HIMADRI C.I

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Acknowledgement

I take this opportunity to thank my guide who apart from being a constant source of inspiration

and encouragement also provided me with his timely help and scholarly ideas in giving final

shape to this report.

I also thank the college library and Computer lab of S.I.M.C.S. which provided me many books,round the clock internet facility to satisfy my thirst of knowledge related to my subject matter.

I also express my heartily gratitude to all my friends for their kind support. It was due to their

valuable guidance and support that helped me to complete the report with a lot of learning.

HIMADRI SATI

MBA- II Sem.

2Pester Power effect of Advertising


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CONTENTS

S. No. Topics Page No.

1. Introduction 5

2. Pester Power 8

3. Catering to the Little Customers-the Kids 15

4. Some Research findings 24

5. Drivers of Pester Power 29

6. How Marketers Target Kids 31

7. The Age Of Pester Power Could Be Over 35

8. Parenting: How to handle pester power 36

9. Tips on tackling pester power 37

10. Bibliography 39



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IntroductionThe effects of television advertising

Television is a major part of childrens lives in the Western world today. In the UKchildren spend an average of two and a half hours each day watching TV and 63% havetheir own TV set (Livingston & Bovill, 1999). Levin, Petros & Petrella (1982) found thatchildren as young as 3 were able to make the distinction but had no understanding ofselling motives of advertisers. Levin et al. say that it is not until 8 years old that childrenbegin to understand the selling purpose of an advertisement. Prior to this childrenregard advertisements as simply announcements designed to help, entertain or inform

viewers. In making the decision not to allow advertising aimed at children. Being able torecognize that advertisements differ from programmes appears to emerge early on indevelopment, whereas the kind of healthy skepticism which is needed to resistcommercial pressure requires far more sophisticated levels of understanding. Thecognitive skills which children lack, i.e. understanding of persuasive intent, consumerliteracy and perception of realism are discussed further here.

1. Understanding of persuasive intent

Young children do not realise that a message can portray only positive information.For example, in the Aloise-Young study, children were asked to present a description of

themselves in order to get picked for a fictitious team.Younger children included negative as well as positive information, whereas olderchildren were better at self-promotion and included only positive descriptions. Eight yearolds ability to selectively self promote suggests that this is the age when children arealso able to appreciate that advertisers try to influence us with persuasive messages. Alack of this awareness in younger children, resulting in higher trust in the advertiser,renders them more vulnerable to selling messages. Allied to this is the authoritativestatus of television messages for young children, who believe that adults do not lie andthe younger the child is, the more likely they are to believe that advertisements alwaystell the truth .

2. Consumer literacy

Young children have a limited understanding of commercial markets, and are unawarethat advertisements are motivated out of a desire for profits. Somewhat surprisingly,Greenberg et al. (1986) claimed to have found that 80% of 4- to 13-year old childrenknew that advertisements wanted to sell you something with no variation by age. .Younger children, who do not know that selling implies an exchange of money for

goods (and an opportunity for profit), are unlikely to recognise advertisers motives



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Therefore, it is probably around age 13 or 14 that young people understand consumermarkets and acquire a healthy skepticism towards the truthfulness of product claims.

3. Perception of realism.

In television commercials techniques are frequently employed to enhance theappearance of a product. Adults knowthat the sparkle on the newly-cleaned floor in theTV commercial is unlikely to be matched in reality. But before the age of four or fivechildren are more heavily affected by production factors and do not understand thatappearances can differ from reality.In Flavells study he found that these young children believed a bowl of popcorn would

spill if the set was turned upside down. And when Jaglom and Gardner (1981) showedtwo and three year olds an egg breaking on television, the children tried to clear it up.This reality perception is important because television that is perceived as real has a

greater impact on children than if it is judged unreal (Berry & Asamen, 1993). Withoutan awareness of production techniques and the representational nature of television,young children will believe that a product is exactly as it appears and not realise that theadvertisement was created to promote it in the best possible way. After the age of fourchildren develop the cognitive skills, including a theory of mind, which helps them todistinguish reality from fantasy.Thus a number of strategies and cognitive abilities need to be in place before the childis fully aware of the selling motives of the advertiser. Evidence from psychologicalstudies suggest that these abilities emerge at different points in development and thatfull understanding of advertisers motives is likely to be a process which takes a numberof years. Parents have a r&e to play in this. By watching television with their child theycan help them to understand advertisers motives and the difference betweenappearances and reality, thus neutralizing some of the powerful messages their childrenare exposed to. There is little reliable data available on co-viewing although it has beenfound that children who watch more commercial television had parents who were lessconcerned about the negative effects of watching television and perceived less need tocontrol their childs viewing (Gunter & McAleer, 1997).Nonetheless, childrens lack of awareness about the motives of television advertisersdoes not prevent the, commercial messages influencing their preferences and, assuggested, may render the child more susceptible. For the advertiser, a successfuladvertisement is one which is memorable since there is usually a delay between seeingan advertisement and remembering to buy, or request, the product. Childrens memoryfor advertisements is a very complex issue and one which has been investigated usinga variety of methodologies. Discrepancies in the results of studies into the age at whichchildren can remember television advertisements may be due to the limitations of eachof these methodologies. Surveys suffer from lack of verification of the informationgained and the fact that children are often overconcerned with giving the right answers:Younger children are also likely to be unable to recall brand names which, nonetheless,may still have left a memory trace. Studies which test recognition of products get aroundthis problem, usually by employing a forced choice test, but these have usually been



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conducted in laboratory settings and suffer from a lack of ecological validity. Both typesof studies fail to successfully emulate the time lapse that can occur between exposureto an advertisement and its recall, or to recreate the type of context in which childrentypically express a product preference. The current study looks at the impact which toyadvertising, in the run-up to Christmas, has upon children below the age of seven. As

the literature has shown, this is the age group who are likely to have higher trust, lowerrecall and lower understanding of commercial messages than older children. This wouldlead us to expect these children to have a high Vulnerability to advertising, althoughperhaps with a low recall of brand names. The study also employs a novel methodwhich overcomes many of the methodological limitations of earlier research. It assessesthe effects of toy advertising by looking at a behaviour which many children engage inspontaneously, asking for toys in a letter to Father Christmas. Thus it overcomes thelack of ecological validity which laboratory experiments suffer from, since virtually allchildren in the UK write a letter to Santa each year. Furthermore, it is less subjectto the failings of survey methods where misunderstandings about questions canproduce inaccurate data. By collecting childrens letters at the beginning of December,

when toy advertising has been intensifying for a number of weeks, the study also makesuse of the real time frame between exposure to the advertisements and the making ofrequests. It also goes beyond measuring which advertised products children recogniseor recall and tells us what they actually want. Finally, it is not complicated by thefinancial status of the childrens parents.Children from poorer families may have been socialised not to ask their parents forexpensive toys, yet may feel these constraints do not apply to their requests to Santa.By looking at the under-sevens requests in their letters to Santa, and also obtaining ameasure of their television viewing habits, this study therefore aims to discover whetherthere is a relationship between young childrens exposure to commercial television andrequests for advertised products. The data on viewing habits also reveal whetherchildren watch alone or with a parent and whether this affects their susceptibility toadvertising. By comparing letters written by children in the UK with those written bySwedish children it also asks whether their ban on toy advertising means that childrenask for less.



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Pester Power!

