SIX STRATEGIES MARKETERS USE TO GET

KIDS TO WANT STUFF BADBrittney Belshe, Sarah Berwick,

Parker Scanlon

Small Kids = Huge Spending

Kids age 14 influence $160B spending in November & December ‘07 Average child sees 3,000 ads per day

Marketers spend $1.4B/month marketing to kids

Techie Wish List

Wal-Mart Website Two Elves nudge kids Yes – Applause No – Silence Creates culture nagging Poll

52% agreed Wal-Mart went to far Wal-Mart says it puts a modern twist on tradition

Repetitive TV Spots

Typical kids watch 20 hours/week View 40,000 TV ads per year 8 weeks leading up to Christmas “hard

eight” Toy commercials take the place of cereal ads

Ads appeared on: NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CW, Nickelodeon, &

Cartoon Network

Big-Screen Hype

Using movies as a stepping stone into homes

Top selling toys for Christmas 2009 Twilight games Princess and the Frog New Star Wars Hulk

Books As Toys

Scholastic adding toys “We are not a toy catalog by any means”

Judy Newman, President of Scholastic Book Club

Faux Toy Shortage

When is a Toy shortage really a shortage and not to build media and hype?

T.M.X Elmo 250,000 units sold Sept. 19, 2007 Shortage set up by Mattel?

“Planned shortages are the perfect way to get kids to nag parents of presents” Linn, Campaign for a Commercial-Free

Childhood.

Bus Radio

2007 Student-targeted programs

Music, News, & Commercials 800 school buses 8 mins/hour devoted to commercials Ad revenue shared with school districts

2009 10,000 busses, 1 M students, in 24 States Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Ceasing operations

Questions / Discussion

Are repetitive TV spots forcing kids to “want”?

Are interactive website like Wal-Mart’s “Elf Christmas site” too persuasive? Should these sort of web sites be allowed?

Should it be up to the parents to regulate how much their kids see?