• by John Gaffney , July 30, 2002

Kids between the ages of six and eleven – or “tweens” in marketing parlance – are using the Internet more than previously thought and could become a key audience for potential online advertisers.

That was the key message delivered at Monday’s session of the Institute of International Research’s “Targeting Tweens” conference in New York City. Several research and case study presentations showed the power the Internet still has with this age group that accounts for $35 billion in product purchases each year.

Planners and buyers who aim at this group have long known that tweens spend time on the Internet. Some of Monday’s statistics were surprising in the intensity of the group’s affinity for the medium. According to research firm Circle 1 Network, 27% of tweens spend more than 10 hours a week on the Internet, up from 6% in 2000. More than 39 % spend more than five hours. More than 71% expect to spend more time online over the next five years and the same amount believe the internet will be more popular than TV.

“We had virtually no marketing budget left when it came to advertising our product,” said In-Zone marketing VP Kathy Ver Eecke. “But our first stop was the Internet. Tweens spend more hours per week than any other media. They’re not surfing the Internet to see if you have a website. They expect you to have one.”

In-Zone is the company behind Bellywashers, a non-carbonated fruit drink packaged in plastic bottles featuring the heads of licensed characters such as Scooby-Doo and Spider Man. It has targeted the 6-12 market almost exclusively, and has won big accounts with Target, Kroger and 7-11. Ver Eecke said the launch strategy for the product focused on advertising in-store and at point-of-sale. After the Internet took up most of its actual ad budget this year, the company is ready to compliment that with a TV campaign, which she debuted at the conference. Ver Eecke said the key to reaching this audience, which needs to communicated through the ad message and its placement, is interactivity and collectibility.

“You have to listen to kids and you have to answer them,” she said. “That’s the key to developing brand loyalty here. We introduce new products every quarter and we let kids know that the Scooby Doo bottle in stores now, won’t be there in a year.”