Marketing to kids: A function of the left brain over the right

Ask a parent how difficult it is to entertain a child. Kids have a short attention span and get bored easily. In such a scenario when an advertiser, a marketer or a creative consultant is looking to direct a piece of communication at a young target audience, or get young ones to sample certain products, the endeavour is…well, not that easy.

"Kids want continuous excitement. They love stories and want to have a say," asserts Yuvraj Arora, marketing head, Kellogg India.

Arora was a speaker at the kids' marketing forum organised by Cartoon Network on the evening of September 24 in Mumbai.

His message on the occasion was loud and clear - be different when marketing or communicating to kids.

Jiggy George, director, Cartoon Network Enterprises - the second speaker of the evening - emphasised on how the "Chemical X", (read the popularity of the channel's characters) has been harnessed to great effect by brands.

"Delta Airways in the US, for instance, has painted its airplanes with Cartoon Network characters," he said.

Closer home, Kwality Walls' MAX brand of ice-creams has used Scooby-Doo in an innovative promotion, George said.

Billed as the biggest in India, the promotion provided an opportunity for a lucky few children to feature in an on-air spot involving the affable dog. The prerequisite - the children had to eat a MAX icecream.

In another instance, the channel came out with an album comprising foot-tapping dance numbers to promote Nestle's Chocosticks. "The chocosticks were positioned on dance and we had special dance interstitials that promoted the brand as well as the album," said George.

The album was also promoted on music channels to get maximum mileage, he added.

Prahlad Kakkar, director, Genesis Films, who was the third speaker of the evening, took the audience through his varied experiences of making commercials that featured children.

Britannia, Pepsi, Mirinda, Nestle and Parle Smoothies - the audience was treated to a veritable mix of the adfilmmaker's choicest commercials.

In his characteristic irreverent style, Kakkar outlined the strategy behind the campaigns/commercials, presenting a simple point of view - "Don't be pedantic, be real, genuine and creative".

© 2004 agencyfaqs!