Opinion - Generation Media

Summer scrolls: winning the screen to win the shelf

Sonika Chowdhury, Digital associate director at Generation Media, explains how surging screen use during the UK summer holidays presents companies with unrivalled opportunities to get ahead on their Christmas marketing plans.

As schools break for summer, children across the UK swap pencils for phones and tablets become the new textbooks. For toy brands, this annual shift marks more than just the start of ice cream season - it's a digital goldmine. Screen time surges, routines soften, and suddenly young audiences are more engaged, more impressionable, and significantly more scroll-happy. But this moment isn’t just about summer sales: it’s about setting up for Q4 success.

According to Ofcom, children’s average daily screen time increases by as much as 30% during the school holidays, with TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat seeing the biggest jumps. It makes sense: less structure means more screen time, whether it’s for entertainment, discovery or socialising. Kids aren’t the only ones scrolling either. Parents are on the hunt for toys to keep their children occupied and, eventually, for presents to keep hidden until December. This confluence of audiences creates the perfect opportunity for toy advertisers to lay the foundations for festive season success.

The key to cracking summer is being present where kids already are: on the platforms they love, in formats they enjoy, with messaging that makes them (and their parents) stop scrolling for all the right reasons. On YouTube, Shorts have become an essential tool for kid-facing content, while skippable and bumper ads are ideal for parent-targeted campaigns. Brands that lead with eye-catching visuals and land the toy moment within five seconds are the ones that stick.

TikTok is a playground of bite-sized, creator-style content. Brands who lean into this world using trends, transitions, sounds and UGC-style ads see the biggest rewards. It’s less “heavily produced TVC”, more “fun, fast and feels like it belongs”. TikTok remains a valuable environment for engaging parents, older teens and family audiences through contextual relevance and culturally attuned creative, delving into the gifters of the toy world.

Snapchat's Snap Ads and AR Lenses may skew slightly older, but they offer immersive, interactive ways for kids to play with products before they hit the shelves.

When it comes to creative, this isn’t the time for landscape, slow-burn storytelling. You’re fighting for attention in a vertical world, where thumbs are fast and expectations are faster. The winning toy ads are vertical, bold, colourful, short, and sound-on. Think text overlays, fast cuts, and voiceovers that tell you why this toy is the toy, before the viewer has a chance to hit skip.

But while summer is prime time for attention, it’s also an incredibly valuable testing ground. This is where the savviest toy advertisers shift gears from “launch mode” to “lab mode”. July and August offer a low-pressure window to experiment with different creatives, messaging angles and audience segments before Q4 costs increase. Paid social platforms are perfect for this. They offer near-instant feedback, letting you identify which messages resonate, which images perform, and which audiences are worth your budget. These insights can supercharge your Q4.

Don’t ignore the creative fatigue factor. The fun video that crushes in July might feel stale by November. Use the summer months as your creative playground: trial different cuts, formats and concepts. Platforms like Meta and TikTok offer Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO), so let the algorithms do the testing for you. Then, come Q4, you’re armed with proven winners, not hopeful guesses.

Each platform also plays its own strategic role. Meta is your retargeting powerhouse. As we move into gifting season, it’s invaluable for re-engaging parents and gift-buyers already familiar with your brand. TikTok, on the other hand, is your topof-funnel buzz engine. Start building presence and brand warmth now with organic-feel paid content that entertains as much as it informs. YouTube remains the go-to for longer-form product explainers and parent research, especially if you’re selling toys that benefit from a bit of storytelling or demonstration.

Looking at wider toy trends, it’s clear that certain products and behaviours continue to dominate summer engagement. Take Squishmallows, a juggernaut with over 13b views on TikTok and a fandom that fuels both purchase intent and peerto-peer influence. Sonny Angels is thriving off the back of the unboxing trend, its miniature mystery format tailor-made for short-form content, and collaborations like Lego x Fortnite blend digital and physical play in ways that speak to today’s hybrid expectations from toys.

To help structure the months ahead, here’s a suggested roadmap:

• July: Launch low-spend tests across TikTok, Meta and YouTube. Try new creative formats and messaging.

• August: Optimise based on what worked in July. Increase spend slightly, refine targeting, and identify top-performing ad variants.

• September: Finalise your Q4 creative and platform mix. Lock in your media plan based on real-world data, not assumptions.

Ultimately, the message is this: summer isn’t just a time to catch flights or unwind in the garden while school’s out - it’s your strategic runway. The brands who show up now, test thoroughly and plan smartly will be the ones who stand out during the highstakes holiday period. So, whether you’re dropping a new toy line or just looking to maximise a core SKU, there’s never been a better time to scroll smarter, test faster, and prepare sharper.

Because in the world of toys, those who win the screen in summer, win the shelf in December.