VOLUME
20
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
After
School Special
Recently we
met with some tweens after school to pick their brains on a number
of subjects. Before we
jumped headfirst into our topic of the day, we started of with quick
introductions. In order
to get to know the kids better, we decided to ask a really easy
question, “What is it that you normally do after school?”
We felt it was a safe bet that attending marketing groups was
not a part of their normal daily routine.
Sure
enough, their answers varied as much as their hairstyles.
As always though, there were some answers that came to the
forefront for both the boys and girls.
First of all, the overall feeling of relief has to be
acknowledged. Marketers
have realized in the past few years just how exhausted kids and
tweens are after school, both physically and mentally.
This has led to the formation of a fourth meal occasion, the
after-school snack. This
proved to be a primary activity when the group got home.
After
“getting their grub on,” the group listed different activities
they take part in to recharge their batteries.
Well, “active” is not the best word to describe what some
of them looked forward to doing the most.
Nine year-old Daniel explained, “When I get home from
school, I need a break so I watch TV and have a snack.”
While Daniel used television as a chance to unwind, Matthew,
also 9, chose the same activity simply “because I don’t want to
really do my homework.” Playing
video games or time on the computer were also common.
In
terms of outdoor activities, several members of our group mentioned
bike riding, basketball, football and soccer as their chosen
activity. The primer
drivers of these activities are that they are “fun” and
“something I can do with all of my friends.”
Rounding out the prominent activities were arts, crafts,
reading and even the unpopular task of doing homework.
Ten-year-old
Whitney summed it up best why some of the kids choose to do their
homework first. She
said, “I like to do it right away after school and get it out of
the way. Then I can
play or do whatever I want.”
We thought there was something fishy when some of the tweens
mentioned doing homework. It
turned out they are the same people that rip off a Band-Aid as fast
as they can. They just
want to get it over with.
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Top
What's
New This Month
A
Kung Fu Renaissance
Several famous
toy characters from the 80s and 90s have been making a comeback in
the last few years. Recently,
Playmates Toys Inc. announced that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,
a quartet of crime fighters named after famous artists, would be
re-emerging from the sewers in 2003.
The action toy had worldwide sales of over $1 billion from
1989 to 1993 alone. Starting
in January, action figures of Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and
Raphael will be on shelves with authentic ninja weapons, soon to be
followed by a variety of vehicles, role-play weapons and play sets
later in the year.
Just like the
original version, the rebirth will be accompanied by an all-new
animated series on The Fox Box, produced by 4Kids Entertainment and
Mirage Studios Inc. starting in February.
The 26 new half-hour episodes set to air on Saturday mornings
will incorporate the same formula from the original show, using a
balanced mix of action and humor.
Collectors old
and new will also have a chance to collect a 12” deluxe scale,
cold-cast resin sculpture of Leonardo, the first of four, based on
artwork from the original comic book series.
This figure will be available in December through Diamond
Comics. It will include
a custom base designed to fit together to form a detailed diorama
when combined with the other three.
Additionally, the
first generation made over $3 billion more in video games, movie
sales and licensed merchandise sales.
It is hard to determine if this level of success is
attainable a second time, but if lightning strikes twice and is
caught in a bottle again, be prepared for the re-introduction of
“cowabunga” into the increasingly diverse vocabulary of
today’s youth.
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Tech
Trends
Leaping
to a New Deal
LeapFrog
Enterprises, Inc., a designer of innovative educational products,
including more than 40 interactive books, recently teamed up with Time
for Kids, the leading in-school nonfiction brand and number-one
classroom weekly among fourth through sixth graders, to form
a new line of books for kids. Time
for Kids: The Inside Scoop combines the content of the
publication with the sound effects, music and games that LeapFrog
has incorporated in its other products.
The partners are looking to provide a unique reading
experience for kids 8 years old and up.
The first book in
the line is centered on the world of movies.
It features such things as a behind-the-scenes glimpse at
special effects, a glossary of movie lingo and a feature that builds
career awareness about the film industry.
While the kids are perfecting their own version of “Hey
babe, let’s do lunch,” they can review the cover story, a look
into a day in the life of Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe.
In total, there are more than 20 activities designed to let
kids immerse themselves in movies and how they are made.