Pester Power is the name given to Marketing Techniques which encouragechildren to nag their parents to purchase a particular product.

Kids represent an important demographic to marketers because they have their own purchasingpower, they influence their parents' buying decisions and they're the adult consumers of thefuture.

Pester power

TV junk food advertising is being blamed for the everincreasing number of young, obese Australians. Alobby group is stepping up its campaign to ban theads. Charmaine Camilleri reports.

Eight-year-old Lauren Merrington had one mission on herspecial trip to McDonald's to get one of the limited-edition Finding Nemo toys that she had seen on TV a fewnights before.

"My friend nearly had the whole collection. I really wanted the squirt character. The ad

said you could put it in the water and it can glow in the dark," she says. "I wanted thewhole set. One was Bruce, one was Nemo."

Lauren got her toy, which came with a cheeseburger, oil-cooked fries and a sugary softdrink in the popular Happy Meal. According to her mother, Julia Merrington, TVadvertising for fast food has influenced Lauren from a young age.

"When Lauren was about two years old, we drove past McDonald's and she pointed andsaid, 'Mac-a-don-ulds'. She was just learning to speak. My husband and I were horrified.She was too young to have peer-pressure influence. It was definitely from TV. It showshow powerful advertising is."

This is not to say that Lauren is a junk-food addict. She has fast food just once a monthand, unlike many kids her age, only orders pizza because of the "interesting vegetableson it".


Image: Composite


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But, says Merrington, it has not been easy. "As a parent, I have a battle every time wego to the supermarket. Every time, it's, 'Can we get this?' and of course, a lot of it isadvertised on TV.

"I'm sure there are parents who go down the easy road and say, 'Yes', because it's

easier than fighting. When you're tired, have been working full-time and want to quicklyshop, you give in. I've been guilty of it."

Medical and health groups say such advertising is fuelling the obesity epidemic. Morethan 1.5 million young Australians under the age of 18 are now overweight or obese,according to the National Obesity Taskforce that's more than triple the population ofTasmania.

"We're not seeing obesity contained. It's out of control andincreasing."

Tania Ferraretto, of the Dietitians Association of Australia(DAA), says the impact on young people is stark. "In mypractice, I have had teenagers come in who have Type 2diabetes. Ten years ago, it was mostly in people over 40years old."

She says obesity is also related to conditions includingheart disease, stroke, joint problems and cancer. "Socially,children can be left out in their peer groups and their self-esteem can be affected. And that can be for life," shesays.

Every year, advertisers spend huge dollars on mediacampaigns worth millions in revenue for TV networks.According to Nielsen Media Research, McDonald's

Corporation's total media expenditure for 2002 was $40-45 million. KFC and Pizza Hut,of Tricon Restaurants, spent $35-40 million and Cadbury Schweppes, $25-30 million.

On average, children watch two hours and 30 minutes of TV per day, according toYoung Media Australia, exposing them to 30 food ads per session and around 10,900per year. Only one in four will promote a healthy product. "By the time children leavesecondary school, they will have spent about as much time in front of the TV as they

would have spent at school. In that time, they would have seen more than 100,000 adsfor junk food," says Swinburn.

Dr Michael Rice, spokesman for the Australian Medical Association, says parents havea responsibility to monitor children's food intake, but advertisers have a job to beresponsible. "Advertising high-calorie foods is not responsible action," he says.


Lauren Merrington loves eatinghealthily, but the toys offered at fastfood chains make their meals enticing.Picture: Rebecca Hallas


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In one of the newest studies on the topic, published in last December's Pediatrics,researchers at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, traced almost550 ethnically diverse students, aged about 12, over a 19-month period. Theydetermined that the more hours children spent watching TV, the worse their diet was.

"As the television viewing increased over time, that was associated with further declinesin fruit and vegetable consumption," study author Renee Boyton-Jarrett recently toldHealth on the Net Foundation.

In Australia, CFAC whose members include the Australian Medical Association,Nutrition Australia and the Australian Consumers Association wants ads for productshigh in fat, sugar and salt to be rescheduled in adult viewing times. "Adults can makeinformed decisions, whereas children are manipulated," says Mehta.

The coalition stepped up pressure on Australian governments last November with therelease of its report Children's Health or Corporate Wealth?, which says that large

volumes of TV ads contribute to an obesity-promoting environment.

The report points out that there is about an 80 per cent chance of an overweight orobese child being overweight or obese at the age of 20. It also quotes a 2003 studycommissioned by the British Food Standards Authority that found food promotionaffected children's preferences, purchase behaviour and consumption.

Critics also claim that some food advertisements are simply misleading. "The ad saysthe product is fruit-flavoured and it shows pictures of fruit, but then when you look at theproduct, there's actually no fruit in it," says Barbara Biggins, of Young Media Australia.

Mehta says children are seduced into buying products. "Generally, the ads don't talkabout nutritional value. The messages are about fun, cool giveaways, getting friends and that's what children take literally," she says.

Despite calls from health experts, no recommendation for bans or restrictions was madein the Obesity Taskforce's final report released late last year. (The Federal Governmentset up the taskforce in November 2002 to combat Australia's worsening childhoodobesity problem.)

"Taking ads off TV is not considered the most valuable thing to do," says spokeswomanKay McNiece. "The taskforce, at this stage, has no concrete evidence that TV food

advertising has an effect on children's obesity levels."

Others question whether a ban would work. The Australian Association of NationalAdvertisers (AANA) says a 1994 UK study found that TV advertising influenced just 5per cent of family food choices, with mothers at the top of the list (20 per cent), followedby the children (13 per cent).



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The study was reported in an article in the international advertising industry magazineAdmap, and titled The Myth about Children's Dietary Choice.

"Advertising censorship would not impact on obesity trends," says AANA chairman IanAlwill. "Factors including mothers, older siblings and peers are far more influential than

advertising, in food choice and family diet."

Some food companies have listened to concerns. McDonald's last year launched a newrange of salads and reduced TV advertising to children by 40 per cent. "A change forgood," says Guy Russo, CEO of McDonald's Australia. "Let the parents make thechoice, whether they want their child to have an apple or fries."

About 80 per cent of the company's media expenditure has gone to promote the healthyrange since August, Russo says.

But educating children about healthy lifestyles is useless unless the family supports it,

says Julia Merrington. "It's all very well for the parents to say, 'They made me buy it', butyou can always say, 'No' to your child," she says.

"Advertisers have a right to advertise. Whether they are successful or not is due to thedecisions the parents make. They have the purchasing power."

Marketing to the kids could be your passport to growth. Companies are using thissegment to rake in profits

Britannia Khao, World Cup Jaao - a campaign that was a rage, especially among thekids during the 1999 cricket World Cup. Thanks to Kidstuffs Promotions and Events

(KPE), the brainchild behind the campaign, Britannias products were picked up fromthe shelves like hot cakes. Britannia even launched a new biscuit called Multi-vita justfor the kids aged between one to three years.

What does all this imply? Where are marketers heading? The kids market has grown byleaps and bounds an indicator being the increased usage of basic need categories.Not only that, the usage has reached beyond the basic need categories. Kids wantmore and they want it now!

The middle class family is value-oriented, upwardly mobile, and harbours big ambitionsfor its little ones. The downside is that their involvement with a particular brand becomes

temporary. Kids change dramatically as they grow and are notoriously unpredictable,hence marketers will have to offer paths of continuous upgradation to retain them.Lego has understood this very well and introduced the concept of continuousinnovation in their products with building blocks.

