VOLUME 16

We look forward to seeing you at Kid Power!!

Table of Contents

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

There Goes the Neighborhood

The last few years have provided a number of “I can’t believe people actually watch this” programs.  From marrying millionaires to eating cow brains, networks continue to find ways to push the envelope, and viewers continue to watch.  However, the success of MTV’s The Osbournes, TV’s latest reality series, still must be earmarked as a surprise. 

Just a few years ago, most would consider a “reality sitcom” based on the life of “The Prince of Darkness” Ozzy Osbourne, and his family to be a little too much.  The recent saturation of the airwaves with reality series upon reality series has seemingly prepared viewers to watch this wild rocker struggle with everyday problems like trying to figure out how to work the remote or pooches that were poorly potty-trained.

During its first 6 weeks, the show has become the most popular series in MTV history in terms of viewers, capturing as many as 7 million viewers.  Many of those are likely to be the same tweens and teens that peruse MTV’s lineup and settle on shows like Real World and Road Rules. 

Part of this intrigue is based on seeing how Ozzy’s two teenage children, pink-haired daughter Kelly, 17, and son Jack, 16, deal with having one of the craziest figures in rock history as a father, as well as how his wife Sharon handles the roll of wife/mother/manager.  While the never-ending bleeping of four-letter words provides a poor display of vocabulary to younger viewers, witnessing a rock star and his family dealing with and occasionally solving their everyday problems and arguments provides positive imagery. 

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What's New This Month

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

A recent online poll by Clairol’s Herbal Essence found out what 34,000 teens thought about hot topics like dating, school, movies, politics and social issues.  The Herbal Essence Teen Attitude Survey, conducted from January to March 2002, was completed by teens aged 13-19 years old who were overwhelmingly female (97 percent).  In particular, it asked questions about personal appearance to an audience with an obvious interest in the subject matter.

It was not surprising that teenagers taking an online poll spend a significant amount of time on the Internet.  A third of them spends several hours a day online while another third spend about an hour a day online.  The remaining portion still spends a couple of hours a week on the Internet.

Only 18 percent of the females said they always have a positive image of their body while, 54 percent said they sometimes do, depending on their mood.  Another 15 percent considered themselves to be too fat and 13 percent said they sometimes had a positive body image, depending on the comments they receive from others, marking the continued importance of wanting to fit in with peers.  Some of these displeasures in their appearance translated to 44 percent saying that they or their friends are dieting.

In terms of beauty care, the girls derive the most fun from makeup (49 percent) while 33 percent chose hair care.  Taking care of nails fell last, at 7 percent, even behind those that said they don’t spend much time on beauty at all (11 percent). 

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Tech Trends

An Afternoon Snack

While snacking and Internet usage conjure up images of today’s youth, the continued emergence of high-speed Internet connections in homes has brought about a new trend, Web Snacking, with a surprise user, Moms.  AT&T Broadband research has revealed this new behavior that can be defined as individuals casually and frequently taking advantage of high-speed connections, which are often times cable, for five minutes or less.

While this is a practice that anyone in the family may incorporate, busy mothers and kids are the most likely to do so, mostly because of moms’ busier lifestyles and the younger generation’s tendencies to hop from one activity to the next or juggle several at one time. 

Moms are able to access resources more quickly thanks to faster connections.  Some of the most common “snacking” activities include emailing, obtaining recipes, researching for or about children and corresponding in online communities with other parents. 

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Kids 

The Big Red Magazine

It’s hard to find a popular television personality that does not have their own magazine.  Martha Stewart and the Olsen twins have ventured into print media aimed at kids and tweens, so it should be no surprise that Clifford the Big Red Dog™ is getting his own magazine.  Unlike most canines’ initial experience with print, the only training with this magazine will involve pre-school teachers and their students.

Scholastic, the global children’s publishing and media company, will launch Scholastic News presents Clifford in September for the 2002-2003 school year.  It will provide classroom curriculum support along with easy-to-use materials to strengthen the home-school connection.

Most know Clifford from his best-selling books, over 94 million copies in print, and the animated television series on PBS KIDS™, rated #1 for children 2-11 according to NTI Pocketpiece, November 2001.  In this new forum, he will help children’s social development and promote early reading and other readiness skills.

The teachers will receive two issues each month; one incorporating a curriculum-based theme while the other will help them nurture young children’s social development by focusing on Clifford’s Big Ideas.  Some of these Big Ideas include friendship, kindness, responsibility, truthfulness, and respect.

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Tweens 

Sponsored by the Letter “N”

Television programming for tweens got a bit of a facelift when Noggin, the commercial-free educational network from Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop repositioned the network into two new programming blocks.  The daytime programming entitled Noggin airs from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM and is geared toward preschoolers.  The evening block, simply called N, airs from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and features original and acquired series for tweens aged 9-14 years-old.

This move will allow the network, which has established preschool programming as the core part of their schedule, to offer an additional 3 hours while also addressing a market for tweens that is still not heavily targeted with specific programming.  The anchor series for The N is Degrassi: The Next Generation.  The dramatic series follows a group of junior-high students dealing with adolescent life and all it has to offer.

24Seven, A Walk in your Shoes and Being Eve are other original series The N will play along with classics Clarissa Explains It All and The Adventures of Pete and Pete.  24Seven is about a boarding school run by the kids who live there and answers the question of what The Real World would be like if teens were involved.  A Walk In Your Shoes is a show where two people from completely different backgrounds switch roles.  Being Eve chronicles the struggles of a common teenage girl seeking to understand life and all the curve balls it throws at her.

