• by Eric Butterman , August 21, 2008

Don't underestimate the discerning tastes of paste-eaters

The difficulty in guessing how to market to a child, it's often said, is that marketers are adults. So, good news for marketers who have long since lost the innocence of their youth: Kids are growing up faster than ever before, to the point where many children ages 8 to 12 already think of themselves as adults. And these little giants have the walking-around money to prove it. Even more, they have a discerning eye for what they're going to spend it on. These days, it seems every kid is Richie Rich.

Karen Gedney, creative director of New York-based Karen Gedney Communications, warns against marketing to a child's actual age. Most kids see themselves as aspiring teens, so marketers should treat them as such. Gedney, whose clients have included Hasbro and Scholastic, says one area seems to be consistent among this group: addiction. "I've had many kids tell me they have to stay away from video games or else their grades will plummet," she says. "They have more money than previous generations, and there's a desire to buy things they can use, not trinkets."

The desire seems to be even greater in the older part of this demographic. According to a national survey commissioned by the Center for a New American Dream, "More than 10 percent of 12- to 13-year-olds admitted to asking their parents more than 50 times for products they have seen advertised, and 54 percent feel pressure to buy certain products, such as clothes and CDs, because their friends have them." The trials and tribulations of peer pressure that marketers remember from their own youth is alive and well for kids in 2008.

Lars Perner, assistant professor of clinical marketing at the University of Southern California, says tweens are a powerful market, especially in clothing, and aimed strategies are a sure bet to reach them. "There are standards in general advertising to children that don't allow for implying someone will become a better or more popular person through the product," Perner says. "So they do it through more of a subtle attempt. These children have access to the Internet, and the new hot fashions tend to spread a lot faster because the group is highly connected to each other. They will take a picture on their camera phone and send it to everybody. They are very fickle, but the retail environment has changed with their needs. It went from small department stores to big discount places like Wal-Mart, and that plays into a generation that's all about having everything at their fingertips."

Web sites offer a multi-layered marketing approach to complement an age group that demands choice. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, "One in four sites offer a 'membership' opportunity for children age 12 or younger. Children who sign up on Web sites may be proactively informed about new brands, exclusive offers and new television commercials available for viewing."

Gedney, who has two sons, ages 9 and 12, says kids also use the Internet to review the products they buy, just like adults. Even so, for kids, television is still king. "Children are in tune to television like nothing else," she says. "My boys just told me to get a Tempur-Pedic bed because they saw it on TV. They don't know what it is, but they think I should have one anyway."

The Internet is clearly having its effect. Steven Bridges, interactive producer for advertising agency La Agencia de Orcí, points out that Web sites are heavily laden with ads in the form of online puzzles and games, many geared toward children. "It used to be Saturday morning programming was the way to reach them, but Disney Action online games get through to them pretty easily." In fact, Blockdot, a leader in designing such games, features in its online portfolio everything from defeating the Cocoa Dragon with Fred Flintstone to mastering M&M's Mega Toss Test.

Bridges says social networking sites for young people, like imbee.com, are the clear advertising future for this market. "Imbee.com hits the preteen age group with many of their favorite entertainers listed on the home page, but it's also approved by teachers." He also sees widgets as becoming more common with this type of social networking once the functionality is improved. "Widgets are a strong marketing tool, but only if they serve a purpose - advertisers haven't quite figured out what that is with kids."

Believe it or not, parents sometimes pay attention to what their children are up to online. Marc Sorel, national director for Kid Club Marketing, a partner of Classmates Marketing, says video-based sites like YouTube and, to some extent, Facebook, have been held back because of parental approval. "There's no question kids respond to videos and can even create their own, but parents are taking more control of what their children are visiting on the Internet." Sorel, whose company has worked with McDonald's and KFC, believes advertisers shouldn't overlook "old-fashioned" ways of doing business. "We worked with McDonald's on Black History Month focusing on ages 8 to 14," he says. "We found locker posters and wall calendars can still be as effective as any Web site."

So what can be a positive and effective means of reaching the attention-deficit demo? One way is to come up with campaigns aligned with products that mix action with responsibility. Video games with a historic premise have been found to be popular despite "sneaking in" an educational component, Gedney says. And Guitar Hero has become a cultural phenomenon, while renewing an interest in music and improving manual dexterity.

Still, though the advertising community has faced criticism for targeting this impressionable age group, it's also stepped up to help create a solution. As the Washington Post reported, in late 2006 advertisers "revised 32-year-old guidelines for advertising directed at children younger than 12 and separately launched a voluntary effort with 10 food and beverage companies to devote at least half their advertising to promoting more healthful dietary or lifestyle choices to children."

Nonetheless, the article also noted that marketing to kids had swelled to $15 billion a year since the guidelines were first written, and that the rate of childhood obesity and related health conditions had doubled. "It's important that advertisers understand the damage that can be done as much as the opportunity to sell," Gedney says. But we all know it's not advertising that makes kids fat - it's video games.