Kids being the centre of a familys aspirations, parents are more oriented to investing inchildren. In most US homes for instance, the choice of computer is dependent on kids.



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For most marketers, achieving a high involvement relationship with both parents and thekid is a priority. Parents react hysterically to brands that try to hook their little ones.Women may be a marketers delight, but with the arrival of the second child shebecomes a budget-conscious housewife, preferring to recycle old stuff when needed.Montu wears the clothes that his older brother, Raju has outgrown.

Advice to young mothers helps sell baby products especially when endorsed by adoctor. Wipros Baby Soft proved doomsayers wrong in its ability to compete againstJohnson & Johnson. This was done by using a renowned paediatrician in its advertising,to dispense advice on teething problems in infants. However, brands that try to dislodgeconventional wisdom should be careful while targeting conservative mothers. No motherwould like to be told that the knowledge imparted to her down the years, by her motherand grandmother was wrong.

The toy market in India is huge, estimated at Rs. 350 crore. This is one sector that willboom further. Wise parents allow their babies to follow their instincts, within safe

boundaries. Sometimes, a greater degree of creative freedom is given to the child, toexplore his hidden talent. This unfortunately for parents, translates into destruction oftoys, leading to more purchases. Parents prefer safe toys that last long. Though theresult often is boredom and breakage. The toys in demand are ones that offer fun,education and variety. Lego claims to provide all this and more.

Children being vulnerable are easily influenced by ads on television and this activatespester power, i.e. where the children harass their parents to purchase products theywant. With the increase in number of working couples, the childs pester powerbecomes inversely proportional to the time available with parents. They might buy aproduct if it shows promise of satisfying or quietening them temporarily.

Considering the above, a marketer must try to develop a strategy, which targets the kidsand influences them totally, so that next time they are out with their parents, they getwhat they want! Impulse purchases due to POP promotions also play an important role,too.The marketer must capitalise on this aspect and design baby/kids products, whichoffer value for money, are eco- friendly and of superior quality. Build brand equity andyou will build profits!.



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For more pester power

Purvita Chatterjee

Bajaj hopes its animation campaign building on the Hoodibabaa promise for Caliber will help it add

volumes.

TAKING the Hoodibabaa campaign for Bajaj's Caliber 115 cc forward is an animationcommercial. Created by Lowe Mumbai, this is the first time that an animation film hasbeen made for the rather `serious' motorcycle category.

According to R. L. Ravichandran, Vice-President (Business Development & Marketing),Bajaj Auto Ltd, "Animation films are possibly seen in children's categories, such asbiscuits. Nobody had done animation films for a serious product like motorcycles, so we,along with our agency, decided to try it out for the first time in the motorcycle category."

Continuing with the father-son emotional bond from its previous Hoodibabaa films, theTV commercial shows the father as the hero riding the bike to rescue his son from a lionwhich has escaped from its cage, managing to save his son and also trap the lion backinto its cage.

Added Indraneel Ghosh, Brand Services Director, Lowe, "We have used animation tobreak through the clutter. The purpose was to leverage pester power to an extent thatthe child could convince adults into buying the brand."

In fact, Bajaj's Caliber 115cc has always been positioned on the emotional platform andHoodibabaa was a new term to express the `wow!' qualities of the brand, explainsLowe.



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The advertising account moved to Lowe last March with the re-launch of the Caliber 115cc motorcycle in the form of the Hoodibabaa campaign. Bajaj Auto has been trying togather prominence in the executive segment of motorcycles with its Caliber 115 cc andWind 125 cc models. As of now, Hero Honda dominates the segment with a 60 per centshare with brands such as Splendour and Passion.

While the Hoodibabaa phrase has caught on and Bajaj Auto has managed to gather acombined 12 per cent share in the executive segment for both its brands, it believes thenew campaign will add more volumes in this segment.

"Through this campaign we want to move a notch above our rivals," says Ravichandran.Besides, it also wants to upgrade the users of low-end bikes (the 100 cc segment) tothe executive segment with its superior product-led features such as that of extramileage and a quick pick-up.

With the executive segment (the Rs 40,000-plus range) being the fastest growing

segment in motorcycles today, Bajaj intends spending lavishly on its two brands in thissegment. It has already allocated an ad budget of Rs 50 crore.

Kid-fluence, the Nag Factor and Pester PowerMom I want this. Dad I want this are the demands, fuelled by marketing tactics thaterode the adult wallets. The bug is none other than Pester Power. The power childrenhave, by repeated nagging, of influencing their parents to buy advertised or fashionableitems is called as Pester power. The marketers are relying on the kids to pester themom to buy the product, rather than going straight to the mom- Barbara A Martino(Advertising executive) Kids rule, be they in terms of what to watch over TV or what to

buy for themselves or what a household buys. The influence that the kids wield overpurchase decisions in a household along with the nagging effect that they have on theirparents is growing day by day. With the increase in the number of working couples, theirpester power is inversely proportionate to the time available with parents. Their daybegins with Tom and Jerry and ends with Dexter. Besides, there has to be in place theentire collection of Barbie, Playstation, frequenting at Mc Donalds, trendiest watch,school bag with Power Puff Girls on it, an independent mobile, television, PC and thattoo cool branded ones. Kids seem to want virtually more of everything. There is anuntiring wish list of food, fun, collectibles, gadgets and brands.Frontline, the PBS documentary series, notes that Millennial Teens influence more than$50 billion adult spending every year and pester an adult 25 times on an average beforethe desired product or experience is finally bequeathed. Over 95% of kids havepestered their parents for a product promoted on TV, according to a new survey bywww.raisingkids.co.uk. T



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T Catering to the Little Customers-the KidsThere are numerous examples where the marketers are either innovating their offeringsfor the kids or re-positioning themselves to cater to the segment that is becominginfluential in the family purchase decisions.

Horlicks repositioned itself as a pleasurable nourisher for the entire family.

ICICI has launched a special account for kids in association with cartoon network. Thisis to cater to the aspirational and demanding kids by catching them young. Doing this,ICICI has made a presence across the entire life cycle of a person. Along with theaccount, the child can now avail of a personalized debit card.

The rising fad among kids towards toiletries and cosmetics has given birth to productstargeted at children like L'Oral Kids.

Britannia Khao, World Cup Jaao - a campaign that was a rage, especially among the

kids during the 1999 cricket World Cup. Thanks to Kidstuffs Promotions and Events(KPE), the brainchild behind the campaign, Britannias products were picked up fromthe shelves like hot cakes. Britannia even launched a new biscuit called Multi-vita justfor the kids aged between one to three years .

Novartis India tells school children that they need two calcium tablets (CalciumSandoz) a day to develop healthy bones and sharp brain. After complaints by theConsumer Education and Research Centre of Ahmedabad, Novartis dropped theexaggerated promotional campaign it was conducting inside schools. Doctors are of theview that calcium Sandoz contained salts in addition to calcium carbonate and itsreckless use by children who did not suffer from calcium deficiency might lead to kidney

stones because of excessive intake of salts.

