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Heard
on the Playground
What's
New This Month
CyberStats
Kids
Tweens
Teens
Trend
Watch
Heard
on the Playground
Kids
run the show at La Ciudad de Los Niños, where the kids, not adults,
go grocery shopping or make their own pizzas.
La Ciudad de Los Niños Offers
Kids Positive Brand Experience
We recently traveled to Mexico City
for a new product development project. In addition to our work with
creative Mexican kids and tweens, we also had the opportunity to
get out and observe kid culture in this very large foreign city.
The highlight of the trip was our visit to La Ciudad de los
Niños (loosely translated The City of Kids). Indeed, it was
a kid’s paradise.
Imagine an indoor amusement park where
every venue is sponsored by a major brand, and each venue is designed
to deliver a positive branded experience. That’s the reality of
La Ciudad de los Niños. The entrance is a mock airport ticket
counter leading to a real American Airlines jet fuselage where kids
can sit in the pilot's seat. From there you see Johnson & Johnson’s
Hospital, where kids can operate on a dummy that is breathing. No
flatliners here. If that makes you hungry, you can go work at the
Domino’s pizzeria to make your own pizza. For the girls, there’s
the Pond’s Institute for a makeover, but the real attraction was
working as a cosmetologist painting other girls’ fingernails. And
this is just a small sample of the branded kid attractions. General
Motors and Quaker State sponsored a racetrack. NesQuick sponsored
a rock-climbing wall, complete with their bunny mascot climbing
next to the kids. And so on. La Ciudad de los Niños features
lots of U.S. brands, plus some major Mexican brands.
Clearly, these brands see the incredible
long-term value of introducing themselves to kids in a positive
and empowering way. We are not sure this exact concept can be implemented
in the U.S. given our culture’s somewhat more anti-commercialism
bent. We are, however, positive that inventive and visionary marketers
can adapt the lesson of involving kids with their brand as a way
to gain competitive advantage.
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What's
New This Month
Kids' Vote Similar to Adult Opinions
During this year’s election, nearly
1.5 million kids from kindergarten to high school cast their votes
for candidates. Their ballots, cast in 39 states through Kids Voting
USA, often reflected the opinion of their parents on national, state
and local issues. Their votes also reflected their concern about
health care, education and the environment.
The results of the poll gave George
W. Bush about 50% of the vote, with 45% going to Al Gore. Ralph
Nader received about 2% of the vote, and other third-party candidates
received about 3%.
The young voters often reflected the
uncertainty of adults. When a volunteer approached a 7-year-old
in Ohio with an offer for help, the young voter replied that she
was taking her time, since she was still undecided.
The youth ballots also mirrored the
choices of adults. New York kids narrowly chose Hillary Rodham Clinton
over Rick Lazio. Young Missouri voters chose the late Mel Carnahan
over John Ashcroft. However, the young voters sometimes disagreed
with adults on local ballot issues. In Alaska, young voters opposed
a measure to restrict wildlife protection initiatives, although
the adults favored it. Nationally, young voters voted in greater
numbers for measures that increased funding for education.
Louisiana
Children Try Out Florida Presidential Ballot
While the
country debates about Florida's Presidential ballot problem, The
Times, in Shreveport, La., reported that some elementary school
children in Bossier City, La. had no problem filling out the ballot.
Their teacher,
Lisa Burns, pulled a sample of the ballot off the internet and administered
it to her class of 22 fourth-grade students. None of the students
were confused by the ballot, and each ballot was marked correctly.
First grade
teacher Stacey Robinson also administered the ballot to her class
of 24. While she didn't have them vote, she asked them to find and
mark the correct bubble for Gore. Nineteen (79%) of the students
marked the correct bubble, three picked Buchanan's bubble, one picked
Bush's bubble and one marked the bubble at the bottom for the Natural
Law party.
The tabulation
still caused a controversy, however. Some of the students, when
asked to find and select the Gore bubble, were upset--one because
he wanted to vote for Bush.
