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Heard on the Playground

What's New This Month

Trend Watch

Heard on the Playground

Kicking it up a notch!

Last month we took you into a high school cafeteria to show you how and what teens eat for lunch and what they are looking for next. No doubt many opportunities exist for marketers and manufacturers! This month we sat down with our master chef to discuss recent food trends among kids and tweens.

The big insight we are hearing about is that kids want BIG flavor. Although kids will claim they like spicy foods, they don’t mean hot, spicy, burn your-mouth-flavor, but complex flavors. Kids want flavors that are multidimensional, like foods that are hot and cold in the same bite. Sweet and sour combinations that are just a bit on the exotic side, like Thai food with peanut sauce and roasted red pepper, are also very popular. Don’t expect peanut sauce to show up in school lunch rooms, though. The prevalence of peanut allergies have deterred many from using them.

Because kids are growing up in a more diverse culture, they are also experimenting more with new foods. Not only are they eating more ethnic foods, they are getting involved in cooking them as well. More and more kids are in the kitchen or taking classes, thanks to cable’s Food Network “stars” like Emeril Lagasse and The Iron Chef.

Another trend to watch for is kid vegetarians. Not the hard-core, no meat, no dairy, rice eaters, but the kinder, gentler “no meat please” version who care about animals and fear the mad cow. Because kids are naturally into causes, they easily adopt the idea of saving animals, not eating them. And with vegetarian markets like Wild Oats and Whole Foods Market popping up across the country, kids have more opportunity to explore and expand their culinary choices.

So keep these trends in mind as you develop your kid strategies and marketing plans—food sophisticates come in all sizes!

What's New This Month

Mary-Kate and Ashley Provide “Real Talk for Real Girls”

The premiere issue of mary-kateandashley magazine hit newsstands this month and displayed immediately that it is different than other periodicals aimed at tween and young teen girls. Senior Editor Erin Brereton of H&S Media, publisher of the magazine, says that they learned a lot about what these girls want in a magazine through nationwide focus groups. Most magazines “didn’t have enough to them” in the words of the girls themselves.

They want the content of older magazines like Vogue and Cosmo with the fun of younger magazines like Teen. The end result is the first lifestyle magazine for girls aged 9-15 with a focus on popular topics like fashion, sports and celebrities, as well as information on finances, politics, and further education.

Another innovative feature of the magazine is the teen panel, comprised of seven teens and a couple of tweens from across the country. In the first issue, the panel gives their take on lip gloss, lollipop hair sticks and Seche brand mini nail files and nail lacquers.

Look for even more essays and reviews of other products in the future when the panel grows. They have left some spots on the panel open so their new readers can write in and say why they should be on it.

The overall message of empowerment and importance of individuality can be found on the very first page in Mary-Kate and Ashley’s “Top Ten” reasons for creating a magazine. It was simply, “because we can."

CyberStats

Kids Demand More from Websites and Television

Multitasking their media is nothing new for kids. They like to listen to music, watch television, surf the net and talk on the phone—all at the same time. Many of them even manage to do their homework while all of this is happening.

A recent article in Broadcasting and Cable demonstrated how some of the most popular network sites among kids aged 2-17 are incorporating the Internet directly into their programming.

During Nickelodeon’s Slimetime Live kids can vote online for who they wanted slimed. Their Bubblecast lets kids play a game answering questions about the show as leaders names and scores appear on the left of the television screen.

Cartoon Network has directed kids from their shows to the site to play games. If they want to get to the next level they have to tune in the next day. They found that kids did not cease watching the shows, but in fact continued to do so as they played the games.

Top Five Entertainment Sites in January 2001 for Kids aged 2-17 (Source: Media Matrix)

Disney Online
Cartoonnetwork.com
Nick.com
Nickjr.com
Foxkids.com

Kids

Work Hard, Play Harder

As summertime approaches, kids’ thoughts, as well as parents’, drift toward vacation. Some trends in tourism, found by The Travel Industry Association of America, show that the number of trips taken has significantly increased over the past decade and looks like it will continue to do so.

