Lickable Ad???

Welch's, a juice that constantly is targeting kids, has created a lickable ad. In the February 18th edition of People's Magazine on page 75 an ad for Welch's Juice shows a big container of their juice. Next to the juice there is a caption reading "For a Tasty Fact, remove and Lick" which points down to a peel off that reveals a lickable surface to try their product. 

By placing this ad in People's Magazine the Welch's brand is targeting the parents of their young consumers. Although kids often influence their decisions, these parents are the ones that are making the decisions on what their children consume. By normally displaying kids enjoying their product in advertisements the company is pulling in young consumers. They also attract the parents by constantly labeling their product as 100% real juice. 

People are both excited and in shock about these new ads, developed by a company called First Flavor. Although they are new and innovating, their is the problems of sharing saliva because magazines have a large pass along rate. Therefore, because of the extra price of the ad, marketers are wondering if it is worth the money. The ad is not benefiting from the magazines pass along rate. 

Although pretty accurate Karen Mitchell, Welch's corporate director of marketing is quoted saying "We could not match the taste exactly, but we got pretty close." She also explains that people are misinterpreting the product. Customers are not supposed to lick the magazine page, but a purple square inside the foil pack and then throw it away. 

I think these new ads are very innovating and are breaking through the clutter. Although the kids are most likely not the ones licking the ads, parents may be more willing to try this brand for their child after a successful "Lick". 

Click Here to visit this article from Erie Times News. 

Sweet and Sassy

An article on ypulse.com labeled Sweet & Sassy: Do Tweens Need Their Own Salons?, examines a whole new area of marketing to tweens. A new brand named Sweet & Sassy are creating a chain of salons for tween girls to get a new look and makeover. 

Tween girls are aging faster than ever. Because of the amount of media and advertising towards this age group, their aspirations to look and be a certain way are developing here, at a much earlier age. These young girls are looking to be like their favorite celebrity. A lot of Tweens are quoted in magazines stating that they want to look like Hannah Montana. This salon will help them fulfill their dream. 

The article also touches on the issue of safety concerns. Living in today's generation, parents are providing more structured lives for their kids than other generations did. This salon will provide a happy median for both daughters and parents. A parent can drop their tween off at a Sweet & Sassy for a day full of fun and excitement knowing they are in a safe environment.

I agree with the article about providing a safe and fun place for kids to hang out. Yet, sending you daughter at the age of 12 to a beauty salon worries me. We are only going to further engrave in our kids minds that they must look a certain way to be accepted into society. 

Marketing School???

A recent article from Newsweek titled "New! Improved! Its School!" discusses the new trend of selling school to kids. This article, that was published in late november talked about a new upcoming program to be started this past January.

New York City schools started a campaign to help sell their schools to poor kids who view school as a burden. They are looking to rebrand academics. Starting this past January they planned to hand out 15,000 cell phones to middle school kids from high poverty areas. Students would recieve minutes on these phones for doing well in school. They would also get friendly reminders from entertainers and sport celebrities to do well in school. They can download interviews with professionals in different fields like science and accounting. Teachers are also able to contact students with these phones to remind them about an upcoming test or homework assignment.

The Los Angeles Unified School Discrtict started a similar campaign this past summer. They revamped their website to help drop outs get back on track. Their goal is to lower dropout rates from 25% to 20% by the end of the 2007-2008 school year. They also created commericals informing students how much more money you recieve with a high school diploma ($175 a week) and created Youtube and Myspace pages with information.

I could not find any articles with an update on this campaign and how it is going. But I think this program is an excellent idea. It is using the skills of marketers for a good purpose. Getting these students excited about school at a younger age can completely change their future!

Marketing through Social networks!

An article published on Businessweek.com titled Marketing to Kids Where They Live discusses the new trend of marketing to the younger target audience through social networks. These marketing campaigns are using more than just banner ads. They are allowing teenagers and kids to interact with the company. 

One of the companies using this marketing strategy is JP Morgan Chase. They understand that the younger demographic is not afraid of using their credit cards. As a result, they decided to create a Chase subgroup (can only access the site if you are a facebook member and join the group) on Facebook called Chase +1. Once you join the group, it describes the benefits you will receive from being a member. Kathy Witsil, director of Chase brands stated "We've been very active in marketing to a younger consumer and we know we need t be relevant to their life." By joining the group, signing up, and activating a card members can earn points through Chase.

Chase is not the only company joining these social networks. Burger King has created a Myspace page for their character The King. Myspace itself has more than 100 million member profiles, a majority of whom are of a younger demographic. By using these sites, companies are able to reach a large portion of their target markets. 

It is estimated that marketers will spend $280 million dollars marking on social networks this year. Mike Murphy, the chief revenue officer of Facebook, discusses the possibility of being disruptive. Personally, there is nothing more annoying to me than pop-ups on a site I am trying to visit. Murphy explained that teens my age are the least likely to accept disruptions. This will create a big obstacle for many companies. They need to learn how to reach our demographic successfully, without being intrusive. 

Condos Marketing to Adolescents?

Im sure anyone who lives in a city has worried about raising a family in the environment that they live in. According to an article published in Crain's New York Business parents have found their "oasis."

