VOLUME
31
Feature Story
Kids
Tweens
Teens
Moms and Families
Feature
Story
Home Shopping Party
Animals
The
number of women who choose to forgo the traditional career path
in order to stay at home with their children is on the rise.
However, these women are finding other non-traditional
ways to work and earn money. Many of these stay-at-home
moms (and other women) are becoming consultants for home shopping
organizations in order to help supplement the household income.
There are plenty of these organizations to choose from (Pampered
Chef®, Tastefully Simple®, Mary Kay®, Southern Living
at Home®, etc.) and besides money and an extremely flexible
work schedule, these women also get an opportunity to socialize
with other adults, which can be very gratifying for stay-at-home
moms. Consultants host parties in their houses, selling
things to friends and neighbors for commission. They also
find other women who will sign up to be consultants under them
or who are willing to host parties in their homes in exchange
for discounts and free products. In 2004, home parties accounted
for $8.4 billion in sales nationwide. That's up from $7.1
billion in 2000 according to the Direct Selling Association®.
With
the reported financial figures and the buzz surrounding home shopping
parties, marketers should stand up and take notice. There
are plenty of opportunities for brands to form a promotional partnership
with one of these organizations. It's just a matter of finding
the right organization at the right time and approaching them
with the right program. These home shopping organizations
can act as effective mediums to sell brand's products, distribute
coupons and offer sampling opportunities, all with precise targeting
to influential consumers.
WonderGroup
has experience putting together promotional partnerships for its
clients with all types of properties, brands and groups, including
home shopping organizations. WonderGroup® even recently
forged a successful partnership between Pampered Chef and Lipton
Recipe Secrets®. If you'd like to learn more about how
WonderGroup can help you form tailored promotional partnerships
to meet your specific objectives, please contact Greg Livingston
at 513.357.2950 or
glivingston@wondergroup.com .
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Kids
The Open Road
This
past holiday season has shown that video games and electronic
toys are hot, but plenty of kids, especially younger ones, want
nothing more than to feel the wind in their hair as they cruise
down the sidewalk. Ride-on electric-powered toy cars are
some of the most coveted toys on the market and there are plenty
of them to choose from. We're not talking about the push-it-yourself
car with the red body, overly-curved yellow roof and plastic wheels
from years past. We're talking about some really sweet rides.
Kids now have the opportunity to cruise, just like mom and dad,
in mini versions of real cars. There's the Fisher Price®
Power Wheels™ Volkswagen® Beetle™, Jeep® Wrangler™, Chevrolet®
Silverado™ or even Harley-Davidson® and, for those times when
a more rugged set of wheels is in order, there's the Little Tikes®
Hummer® H2™.
WonderGroup's
Perspective
Powered
ride-on vehicles are popular because they let kids do something
they all dream about – drive. Throw in licensed, realistic-looking
makes and models and it just sweetens the pot. Licensing
is attractive to everyone involved. Toy companies get to
produce a realistic toy that appears more authentic and upscale,
making it more attractive to both kids and parents. For
parents, there is definitely a certain cute factor and kids love
the fact that they can have their own car that looks just like
mom's or dad's. Perhaps the biggest winners in the whole
deal are the auto manufacturers. They get paid for the use
of their licenses AND get the opportunity to build brand familiarity
and loyalty at a young age.
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Tweens
Tweens
Sail Clear of Piracy
Tweens
are known for breaking rules and striving for independence, but
they do show respect for some laws. Results of a poll conducted
for the Business Software Alliance® show tweens are much less
likely than teens to download copyrighted commercial software
and other digital media such as music, movies, and games through
illegal, online file-sharing networks. The study shows that
a big reason for this is that tweens are more likely than teens
to worry about getting in trouble with their parents (50 percent
vs. 11 percent) for illegally downloading files.
WonderGroup's
Perspective
There
are many reasons why tweens are less likely than teens to participate
in illegal file sharing. Besides having a fear of getting
in trouble with their parents, tweens are also more afraid of
getting in trouble with outside sources such as music companies.
