VOLUME
14
Heard
on the Playground
What's
New This Month
Tech
Trends
Kids
Tweens
Teens
Trend
Watch
Upcoming
Events in Youth Marketing
Heard
on the Playground
Gettin’ Groovy by the Monkey Bars
Most
fashion has a product life cycle that looks more like a roller coaster
at an amusement park than the traditional model taught in Marketing
101. For better or
worse, the decade that produced such “never say die” images as the
Village People and afros is revisiting the 21st century
with a plethora of new and old fashion looks.
While
platform shoes and bell-bottoms have already resurfaced, there are
other arms of this fashion octopus grabbing hold of young fashion-conscious
consumers. One trend
in particular is wearing T-shirts and tops that may in fact be from
the seventies. Thrift
stores provide teens a chance to express their individuality while
staying within their often times modest economic means.
So,
as clothes with a retro look continue to pop up in shopping malls,
don’t be surprised to see just as many that may have a retro smell.
Speaking of smell, there may be an extra smell aroma of burning
rubber (wheels) if the recent influx of retro roller skates takes
off from manufacturers PUMA and SKECHERS.
PUMA’s
Roller Kitty is an updated version of its original 1979 roller skate.
Available originally in two introductory colors, blue/yellow
and pink/white, it has since come out in baby blue/white and lavender/white.
The casual sneaker is mounted on a sturdy wheelbase with
a bumper toe-stop for smooth braking and retails for about $125.
Even
though SKECHERS wasn’t around in the seventies, they are known for
recognizing trends early on and creating fashionable footwear to meet
the tastes of today’s teens and young adults.
Their version, called 4 Wheelers™ include glitter wheels and
market for the lower price of $85.
SKECHERS USA, Inc. also announced a special Britney Spears
collection of 4 Wheelers and skate accessories.
Spears has appeared in print ads for the company since January
2001.
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What's
New This Month
At a Career Crossroads
While Britney Spears
may be spreading her wings on the silver screen, don’t bet on her
forgetting about her singing career.
Of course she is hoping her millions of fans are willing
to bet the price of admission that they will enjoy her silver screen
debut in Crossroads.
The film, set for
release on February 15, is the tale of three childhood friends,
Lucy (Spears), Kit (Zoe Saldana), and Mimi (Taryn Manning) who,
after drifting apart during high school, rediscover their friendship
on a cross-country trip. Of
course the trek involves a lack of funds, a handsome mystery guy
and a ’73 Buick convertible.
While most would
expect Britney to play a songbird, it is her friend Mimi who hopes
to be discovered in California.
Lucy spent all her time in high school studying instead of
going to football games or parties.
Just as Britney has worked to shed her innocent persona in
her videos, she shows an older side in Crossroads, tackling
such issues as rape, underage drinking, sex and teen pregnancy.
Don’t
worry though; Britney still showcases her musical talents, including
a rendition of Madonna’s Open Your Heart in her underwear,
bouncing around on her bed.
Obviously producers are trying to make sure they attract both
male and female fans.
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Tech
Trends
Looking
for a Remedy
While
teens love to use the Internet to keep in touch with friends, download
new music and keep up to date on trends, they also use it to educate
themselves. A recent
national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that a majority
of teens look for information on various health topics on the Internet.
The study of 1,209
young people ages 15-24 included 90 percent that have ever gone
online. Of this group,
three out of four have used the Internet at least once to find health
information. In comparison,
less have gone online to check sports scores (46 percent), buy something
(50 percent), or participate in a chat room (67 percent).
Half have used the
Internet to look up information on a specific disease such as cancer
or diabetes. Other
subjects of particular interest included sex related topics like
pregnancy, birth control, HIV/AIDS or other STDs (44 percent), depression
or mental illness (23 percent) and problems with drugs or alcohol
(23 percent).
Of the overall sample,
398 were 15-17-years-old, including 95 percent that have ever gone
online. Of these mid-teens,
70 percent have accidentally stumbled across pornography online,
with 23 percent having done so “very” or “somewhat” often.
A third of those
with home Internet access have a filtering technology in place there.
