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Pitching Children
- By Ikem Okuhu
- Published March 14th, 2011
- BrandWorld
- Unrated
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. Industry spending on advertising to children in the United States, has exploded in the past decade, increasing from a mere $100 million in 1990 to more than $2 billion in 2000. In Nigeria, according to the Media Planning services total adspend has increased by over 100 percent from N60 billion last term to well over N120 billion at present. Although the breakdown is still unavailable, one can safely say children and dependent youths have over 60 percent of this chasing them.
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. As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions as time-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids. If a parent is working in a place like Lagos where he or she would have to leave the home at 5.00 am and return at 9.00pm, the challenge of substituting the attention children demand requires that a significant chunk of the family budget be set aside for the children.
Mr. Adegbenro Adejare, CEO, Balmoral International knows this. Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Promasidor Nigeria Limited also seem to appreciate this. Last week, Adejare’s outfit called a press conference to announce plans to gather as many Nigerian children as is possible for a special kind of concert where cartoon characters they normally see on television would take the human form, mount the stage and entertain them.
There is the popular Barney and Friends. There is Bobby the Builder, Angelina Ballerina, Pingu, Fireman Sam as well as Fifi and the Flowertots.
For Guaranty Trust Bank, a platform like this is very important in the bank’s marketing design, which I strongly anchored on winning future customers today. “Children are special and this is one of the numerous ways we intend to show them that we will go the extra mile to let them know how much we love them,” said Lola Odedina, Head, Communications & External Affairs of GTBank.
GTbank knows that children have very strong control of the family income and will in future be the “big” customers that would sustain the bank’s drive for leadership. They also have products for children and actually sells to this niche, a savings product that, at such a tender age, inculcates the saving culture in minors.
The fact that Keith Richards, Managing Director of Promasidor, personally attended the press conference reinforces the power that children have over their parents in terms of spending power. A gathering like this concert provides opportunities for life-long bonds, especially since children love these television characters and would connect strongly with any brand that provides them the opportunity to interact with these characters on a live show.
The power of children over their parents have been distilled by marketing experts over the years. Parents make the money but children spend most of it for reasons itemised below:
Pester Power
Today’s kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy. “Pester power” refers to children’s ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be.
The marriage of psychology and marketing
To effectively market to children, advertisers need to know what makes kids tick. With the help of well-paid researchers and psychologists, advertisers now have access to in-depth knowledge about children’s developmental, emotional and social needs at different ages. Using research that analyzes children’s behaviour, fantasy lives, art work, even their dreams, companies are able to craft sophisticated marketing strategies to reach young people.
Buzz or street marketing
The challenge for marketers is to cut through the intense advertising clutter in young people’s lives. Many companies are using “buzz marketing”—a new twist on the tried-and-true “word of mouth” method.
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. As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions as time-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids. If a parent is working in a place like Lagos where he or she would have to leave the home at 5.00 am and return at 9.00pm, the challenge of substituting the attention children demand requires that a significant chunk of the family budget be set aside for the children.
Mr. Adegbenro Adejare, CEO, Balmoral International knows this. Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Promasidor Nigeria Limited also seem to appreciate this. Last week, Adejare’s outfit called a press conference to announce plans to gather as many Nigerian children as is possible for a special kind of concert where cartoon characters they normally see on television would take the human form, mount the stage and entertain them.
There is the popular Barney and Friends. There is Bobby the Builder, Angelina Ballerina, Pingu, Fireman Sam as well as Fifi and the Flowertots.
For Guaranty Trust Bank, a platform like this is very important in the bank’s marketing design, which I strongly anchored on winning future customers today. “Children are special and this is one of the numerous ways we intend to show them that we will go the extra mile to let them know how much we love them,” said Lola Odedina, Head, Communications & External Affairs of GTBank.
GTbank knows that children have very strong control of the family income and will in future be the “big” customers that would sustain the bank’s drive for leadership. They also have products for children and actually sells to this niche, a savings product that, at such a tender age, inculcates the saving culture in minors.
The fact that Keith Richards, Managing Director of Promasidor, personally attended the press conference reinforces the power that children have over their parents in terms of spending power. A gathering like this concert provides opportunities for life-long bonds, especially since children love these television characters and would connect strongly with any brand that provides them the opportunity to interact with these characters on a live show.
The power of children over their parents have been distilled by marketing experts over the years. Parents make the money but children spend most of it for reasons itemised below:
Pester Power
Today’s kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy. “Pester power” refers to children’s ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be.
The marriage of psychology and marketing
To effectively market to children, advertisers need to know what makes kids tick. With the help of well-paid researchers and psychologists, advertisers now have access to in-depth knowledge about children’s developmental, emotional and social needs at different ages. Using research that analyzes children’s behaviour, fantasy lives, art work, even their dreams, companies are able to craft sophisticated marketing strategies to reach young people.
Buzz or street marketing
The challenge for marketers is to cut through the intense advertising clutter in young people’s lives. Many companies are using “buzz marketing”—a new twist on the tried-and-true “word of mouth” method.