Raymond eyes the Rs.27, 000 crore kids wear market with ZAPP! The first store inAhmedabad followed by another in Bandra, Mumbai. (The name ZAPP! comes from theinitials of the four cartoon characters Zion, Ashley, Posh and Pixel who have adifferent world on planet Zuto.)ZAPP! has tied up with Warner Brothers for theSuperman brand of clothing in India. Each of the stores comes with lots of space forkids to move around and choose from. The clothes are kept in such a way that kids ofany height can pick them up, so they get the feeling that they are shopping forthemselves. The company wants to create an open communication channel through awebsite and build upon the relationship through it and the ZAPP! Club, giving each

member an individual experience through special events. A membership card recordspreferences such as styles and colors. It also allows kids to swipe their cards to see acustomized version of themselves on a plasma screen at the entry of every store.

Magazines such as Time, Sports Illustratedand People have all launched kid and teeneditionswhich boast ads for adult related products such as minivans, hotels andairlines.



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Pester power: Can children influence papa's decisions?

Nokia has a naughty eight-year-old girl looming large from the billboards thrusting the3210 in your face.

Onida's salesman goes blue in the face (literally) trying to convince his 10-year-oldcustomer that the Candy brand does not come in a vanilla flavour.

Papa finds it hard to decline his six-year-old's request to give half the school a ride backhome in his squeaky new Fiat Uno.

When papa nicks his chin while shaving, the toddler crawls up with a tube of Boroline inits cute hands.

Of course, whenever mom hears "mummy, mummy, bhook lagi hain'' she knows what's

cooking.

Marketing minds are finally taking kids seriously. Millions are being splurged on strikingthe right chord with the Chunu, Munnu, Pinkis of every home. In other words, marketersare realising that the road to a customer's heart (and mind) is the child at home. Fromcell phones, cars and soaps to noodles and potato chips, children seem to have a say init all.

So, how real is pester power? A recent study by AC Nielsen reveals that children dohave the ability to influence their parents's decisions. The pester power is bestdisplayed when it comes to toys and games, where in a market of Rs 362 crore ( Rs

3.62 billion) , 41 per cent of the purchases are influenced by kids -- i e Rs 148 crore ( Rs1.48 billion) worth of business. This may not be such a surprise -- after all, who elsewould decide between Barbie and GI Joe?

But children can be quite persuasive even in more adult areas. For instance, toothpaste.In the Rs 988 crore (Rs 9.88 billion) toothpaste market, 65 per cent of the business isestimated because of kids.

But what has changed in the last 10 years? Why are marketers suddenly concentratingon kids so much?

Says Suhel Seth, CEO, Equus Advertising, "Generation Next kids are well aware ofwhat is happening in the marketplace, for they are exposed to a lot of advertising bothon television and outdoors. So be it television sets, cellphones or the new video game intown, children are well educated about the brands available and the prices. However,the moot question is how far does the child's word go in the buying decision. After all, itis the adult parent who spends the money and actually buys the product. Hence, it isvery important for a marketer to understand the buying pattern before they really targetthe ads at children. At times the line is ambiguous in the kids-specific market too



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because these products may be premium priced and the parent my not be in a positionto yield to the child's whims."

Hence, companies such as Frito Lays, Nestle or Candico find it easy to sell theirproducts targeted at children because they are low-priced fast-moving consumables.

However, this is not always true. Johnson & Johnson realised a couple of years ago thatselling kids soap is not exactly child's play, especially when your product is priced ashigh as Rs 28 for 75 gm.

J&J could not strike the right chord with kids despite the use of jazzy colours. Thecompany re-launched its Kids brand in a new star-shaped avatar in August to attract thelittle ones.

J&J now plans to have intensive advertising and numerous activities involving kids togenerate top of mind recall for its brand. "We need to create a lot of excitement around

the brand," says Anita Pande, client services controller, Ammirati Puris Lintas.

Explains marketing guru Shunu Sen, "Children are an important part of the 'family' for amarketer. It would be a good idea for a toothpaste marketer to address the children,though for a consumer durables marketer children may not be the right bet."

Despite apprehension from market gurus, consumer durables marketers are trying hardto influence children. Says Seth, "It is here that market behaviour becomes ambiguous.It is easy for a parent to decide on X candy because his child wants it, or Y brand ofsoap because his daughter likes it. But it is quite another issue if the child insists on Zbrand of television."

Nokia defends its using a child in its 3210 advertisement saying, "We want to stress onour human technology aspect. We want to show the ease of use and the add-onfeatures that make it exciting. You see, very often you will see children using ourphones to play a game while their parents are busy with something else."

Market studies have also shown that children are more tuned to swadeshibrands, andhence brands such as Onida, BPL, Videocon in consumer durables or Ruff n Tuff inapparel would do well to talk to the kids.

AC Nielsen found that kids aged between 7 and 18 in India were definitely inclined

towards swadeshiin terms of brand preferences. Consider this: To the question 'Whichis your favourite jeans brand', about 43 per cent of Indian kids said Ruff 'n' Tuff, a localbrand from Arvind Mills. As far as their favourite sport shoe was concerned the choicewas swadeshiagain: 'Action'.

Says Duncan Morris, associate director (media research division) A C Nielsen, China,"In India, it is not totally foolish to target a bit of the ad spend at children. You see, ourstudy shows that Indian children are the most decisive in their preferences, be it career,



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most hated food or favourite drink. For instance, when we asked what was the mosthated food, children from all over Asia responded 'vegetables', but in India, the kidswere very specific and said 'idli'."

Adds he, "Children can be really specific in their tastes and preferences and sure have

strong likes and dislikes, and advertising has an impact on them. But, and this isimportant, whether advertisements really prompt children to buy a product is stillambiguous. For instance, during our survey, a majority of the children voted the Pepsiad as their favourite, but said Coca-Cola was their favourite drink!"

As Seth puts it, "Kids may be confused, but they are confused pests and that makesthem important and powerful!"



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...and the award goes to: McDonald's Happy Meals!

The Children's Food Awards

Pester Power is the name given to marketing techniqueswhich encourage children to nag their parents to purchasea particular product. For instance, advertisers use famouspop stars such as S Club 7and footballers such as DavidBeckham to entice children into wanting their products.

Link-ups with children's films and cartoon characters areanother enormous money-spinner. This McDonald's HappyMeal, purchased in July 2002, came with a free Smurfcharacter - one of nine characters which children areencouraged to collect.

Children love collecting toys and McDonald's in particularhave made this a key element in encouraging children toeat their food. The members of The Parents Jury wereparticularly critical of companies using Pester Power, andMcDonald's was the clear winner of this award with morecomplaints than any other food manufacturer.

