Play needs a rebrand

and a 90-day play experiment

Earlier this year, I sat on a panel about play when something I’d been circling for a while finally formed into words: “we need to rebrand play,” I said.

The conversation that followed – with brilliant people from companies like Lego and IKEA – was really great, but too short. Ever since, I’ve had the urge to explore this thought further. Which lead us to today.

The need for a “rebrand of play” came to me after noticing two recurring patterns.

On the one hand, play is often seen as fluffy, childish, circus-like – colourful shapes, toys, games, silliness. During that very panel, three people burst in dressed in fluffy bird costumes. It was funny (I love a good costume), but it also perfectly illustrated this cliché: as if “more play” automatically means dressing up or being brought back to childhood.

On the other hand, play has become a buzzword. It pops up in trend reports and media articles, often framed as a lifestyle tip – “add more play for escapism” – or a brand activation idea. Playfulness is usually described as light-hearted fun. Which is fine, but, I usually feel, it still reads surface-level: they sound fun, but also vague, distant, and hard to action.

Meanwhile, in our own editorial meetings last week for Playground magazine, we kept reminding ourselves: play is more than childhood relived. For us, play is also a process, a method, a way of being.

With all this brewing, I’ve decided to dive in. To spend time unpacking what play really means – and maybe help redefine it for others too, whether you’re an individual, a group, a business or a brand.

So welcome to Rebranding Play – a limited series that will be split in two parts.

1 – Theoretical. Deep dives that look at play through different lenses: how it works in events, retail, creative processes, strategy, daily experimentation. We might review cultural happenings that claim to be playful. Think of it as essays of play.

2 – Practical. The big one. Starting today, September 1st, I – together with Emilija, our creative producer, and Ieva, our freelance video editor – begin a 90-day play experiment. Every day, for 90 days, we commit to 30 minutes of play.

No daily goal, nor outcome – except for keeping an archive of what happens. Just time carved out for whatever feels like play. You’ll hear from us along the way and again at the end!

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Why this felt right to do it now? I couldn’t help but wonder…

Remember when your parents told you to “go play outside with the ball”? Then later that same ball turned into tennis practice, or basketball training, or a medal to win. That’s when play usually slips into something else – a hobby, a sport, a commitment. And once it’s regular, serious, structured… the play starts to fade.

The more I thought about it, the more I realised: so many things are play, but we stop allowing them to be. Our culture pushes us to turn play into progress – to get better, get consistent, perform. But when the few things that once brought joy get absorbed into a to-do list, the play of it all is gone.

In my world, play is experimentation, not a bright colour palette. It’s a card you can pull that says: explore, mess around, see what happens.

I’ll be honest – I’m nervous. As we kick this off, I’m heading into a three-day client workshop. Calendar screams no, but my gut feeling screams a louder yes! And if I’ve learnt one thing, is that there’s never a “right” time. The urge to play is louder than to do’s on the calendar.

So this series will be both: theory and practice. Digging into play as an idea, while actually making space for it in daily life. Because what is theory without practice?

If you’re curious to join our experiment, leave a comment and I’ll share our “playground rules.”

Let’s see where play takes us,

Auste & the Playground team