More and more families are spending time with their friends and relatives on leisure trips. Outdoor activities among families with children are particularly popular now. They are visiting parks, hiking, camping, fishing, biking and doing various water sports.

These families are also looking for package deals to make planning easier, and specialized events for their kids to keep them entertained. With the stresses of work and school, everyone in the family looks for a vacation where they can relax and have fun. In a study by the TIA, they found that 75 percent of those surveyed rate the family vacation as “very important to their family’s well-being.”

With this much stock being put into a week or two away from home, tourist attractions are working to meet the increased expectations of their consumers. Since more trips are being taken with the kids, they are given that much more importance in the decision-making process.

Tweens

Developing a Product for Tweens

With their ever-expanding pocketbooks, tweens have proven time and again that they can make the development of a product for them extremely profitable. They have also proven that if you simply try to up-age a kids product, or slap some cool graphics on an adult product, you are going to fail miserably.

So, if you are in product development, how can you make your product the next BIG idea? Just follow these five simple rules from The Great Tween Buying Machine: Marketing to Today’s Tweens, a book on Tweens authored by WonderGroup CEO Tim Coffey, President Dave Siegel and Executive Vice President Greg Livingston. The book is due out June, 2001.

1. Make it Fun!! Tweens are evolving towards the more serious adolescent years but still want to be kids and have fun.

2. It’s Just for You Tweens want to know that the product is made for me and kids just like me.

3. Mom Must Be Appeased A concept is great if it totally appeals to moms, but at the very least it must be deemed acceptable. Tweens still like their approval.

4. Power is What They’re Looking For Tweens are at an age when they are beginning to spread their wings, and they need reassurance to take the first steps towards independence.

5. There are Five Senses. Use Them. Tweens are looking for products that appeal to more than one of their senses. Stores or products with great color, fun music, great tastes and cool textures are always tops.

Teens

Back to the Future

Don’t clean out that closet yet. Clothes from the ‘80s are back and figure to be very hot this spring and next fall. Preppie, punk and western looks complete with polo shirts, plaid and striped denim with rhinestones are all coming back, thanks in part to trend-setting musicians like Madonna and Kid Rock.

DSN Retailing Today reports that stores are already stocking up on sure bets like T-shirts with glitter, sequins and studs on both short- and long-sleeved models. Some popular sayings that are showing up are “girly girl”, “corrupt”, “rebel” and “born in the ‘80s.” Along with these pastel-colored shirts, black T’s with red glitter, and gold and silver foil will also be prevalent.

Studs will be showing up on more than just T-shirts. Denim skirts, jackets and jeans will all be sporting this ‘80s detail. Just in terms of color, dark denim looks to be very strong, along with the complete opposite—very faded ‘80s-style denim.

Along with the studded punk and rhinestone cowboy look, preppy polo shirts, plaids, button-down oxfords, pastel pinks, blues and yellows are all back. Shirts with stripes, gingham and seersucker will help everyone win their Alex P. Keaton look-alike contests at school.

Trend Watch

Feminism Goes Gen Y

Girls and young women between the ages of 7 and 24 are proving that just like so many other past images, that of a feminist is totally out-of-date. The April issue of American Demographics reports that they have combined ideas of being a feminist with the beauty of being feminine.

Rebecca Gardyn reports that this is the first generation of women to take their rights like the pill, abortion, and equality in the workplace for granted. They know that there are still glass ceilings and double standards, but they see very few “barriers ahead.”

According to a study quoted in the article, only 34 percent of girls aged 13 to 20 call themselves feminists. While this label does not always apply to them, the values of past feminists, like equal pay for equal work, freedom to make lifestyle choices, and the ability to succeed without a man, are all things that at least 90 percent of these girls agreed with.

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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 in May!