Read what the parents had to say, below:

McDonald's bribe children by giving away nasty toys to go with the latest Disneyfilm.mother of two, from Stevenage in Hertfordshire

I have a particular problem with McDonald's - there is such a strong advertisingcampaign and the offer of Happy Meal toys. It is difficult when so many childreneat there not to visit as well. Once inside there aren't really any healthy options.mother of two, from Hailsham in East Sussex



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I dislike the use of pester power marketed to create demand for unhealthy foodi.e. McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, they link up with toy companies to offercollectable ranges.other of one, from Isleworth in Middlesex

What is the attraction of McDonald's? My children get so excited about it. Wedon't go very often and they don't like the actual food that much. The chips arevery popular but I think that is the salt. But there is the toy and the novelty of thepackaging.mother of two, from Harpenden in Hertfordshire

Children choosing food products because of the "free" gift - particularly withMcDonald's and children's cereals.mother of one, from London

McDonald's, Burger King, etc., all use children's movies to attract kid to theirrestaurants. Explaining to a four-year-old why she can't have a toy that lots ofother kids will have is very difficult.father of one, from Teesside in Cleveland

With free gifts and toys, children want the food and pester to get it purely to havethe free toy. McDonald's do an 'amazing' selection of toys linked to films, toattract children to pester and pester parents. You have to eat more of the productto collect the set - e.g. Tigger, Pooh, Piglet or the Tweenies.mother of one

My son gets sad that he can't eat at McDonald's when he sees the TV advertswhich depict free toys with every kids meal.mother of one, from Brecon in Powys

Happy meals at McDonald's are a problem. Kids want the current toys - all part ofa large collection that encourages kids to keep going back to get all the toys.mother of three, from Stone Cross in East Sussex

The Happy Meals adverts are all too persuasive. Wouldn't it be nice if theyharnessed all their skills to create a healthy, nutritious meal with a toy - and sold

that as well as they do burgers?!mother of two, from London

My children have both admitted recently that they don't like the food - they justwant the toy.mother of two, from Olney



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He always asks to go to McDonald's because he sees other children with theHappy Meal toys (in fact, he thinks McDonald's is a toy shop!). We haven't givenup yet!mother of two, from Stockport

'McDonald's loves mums, so can we go?' my four year old asksmother of two, from Harrogate

Expert opinion

McDonald's certainly knows how to sell fast food. Thecompany spent 58,470,000* on advertising in the UK in2001, and a large proportion of that budget was aimed

directly at children. Unfortunately the fast food whichMcDonald's sells is typically high in fats (includingsaturated fats), salt and sugar.

Whilst eating the occasional Happy Meal isn't going todamage you - frequent consumption of meals like thesecould compromise your future health. The Happy Mealwhich we describe below has more fat (19g) than protein(15g), and more sugar (27g) than fat or protein. And nofresh fruit or vegetables.

In the famous McLibeltrial, the judge ruled that thecompany does 'exploit children by using them as moresusceptible subjects of advertising, to pressure theirparents into going to McDonald's' (Justice Bell, High Court,1997)

McDonald's Happy Meals - What's in 'em?

McDonald's Happy Meals carrry no ingredients list or nutritional information, so it's hardto know exactly what you're eating. A Happy Meal consists of either a Hamburger,Cheeseburger, 4 Chicken McNuggets or 3 Fish Fingers, or a New Chicken and KetchupBurger, plus regular French Fries and a regular soft drink. The McDonald's websitedoes give nutritional information for McDonald's products, but without any healthy eatingguidelines against which to judge the information.



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We used the website to analyse a typical Happy Meal - 4 Chicken McNuggets, regularFrench Fries and a regular soft drink - and found that the meal contains 19g of fat, 27gof sugar but only 15g of protein.

Chicken McNuggets

Chicken, Water, Flour (Wheat, Maize), Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Modified WheatStarch, Salt, Breadcrumbs, Egg Albumen, Maize Starch, Maize Polenta, RaisingAgents: Phosphate Salts (E450), Sodium Carbonate (E500) and Tricalcium Phosphate(E341), Modified Tapioca Starch, Spice, Dextrose, Ground Celery, Stabiliser: PotassiumTriphosphate (E451), Sugars.

French FriesPotatoes cooked in 100% Vegetable Oil. Dextrose sometimes added. Salt added aftercooking.

Coca-ColaCarbonated Water, Sugar, Colour: Sulphite Ammonia Caramel (E150d), PhosphoricAcid (E338), Unspecified Flavourings, Caffeine.

Catch Them Young at Schools and Web

Advertisers have very blatantly entered the schools. They put up posters and billboardsin the schools, persuading the cash-starved schools into opening their doors to them bypaying for access to classrooms and space for their advertising material andpromotions. Web-based groups providing free e-mail accounts and contests withtempting prizes is another strategy that is rampantly used. This almost approximates toa crime because it is nothing less than attacking the natural credulity of the mostinnocent, most gullible and most inexperienced beings on earth.

Child Psychology Unraveled

Children think and behave differently from adults. They are great observers, highlycreative, very insightful, spontaneous, sensitive and volatile. They have differentemotional, social and developmental needs at different stages. Consumer socializationis the process by which these kids acquire skills, knowledge and attitudes pertaining totheir functioning as consumers in the marketplace. This is based on child development-how age related patterns emerge across childrens growing sophistication as

consumers, including their knowledge of products, brands, advertising, shopping,pricing and decision-making.

Three to seven years of age is approximately the Perceptual stage wherein the childcan distinguish ads from programs based on perceptual features, believes the ads astruthful, funny and interesting and holds positive attitudes towards the ad. As againstthis, seven to eleven years of age is the Analytical Stage wherein the child distinguishesads from programs based on persuasive intent, understands that the ad may have



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contain a bias and deception and can also hold negative attitudes towards ads. Elevento Sixteen years of age is the Reflective Stage and here the child understands thepersuasive intent of ads along with the specific ad tactics and appeals. He believes thatthe ads lie and knows how to spot the specific instances of bias and deception. In anutshell, he is skeptical towards the claims made in the ad.

The Development of Critical Sense

Children's reactions to advertisement can be very different from grown-ups. Kids have ashort attention span and are extremely quick to criticize or reject advertising that doesnot fulfill their viewing criteria.

If adults see a product advertised and don't find it when they go shopping they forgetabout it. As children develop the ability to recognize and understand ads and theirpurpose they start making demands. If these demands are not fulfilled they might startscreaming or throwing themselves to the floor. It is difficult to explain to young childrenthe reasons why they cannot have everything which - according to advertising - is 'forthem'.

Research by advertising agencies has confirmed that children's personal preferencescan be targeted and changed by TV advertising. Family dynamics are thus influencedby advertisements that create demands and provide children with arguments why theyshould want a particular thing; this can make life extremely difficult for parents who forfinancial or moral reasons refuse to comply.

Research has confirmed the influence of the media upon the close conformity betweenchildren's tastes and perceived needs and the content of the programs they watch.Teachers say they know what has been on TV the night before by the games thechildren play the next day.



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Some Research Findings

Findings of the Kids Lifestyle Study- New Generations 2005-conducted byCartoon Network

Mobile Phones with cameras rank the highest in the list of gadgets of desire for kids 7-14.

74 percent of the children, who have heard of mobile phones with cameras, sayingthat they, would like to own one.

This is followed by X-Box at 45 percent, apple I-Pod at 43 percent and Sony Playstation at 33 percent.

Nokia turned out to be the coolest brand among this age group with 72 percentsaying that its very cool followed by Sony (71 percent), LG (60 percent), Microsoft (39percent), Reliance (56 percent) ,Wipro (35 percent),HCL (32 percent),Google (31percent), Infosys (30 percent) amongst the kids who have heard of these companies.

Passe Syndrome-The research talks of a Passe Syndrome amongst kids that makeskids increasingly dismiss products that fail to cater to their immediate needs, anoutcome of the wide choice that they have at their disposal. They seem to be moving tothe next beat thing a lot quicker and a lot many times. They form the most unloyal, everexperimenting and most fickle demographic segment, being always in the whats next

mode. They are actually promo loyalists and keep switching brands for better offers.Times Magazine and Consumer report 2005 list of top-10kid-bribes

Nintendogs FLY Pentop Computer I-Dog Zizzle lz Pixel Chix Shift Tricycle PlasmaCar 20Q Orb One laptop per child

AC Nielson Research

A greater access to pocket money and a bigger say in purchase decisions hasresulted in children being more informative and demanding. Impulse category brandsare always being evaluated. The need for something new, something novel makes them



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experimenting on the retail front and keeps marketers on their toes, trying hard to keeptheir brands in the top-ofmind- recall at all days of the wek and all times of the day.

