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The Uniform Dichotomy

The story of Rip Van Winkle certainly amuses children all over the world, but it is unlikely that the marketers of today will join the fun. They seem to be increasingly sympathizing with the legendary character – the only difference being that while Rip Van Winkle had 20 years to sleep and then wake-up startled, the marketers, if not watchful can be dazed perpetually.

With so may discussions, seminars, conferences, brainstorming sessions around us there is no debate that it is tough to find order, or some degree of homogeneity in this chaotic market place. Despite being armed with big-budgets, powerful global brands, precise and multiple media options, greater consumer understanding, improved products – the consumer is still elusive and fleeting.

Over and above this churning, is a seemingly homogenous consumer segment of children that is believed to be inherently promiscuous. While the issue of seriously looking at children as primary consumers and strong influencers (even in non-child centric products) has long beet settled, the task now is to get a fix on this segment.

In our endeavour to do so at KidSearch (the specialist child research division of NFO MBL India Ltd.), one phenomenon that has emerged consistently across various studies is the inherent dichotomy in "the childhood" of the North and the South. In simple terms – the children of the North are very distinct from their counterparts in the South, manifested in their lifestyle, attitudes and behaviour.

I have tried to make some sense of this dichotomy with the help of KIDSMAP – a simple yet effective framework we use to segment and understand childhood in the context of children's emotions and aspirations.

KIDSMAP – Understanding the Emotional Territories of Childhood

What does this mean for the marketers targeting the children?