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Designing Valued Relationships Between Kids & THEIR Brands
By Bill Goodwin
Imagine a world in which kids make all the decisions... Imagine a time that these decisions include nearly every purchase in the child's household...
Perhaps this seems hypothetical, a potential future unrealized. Yet kids have that power - today. Experts believe that kids influence up to 80% of all household purchases. And as a market segment, they are impossible to ignore. In fact, ignoring them may mark the beginning of the end for your brand.
Why Consider Kids?
Their numbers alone should raise your interest. Consider that as of the 2000 census there were 72.3 million kids in America - and growing. That's the largest number of children in US history, larger than the post-World War II Baby Boom. The 1990's brought the greatest increase in US history, excluding that of the 1950's.(1) Equally impressive is the growth of the world population. Do you recall "D6B"? A Truly Historic Event, The Day of Six Billion occurred on Tuesday, October 12, 1999, a day UN demographers pin-pointed the birth of the World's six billionth child.(2)
The fact that they have money, and their parents' approval to spend it, should further raise your interest. Today's kids are EMPOWERED! Children's spending has roughly doubled every ten years for the past three decades, and tripled in the 1990's. Kids 4-12 spent $2.2 billion in 1968, and $4.2 billion in 1984. But by 1994 the figure climbed to $17.1 billion, and by 2002 their spending exceeded $40 billion.(3) Older kids, ages 12-19, spent a record $155 billion of their own money in 2001(4), up from $63 billion just four years earlier.(5) Kids' direct buying power is expected to exceed $51.8 billion by 2006.
General social, family and kid trends have added to kids' power. Consider the dramatic increase in purchase influence. In the 1960's, children influenced about $5 billion of their parents' purchases, affecting decisions by such means as "The Nag Factor." These were the days when children were to be "Seen & Not Heard." By 1984 that figure increased ten-fold to $50 billion as times changed, and parents began to involve their children more in purchase decisions.(6) This trend has continued. Today's parents ask for children's preferences. Moms choose the category, kids choose the brand. At Goodwin, we call this "The New, No-Nag Dynamic?". As a result, by 1997 children's influence had tripled to $188 billion. James McNeal estimates that by 2000, children 12 and under influenced family purchases to the tune of $500 billion. He further suggests that a lifetime customer may be worth $100,000 alone.
How do Kids Relate to Brands?
Kids' relationships with brands begin at a very early age. At six months of age, babies begin to recognize brands by forming mental images of corporate logos and mascots.(7) Brand loyalty may begin as early as age two. By age 3, one out of five American children make specific requests for brand-name products. By age 5, children are ready to make their own (parent-financed) purchases. And by age 7, they are totally in control. With this control comes power - a power to make their own decisions. Add the complexities in a seven-and-older child's life (including elusive tweens and teens) and prepare yourself for potentially turbulent brand relationships.
Yet, many of these relationships last a lifetime. In his book Brandchild, Martin Lindstrom refers to studies by Lester Guest (Journal of Applied Psychology, April 1964) which demonstrated that at least 23 percent of brand preferences persisted from childhood to adulthood. Lindstrom further concludes that adult brand allegiances are powerfully influenced by nostalgia and childhood associations.
Not everyone is comfortable with these trends, or their implications. At the root of these concerns is Trust. We suggest that marketers adopt an approach we call Kid Brand Karma?. Today's kids and adults see brands transparently, and are aware of everything. They are Prosumers?. You can't Con a Prosumer. Extremely marketing savvy, their acceptance requires a genuine interest in meeting THEIR needs. Remember and apply the Golden Rule, and do unto others...
Kids also live in a world of choices. A growing list of products, services and activities vie for kids' attention, and compete to be a part of their increasingly over-scheduled lives. Today's average grocery store carries nearly 40,000 SKUs, up from 8,000 in the 1970's. The average American receives more than 3,000 media messages per day, and sees as many as 10,000 brands per day. Martin Lindstrom, in his keynote at KidPower Exchange last month, noted that kids today have adjusted to this reality by filtering information and options at warp speed.
