VOLUME
27
C’mon,
Everybody’s Doing It
If
you haven’t done so already, we want to kindly invite you
to go to www.wondergroup.com
and check out our new Web site. It’s a fun way to learn
what WonderGroup is all about. Go ahead and try it, you’ll
like it. We promise.
WonderGroup Set to Invade Kid Power
If
you are attending Kid Power in Orlando on May 2-5, WonderGroup invites
you to stop by our booth to talk about the latest in marketing to
today’s moms, kids, tweens and teens. Several members
of the WonderGroup team will also be presenting at the conference,
sharing insights gained recently while working on advertising, new
product development, research and promotions for our world-class
clients. On Sunday, look for WonderGroup’s Executive
Vice President, Greg Livingston, a.k.a. “The Shadow,”
at the “Ask the Experts” Dinner. He will discuss
how promotions, new products, product extensions, packaging and
advertising can extend brand marketing to today’s kids in
an exciting and meaningful way. On Monday, WonderGroup CEO,
Tim Coffey, a.k.a. “Top Cat,” will shed light on moms
in the twenty-first century. In the “Who’s Your
Momma?” talk, Tim will cover a wide range of topics including
today’s mom segments, mom motivators and examples of how smart
companies are successfully tapping into these moms across a variety
of communication channels.
Feature Story
Kids
Tweens
Teens
Moms and Families
Feature
Story
Kids
Exercise Their Right to Vote
On Saturday,
April 3, Nickelodeon® rolled out the orange carpet and aired
the results of its 16th annual Kids’ Choice Awards.
The event took place at the Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA
and was hosted by Mike Meyers and Cameron Diaz. Over 17 million
kids cast their votes at nick.com for their “favorites”
in various categories. For the first time in KCA history, kids were
also able to vote from their cell phones via text messaging.
Some of the many highlights from the show include Hugh Jackman winning
the 4th Celebrity Burp-Off competition, the sliming of
the Olsen twins and a musical performance by Outkast. Also, one
lucky Nick contest winner presented Adam Sandler with the Wannabe
Award, the honor that goes to the celebrity role model who kids
most “want to be.” Now, here’s the lowdown on
who took home the coveted blimps in 2004.
Favorite
Movie: Finding Nemo
Favorite Male Movie Actor: Jim Carrey
Favorite Female Movie Actor: Amanda Bynes
Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie: Ellen DeGeneres in Finding
Nemo
Favorite TV Show: All That
Favorite Male TV Actor: Frankie Muniz
Favorite Female TV Actor: Raven Symone
Favorite Cartoon: SpongeBob SquarePants
Favorite Male Singer: Nelly
Favorite Female Singer: Hilary Duff
Favorite Music Group: Outkast
Favorite Song: “Hey Ya” by Outkast
Favorite Male Athlete: Tony Hawk
Favorite Female Athlete: Mia Hamm
Favorite Sports Team: LA Lakers
Favorite Fart From a Movie: Kangaroo Jack
Favorite Book: Harry Potter Series
Favorite Video Game: SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini
Bottom
Back to Top
Kids
2-D
Animation on Life Support?
Disney®
is set to close its animation
studio in Tokyo this June. This news comes just after the
company pulled the plug on its Florida animation studio in January.
That leaves Disney
with only two traditional animation
studios; one in California and one in Australia. The recently
released Home on the Range is the last 2-D animated cartoon
on Disney’s current schedule.
Disney’s
animation department is set
to release its first in-house (i.e. not produced by
PIXAR) computer-generated film, Chicken Little, in 2005.
After its 2002 mega-flop Treasure Planet forced the company
to reduce its quarterly earnings, Disney
began to fall in line with the
rest of the movie industry and move toward the complete abandonment
of 2-D animation.
High-Tech
Shorts
GapKids®
has partnered with toy maker Wild Planet®
to create Spy Gear Cargo Shorts. Each pair comes with either
a Spy Gear Micro Listener or a Night Spy toy attached to them.
GapKids will also sell a Spy Gear Voice Scrambler and Motion Alarm
separately. The Spy Gear Cargo Shorts have a custom pocket
designed to carry all four Spy Gear toys. Look for these shorts
to hit all GapKids stores in late April.
Back to Top
Tweens
Working
Overtime to Bring Grooming Products to Tween Boys
Tween
boys (9-14) spend just as much ($18 billion) and influence just
as much ($145 billion) as their girl counterparts. However,
considerably more focus has been placed on tween girls, particularly
when it comes to personal care products. By the time kids
become tweens, girls have taken over the bathroom with sweet-smelling
products for every use imaginable, while boys have nothing…until
now.