Among the 76 percent of 15-17-year-olds that have sought
information online, 46 percent have been blocked from non-pornographic
sites by filtering technology.
Not surprisingly,
females are more likely than males to look up information on pregnancy
and birth control (33 percent v. 15 percent), depression (31 percent
v. 15 percent), eating disorders (22 percent v. 9 percent) and weight
loss/gain (33 percent v. 18 percent).
Over half of all online girls, ages 15-17, have looked up
information on a sexual health topic compared to only one third
of online boys the same age.
Of
the mid-teen segment (15-17 year-olds) that has sought health information
online, 53 percent say they have had a conversation with a parent
or other adult about something they saw online.
While the Internet provides a great wealth of information,
it cannot always provide the wisdom and support a parent can give
a child.
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Kids
Networks Finding New Sources for Saturday Morning
A recent deal signed
between NBC and Discovery Communications Inc., as well as an all
but certain agreement between Fox and either DIC Entertainment or
4Kids Entertainment, will change how Saturday-morning kids programs
are produced. As part
of a three-year deal, Discovery Kids programming will air on NBC
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST and 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST starting next
fall.
Discovery will sell
and keep all of the advertising revenue, with the morning block
being co-branded between the two networks.
The time is being leased to Discovery at $8 million per season.
While the content has not yet been determined, Discovery
executives have said that it will be a mixture of new and possibly
reformatted Discovery Kids programming.
Fox is set to get
about $25 million per year from whichever animation studio they
decide upon. Fox is
getting out of the kids business after selling off its children’s-programming
unit to Disney as part of the
$5 billion sale of Fox Family Channel.
Whichever
studio is selected will not be able to cover the cost with advertising
revenue alone, but both of them hope to use Saturday-morning time
to sell toys to young viewers.
Fox Kids has traditionally skewed younger with it’s programming
and is more popular with the 2-11 demographic, thus explaining the
greater lease rate.
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Tweens
Adding Some Pop to Closets
Two pop stars that
are used to inspiring fashion among tweens are going to make it
easier for them to emulate their look.
Jennifer Lopez’s Sweetface Fashion Company announced a licensing
deal with Parigi Group Ltd. to produce, market, and sell the J.
Lo Girls Collection. Also,
‘NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick has designed a line of ladies clothing
called FuMan Skeeto.
The J. Lo Girls collection,
for girls’ sizes 4 to 16, is planned to launch in March in selected
better department and specialty stores nationwide.
Lopez will act as creative director for the girls’ collection.
It will consist of
sportswear, including novelty tops, with retail price points ranging
from $18-$26 along with novelty shorts, skirts and bottoms at $32-$52.
The denim sportswear will also include jackets, jeans and
dresses with detailed signature logos.
Kirkpatrick’s
FuMan Skeeto collection features girly athletic tops, flare pants,
punk accents and a lot of denim.
It is already in stores like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and
Eaton’s. While the star power alone should make it a success, Kirkpatrick
still focused on making clothing that’s “comfortable as well as fashionable.”
The only thing tweens like as much as looking good in their
clothes is feeling good in them.
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to Top
Teens
Einstein,
Schmeinstein
Not
surprisingly, the generation that has learned to ask, “what’s next?”
in the world of technology does not have to go too far back to rank
the most important invention of the 20th century.
According to the latest Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, 32
percent of 500 teens picked the personal computer from a list of
5 choices that also included the pacemaker, television, wireless
communication and water purification.
Following PCs,
teens choose the pacemaker (26 percent), wireless communication
(18 percent), water purification (13 percent) and television (10
percent). With most
having grown out of the invincible stage of youth, adults ranked
pacemakers first at 34 percent, followed by PCs (26 percent). Interestingly, adults rated television third, at 15 percent,
and wireless communication last, at 10 percent.
Teens are growing
up in a world where wireless communication is expected.
While many adults are very dependent on it, they still remember
times when it was not available.
It will be interesting in 50 years to see how today’s teens
rate wireless communication versus the next big thing.
Most likely, the teens of tomorrow will think their “big
thing” is more much more important than prehistoric cell phones
and 2-way messengers.