Kids are extremely conscious about product features and thereby brands and hencecomes the kidfluence.

US studies on the impact and influence of advertising on children show that

An estimated $12 billion a year is now spent on advertising and marketing to children(The Kids' Market: Myths and Realities; McNeal, James; 1999)

Young children are not able to distinguish between commercials and TV programs.They do not recognize that commercials are trying to sell something (Television and the

AmericanChild; Comstock, George, 1991; Academic Press Inc)

In 2000, teenagers, ages 12 to 17, spent a record $155 billion (New York Times;Salamon, J. March; 2001).

In 2001, children ages four to twelve spent an estimated $35 billion (Tapping theThree Kids' Markets. American Demographics; McNeal, James; April 1998).

In 1997, children 12 years and under, directly and indirectly, influenced the householdspending of $500 billion (McNeal, 1998).

The average American child may view as many as 40,000 television commercialsevery year (Strasburger, 2001).

Children as young as age three recognize brand logos (Fischer, 1991), with brandloyalty influence starting at age two (McNeal, 1992).

Children, who watch a lot of television, want more toys seen in advertisements and eatmore advertised food than children who do not watch as much television (Strasburger,2002).

The market sales of licensed products for infants increased 32% to a record 2.5 billiondollars in 1996 (Business Week, 6/30/97).

Four hours of television programming contain about 100 ads (Minneapolis StarTribune, 1999).

The Outcome of Indiscreet Marketing to Children

Magazines aimed at children have blossomed. Many of these magazines are kidversions of adult magazines. For instance, the popular Sports Illustrated for Kids,carries ads for minivans.

Promotional toys either tie in to cartoons, TV shows and movies or promote brandconsciousness and loyalty.



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Cartoon and toy characters are used on all kinds of products, seeking to catch thechildren's eyes and purchases.

Databases of child customers are being built from information gathered on Internet

sign-ups and chat rooms, from electronic toy registries at stores like Toys 'R' Us, andfrom direct surveys.

Advertising in schools: Advertisers and marketers take advantage of severe budgetshortfalls in schools to offer cash or products in return for advertising access to children. Channel One: short news briefs are surrounded by commercials that children areforced to watch in schools.

Promotional licensing of products aimed at kids which will include media pitches, e.g.,a brand of pagers will include messages from MTV.

Logos on all types of merchandise, everywhere children go.

Children's radio networks are becoming popular.

Children's toys are starting to carry product placements (e.g. Barbie dolls with CocaCola accessories).

Give-away programs include promotional merchandise aimed at children (e.g.,McDonald's "Happy Meals").

In Britain too the numbers are startling. That is why advertising agencies such asMcCaan- Erickson and Saatchi and Saatchi have launched separate divisions toproduce advertising aimed at children.

Kids the chief design element of commercials

Kids are everywhere in advertising. They are being used as effective ways of grabbingadult attention. There is Videocon with Sharukh Khan and a bunch of kids and Hutchwith a pug and a boy to hook the adults to the commercials. Close-up has now enteredthe fray with two cute tykes, Tata Steel uses children symbolically to show how theircompany works. Kids with celebrities like the Big B in the Hajmola ad make a still morelethal combination.

Kids and ICTs

Informal evidence suggests that the most popular in thing for kids these days are theICT product and services. All stakeholders in this area should recognize the particularvulnerabilities of young children who are still developing physically, socially andemotionally. The risks to young children from the use of ICTs are enormous:



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accurate and unbiased, leading to unhealthy eating habits. All supermarkets displayfood products at their checkouts, with most checkouts displaying chocolate (87%), gum(81%) and sweets (80%). Only 7% of checkouts had their display of foods or drinks outof the reach of children.

Malaysia is considering a ban on fat food advertising as it is been considered that thefood that the ads promote act as silent killers. Links between fat rich fast food andhealth issues like obesity were heightened by a 2001 U.S Bestseller Fast food Nationand a 2004 documentary movie about eating only fast food for a month-Super Size Me.

Food Advertising and Obesity

Zuppa, Morton and Mehta suggest that the amount of advertising to which children areexposed has the potential to influence childrens health attitudes and behaviors.Television may be more influential than families in setting childrens food preferencesEpstein et al (1995) clarify the link by identifying a co-relation, but not causation

between television viewing and obesity.

Another study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Wednesday, says childrensexposure to billions of dollars worth of food advertising and marketing in the media maybe a key mechanism through which media contributes to childhood obesity

What is the Role of Advertising in Promoting Food Choices?

It is claimed that advertising manipulates consumer preferences, thereby reinforcing thebiological pressures driving obesity (Anon, 2003).The same anonymous authors whomake the above assertion (Anon, 2003) specifically blame high profile fast food brandsfor manipulation of consumer perceptions.

For example, McDonalds exploits the affect heuristic (i.e. emotional aspects oflearning about the brand - via trial and error - acquired by consumers and then used asa shortcut in subsequent decision making explanation added) by advertising a familyfriendly environment and generating positive associations that may cause consumers todevalue their perceptions of the risks arising from unhealthy diets(Anon, 2003: 1168).



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Drivers of Pester Power

Indian society has undergone a sweeping change in terms of the structure andenvironment of its vital institution-The Family.

More working women and consequently more dual income families.

Grand parents increasing role in bringing up children because of workingmothers. Grand parents are the fastest growing income sources for the children.

Rise in the number of single parent householdsResearch supports that children in single parent households make their first purchasesalmost a year earlier than their two-parent household counterparts.

Delayed parenthoodThis results in parents with more disposable incomes at the time their children are born.A 2000 study of 50 older couples by SNDT University showed that most of them hadkids after they turned 35. The average age of career women starting a family may wellhave touched the mid-30s, says gynecologist Dr Duru Shah.

Greater exposure to kidsThere is an ever-increasing exposure to kids both in terms of technology and massmedia.

The pang and guilt ofnot being able to spend much quality time with children iscompensated by smothering them with material goods.

Hurried Child Syndrome and Hyper parentingParents today overscheduled their childrens life with a heavy dose of academics andextracurricular activities, forcing the little adults to excel both at school and extraacademics. David Elkind, a child psychologist, first proposed this in 1981 in his bookThe HurriedChild: Growing up too fast.

The Askable ParentThe great authoritarian divide between parents and children is inexistent. Parenting isout and being pals/friends to the children is the in thing. Communication betweenparents and children has opened up considerably and the stereotypical roles havebecome rarer. This endearment encouraged the wanton kids to ask for materialpleasures which they know would never be denied by their parent turned pal.

Growth of retail sectorThere appears to be a high positive correlation between the growth of the retail sectorand the development of the kids market. There are opportunities galore. Every



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departmental has a space assigned exclusively for kids merchandise ranging fromKriish apparels to Power Ranger bikes. A perfect example is the growth of indooramusement centres in malls targeted to children.

Kids channels-a newer phenomenon

The dedicated channels to kids programming target kids in two ways-eyeballs onchannels that is, viewing and brand promotions. Cartoon Network and Disney leadthe pack.