The next book
will be centered on sports and will feature stars like Tony Hawk,
Kobe Bryant, Michelle Kwan and Tiger Woods.
It will also include sound effects, interactive games,
celebrity interviews, “Did you know?” factoids, trends, puzzles,
maps and charts. Overall,
the activities in the Inside Scoop series are designed to
help in the development of critical thinking skills, as well as test
knowledge levels and instincts to discover how things work.
The first book is
currently available at major retailers nationwide, including Target,
Toys “R” Us and Wal-Mart at a recommended price of $14.99.
LeapFrog and Time for Kids are currently looking at
the possibility of developing even more titles for the series, so
kids should end up with several worlds they can eventually explore
interactively.
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to Top
Kids
Not
Just Toying Around
Tweens’ and
teens’ holiday wish lists may contain more video games and digital
devices than ever before, but those that may not even be old enough
to write their own list still get the biggest kick out of shiny new
toys. The Little Tikes
Company recently surveyed over 1,000 parents of children aged 18
months to 6 years to garner their opinion on playtime and toys.
Overall, 67 percent of the moms and dads felt that it was
very important for kids to experience unstructured play time each
day instead of just planned activities like sports practice, music
lessons or dance class.
These parents
listed independence (87 percent), creativity (86 percent) and
resourcefulness (78 percent) as important values that imaginative
play provided for their children.
Additionally, stress reduction and a boosted self-esteem were
each given by 54 percent of the parents as other benefits.
It is this unstructured play that has been found to provide a
lot of the building blocks that future learning is built upon.
While many doctors
and other child experts have stressed the importance of simply
“playing” in the recent past, only 51 percent of the parents
ranked “helps with learning” as a key benefit of imaginative
play. However 81
percent said this learning was the biggest benefit of structured
play or planned activities.
These children will
seemingly continue the trend of extremely tech-savvy tweens and
teens as they get older. Nearly
half, 2.1 hours, of their estimated 4.7 hours of unstructured daily
playtime is spent on “square screen” activities.
These activities include time spent in front of a television
or computer watching videos or playing games.
With continued advancements in technology, kids will never
have as much simple play as their parents.
Those parents that are most concerned by this will just have
to make sure it doesn’t totally disappear.
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Top
Tweens
Tis’
the Season
Tweens
appear to be dreaming about more than just a white Christmas this
holiday season. C&R
Research’s specialty service KidzEyes recently released the
results of their annual Holiday Wish List and Habits survey.
The study, which took place during the first week of October,
had a national sampling of 1221 boys and girls between the ages of
6- and 14-years-old.
There
were some noted differences between this year’s study and the 2001
edition. Overall,
sports equipment like bicycles, skateboards and scooters topped
boys’ and girls’ lists most often last year (37 percent),
followed by clothes (36 percent) and video game systems (28
percent). This year,
electronics led the way (34 percent), followed closely by money (31
percent) and toys (18 percent).
As
always, there were some differences between genders, with boys
leaning toward electronics like video game systems/games and
computers/software while girls preferred communication devices like
cell phones, digital cameras and pagers.
Overall, 48 percent of boys wanted electronics, compared to
only 20 percent of girls. They
were more likely to want money (35 percent), toys (20 percent) and
clothes (17 percent).
Just
who brings these gifts depends on two factors, age and the holiday
the child celebrates. Of
those that celebrate Christmas, Santa Clause goes from real to
fictional between the ages of 9- and 11-years-old.
An overwhelming majority of 6-year-olds (92 percent) reported
that they believed in Santa. The
number drops to 64 percent of 9-year-olds, and by the age of 10,
less than half (46 percent) still believe and only one-third of
11-year-olds anticipate a reindeer landing on their rooftops.
Obviously
gifts, at least the unwrapping portion, make up a small part of the
holiday season. So what
do these tweens plan on doing after they tear through their gifts
like a buzz saw? A
majority of them said they’ll spend the time with their family (79
percent), playing with new toys (68 percent), resting and relaxing
(62 percent) or hanging out with friends (61 percent).
And honestly, isn’t that what the holiday season is all
about?
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to Top
Teens
Can
You Hear Me Now?