The goal is certainly, at the very least, to make the list. The brass ring is much more. It's what we call Brandship?. Valued relationships between kids and THEIR brands. To secure a spot in this circle, you must be real and relevant. Adopt a Kid Lifestyle. And of course, everything matters.
The desired perception is, "That brand is for ME!" The fact that kids and adults are totally different in many, many ways is fundamental and obvious. The challenge is in engaging kids and adults (parents, gatekeepers and gift-givers) simultaneously. Differences in tastes (literally and figuratively), communication skills, perceptions, comprehension and drivers require a deliberate, calculated approach. Appeal to and engage one target or the other, or risk losing both. Then package your brand to emote
embody, entice, enhance and endure.
Effective, proven approaches to meeting these challenge abound. Leading brands (particularly tomorrow's leading brands) are involving specialists - including kids - in their marketing, advertising and product development. As children grow, their relationships with brands grow. The best way to ensure an enduring, valued relationship is to keep your brand relevant.
What Tools Should Be Considered?
Helmut Krone, noted advertising icon and Hall of Fame member for his work with such brands as Volkswagen, once stated that "every company, every product, needs its own package." The package, by our definition, includes every aspect of the brand experience. This "package" is the face of your business strategy... The device which facilitates your customer/brand relationship.
The Valued Relationship Dynamic? places kids and the adults in their lives at the heart of brand activities. A child's needs, desires or interests are expressed to Mom in the form of a request. Mom approves the request and the child tries the product. Provided a positive experience, the product is now endorsed by Mom. A multi-level, emotional connection is formed. Revitalization is the last, on-going step to keeping the product relevant and preferred over alternatives - unless deposed by a challenger. The result is an enduring relationship which provides benefits to everyone involved.
The tools have not changed completely, rather they have evolved. In effect they are the same "4 Ps" of old; Product, Packaging, Promotion and Positioning. As evidenced every day, these tools have increased in scale at the expense of efficiently reaching the audiences they pursue. In turn, target audiences have come to expect personalization from THEIR brands.
Effective kids' marketing applies all of these tools, appropriately and masterfully. Take for example packaging, in the literal sense. Today's products and packages reflect the changing expectations of their audience, and the trends which affect them. A decade ago, we wrote a White Paper suggesting that packaging in all categories would benefit from the communication style of toy packaging, and that in time this would be realized. If you walk through mass retailers today, this point has in fact proven true. Dynamic graphics, visual treatments, exciting and emotive colors appear on nearly every package in every category. The cleaning products category is a favorite example. Everything is visually exciting and dynamic. Who really gets excited about cleaning?
Modern day realities, and the trends that have created them, have transformed expectations. Successful brands have transformed as well.
Why is Transformation Required?
As we have previously stated, the key to success lies in relevance. Kids, as no other customers, demand transformation. Their worlds are filled with products which transform literally and functionally. Toys that transform. Candy that's a toy. Food that changes color. Pop idols that change their persona. And on and on... Technology alone has changed their expectations. This is a generation that has grown up with a mouse in their hands. Kids embrace 'new' in their lives. They need the next, new thing.
Who Out There Gets It?
A number of the world's leading marketers and a number of challengers get it. Toyota's recent approach to involving kids is exciting. Nabisco has done a great job, particularly with revitalization and relevance. For example, Oreo is now available in its classic form, chocolate crème, color changers, peanut butter, minis, seasonal colors, and "Uh-Ohs", as well as a variety of packages including classics, bags, single servings, go packs, and more.
By far, the best example of a brand that 'gets it' has to be Nickelodeon. As Martin Lindstrom so eloquently stated in Brandchild, Nickelodeon is recognized by many as one of the most important recent phenomena in the history of American culture. Nick transformed our world, as vanguards in the kid-empowerment movement which has in turn transformed kids' lives.
Successful kids brands, such as Nickelodeon, place kids at the center of everything they do. They not only adopt a Kid Lifestyle, they ultimately become one.
Bill Goodwin President of Goodwin (www.goodwindesigngroup.com), a leading brand consultancy designing valued relationships with kids? Don't miss his presentations at the upcoming Brand Identity Package Design Conference and at the Brand Business Forum.
