Mindspace brings into focus the role of pester power

Mindspace Events, the four-year-old marketing promotions company based in Mumbai, got together some of the best brains in marketing and advertising to speak at a seminar on Pester Power hosted at hotel Grand Hyatt in the capital yesterday. The panelists included ad guru Alyque Padamsee, R Balakrishnan (Balki), national creative director, Lowe, Anshuman Misra, managing director, Asia Pacific, Turner International, Vikram Bakshi, joint venture partner and managing director, McDonald's, Sudhanshu Goyala, vice-president, marketing, Pepsi Foods, Dr Sraboni Bhaduri, director consumer insights, McCann-Erickson India, and Poonam Kumar, vice-president, NFO MBL India.

In an animated and an interactive session brought alive by kids and adults alike, the speakers reiterated that a marketer cannot underestimate the power of pester any more. While Padamsee's presentation was about getting a grip on how kids interact with each other and with brands, Balki's dialogue uncovered the triggers that stimulate the hearts and minds of kids. On his part, Misra talked about how to effectively target kids through advertising based on some of the key findings of the Cartoon Network New Generation 2001 research.

As Misra rounded off his discussion on how marketers could benefit by gauging the effectiveness of advertising in select categories, McDonald's Bakshi placed parents under the microscope and brought into focus their roles that a marketer needs to remember while targeting kids. He assessed how parental motivations can be harnessed to the benefit of brands. According to Bakshi, marketing to kids requires, above all, an understanding of the role of parents in the decision making process. During the course of his presentation Bakshi evaluated how parents interact with their children and the impact this has on product choice.

Pepsi's Goyala went a step further by examining the differences between kid and parent motivations in arriving at brand preferences. Bhaduri of McCann-Erickson decided to take a broader look at the issue by analysing how kids change as they get older and the significance of this process to marketers. "It's more than just identifying your market; it's about how to appeal to their motivations," Bhaduri pointed out.

© 2003 agencyfaqs!