A recent national
survey of 800 teenagers found out how teens buy and use wireless
phones, as well as what their parents think of it all.
Market Trends Inc. randomly selected respondents aged 13 to
17 from Atlanta, Miami and Sacramento to take part in the telephone
and Internet survey. Not
surprisingly, this group that has grown up in the age of super-sized
meals want more, with seven out of ten saying they would talk more
on their wireless phones if they had unlimited monthly minutes.
In fact, 57 percent reported having to shorten their
conversations so they would not exceed the minutes on their plans.
Seven out of ten
teens found a wireless plan with unlimited local calling for a flat
rate to be an appealing remedy to not having enough minutes.
The teens rated monthly price, minutes of use and voice
features like call waiting and voice mail as more important than
long distance, phone selection and text messaging when they are
purchasing wireless service. Currently,
six of ten have the ability to text message on their phone, but most
are not regular users of that service.
Additionally, 10 percent said they surf the Internet from
their phone.
Mom and Dad offer
their two cents more often than not, with 80 percent being involved
in the decision to select a wireless carrier and over half making
the final decision on the matter.
Of course, most teens report their parents are paying some
portion of the bill, with two thirds of teens saying their parents
foot the entire bill. The
average monthly bill for the teens totals a little more than $50 per
month. The fiscally
involved parents like to track their cellular investment, with 67
percent of the parents keeping track of the teenagers’ monthly
minutes. With more and
more teens wanting a cell phone to stay in touch with their
ever-mobile friends, a little parental involvement is surely a small
price to pay.
Back
to Top
Trend Watch
Constructing
a New Swoosh
What happens when
an athletic footwear giant from Oregon joins forces with one of the
biggest companies in Denmark? Wooden
Air Jordans isn’t quite what Nike and LEGO have in mind.
Instead, they have developed some unique shoes with the hopes
of promoting activity with children.
The special-edition “Bionicle by Nike” shoes are based on
LEGO Company’s BIONICLE™ Toa Nuva heroes.
The shoes, recently released in the United States and Canada
this month, will be launched globally in 2003.
The shoe itself
comes with a removable Toa Nuva mask that covers the toe-box.
A red Kanohi Hau mask is included with the shoe that will
have a suggested retail price of $50.
Five other accessory masks, including a blue Kanohi Kaukau or
green Kanohi Miru mask will be available for a suggested retail
price of $9.95 a pair. The
shoes are available at retail outlets including Niketown,
Niketown.com, LEGO Brand Retail Stores, LEGO.com, FAO Schwarz, as
well as Dillards, Nordstrom, Journey’s Kidz and JCPenney.
This should prove
to be just the beginning of innovative footwear from the two
companies. They plan to
collaborate on more footwear for children based on BIONICLE and
other LEGO properties. For Nike, the partnership with LEGO
fits with their new NikeGO initiative, which encourages greater
physical activity for children.
It
also fits with LEGO, who has incorporated several of their own
initiatives with the BIONICLE line which was first launched by LEGO
in 2001 as a quick-build collectible action hero for children aged
seven and older. Riding
the momentum of being named “Most Innovative Toy of the Year” in
2001 by the Toy Industry Association, BIONICLE will also make its
movie debut in a direct-to-video release titled “BIONICLE:
The Mask of Light.”
Just how many kids go to the video store in their BIONICLE
kicks may determine how many generations of collaborations are
designed.
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Top
Upcoming Events
in Youth Marketing
Kid
Power
Food & Beverage Marketing 2003
January
23-24, 2003 – Hyatt
Regency, New
Orleans
Kid
Power Food & Beverage Marketing 2003 is coming! The Kid
Power Xchange will proudly serve as your host for a live gathering
to learn about the latest in food trends for kids. Thousands of
marketers worldwide have attended Kid Power Xchange events, and
anyone involved in marketing strategies for food, beverage,
restaurant and confectionary industries will benefit from meeting
with renowned kid food and beverage marketing experts. Kid
Power Food & Beverage Marketing 2003 will have an all-new agenda
including research executives, new product gurus and exciting case
studies. To
register, please call 800-882-8684, email info@kidpowerx.com,
or visit www.kidpowerx.com.
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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!
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