Teens realize that
the sources of PCs and wireless devices, inventors, are a very important
resource. Overall,
teens recognized the importance of inventors for protecting a nation,
with 85 percent saying they are “extremely” or “very important”
for U.S. safety.
Regarding
inventors of tomorrow, 95 percent agree that encouragement by parents
to do well in school is important.
This figure is higher than the purchasing of computers (85
percent) and providing books and media (82 percent).
While well grounded on the importance of education, teens are
still dreamers, with 27 percent (vs. 7 percent of adults) hoping to
have the ability to live on another planet in their lifetime.
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Trend Watch
Pop Star from South of the Border
In the land of
Pop, an artist can go from the cover of Tiger Beat to DeadBeat*in
the blink of an eye. Colombia native Shakira hopes the music
foundation she has built in South America will translate into a
long-lasting career in the United States.
All indications are that she is on the verge of matching
her previous success.
The 24-year-old
Latin singer has already sold 8 million copies and earned Grammy
and MTV Video Awards thanks to her first 4 albums which are all
in Spanish. Her first
English language CD titled Laundry Service, which includes the single
Whenever, Whatever, was released in late 2001. It has reached
as high as #3 on the Billboard charts during its current 10-week
stay.
Her music cannot
simply be labeled as Latin, though.
Shakira incorporates Arabic tastes and sounds learned from
her father, who is 100 percent Lebanese.
Background instruments can range from typical guitars, bass
and drums to mandolins, charangos (a South American lute) and rondadors
(an Ecuadorian panpipe).
The other way she
is able to ensure that her music is infused with these cultural
blends is that she produced, co-produced, wrote or co-wrote every
song on her first English language CD.
Her initial popularity with Pop music fans is showing that
she definitely has a Midas touch.
*
(Editor’s Note: DeadBeat is a fictitious publication.
Please do not contact for rate information).
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Upcoming Events
in Youth Marketing
Consumer
Kids Week
April 7-12, 2002
Renaissance
Scottsdale Resorts, Scottsdale, AZ
Licensing to Kids
April 7-9, 2002
Consumer Kids
April 10-12, 2002
With a strong emphasis
on implementation strategies, research, and new product development,
IIR’s Licensing to Kids and 14th Annual Consumer Kids
Conference are like nothing you’ve seen before!
This
year’s event boasts the most senior-level speaker faculty of any
youth-marketing event…speakers from the companies making the news…the
organizations from whom YOU WANT TO LEARN.
Just some of the companies already committed to presenting
at Consumer Kids include:
Zany Brainy, Hasbro, The Kellogg Company, World Wrestling
Federation, Chiquita, General Mills, Pearle Vision, ConAgra, Decipher,
The Field Trip Factory, Fun Rise Toy, Arista Records, Ask Jeeves,
Marvel, MGM Consumer Products, KidLeo, WonderGroup, Nancy Overfield-Delmar,
Inc., SpectraCom, C&R Research…and more!!!
For
more information about the 14th Annual Consumer Kids Conference,
please contact Wendy Fullem at 212-661-3500 x 3018, or email her at
wfullem@iirusa.com.
Be sure to check out: www.consumerkids.net
Kid
Power 2002
May 5-8, 2002 The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Orlando
At
the 8th annual Mega Event, Kid Power 2002, scheduled for May 5-8,
2002, the Kid Power Xchange will proudly serve as your host for a
live gathering of the best and brightest youth marketers. Thousands
of marketers worldwide have attended Kid Power Xchange events, and
have reaped the benefits of hearing from renowned teen marketing gurus.
As
a valued colleague of Youth University, you will receive a FREE
workshop (a $400 value) if
you sign up by February 15th. To register, please call
800-882-8684, email info@kidpowerx.com,
or visit www.kidpowerx.com. Be
sure to mention key code C*99WGEM
when registering to receive your choice of a FREE
workshop!
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For
more information about WonderGroup please visit our website at www.wondergroup.com
For
advertising, product development, research and more, contact
Greg Livingston at theshadow@wondergroup.com
or (513) 357-2950.
See
you next month!
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