Children and Advertising-Issues and concerns

The effect of advertising on children and their portrayal in advertisements are sensitiveissues. The common issues surrounding children and advertising are:

Making children desire things which their parents cannot afford or which they (children)will not be able to use.

Pester power: Encouraging children to pester their parents for advertised product orservice.

Showing children in unsafe or dangerous situations which the kids may emulate. Childrights activists are up in arms against MTV and Pepsi for depicting children in anegative light and endorsing child labor in their advertisements. The NGOs areespecially peeved with the Pepsi commercial as, they say, it glorifies child labor. The adshows a child negotiating a dangerous route to reach the Indian cricket team that iswaiting for their drinks. The protestors believe that by featuring the entire Indian cricketteam, the multinational was depicting India as a whole as endorsing child labor.

Making children feel inferior, especially if they dont buy products and services shownin the ads.

Showing children in a sexual way, i.e. wearing make-up and glamorous clothes.

Advertising soft drinks and high fat/sugar contents to kids. Images of children oftenappear in advertisements, both those designed to sell childrens products and thosedesigned to persuade adults to buy anything from car insurance to carpets Children arethe vulnerable members of the society- in order for them to lead healthy, normal lives,children rely on adults for safety, shelter, food, clothing education and love. Themarketers, as adults, have the responsibility to depict children in the advertisements in amore responsible and responsive manner.



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How Marketers Target Kids

STRATEGIES MARKETERS EMPLOY TO TARGET CHILDREN.

Kids represent an important demographic to marketers becausethey have their own purchasing power, they influence theirparents' buying decisions and they're the adult consumers of thefuture.

Industry spending on advertising to children has exploded in thepast decade, increasing from a mere $100 million in 1990 to morethan $2 billion in 2000.

Parents today are willing to buy more for their kids because trends such as smallerfamily size, dual incomes and postponing children until later in life mean that familieshave more disposable income. As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions astime-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids.

Here are some of the strategies marketers employ to target children and teens:

Pester Power

Today's kids have more autonomy and decision-makingpower within the family than in previous generations, so it

follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parentsto buy. "Pester power" refers to children's ability to nag theirparents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy.Marketing to children is all about creating pester power,because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be.

According to the 2001 marketing industry book Kidfluence, pestering or nagging can bedivided into two categories"persistence" and "importance." Persistence nagging (aplea, that is repeated over and over again) is not as effective as the more sophisticated"importance nagging." This latter method appeals to parents' desire to provide the bestfor their children, and plays on any guilt they may have about not having enough time

for their kids.

The marriage of psychology and marketing

To effectively market to children, advertisers need to know what makes kids tick. Withthe help of well-paid researchers and psychologists, advertisers now have access to in-depth knowledge about children's developmental, emotional and social needs atdifferent ages. Using research that analyzes children's behaviour, fantasy lives, art


"We're relying on thekid to pester the momto buy the product,rather than goingstraight to the mom."

Barbara A. Martino,Advertising Executive


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work, even their dreams, companies are able to craft sophisticated marketing strategiesto reach young people.

The issue of using child psychologists to help marketers target kids gained widespreadpublic attention in 1999, when a group of U.S. mental health professionals issued a

public letter to the American Psychological Association (APA) urging them to declarethe practice unethical. The APA is currently studying the issue.

Building brand name loyalty

Canadian author Naomi Klein tracks the birth of "brand" marketing in her 2000 book NoLogo. According to Klein, the mid-1980s saw the birth of a new kind of corporation

Nike, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, to name a fewwhich changed their primarycorporate focus from producing products to creating an image for their brand name. Bymoving their manufacturing operations to countries with cheap labour, they freed upmoney to create their powerful marketing messages. It has been a tremendouslyprofitable formula, and has led to the creation of some of the most wealthy and powerfulmulti-national corporations the world has seen.

Marketers plant the seeds of brand recognition in very young children, in the hopes thatthe seeds will grow into lifetime relationships. According to the Center for a NewAmerican Dream, babies as young as six months of age can form mental images ofcorporate logos and mascots. Brand loyalties can be

established as early as age two, and by the time childrenhead off to school most can recognize hundreds of brandlogos.

While fast food, toy and clothing companies have beencultivating brand recognition in children for years, adult-oriented businesses such as banks and automakers are nowgetting in on the act.

Magazines such as Time, Sports Illustratedand People haveall launched kid and teen editionswhich boast ads for adult related products such as

minivans, hotels and airlines.

Buzz or street marketing

The challenge for marketers is to cut through the intense advertising clutter in youngpeople's lives. Many companies are using "buzz marketing"a new twist on the tried-and-true "word of mouth" method. The idea is to find the coolest kids in a communityand have them use or wear your product in order to create a buzz around it. Buzz, or


"Brand marketing must

begin with children.Even if a child does notbuy the product and willnot for many years...the marketing mustbegin in childhood."

James McNeal, TheKids Market, 1999


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"street marketing," as it's also called, can help a company to successfully connect withthe savvy and elusive teen market by using trendsetters to give their products "cool"status.

Buzz marketing is particularly well-suited to the Internet, where young "Net promoters"

use newsgroups, chat rooms and blogs to spread the word about music, clothes andother products among unsuspecting users.

Commercialization in education

School used to be a place where children were protected from theadvertising and consumer messages that permeated their worldbutnot any more. Budget shortfalls are forcing school boards to allowcorporations access to students in exchange for badly needed cash,computers and educational materials.

Corporations realize the power of the school environment forpromoting their name and products. A school setting delivers acaptive youth audience and implies the endorsement of teachers and the educationalsystem. Marketers are eagerly exploiting this medium in a number of ways, including:

Sponsored educational materials: for example, a Kraft "healthy eating" kit toteach about Canada's Food Guide (using Kraft products); or forestry companyCanfor's primary lesson plans that make its business focus seem likeenvironmental management rather than logging.

Supplying schools with technology in exchange for high company visibility.

Exclusive deals with fast food or soft drink companies to offer their products in aschool or district.

Advertising posted in classrooms, school buses, on computers, etc. in exchangefor funds.

Contests and incentive programs: for example, the Pizza Hut reading incentivesprogram in which children receive certificates for free pizza if they achieve amonthly reading goal; or Campbell's Labels for Education project, in whichCampbell provides educational resources for schools in exchange for soup labelscollected by students.

Sponsoring school events: The Canadian company ShowBiz brings moveablevideo dance parties into schools to showcase various sponsors' products.

The Internet

The Internet is an extremely desirable medium for marketers wanting to target children:



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It's part of youth culture. This generation of young people is growing up with theInternet as a daily and routine part of their lives.

Parents generally do not understand the extent to which kids are being marketedto online.

Kids are often online alone, without parental supervision.

Unlike broadcasting media, which have codes regarding advertising to kids, theInternet is unregulated.

Sophisticated technologies make it easy to collect information from young peoplefor marketing research, and to target individual children with personalizedadvertising.

By creating engaging, interactive environments based on products and brandnames, companies can build brand loyalties from an early age.

Marketing adult entertainment to kids

Children are often aware of and want to see entertainment meant for older audiencesbecause it is actively marketed to them. In a report released in 2000, the U.S. FederalTrade Commission (FTC) revealed how the movie, music and video games industriesroutinely market violent entertainment to young children.