Designing Valued Relationships Between Kids & THEIR Brands
By Bill Goodwin
Imagine a world in which kids make all the decisions... Imagine a time that these decisions include nearly every purchase in the child's household...
Perhaps this seems hypothetical, a potential future unrealized. Yet kids have that power - today. Experts believe that kids influence up to 80% of all household purchases. And as a market segment, they are impossible to ignore. In fact, ignoring them may mark the beginning of the end for your brand.
Why Consider Kids?
Their numbers alone should raise your interest. Consider that as of the 2000 census there were 72.3 million kids in America - and growing. That's the largest number of children in US history, larger than the post-World War II Baby Boom. The 1990's brought the greatest increase in US history, excluding that of the 1950's.(1) Equally impressive is the growth of the world population. Do you recall "D6B"? A Truly Historic Event, The Day of Six Billion occurred on Tuesday, October 12, 1999, a day UN demographers pin-pointed the birth of the World's six billionth child.(2)
The fact that they have money, and their parents' approval to spend it, should further raise your interest. Today's kids are EMPOWERED! Children's spending has roughly doubled every ten years for the past three decades, and tripled in the 1990's. Kids 4-12 spent $2.2 billion in 1968, and $4.2 billion in 1984. But by 1994 the figure climbed to $17.1 billion, and by 2002 their spending exceeded $40 billion.(3) Older kids, ages 12-19, spent a record $155 billion of their own money in 2001(4), up from $63 billion just four years earlier.(5) Kids' direct buying power is expected to exceed $51.8 billion by 2006.
General social, family and kid trends have added to kids' power. Consider the dramatic increase in purchase influence. In the 1960's, children influenced about $5 billion of their parents' purchases, affecting decisions by such means as "The Nag Factor." These were the days when children were to be "Seen & Not Heard." By 1984 that figure increased ten-fold to $50 billion as times changed, and parents began to involve their children more in purchase decisions.(6) This trend has continued. Today's parents ask for children's preferences. Moms choose the category, kids choose the brand. At Goodwin, we call this "The New, No-Nag Dynamic?". As a result, by 1997 children's influence had tripled to $188 billion. James McNeal estimates that by 2000, children 12 and under influenced family purchases to the tune of $500 billion. He further suggests that a lifetime customer may be worth $100,000 alone.
How do Kids Relate to Brands?
Kids' relationships with brands begin at a very early age. At six months of age, babies begin to recognize brands by forming mental images of corporate logos and mascots.(7) Brand loyalty may begin as early as age two. By age 3, one out of five American children make specific requests for brand-name products. By age 5, children are ready to make their own (parent-financed) purchases. And by age 7, they are totally in control. With this control comes power - a power to make their own decisions. Add the complexities in a seven-and-older child's life (including elusive tweens and teens) and prepare yourself for potentially turbulent brand relationships.
Yet, many of these relationships last a lifetime. In his book Brandchild, Martin Lindstrom refers to studies by Lester Guest (Journal of Applied Psychology, April 1964) which demonstrated that at least 23 percent of brand preferences persisted from childhood to adulthood. Lindstrom further concludes that adult brand allegiances are powerfully influenced by nostalgia and childhood associations.
Not everyone is comfortable with these trends, or their implications. At the root of these concerns is Trust. We suggest that marketers adopt an approach we call Kid Brand Karma?. Today's kids and adults see brands transparently, and are aware of everything. They are Prosumers?. You can't Con a Prosumer. Extremely marketing savvy, their acceptance requires a genuine interest in meeting THEIR needs. Remember and apply the Golden Rule, and do unto others...
Kids also live in a world of choices. A growing list of products, services and activities vie for kids' attention, and compete to be a part of their increasingly over-scheduled lives. Today's average grocery store carries nearly 40,000 SKUs, up from 8,000 in the 1970's. The average American receives more than 3,000 media messages per day, and sees as many as 10,000 brands per day. Martin Lindstrom, in his keynote at KidPower Exchange last month, noted that kids today have adjusted to this reality by filtering information and options at warp speed.
