Matey is one of the UK’s best-loved and best-recognised bubble bath brands.

But it had a problem, with 2020 providing a belated reality check.

Matey, and its famous characters, didn’t represent all of the UK.

In fact, the characters were all Caucasian.

Having observed Matey’s lack & diversity, we approached our client with the problem, a self-determined brief, and the creative idea.

They bought in immediately and it was clear we shared the same ambition – to modernise the Matey brand whilst dismantling harmful racial stereotypes.

To succeed, we would have to go beyond ‘just’ comms. and re-think the Matey brand from the ground up.

The idea was a simple one – to develop four new products with characters that better represent the racial diversity of the UK.

However, we had to ensure that our characters had to be both fun to play with and represent capable, inspiring aquatic role models.

What better than a merman to show young Black boys that they can swim as well as anyone?

Who better than a surfer to show Muslim girls that they don’t need to choose between their faith and enjoying their favourite water sport?

Joining the Matey crew in 2022:

Arlo – a Black merman

Hamina – a Pakistani surfer

Cleo – a mixed-ethnic background Navy Captain

Zain – an Indian Marine Biologist

To establish newly representative bath time rituals and share stories of their bubble bath adventures, we partnered with parenting influencers from the new characters’ ethnic groups – among them @waikiharnais, @flaviabenko, and @growingwiththeeshuns.

Intending to make a positive difference to young families from under-represented groups meant focusing our research on the culture and society that we would need to change.

Interviews with parents from White and minority ethnicities and analysis of studies performed by organisations such as Sport England, British Swimming and the UK Government Census revealed a staggering, if not unsurprising, insight:

Whilst Matey has always enabled and celebrated fun in water, access to water-based fun is not equitably distributed among UK children.

We had our purpose – to make the water a source of fun for ALL children.

As a strategic focus, it gave us executional direction in designing Matey’s new characters and captured the defiant, optimistic tone of our comms.

It was a two-part creative brief:

Be unmissable – make Matey stand out in culture and on the shelf.

Make a difference – deliver on the promise of Matey’s purpose.

In bringing our new characters to life, the creative team worked closely with illustrator Peijin Yang and a panel of DE&I specialists we call the “Change Makers”.

This ensured that when Arlo & Hamina hit shelves in January 2022, they were representative of their communities, made room for cultural nuances, and avoided harmful stereotypes.

Knowing parents are 1.6x more likely to discover products from posts or reviews from expert bloggers, our Instagram-exclusive launch campaign aimed to establish Arlo & Hamina as part of parents’ bath time rituals.

Meanwhile, social listening is helping Matey respond to shoppers organically sharing photos of the new characters, sending them with bespoke Matey gift boxes.

We are about to launch a unique partnership with Better Leisure Centres and the Black Swimming Association.

Launching in June, on-pack promotions will offer 200,000 2-for-1 swimming lessons in inner-city locations alongside swimming caps designed specifically for Black hairstyles.

Since launching, Arlo & Hamina have reached over 1.5 million parents via social, and another 3.5 million via PR.

From June 2022, Matey will offer 200,000 2-for-1 swimming lessons through a partnership with Better Leisure Centres.

Meanwhile, year on year sales in Tesco have increased by +7.8% and +70% in Asda.

47% of shoppers that bought Arlo & Hamina were new category customers and 75% were new Matey buyers.

The best outcome has been consumers’ reactions, like that of Diana Osagie:

“I’ve just had a moment in Tesco… I used the bubble bath in the picture as a child. NOT ONCE did I think twice about the image of the white boy sailor on the bottle in the ‘70s… I’m 50 years old. Today, I was as giddy as the 6-year-old girl with cornrow braids, running about on my council estate in south London”