Another reason tweens participate less in illegal downloading
is because they have less knowledge and access. Many tweens
can't be on the Internet for long without parents checking over
their shoulder and questioning what they are doing. Even
for tweens that do have Internet freedom, most don't have the
same web-surfing and file-sharing know how that their teen constituents
have. So, even if they were aware of file-sharing networks
and wanted to use them, they may not know how to. That being
said, illegal file sharing is at a crossroads and can take one
of two paths. Tweens will either continue to become more
technologically savvy and their illegal file sharing will increase
to more closely mirror the teen population, or the more likely
bet is that law suits and other steps to crack down on illegal
file sharing will continue to scare tweens off. This, combined
with more choices from legal pay-for-downloads sites, will mean
even lower piracy rates among tweens and everyone else.
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Teens
Big Spenders
Teens
helped cash registers sing for retailers this past holiday season.
According to the new “Money Matters Holiday Survey” conducted
before the holidays by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America®,
21 percent of teens surveyed said they planned to spend more than
$100 on holiday gifts this year. Where do teens get this
money? The largest percentage of respondents (31 percent)
said they planned to use their allowance to purchase this year's
holiday gifts, while 24 percent said they would use money earned
from part-time jobs. The survey results also reveal that
teens are sure to plan ahead to save enough money to purchase
holiday gifts. 32 percent of teens surveyed said they began
saving money for gifts one to three months in advance of the holiday
season. When teens are on the receiving end of holiday presents,
money and portable electronics such as cell phones topped their
lists.
WonderGroup's
Perspective
These
spending figures may sound impressive, but they really aren't
a surprise. Teens have a lot of disposable income.
According to a recent Harris Interactive® poll, U.S. teens
spend around $175 billion annually. That breaks down to
over $100 a week (67 percent of that is their own money).
This number has steadily increased an average of 6.4 percent over
the last 6 years and there's no reason to expect that trend to
end anytime soon. It also isn't a surprise that teens are
choosing to spend their money on others during the holiday season.
The behaviors and attitudes of these teens have continually shown
that this generation feels it is better to give than to receive.
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Moms and Families
Food for Thought
A
new study done by TV Land® and Nick at Nite® has found
that families that consistently dine together and focus on one
another at mealtime are more likely to describe themselves as
very satisfied with the closeness of their families. Major
perceived benefits to sharing family meals mentioned by respondents
also include bringing people closer together (89 percent), teaching
children table manners and social skills (86 percent), keeping
family members up to date about what is going on in their lives
(84 percent), helping solve problems for family members (71 percent)
and encouraging more healthy eating habits (66 percent).
Furthermore, families that share focused meals together say they
have a better ability to balance work and family time and are
better at finding time to spend with those that are important
to them. However, actually getting the family together to
share meals is not easy. 80 percent of Americans feel it
is difficult for most families to find time together. When
families actually do make time, 60 percent feel it is hard to
not get distracted by everything going on around them during meals.
WonderGroup's
Perspective
There
has been much talk about the importance of the sit-down family
dinner and its recent demise. There is no questioning the
benefits that come when a family consistently dines together.
However, the increase in two-income households and single-parent
households, as well as the proliferation of organized sports and
activities, has, pardon the pun, taken a bight out of family dinner
time. This means there is a void that marketers, food manufacturers,
grocery stores and restaurants can fill with options that make
it quicker and easier for families to enjoy a sit-down dinner
together at home. The market for dinner kits by food manufacturers,
pre-prepared meals from grocery stores and curbside-to-go dining
and delivery from restaurants has only begun to be tapped.
If families are truly convinced of the importance of a sit-down,
uninterrupted dinner at home, there is plenty of room for growth
and innovation in all of these areas. There is a good-size
prize to be won by companies that step up to the plate and effectively
focus on making it easier for families to enjoy dinner together.
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Drop Us a Line
Thanks for reading!
If you have any questions or comments or would like to submit
a possible idea for an article in an upcoming issue of Youth
University , please email Adam Siegel at asiegel@wondergroup.com.
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We
hope you find Youth University valuable and helpful. WonderGroup,
a full-service youth marketing agency provides services including:
Advertising, New Product Development, Research and Promotions.
You can learn more about WonderGroup by clicking the wondergroup.com
link below, or by calling
Greg Livingston, glivingston@wondergroup.com,
at (513) 357-2950.
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