Marketing to Kids

Issues in the Market

The primary concern for any marketer targeting kids is that they do not inadvertently offend parents or childrens advocacy groups with cleverly designed campaigns that may be deemed too effective or exploitative of impressionable kidsparticularly for products that are not seen as beneficial for kids. Aside from this key issue, marketers can look at social, demographic, health, and technology trends to help guide their efforts. For example, obesity and childhood nutrition remain are top concerns that marketers may address in their communication; the increasing cultural diversity of kids aged 6-11 also needs to be considered in advertising, as well as kids propensity to engage in multiple media forms simultaneously.

Though obesity rates have plateaued, health remains a weighty issue After rapidly increasing throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the latest figures from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) show that childhood obesity has plateaued, and the 2009-10 incidences remained at 2007-08 levels. Although this represents a positive development in the war against childhood obesity, the fact that about 18% of children aged 6-11 are obeseequating to about 4.5 million children in the United States means that the fight is far from over. The leveling off can be attributed to a concerted effort across multiple groups to address the issue. Government involvement, corporate initiatives, consumer (parent) involvement, and media attention have all drawn attention to the topic, and it appears that the heightened awareness is paying off. However, while the rate among all children aged 2-19 did not increase, it has not declined eitherwhich means that opportunities remain to consider new ideas for promoting healthy living.

With the new Department of Agriculture guidelines in place for the 2012-13 school year, calorie and sodium limits are now in place for school meals, and schools are challenged with getting children to eat the new healthy options. To meet the challenge, some schools are using marketing strategies to promote healthy choices. For example, a school district in Florida recruited parent volunteers to be elementary-school food coaches, touring cafeterias and handing out samples of fruits and vegetables; a Colorado State University professor found that corn consumption went up when generic corn labels were replaced with colorful cards describing the vegetable as mellow yellow corn, and that cafeterias doubled their fresh fruit sales when it was available in colorful bowls in a convenient place. Researchers from the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs have also experimented with using charactersa common marketing tacticto make healthy foods more appealing to kids. Their study suggests that placing a cartoon face on a healthy snack could make those choices more appealing for youngsters.

Fiona ODonnell
Senior Analyst fodonnell@mintel.com Tel: +1 (312) 932 0400 Fiona is a Senior Analyst, Lifestyles and Leisure, responsible for editing research reports, writing consumer surveys and analyzing key data for Mintel Oxygen. She specializes in consumer behavior, demographics, travel and green trends, and she uses her expertise to advise clients on marketing strategies and business decisions. Fiona began her career with Mintel in 2007 as the Manager of Custom Research, helping clients develop solutions that provide actionable and impactful results. She has extensive experience designing custom research for finance, media, shipping and retail clients.

2012 Mintel Group Ltd. All rights reserved. Confidential to Mintel.

Marketing to Kids

Issues in the Market

Figures released by Consumer Reports in June 2012 said there were 7.5 million children younger than 13 using Facebook.

The wealth of attention the issue of childhood obesity has received in recent years, and the validation from the NCHS that the efforts are paying off, likely will serve as encouragement to regulators, food manufacturers, restaurants, educators, and parents to take further efforts to reduce the obesity rate. It is unlikely that the issue will wane any time soon; we may see an even greater push for limiting junk food sales to kids. Can social media be used successfully (and ethically) to target kids? The numbers confirm itkids are using social media, Facebook in particular. Nearly one in five surveyed kids aged 6-11 say that they have a profile page on Facebook. Further, figures released by Consumer Reports in June 2012 said there were 7.5 million children younger than 13 using Facebook. Not only do a notable share of kids use Facebook, but among those surveyed kids with a profile, they have an average of nearly 100 connections.

Based on these figures, using social media to target advertising to kids seems to be a nobrainer. Well, not exactly. Beyond the Facebook terms and conditions that require individuals to be at least 13 years old before they can create an account, parents have been vocal in their concerns about inappropriate advertising and online content. In the UK, a September 2012 poll for Chartered Institute of Marketing found that four in 10 parents said they were concerned about marketing directed at children via Facebook (source: The Telegraph, Sept. 24, 2012), and that many parents favored new laws to protect their children (44% backed legislation). Clearly, the issue is not so cut and dry. While social media is attractive for marketing to children due to the penetration (which will likely increase) and its extensive reach, the fact that kids aged 611 technically should not even have a profile on Facebook sends a pretty clear signal that marketers thinking of using Facebook to advertise toward kids should be sure to consider the potential backlash from parents or childrens advocacy groups who may see the advertisers as preying on impressionable children.

There is some good news to marketers wishing to explore social media in marketing to kids. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has said he is willing to change the sites regulation to let younger children in if allowed, and, according to a June 4, 2012 article in The Wall Street Journal, Facebook is currently developing technology to allow children younger than 13 years to use the siteunder parental supervision. Further, while parent groups have voiced their concerns on social media sharing in general for a vulnerable younger group, the fact that 76% of U.S. parents of 12-year-olds with a Facebook profile said that they helped them to register for it sends the opposite message. The jury is still out on using social media to target kids, but if the above is any indication, it is only a matter of time before Facebook becomes another recognized and legitimate marketing channel along with all the controls and concerns that come with traditional media advertising toward kids.

2012 Mintel Group Ltd. All rights reserved. Confidential to Mintel.

Marketing to Kids

Issues in the Market

Kids are more reachablebut more protected than ever As mentioned above, many kids younger than 13 years are active in social media despite restrictions from the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that requires websites to give special treatment to children 12 or younger. A Sept. 19, 2012 article in the Huffington Post citing Consumer Reports data from a January 2012 survey of 2,002 adults puts the number of Facebook users younger than 13 at about 5.6 millionor 3.5% of its U.S. users. While COPPA aims to stop marketers from prying personal information from children or using their data to advertise to them, marketing to kids through online channels has taken on new relevance as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalizes rules to further restrict companies and websites that target youths or are geared to young audiences.

Kids fragmented attention to multiple channels presents both a challenge and an opportunity for marketers.

In August 2012, the FTC was asked by groups to investigate the websites for some popular quick service restaurants and other companies for violating COPPA. On the sites, children are asked to participate in brand-related games or activities to share experiences with friends by providing their email addresses. Friends are then sent a personalized online appeal. One website goes further and invites kids to make a music video by uploading their pictures and asking them to share it with up to four friends. In the complaints, the groups claim that the campaigns are unfair and deceptive, and they circumvent COPPA requirements that state operators of a website directed to children younger than 13 may not collect personal information from kids without permission from parents. The above example illustrates the challenges marketers face to creatively use a new marketing channel without inviting the ire of consumer groups, while adhering to COPPA and avoiding FTC involvement.

Media multitaskers divide their attention across multiple channels Media multitasking has become a way of life for kids in general. About one in five surveyed kids aged 6-11 say that they often play video games or use the computer to visit websites at the same time while watching TV. Kids also divide their attention to the TV with watching videos on the computer, listening to the radio, and talking/texting on a cell phone. Kids are also likely to say that they multitask while on the computer visiting websites. Watching TV at the same time, watching videos, and playing video games are the most common media that kids are simultaneously involved with. Kids fragmented attention to multiple channels presents both a challenge and an opportunity for marketers. Though media multitasking means that kids are exposed to potentially more advertisements at a given moment, the challenge is to effectively gain the attention of this distracted audience.

2012 Mintel Group Ltd. All rights reserved. Confidential to Mintel.