The FTC studied 44 films rated "Restricted," and discovered that 80per cent were targeted to children under 17. Marketing plans includedTV commercials run during hours when young viewers were most

likely to be watching. One studio's plan for a violent R-rated filmstated, "Our goal was to find the elusive teen target audience, andmake sure that everyone between the ages of 12 and 18 wasexposed to the film."

Music containing "explicit-content" labels were targeted at youngpeople through extensive advertising in the most popular teen venueson television, and radio, in print, and online.

Of the video game companies investigated for the report, 70 per cent regularlymarketed Mature rated games (for 17 years and older) to children. Marketing plans

included placing advertising in media that would reach a substantial percentage ofchildren under 17.

The FTC report also highlighted the fact that toys based on characters from matureentertainment are often marketed to young children. Mature and Teen rated videogames are advertised in youth magazines; and toys based on Restricted movies and M-rated video games are marketed to children as young as four.



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The age of pester power' could beover

The recession could signal the end of pester power' as new research reveals theextent to which the recession is having an impact on children's lives and their attitudesto money.

The study follows interviews with more than 1,000 parents and 600 children.

It highlights how parents are "greatly underestimating" the effect that the credit crunch is

having on their children, not just in their attitude to finances, but also how worried theyare about their parents' wellbeing.

While only 18% of parents thought their children were concerned about the creditcrunch, in reality the figure is much higher - more than half (55%) of kids said they wereworried about the impact the recession was having on their mum and dad.

In addition, only 16% of parents thought their children were worried about financialissues, compared to nearly half of all children (49%) who said they now worry aboutmoney.

The research also uncovered that the credit crunch generation has developed a morefrugal outlook on life, potentially signalling the demise of pester power'.

44% of kids admitted they are not asking their parents for things that they don't reallyneed' compared to before the recession.

Parents are also pushing back more, with 56% saying no more often to their kids.

In addition, 44% of children said their lives had become worse since the beginning ofthe credit crunch, with more than two thirds of 12-16 year olds (68%) saying they areworried about getting a job when they are older.

http://www.talkingretail.com/news/industry-news/12862-the-age-of-pester-power-could-be-over-says-asda-survey.htmlhttp://www.talkingretail.com/news/industry-news/12862-the-age-of-pester-power-could-be-over-says-asda-survey.htmlhttp://www.talkingretail.com/news/industry-news/12862-the-age-of-pester-power-could-be-over-says-asda-survey.htmlhttp://www.talkingretail.com/news/industry-news/12862-the-age-of-pester-power-could-be-over-says-asda-survey.html


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Parenting: How to handle pester power

Are you yet another parent who is being held to ransom by your tiny tots?

Many children, especially in cities today, want the moon for their birthday. And they areeven getting it. Recently, an article in one of the national dailies talked about theharrowing experience one mother had whilst celebrating her little girl's birthday.

According to the story, it was very stressful for the parent to measure up to the kid'sdemands and also prove that she could outdo what the best friend's mom did for herbirthday! All this hullabaloo for the birthday of a 5-year old!

In India this trend is slowly but surely creeping in.

Expensive gifts

It is not uncommon for parents today to gift their children personal plasma televisions,that latest video games (that cost more than the average person's monthly income),designer watches, et al. Gone are the days when children were content with dolls, boardgames and books. Today, some kids might consider these gifts pass .

Suneil turned seven last month and his birthday gift is a colour television in his room.His mother Asha, 27, who works in a five-star hotel in Mumbai says, "There were bigfights between Suneil and my mother in-law over the television. She wants to watch herserials while he wants cartoons. My husband and I are out to work and come back late.We hate to come back home and see the child and grandparent at war. So we boughthim a television for his birthday."

Sunaina, a 28-year old single mom, who works in a foreign bank in Kolkata, bought abattery-operated miniature bike for her five-year old son. "I really feel bad about leavinghim with the maid all day long. I work long hours and need to travel frequently. After myhusband's death, I don't want him to feel deprived. The bike is very expensive but the

look of joy on his face made it worthwhile."

They know they can

Kiddie pester power is on the rise. If kids want something, they seem to know how to'lovingly' whip their parents into relenting. Suneil cajoled his parents by lamenting howlonely he felt while his parents were at work; having a personal television would make



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Tips on tackling pester power

Dont feel guilty for not having a bottomless purse. Especially if you want to givethem things you never had. It helps to be calmly honest and explain what youthink is value for money and what is affordable.

Teaching your children the value of money is an extremely good lesson to learn.

When you say no, mean it. If your kids know that you will eventually cave in theywill keep trying. This can be the hardest thing to do. But just remember you aresaying no for a reason.

When you say no it may help to talk to your child about why. It could be that youcant afford it or that you only just bought them something last week. 'Justbecause I say so' is sometimes not enough for your child to understand thedecision. But be firm so you dont get caught in the trap of haggling if your childhas an answer for everything.

Is there a compromise? For example, those trainers dont come cheap but maybe really important to your teenager and how they fit in with their friends. Is therea possibility of sharing the cost with your older children? If they have a Saturday

job or paper round you could offer to pay for half if they put in the rest. Or couldyou combine birthday and Christmas presents together if they were set on

something? Again if your child is really serious about something can the familyclub together rather than buy individual presents? If you do this you may need toremind your child that they will not be getting as many presents if everyone clubstogether.



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Even if you say no try to show your child you understand how they feel.Sometimes as parents we forget how important something as simple as a pair oftrainers or the latest football shirt can be. But to some children it can mean somuch more - like fitting in with friends, or trying to impress. Even if the answer isno, try not to be flippant with their wants and feelings.

Agree tactics with your partner. Agree on decisions and stick to them so youdont undermine each other.

Setting ground rules with your ex-partner is important in the same way alldecisions are, so if you have said no for a reason you know your ex-partner will

back you up. But if this sounds an impossible task, dont let yourself get het up ifthey buy the kids presents you cant afford. Remember all the things that you dogive your child, like your time, love or simple but thoughtful presents will beremembered long after the latest toy has been thrown away.

Remember that children change their minds every week with new crazes. Helpthem to see that they cant have everything they want and if it is a Christmas listtell them that not even Father Christmas has that much money and ask them to

list presents in order of preference with a limit of five.

Is there anyone who can look after the kids when you go shopping?Althoughthere is not always a babysitter to hand when you want to go shopping, theremay be times where you can share babysitting so that you can go shoppingwithout the children and avoid the stress of shopping with them.

Try to get out of the habit of buying something every time you go out and maketreats be what they are treats. If you know your child will start asking for a newtoy, take one of their favourites in your bag to distract them. Or if you know yourchild will want a drink or a snack pop some in your bag. They will soon learn thatmummy or daddys purse doesnt come out for them every time you go out.



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Dont say yes unless you mean it. If your child asks you if they can havesomething and you feel put on the spot, tell them you will think about it so youcan give them a final answer rather than break a promise which can be hard foryour child to understand.



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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kotler, Philip and Keller, Kevin Lan, Marketing Managaement,12 edition, Pearson

Education(Singapore)Pvt.Ltd., Indian branch, New Delhi.

Onkvisit Sak & Shaw John J International Marketing-Analysis and Strategy.

Prentice Hal Publishing House, New Delhi.

Bhattacharya Varshney International Marketing Management. (Sultan Chand

and Sons), New Delhi.

International Marketing: Rajesh Mohan Joshi, Oxford University Press, New

Delhi.

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