Procter
& Gamble® has introduced OT®, the first complete
line of personal care products just for tween and teen guys.
The new line includes shampoo, hair gel, body wash, deodorant and
antiperspirant/deodorant. P&G’s research showed
that over 90% of America’s 22 million boys aged 9-16 play
sports, so products are themed around this interest. OT stands
for Overtime, and the products come in bright red and yellow packaging
complete with black sports grips. Guys were involved in every
step of the product development process and even helped with some
of the product names like “Head to Head” shampoo and
“Pit Defense” deodorant.
OT
products appeal to guys who don’t want to stink, but don’t
want to smell like their sisters or fathers, either. OT products
also appeal to moms who are searching for information and resources
on tween boy hygiene. OT has even worked with prominent physicians
to develop Expert’s Tips moms can use to teach their sons
good grooming habits.
Take
a Troll Down Memory Lane
Remember
those collectable Troll characters in different outfits with their
long, spiky, colorful hair? Well, they’re back.
As the re-introduction of retro toys marches on, DIC Entertainment®
finished a deal with the Troll Company to acquire worldwide entertainment
and licensing rights to the Troll character.
DIC
plans to take the Troll character and develop it into a contemporary
entertainment and lifestyle brand for tweens called “Trollz®.”
A central component of the revitalized property will be an interactive
Internet world, set to launch in 2004. In the works for 2005
are worldwide television, video, licensing and merchandising programs.
Back to Top
Teens
Abercrombie
Nation
Piper
Jaffray & Co. Senior Retail Analyst Jeff Klinefelter released
the results of his seventh bi-annual proprietary research survey
on teen spending habits and retail brand perception. Brand
preference survey results show Abercrombie & Fitch® holding
on to the top spot for the sixth survey in a row, getting 13% of
the total votes, up from 12% in the fall 2003 survey. In second
place is American Eagle Outfitters®,
in third is Pacific Sunwear®,
Limited’s Express®
ranks
fourth and Abercrombie’s Hollister® concept
rounds out the top five.
The
study also shows that total spending on fashion products (apparel,
shoes and accessories) increased 3.4% to $1,447 per student annually
compared to spring 2003. Female students increased spending
9% year over year on fashion products. The male segment saw
even greater increases. Spending on fashion products by male
students increased 11.6% compared to spring 2003 and increased 24%
compared to fall 2003.
A
Lifetime of Achievement
MTV®
honored its
star VJ, Carson Daly, at the TRL®
Awards on April 13 with a Lifetime
Achievement Award. Carson is a ripe old 30 years of age.
MTV has a history of giving Lifetime Achievement Awards to people
who might be considered a bit young for such recognition.
Last year, the honor was bestowed upon none other than Sean “P.
Diddy” Combs.
Back to Top
Moms and Families
Mother’s
& Others’ Day
On
Mother’s Day, May 9, 89% of Americans will honor their “moms”
in some way. According to the Fourth Annual Lenox®
Gift-Giving and Etiquette
survey, the list of those we honor has expanded over the years.
Not surprisingly, mothers (61%) are the group most recognized on
this day. However, grandmothers (23%), favorite aunts (23%)
and others also get their due. Apparently rumors of overbearing
mothers-in-law are greatly exaggerated. 32% of people surveyed
said they even plan on thanking their mother-in-law this Mother’s
Day. Also, 55% of men surveyed acknowledge their wives on
Mother’s Day. This number is quite high considering
many of the respondents, aged 18-45, might not even be married or
have children. Who says chivalry is dead?
“Good”
DVDs
Wal-Mart®
is set to begin shipping a $79 DVD player that protects families
from potentially offensive content. The RCA®
unit will be equipped with Clearplay®
screening technology. Clearplay scans movies for offensive
content, and then programs that data into its system.
Subscribers
can watch any of the approximately 500 movies on the list with the
assurance that any material that should not be seen by children
will be skipped over or muted.
RCA
says Wal-Mart
requested the launch of
the new DVD player. This comes on the heels of the wardrobe
malfunction seen around the world and as concern about media standards
continues to grow and the FCC begins handing out record fines.
RCA
is pressing ahead despite a pending lawsuit against Clearplay
filed by a conglomerate
of key Hollywood players, including many top directors. The
suit argues that Clearplay technology abuses the movies’ artistic
integrity and pirates their work by creating an altered version
of their intellectual property without permission.
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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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