Recently condos have started marketing to adolescents between the ages of 8 and 18! According to the U.S Census Data families raising their children in the city raised 5% between 200-2006. Marketers have started to capitalize on this occurrence. Condos in major cities are starting to market such features as game rooms, karate lessons, pools, and internet access to attract this younger demographic. 

As would be expected families are thrilled with these new editions. Kids can have the freedom they crave without their parents watching their every move. Yet, parents have the safety of knowing their kids are still save within their own home environment. 

A condo called Solaria Riverdale (click to visit their site) in the Bronx is advertising a 60 inch plasma TV. They also have a telescope on the roof with on site lessons from the Amateur Astronomers Association. Does it get any better than that? To top it all off they have added more insolation between bedrooms and living areas so kids can play their music and TV loader without disturbing their parents! (Picture of building displayed below)

As an Integrated Marketing Communications Major at Ithaca College I know one day I will need to work in a major city. With condos such as these making it more accommodating to raise a family in a big city, maybe I won't have to commute to work. 

Crain's New York Business, December 10, 2007, BUSSINESS LIVES; pg 32, 613 words, Judith Messina

Banning Junk Food Ads in Video Games

We live in a world where advertisements are unavoidable. An article in the Scotland on Sunday discusses the issue of junk food advertisements in children video games. It discusses how marketers are using video games to get around the restrictions placed on children's TV programs. 

Today, children seem to be spending more time playing video games then watching TV. Marketers have capitalized on this trend by placing advertisements within games. The British Health Foundation are disturbed with the type of ads that are being marketed. 

A sprite ad appears in Xbox 360 Basketball game NBA street homecourt, you can order a pizza within the role-playing game Everquest II, there is a banner for Coca-cola within Football Manager, and a ad for Subway in Counter-Strike.

All of these games have age restrictions placed on them. This article argues that kids under these ages are playing the games. Personally, I do not feel that it is the marketers fault. Parents should be aware of the age restrictions placed on these games. If their child is under the age, there is probably a good reason they are not old enough to play that game. 

As I stated earlier, we live in a world where advertisements are unavoidable. If the Coca-Cola banner was removed from Football Manager who is to say a child will not see a banner on the corner of their home town? I agree that certain regulations need to be put in place to protect our children, but if their is already an age restriction on these games, I think it is fair for marketers to assume the audience will be an older demographic. 

Click Here to view the article

"Tribes"

An article titled "Reaching out to kids" discusses the benefits and challanges marketers face when targeting the yough segment. They begin by discussing the problem of how divided this group is. Marketers want to connect with kids, tweens, and teenagers. Yet, simple segmenting tools do not work on this rapidly changing segment.

To help catagories these kids marketers have started to seperate them into "tribes". Each tribe is supposed to share similar passion and personality traits that are easier to market to. Barbie Clarke, founder of specialist insight agency Family Kids and Youth, questions how usuful these tribes are to marketers. Even though these kids and teenagers share similar passions and traits, these elements change so quickly as kids try to find their own identity.

Alot of researchers believe that the music a kids listens to can help define who they are. MTV has many different stations and segments to market to different tribes of kids. MTV can easily benefit from music defining tribes. MTV hits tragets kids who are interested in mainstreem pop, MTV2 targets the Indie fans, while MTV Flux markets to the yough group with alternative taste.

Another challenge that comes along with marketing to kids is when a company is international. A study called the Circuits of Cool, a global study by MTV, Nickelodeon and Microsoft, adressed this issue. It was based on a survey of 18,000 children and youths from 16 countries. The study concluded that even though kids have access to similar technology throughout the globe, how they use it varies greatly from country to country.

In the end, marketing to kids is a very profitable market. Although it is hard to pin point a certain campaign that will reach your targeted group, the results are worth the effort. Holding a kids attention can mean receiving a life time brand user!

Marketing, November 28, 2007, MARKET RESEARCH; Pg. 35, 1698 words

Reaching Kids Through Their Parents

An article in the Grocer titled Health: No laughing Matter discusses a new trend in the marketing field. Throughout 2007 marketers noticed that there was a huge increase in health conciouse moms who were taking more control over what their children were eating. Therefore, this past year marketers started to not only target children with character driven packaging, but they are also targeting moms by promoting the health benifits of their product.

This article really focuses on cheese products and their change in advertisements. Dave McNulty, the convience sales director at Kraft Foods mentioned the issue that many mothers face. They want a product that is both nutritional and that their kids enjoy. The cheese indructry has picked up on this trend. Products like cheesetring states that it is 100% real cheese to reach childrens parents while still attracting children with the fun in peeling. A new product by Good Food Villiage is a cheese with cut out Bob the Builder, a popular children's show, shapes trying to attrack kids that are not normally interested in cheese as a snack. This product also mentions in advertisements that it is 100% real cheese.

Other healthy snakes like cereal bars, yoghurts, and salads are all becoming alternates to common snack foods for children like chips and chocolate. This healthy trend is not going anywhere. Dairylea says they will use the same strategy they did in 2007 throughout 2008.

Health: No Laughing Matter
The Grocer, December 01, 2007, FOCUS; pg. 33, 802 words