Those passing by Berlin in the next three months will no doubt want to stop in to admire the city’s latest tourist destination: Barbie’s Dream House. The attraction is billed as the first-ever touring life-size Barbie house: a phrase that will strike fear into the hearts of a swathe of the world’s parents with girls under 8.

With no windows, but with a giant pink stiletto-shaped slide, touchscreens and no doubt a houseful of merchandising, it’s a celebration of all things pink, fluffy and stereotypically  ’girly’ – which is exactly what its detractors object to.

The attraction’s opening day on May 16 saw protests outside from the Occupy Dream House movement and from UK campaign group Pinkstinks. Founded in 2008 by sisters Abi and Emma Moore, Pinkstinks aims to confront what they call “the damaging messages that bombard girls though toys, clothes and media. Girls’ products overwhelmingly focus on being pretty, passive and obsessed with shopping, fashion and make up – this promotes a dangerously narrow definition of what it means to be a girl.”

Those who follow the kids’ marketing sector will know that recent years have seen growing concern and frustration among Western parents concerned about what they see as the toy industry’s myopic view of young girls. While Barbie has long been criticised by its critics for presenting unhelpful feminine stereotypes, traditionally more gender-neutral brands such as LEGO have also come under fire – witness the uproar on social media when the latter launched its LEGO Friends range in late 2011.

The issue won’t be easy to resolve. Brands targeting pre-school and tweenage girls know that pink, ‘feminised’ versions of toys, games and even technology are almost guaranteed to appeal to a large chunk of their demographic, and are understandably unwilling to wager their bottom line on ranges that may have greater parent pull but lower kid appeal. Meanwhile, though, social media has provided concerned consumers with historically unparalleled access to other parents, and pressure is mounting on leading brands to take a stand.

With both sides appearing to be settled in for the long haul, it’s likely to be a bloody and protracted battle.

This week saw Unilever announce the launch of new Organic Delight shampoos and conditioners under its Timotei brand, staking the company’s claim for the new products as the first mass-market

This week saw Unilever announce the launch of new Organic Delight shampoos and conditioners under its Timotei brand, staking the company’s claim for the new products as the first mass-market 100% organic haircare range.

With all-organic ingredients, Ecocert approval, a 95% biodegradable formula and 100% recyclable packaging, the new range will add a hefty dose of support to the brand’s ‘natural’ positioning. While it’s very unlikely that Timotei’s Organic Delight products will draw the UK’s most environmentally-active consumers away from smaller, specialist brands like Organic Surge, Lovea Bio or Green People, they offer a potentially punchy point of difference around which to grow and build new growth.

We were delighted to comment on the new launch in this week’s The Grocer. Rebecca Cook spoke of its relevance and appropriateness to the brand, adding that it was likely to be considered an attractive addition for existing users.

To see the full article, click here.

To find out how your brand can be lucky in love this year, take a look at our Valentine’s Quiz and make your way through the relationships maze. When you get to the bottom, you’ll discover our secrets to building a happier, more fulfilling relationship with your consumer…

…A 5m-high advent calendar made up of more than 60,000 LEGO bricks, as it happens.

With the news ringing in our ears that the world’s largest advent calendar had gone on display this week in London’s Covent Garden, courtesy of LEGO, we decided it was time to introduce our own Christmas countdown.

Sadly, we haven’t been able to discover a means of enclosing a chocolate behind each post, but for the next 22 days, we’ll be giving you The Value Engineers’ very own take on the advent, with our round-up of the best Christmas news, stories and themes.

So to kick off the festivities, we wanted to raise a glass of eggnog to LEGO – the perennial favourite of our Director of Deviancy, Giles, but also one of the companies that’s been leading the way in innovative kids’ marketing and positioning throughout 2012. It’s only fitting that they’ve rounded off the year with a festive greeting that builds on (pun thoroughly intended) their position – a fun, playful, construction-led brand that provides something for kids and adults alike to return to, again and again.

For those who don’t follow the oral care category with any great diligence, it may come as something of a surprise to learn that Colgate has had the blogosphere buzzing this week, with bloggers and tweeters from around the world focusing to the world of toothpaste and toothbrushes.

So what’s the secret? How has Colgate managed to put oral care into the headlines? Fortunately for the brand’s owners, this buzz hasn’t come from a product recall,  management scandal or general anarchy: it stems from Colgate’s announcement of a partnership with young British boy-band sensation One Direction (1-D to fans).

Starting next month, Colgate will introduce One Direction-licensed products to its MaxFresh toothbrushes and toothpaste in the US. But is this a bold, fresh move by a category leader, or simply an opportunistic exploitation of the latest craze?

There’s no question that the partnership benefits One Direction – after all, in a world where the Spice Girls could simultaneously endorse Polaroid, ASDA, Impulse and the Poppy Appeal, among others, there’s little to stop a hot property going cross-category. I imagine that their decision was at least 90% commercially motivated: although I wouldn’t want to suggest a short shelf life, the temptation to exploit any and every licensing opportunity must be present for the boys.

For Colgate, the rationale is slightly more fluid. Yes, I’d expect to see a short-term spike in sales, accompanied by some gain in market share as tweenage girls exploit their much-vaunted pester power to get Colgate into shopping baskets. Equally, there will almost certainly be a halo effect for the brand, as grateful parents jump on anything they think will encourage their DDs and DSs (‘Darling Daughters’ and ‘Darling Sons’, to quote Mumsnetters) to spend more time on their teeth. Equally, there’s probably some good PR in the concept of Colgate championing anything that encourages kids’ oral health and oral care.

So some clear short-term advantages – but from an observer’s perspective, nothing to show long-term benefit to the brand’s core values and positioning of a level to justify the imagined level of investment required to buy into Simon Cowell’s latest project.

The deeply worrying thing would be if the 1-D tie-up signalled a move by Colgate towards a continual stream of licensed products, introduced at the expense of real brand strategy anchored in compelling audience insight.

The final verdict? – A move that will be greeted by minor raptures by most females under the age of 13, and by cautious encouragement from their parents, but not a game-changer in a category that, frankly, is wide open for just that. Come on, Colgate!