude allows them to embrace the creative process, not the finished product. Their spaces and homes reflect this mindset.
The Playful Hobbyists
The Playful Hobbyists use play as a tool for unwinding, finding calm from brain training games and joy in learning and nurturing skills. They find community through joyful hobbies, from board games cafes to roller skating, championing play for all generations.
The Collectors
Driven by nostalgia and a desire to surround themselves with joy, The Collectors are drawn to playful aesthetics, tactile treasures, and expressive objects. Their homes and living spaces are extensions of themselves; mini galleries filled with emotion, humour, and personality. They utilise play to immersive themselves in these worlds, and to connect with others through fandoms and clubs.