Tweens (8-12) are in the crosshairs of marketers as companies are relentlessly chasing a $51 billion ‘opportunity.’ Kids seem to be more aware of it than adults are, and that’s a bit unsettling.
Maybe parents should check out the cover story of Revenue magazine, “The Lure of Youth: Reeling in teens is a huge opportunity for online marketers. Don’t let the big one get away” Because it’s clearly time to sit up and pay attention.
Some friends have been incredulous when reading some of my articles written for Common Sense Media on interactive gaming and product placement in schools. I keep wondering, are they naive, out of touch, or just plain busy?
That cell phone you gave your middle schooler to ‘touch base and feel safe?’ for instance…Do you really think it’s just for talking? That little tool can do lots more than a basic howdy-do these days…
Kids can speed dial their candy bars using SMS (short message service) text codes to vote for their favorite flavor, access free ringtone prizes, link to a fashion quiz, redeem coupons at checkout stands on the spot, download free wallpapers keyed into marketer’s sites, give a pal a ‘shout out’ from a viral ‘forward to a friend’ or play e-spin the bottle in a dating chat room from an ad that landed in their phones.
And that’s not even with a smart phone or camera capabilities!
Tweens know all about advergaming, product placement, viral pass arounds (‘forward to a friend’ stuff) but did you know marketers can now geotarget kids and their preferences down to a gnat’s eyebrow? Pretty sophisticated metrics, especially with in-game advertising.
Offline, a back to school ‘walk through’ might toss you a few zingers.
Note classrooms for branded posters, book covers, tissue boxes even homework assignments…Depending on where you live, it might just blow you away. (I remember almost tossing a ‘Toyota’s Road to Reading’ sheet thinking it was an ad, when my daughter squealed I was throwing away her homework!)
While you’re at it, make note of the food on campus, are there vending machines? Sponsored brands? Junk food at lunch?
I’ll be doing a bunch of features and podcast interviews on new tactics for in-school marketing after attending the CCFC conference next month, but for now…
Here’s a quick snapshot into the minds of those with a keen eye on your wallet. Marketers are well aware parents are ratcheting up their online concern, so they’re targeting tweens directly in as friendly a manner as possible.
Revenue Magazine says to target tweens & teens you should:
Create friendly characters that encourage kids to identify with products and companies
Develop interactive games and activites that get kids to return
Develop clubs that teens can join
Offer contests, quizzes and brand-related games
Use bold graphics
Let them have an influence in shaping your brand’s identity
Build trust by using words and images that make your website feel like a place
(a destination or a world)
Case studies on product placement included Cadillac cars in a game for Microsoft’s Xbox clickable video ads called ‘level-stitials’ which can run after a level of a game is completed, static ads that are placed on exit screens or scoreboards at the end of a game, or full integration of a branded effort like Toyota Scion’s Whyville.net campaign. Talk about ‘get ‘em while they’re young’ —tweens don’t even have a learner’s permit much less know how to drive.
“How low can marketers go?” (that’s rhetorical, or I could be snide)
I’ve seen womb to tomb advertising at all levels, but just to give you a feel for the level of engagement of tweens that can’t even reach the pedals, see if this revs your engine:
Toyota started branding its Scion car on whyville.net, an online community for tweens, and found that just 10 days into the campaign, the word Scion was used more than 78,000 times in online chats, hundreds of ‘virtual’ cars were purchased using ‘clams’ (the currency of Whyville) and the “Club Scion” community was visited almost 34,000 times. These kids customized their virtual cars, picked up their avatar pals for rides online and supposedly built their brand loyalty and pester power to influence choices within their own family decision-making. (on big ticket items like cars and computers no less…)
Are 8-12 year olds aware they’re being sold? Chances are, if it’s fun, they could care less, and rarely mention it to the folks. Are parents aware the kids may be influencing their own behaviors and buying patterns?
If it feels like the kids are nagging you more, or have little items of input to share, listen up. Hear them. Ask for more. Find out about it. The boundaries are blurred in terms of where kids are getting their information and sadly, it’s become a shell game as to what’s real and what’s a pitch.
Fantasy games are embedded with candy and sugary snacks masked far out of view from the landing page screen, MMOs, chat rooms, blogs, even MySpace social media sites have been infiltrated with product positioning recommended by ‘friends’…Coolness cache is being injected into the choices for family cars and electronics.
And this week, the last bastion of commercial-free messaging is about to be hit with subtle product placement too. Tween books. (not the M&M counting kind. Or the branded fruit loops sponsored obvious stuff. Kid-lit with a plot line. Young adult mystery fiction.)
sigh. I’ll save that for a separate post…
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