Back to School, Women’s World Cup, and More Consumer News Trends

A look at consumer and retail news from PR Newswire in July and August that you might have missed.

By Katie Nuttall | Published Sept. 10, 2023

As the days grow shorter, temperatures drop, and summer draws to an end, we’ve been following and evaluating thousands of wire releases here at PR Newswire. Throughout it all, we’ve noticed various recurring trends in the consumer news crossing the wire.

Throughout July and August, we noticed releases focusing on back-to-school products and promotions. We’ve also been tracking the launch of many much-anticipated fall products and noticed a number of stories mentioning the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Overall, PR Newswire distributed nearly 5,000 releases covering consumer news during the past two months!

Let’s take a closer look at some noteworthy releases we’ve seen across the wire in July and August.

Popular Consumer Releases

These were some of the readers' favorite headlines during the past two months:

• Get Ready for Greatness: Frito-Lay Unites Current Soccer Stars and Past Icons in New FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ Marketing Campaign
• First Watch Gets Spicy With Mike's Hot Honey Fall Menu Collaboration
• Pop-Tarts® and Crocs Launch Limited-Edition 'Croc-Tarts' Collab Featuring First-Ever Candy Jibbitz™ Charms
• French's® Announces Limited-Edition Mustard SKITTLES®
• Kodiak and Zac Efron Partner for Wildlife Conservation with Keep It Wild Campaign
• Wonka© Candy Makes its Magical Return with New Wonka Magic Hat Gummies

Consumer News Trends

Here’s a look at a few of the trends we noticed among consumer-related press releases in July and August, along with a few examples of each.

Women’s World Cup

Every four years, 32 national women’s soccer teams compete in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. According to MSNBC, women's soccer is outpacing every other sport in America in terms of expansion. Brands are taking note of the rising interest in the sport. Total sponsorship value has reached at least $349m, a rise from $342m in 2019, based on GlobalData’s analysis, and many brands have aligned themselves with themes of women’s empowerment.

We saw nearly three dozen releases mentioning the Women’s World Cup hit the wire during July and August, including:

• Bowls for Goals is Back: Chipotle to Give Away Free Entrees When the U.S. Women's National Team Scores Key Goals on Soccer's Biggest Stage
• Degree® Launches 'Change the Field,' in Corporation with FIFA and USWNT Forward, Christen Press, to Create More Inclusive Soccer Communities Across the U.S.
  
• Cracker Jack® Spotlights Young Women Who are Changing the Face of the Game with First-Ever Athlete on Cracker Jill® Packaging
• Truly Hard Seltzer Introduces 'Orange Slices' - A Taste of Soccer Nostalgia and a Toast to the U.S. Women's National Team

Fall Products

Changing leaves, chilly mornings, and football games are all indications that fall is here, but the earliest clue that the seasons are changing is the reappearance of everything pumpkin (or apple)!

According to the Food Institute, in just the last five years, pumpkin spice product sales have increased about 47%. Consumers cannot get enough of these limited-edition flavors and retailers are listening. In fact, pumpkin spice season gets off to an earlier start every year. During July and August, hundreds of releases were distributed that mentioned “fall” or “pumpkin.”

Here are just a few of them:

• Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice: 7-Eleven's Legendary Pumpkin Spice Latte is Now in Stores - Earlier than Ever Before
• Chobani Spices Up Fall Beverage Season with New Oatmilk Pumpkin Spice Drink
• Angry Orchard Hard Cider Releases New Fireside Mix Pack with Four Variations of America's Favorite Fall Flavor: Apple
• GoodPop Unveils Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice Latte Pop Available at Whole Foods Market
• In Celebration of the Fall Season, the Makers of the Planters® Brand Introduce New Flavored Cashew Innovation: Apple Cider Donut
  

Back-to-School Season

According to the National Retail Federation, back-to-class shopping is one of the most important consumer shopping occasions of the year.

This year, consumers were expected to spend at record levels and had even started picking up the items they would need to fill their backpacks by early July. Here at PR Newswire, we saw 200+ releases related to the back-to-school season cross the wire during the months of July and August.

Below are some examples:

• Instacart Helps Families Save With New "You've Got This, Parents" Back-To-School Campaign
• Eyebuydirect Cues Back-to-School Season with Colorverse Collection
• Nature's Bakery Has Your Back This Back-To-School Season
• Pretty Dope Society Expands Launch of Melanin-Filled Back to School Collection for Black Children, Celebrating Representation
• The IAMS™ Brand Helps Pet Parents Keep Their Pets' Health Top-of-Mind This Back-To-School Season
• Old Navy Introduces 1-Year 'Kid-Proof' Guarantee on Back-to-School Uniform Styles

Looking Ahead

Between the various collaborations with brands and the Women’s World Cup, the always exciting launch of fall flavors and back-to-school products and promos, it has been an exciting summer in the consumer news world!

We look forward to seeing what lies ahead in the autumn months as consumers prep for the holidays.

About the Author

Katie Nuttall is a Senior Content Specialist at Cision PR Newswire and has been with the company since 2018. She graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in Communications. When she's off the clock, Katie enjoys reading, yoga, walking her dog Harry, and traveling.