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CyberStats
Parental
Restrictions for Internet Use
Forty percent of kids 8 to 17 who go
on-line report doing so without parental restrictions.
The findings are part of a new report
prepared by Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), as part of its Home
Technology Monitor service. SRI interviewed more than 240 kids,
ages 8 to 17, about their use of television, the Internet, radio
and other media.
Of the 60% of kids who have parental
restrictions on Internet use, "number of hours limited"
was the rule most often reported (38%), followed by "can visit
certain sites only" (33%), "can't visit certain sites"
(24%) and "no adult content" (17%). "No violence"
ranked 6th at 5%.
Forty-six percent of kids reported
having no restriction on their television time. Among the 54% of
kids who do have restrictions on their TV use, the rules most often
mentioned were "no adult content" (24%) and "number
of hours limited" (24%). "No violence" (16%) ranked
5th in mentions, preceded by "no TV after a certain hour"
(20%) and "can watch certain channels only" (17%).
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Kids
Kids Rate Scooters for Consumer
Reports
As one of the hottest trends this fall,
scooters can be seen everywhere. Consumer Reports for Kids
rounded up 18 kids to test the range of scooters on the market for
handling, speed, braking and foldability. Here’s what they said:
Razor and J.D. Bug rated highest overall
("excellent" to "very good" ratings), followed
by Micro Aluminum, Mongoose Scorchin’, Blitz and Transit models
(rated "good"). Stinger and Assault models received the
lowest ratings (fair) of the scooters tested. Kids liked models
that were easy to open, went fast, handled well and braked fast.
They were disappointed by models that did not brake well, did not
maintain speed and tipped over easily.
Source: http://www.zillions.org/scooter101.html
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Tweens
Tweens' Ideal
Summer Road Trip
The ideal summer road trip for tweens
includes plenty of junk food and video games, according to General
Tire's poll of 512 third through fifth graders.
In the information age, more tweens
prefer to pass their travel time playing interactive video games
(42%) instead of playing family favorites (18%). In fact, two tweens
polled described their parents' games of I Spy, 20 Questions
and Punch Buggy as "ancient."
Most kids (88%) say the key to a good
road trip is plenty of junk food--including donuts, cookies, candy,
chips and burgers.
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Teens
Teen Smoking
Drops In Britain--Mobile Phones the Cause
Mobile phones have been linked to a
23% drop in teen smoking in Britain from 1996-99, according to the
anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health and an advertising
specialist at the University of Manchester. Teens are flocking to
mobile phones--at the expense of cigarettes--because they satisfy
the same needs for belonging to a peer group, keeping hands busy
and looking stylish.
Source: Planetfeedback.com
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Trend Watch
Heinz Blastin' Green Ketchup a Hit!
If you’re seeing more kids eating
green lately, chances are it’s not their vegetables--it’s Heinz
Blastin’ Green ketchup!
WonderGroup is pleased to have played
a role in the phenomenal new product launch of Heinz EZ Squirt,
the first ketchup designed specifically for kids. WonderGroup’s
product development team worked directly with kids to establish
the color, name and delivery system for the new product. The ketchup,
which currently is offered in Blastin’ Green and standard Red, connects
with a number of kids' drivers. The EZ Squirt ketchup delivers on
the important power/control driver with its unique, "kid in
mind" designed top. The new top allows kids to deliver the
ketchup with a fine line, allowing for more of a play pattern--kids
can draw and write on their burgers, hot dogs, fries and other foods.
The Blastin’ Green color tastes like
the ketchup that kids are familiar with (same flavor as the Red),
which was important to kids. The bottle was redesigned to fit in
kids’ hands better and the ketchup is also fortified with Vitamin
C--an added benefit for moms.
So far, the green stuff has been a
huge success, and Heinz estimates that the sales forecast for the
first year of shipments will be met within the first three months
of sales. The company has also increased production to 24 hours
per day and is adding additional equipment.
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For
more information about WonderGroup please visit our website at www.wondergroupinc.com
See
you in December!
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