The goal is certainly, at the very least, to make the list. The brass ring is much more. It's what we call Brandship?. Valued relationships between kids and THEIR brands. To secure a spot in this circle, you must be real and relevant. Adopt a Kid Lifestyle. And of course, everything matters.
The desired perception is, "That brand is for ME!" The fact that kids and adults are totally different in many, many ways is fundamental and obvious. The challenge is in engaging kids and adults (parents, gatekeepers and gift-givers) simultaneously. Differences in tastes (literally and figuratively), communication skills, perceptions, comprehension and drivers require a deliberate, calculated approach. Appeal to and engage one target or the other, or risk losing both. Then package your brand to emote
embody, entice, enhance and endure.
Effective, proven approaches to meeting these challenge abound. Leading brands (particularly tomorrow's leading brands) are involving specialists - including kids - in their marketing, advertising and product development. As children grow, their relationships with brands grow. The best way to ensure an enduring, valued relationship is to keep your brand relevant.
What Tools Should Be Considered?
Helmut Krone, noted advertising icon and Hall of Fame member for his work with such brands as Volkswagen, once stated that "every company, every product, needs its own package." The package, by our definition, includes every aspect of the brand experience. This "package" is the face of your business strategy... The device which facilitates your customer/brand relationship.
The Valued Relationship Dynamic? places kids and the adults in their lives at the heart of brand activities. A child's needs, desires or interests are expressed to Mom in the form of a request. Mom approves the request and the child tries the product. Provided a positive experience, the product is now endorsed by Mom. A multi-level, emotional connection is formed. Revitalization is the last, on-going step to keeping the product relevant and preferred over alternatives - unless deposed by a challenger. The result is an enduring relationship which provides benefits to everyone involved.
The tools have not changed completely, rather they have evolved. In effect they are the same "4 Ps" of old; Product, Packaging, Promotion and Positioning. As evidenced every day, these tools have increased in scale at the expense of efficiently reaching the audiences they pursue. In turn, target audiences have come to expect personalization from THEIR brands.
Effective kids' marketing applies all of these tools, appropriately and masterfully. Take for example packaging, in the literal sense. Today's products and packages reflect the changing expectations of their audience, and the trends which affect them. A decade ago, we wrote a White Paper suggesting that packaging in all categories would benefit from the communication style of toy packaging, and that in time this would be realized. If you walk through mass retailers today, this point has in fact proven true. Dynamic graphics, visual treatments, exciting and emotive colors appear on nearly every package in every category. The cleaning products category is a favorite example. Everything is visually exciting and dynamic. Who really gets excited about cleaning?
Modern day realities, and the trends that have created them, have transformed expectations. Successful brands have transformed as well.
Why is Transformation Required?
As we have previously stated, the key to success lies in relevance. Kids, as no other customers, demand transformation. Their worlds are filled with products which transform literally and functionally. Toys that transform. Candy that's a toy. Food that changes color. Pop idols that change their persona. And on and on... Technology alone has changed their expectations. This is a generation that has grown up with a mouse in their hands. Kids embrace 'new' in their lives. They need the next, new thing.
Who Out There Gets It?
A number of the world's leading marketers and a number of challengers get it. Toyota's recent approach to involving kids is exciting. Nabisco has done a great job, particularly with revitalization and relevance. For example, Oreo is now available in its classic form, chocolate crème, color changers, peanut butter, minis, seasonal colors, and "Uh-Ohs", as well as a variety of packages including classics, bags, single servings, go packs, and more.
By far, the best example of a brand that 'gets it' has to be Nickelodeon. As Martin Lindstrom so eloquently stated in Brandchild, Nickelodeon is recognized by many as one of the most important recent phenomena in the history of American culture. Nick transformed our world, as vanguards in the kid-empowerment movement which has in turn transformed kids' lives.
Successful kids brands, such as Nickelodeon, place kids at the center of everything they do. They not only adopt a Kid Lifestyle, they ultimately become one.
Bill Goodwin President of Goodwin (www.goodwindesigngroup.com), a leading brand consultancy designing valued relationships with kids? Don't miss his presentations at the upcoming Brand Identity Package Design Conference and at the Brand Business Forum.
