Lecture 12 - Marketing to Children

The fact is that "children are getting older younger"!!

Young children are increasingly the target of advertising and marketing because of the amount of money they spend themselves, the influence they have on their parents spending (the nag factor) and because of the money they will spend when they grow up. Whilst this child-targeted marketing used to concentrate on sweets and toys, it now includes clothes, shoes, a range of fast foods, sports equipment, computer products and toiletries as well as adult products such as cars and credit cards.

Through the Times

Once upon a time marketing to children was not necessary as everything was down to the parents. In Victorian times, children were there to do as they were told and were only allowed to talk when spoken too. Oh my; how times have changed! Children are more spoilt then ever now they have become subject to marketing.

All children try and act like their peers - mums, dads, or brothers and sisters. This is brilliantly shown in the series outnumbered, where the children speak to their parents in a way and tone the Victorians wouldn't dare too.



Children seem to know more then they should! This may be down to factors such as:

• Latchkey Kids
• Divorce rates/ step families
  
• - more grandparents - who are living longer, and older step siblings
  
• Reducing birthday rates
• Later birth of first child - meaning that the parents are at the point they want to be, and have enough disposable income to give their children anything they want

Mintel Data backs this up by saying that children do get what they want...

Obviously; this depends on the amount of income the parents earn. As you can see both the highest and lowest income households have the most spoilt children. This is because the parents who earn less feel as if their children are loosing out compared to others, when there really not.

It has been proven that children are getting older younger by research from the Advertising Educational Foundation.

Market Segment	60’s	70’s	80’s	90’s	Now
Toddlers					0-3
Preschoolers		2-5	2-5	2-5	2-5
Kids	2-11	6-11	6-8	6-8	6-8
Tweens			9-12	9-12	9-12
Teens				13-15	13-15

As you can see the age brackets for children have changed dramatically over time meaning there are more target audiences of children for advertisers to aim at.

The table below shows the average spent on children aged 7 -12 in different countries

Regular Income     Annual Income#      Savings     Total Spending  
                  $US/month/child    $US/year/child                     $US/year     
Germany                 32.30             569.40            46%        0.9 billion    
UK                      31.50             506.20            26%        1.7 billion    
US                      29.10             493.10            21%        8.9 billion    
France                  22.50             377.90            30%        2.2 billion    
Japan*                  10.70             407.90            62%        1.0 billion    
China*                  9.00              182.00            60%        2.6 billion   

It is not surprising that the US spend the most on their children. Personally I think this may be because most of the toy manufacturers such as Kraft.

Market Research with Children

Kids represent an important demographic to marketers because they have their own purchasing power, they influence their parents' buying decisions and they're the adult consumers of the future. "Parents today are willing to buy more for their kids because trends such as smaller family size, dual incomes and postponing children until later in life mean that families have more disposable income" (Media Awareness Network, 2009). Guilt also plays a huge role in spending decisions as time-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids.

Marketeers uses the following strategies to entice children:

Pester Power -
Pester power refers to the children's ability to nag their parents. Barbara A, Martino (2001) states that "we're relying in the kid to pester the mom to buy the product, rather than going straight to the mom". Some people may say it is wrong to use this type of marketing as children should not be subject to it. But at the end of the day, these companies are making millions from it.

Pester Power can be divided into two categories:

• Persistence - this is a nagging plea that is consistent, and overly repetitive
• Importance - this appeals more to their parents, its when the children persuade their parents that it is in their best interest to have the product in their life

Personally; when I was a child the 'importance' technique was my favourite. I was always able to persuade my mum that I NEEDED that product for some lame reason such as school :)

Advertisement in Schools

Big organisations have realised that marketing in school must be the simplest and easiest way to contact their target audience. This is done through: providing schools with technology in exchange for high visibility of their product or through the use of posters in classrooms, school buses or on the desktop of their computers.

Advertising Standards Authority

These state that adverts must avoid anything likely to encourage poor nutritional habits or and unhealthy lifestyle in children. This is furthered by saying the especially food advertisement should not directly ask children to buy or to ask parents or other adults to make purchases of an unhealthy choice for them. Other factors advertisers need to take into account are:

• Ditto character licensing
  
• Ads must not imply that children will be inferior to others
  
• Mentally Harm them
  
• Physical harm
• Ads must not encourage or condone bullying