According to the Childwise charity, children in the UK spend £4.2 billion annually (up from £3.9 billion in 2005). It is suggested that they influence spending decisions up to a value of over £40 billion annually. So it's no great surprise then to see that marketers are willing to pay big money to get a slice of the action in this segment.
However, because we're talking about a vulnerable sector, certain conditions apply...
Is it possible to create brand engagement with children (and their parents) effectively AND ethically? The industry body, the Institute of Practitioners in Marketing, states that "advertisers don't target children" but rather their parents. That's a moot point obviously so we'll leave that to one side.
However, there are clear drivers to brands to look at how to benefit from pester power and especially now to harness mobile and internet channels to shift units. 67% of kids aged between 5 and 16 have mobile phones and 25% have access to the web from their rooms. With the grey area between "editorial" and "advertising" online content in websites aimed at children under 16, its well worth brands investing in such websites - 43% of primary school age children said they would consume products because they had seen it online or played a game featuring them. 20% of them would actively go online to find out more about the product.
Social networking sites such as Bebo and IM services like MSN are other platforms that brands are looking to promote themselves through. And although there are guidelines from the Home Office and Ofcom and the ASA, these are increasingly having to work harder to monitor the contents of the newer channels.
A current example is the campaign for the Transformers film release (in itself a two hour commercial for a toy line!). According to the Guardian, Paramount studios have closed a six-figure deal with Microsoft to promote the film across its digital network. "Users of Windows Live Messenger Video Agent...are invited to add "Transformers Agent" to their contacts list."
They can then chat to the agent, download clips from the film and share them with their friends . Ads for the film are also running within Xbox and PC games. MSN has a potential monthly user base of 22 million...
According to Microsoft the use of its Passport software should prevent users of its Live Messenger IM offer from seeing age inappropriate ads - but this depends on the correct info being entered into Passport in the first place. The Guardian article has lots of other examples, and I would encourage anyone who is interested in what their kids see whilst online (and not the sinister side - just the product placement) to read it.
So - is it possible to market to children ethically? I believe it is, but it depends on all parties to play fair and for parents to be more aware of what their kids are exposed to in the course of their activities. The line between editorial and ad content also needs to be more clearly defined and there needs to be a code that specifically relates to online advertising as distinct from TV, print and audio.
What do you think?