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Teens

A Brand New Outlook

A study recently released by Retail Analyst Jeff Klinefelter of Bancorp Piper Jaffray detailed some of the latest spending habits and retail brand perceptions of teens.  The mall research included 640 teens from 15 high schools in 11 states and, when compared to similar research from the previous fall and spring, indicated spending is on a continued upswing.

In the spring of 2001, teens reported spending $110 monthly.  This increased to $128 last fall and $135 in the latest report.  The increase during that time was 23 percent.  The increase is somewhat surprising considering the part-time employment rate dropped from 50 percent in the fall 2001 survey to 42 percent.  An obvious reason for this drop off is the end-of-the-holiday-season employment needs of many retailers.

In terms of destinations, Abercrombie and Fitch was listed as the retailer visited most frequently overall, followed by The Limited’s Express and American Eagle Outfitters.  The teens indicated that the brands they believe to be most fashionable were the brands they shopped for most often.  Aside from the aforementioned brands, these “fashionable brands” included Pacific Sunwear, Tommy Hilfiger and Kenneth Cole.

Some brands that have been gaining share include Wet Seal, Guess and Forever 21 among girls and Quiksilver, Nike and Banana Republic among boys.  The growth of these brands is also evident when looking at the top three brands again.  In the spring 2001 survey, the top three brands received 44 percent of the votes versus only 25 percent in the spring 2002 edition.

Another factor that should work in the favor of several retailers is that overall, teens spend 28 percent of their money on clothing and another 22 percent on food.  Females are more likely to spend money on clothing with 36 percent going to apparel alone with an additional 23 percent going toward accessories/personal care and shoes.  Males are more likely to spend money on video games/systems, music/movies and electronic gadgets (28 percent) than apparel (21 percent).  When combined with accessories/personal care and shoes, this figure climbs to 34 percent.

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Trend Watch

Toy Retailers Prepare for an Invasion

The number two toy introduced in 2001, Rumble Robots, is already being followed-up by the next generation, Rumble Robots Invasion.  Trendmasters introduced the original popular line of remote-control-operated robot toys in May of 2001.  Approximately 2 million units were sold at retail, generating about $100 million in sales, ranking sixth overall on the top toy list of 2001. 

The newest version will allow kids to play with an entire team of robot knights and soldiers, using a single infrared remote.  The need to develop tactics and strategy helps kids incorporate both their imaginations and their logical thinking skills.  The way the toys have been developed, kids can either play with an entire group or one-on-one.  Similar to a walkie-talkie, Rumble Robots Invasion creates an environment where adding multiple users expands the fun exponentially.

In order to start a battle, kids must swipe the Power Card to energize the Invasion King, who in turn beams commands to allies via the infrared technology.  The Kings can also disable rival knights and kings.  The Invasion Soldiers have their own laser beams that can be used to protect the kings. 

Along with the robots, accessories like Battle Armor, Weapons Pack and Traps are available.  Also, there is a measure of collectibility built into the Electronic Power Cards, with special offensive and defensive abilities built into each.  So, the more cards kids have, the more powers their Invasion Kings and Knights will have.

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Upcoming Events in Youth Marketing

Kid Power 2002 

May 5-8, 2002 ­ The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Orlando 

As a valued colleague of Youth University, you will receive your choice of a FREE workshop (a $400 value!) when you register for KID POWER 2002.   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! 

12^th ANNUAL CAPTURE THE GROWING COLLEGE MARKET 

 May 20-22, 2002 ­ The Wyndham Tremont Hotel, Boston

Your challenge is to reach the over 15 million college students spread over some 3600 campuses, plus all of the students who live off campus, and stand out from the crowd as you do it!

For more information, visit:  WWW.CONSUMERKIDS.NET, or call Wendy Fullem at 212-661-3500 x 3018 or email her at wfullem@iirusa.com.

IIR’s Consumer Kids Presents the Fifth Annual TARGETING TWEENS

July 29-30, 2002 - New York Helmsley

Marketing to the InbeTWEEN Stages of Youth - Designed by industry experts, IIR’s Consumer Kids’ TARGETING TWEENS will be your ultimate conference destination.   As a youth marketer, you will have an unrivalled opportunity to learn from and exchange insight with the leading minds in the business.  Your experience at TARGETING TWEENS will provide you with valuable insight about how to:

*  Listen and learn from Tweens in a changed world   *   Best position your brand by understanding the different Tween stages   *   Adopt Tweens’ global economic force in your future strategies   *   Determine which Tweens are the leaders, moving trends from adopters to cultural mainstreams   *   Capture your share of the Tween wallet by understanding their core motivations and behaviors

For more information, please contact Wendy Fullem at 212-661-3500 x 3018, wfullem@iirusa.com, or visit www.consumerkids.net

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Youth University is brought to you free each month by WonderGroup.  

We hope you find Youth University valuable and helpful.  WonderGroup, a 360º youth marketing agency provides services including:  Advertising, New Product Development, Research and Promotions.  You can learn more about WonderGroup at www.wondergroup.com or by calling Greg Livingston, theshadow@wondergroup.com, at (513) 357-2950.

See you next month!