Insight & strategy V Making a play Understanding the emotional impact of childs play, and what issues such as sustainability mean to kids, are high on the insight agenda for Mattels Michael Swaisland. By Katie McQuater ideo calls must be de rigueur for Michael Swaisland. Based in Germany, as head of insights for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at toy company Mattel, his role covers a huge, diverse geographic area. When we meet virtually, the set-up has become the norm across the board. While video has simplified cross-border communication, however, understanding multiple markets, where tastes, cultures and languages vary, is still a complex job and, for Swaisland, its increasingly about listening, rather than asking, particularly this year. The EMEA insights function at Mattel is split across two tiers in-country local market experts, and a regional layer focused on core pillars, including consumer, shopper, media insights and advanced analytics. 36 Impact ISSUE 33 2021_pp36-39 I&S Mattel.indd 36 26/03/2021 10:05