KIDTRENDS™ OF THE NEW GENERATION
JULY 2004
Children's Market Services Worldwide, Inc.
"Strategic Planners in the Youth Market"
1385 York Avenue Suite 27G
New York, NY 10021
(212)-794-0983
FAX 212-396-1280
www.kidtrends.com
KIDTRENDS™ OF THE NEW GENERATION, was prepared by Children's Market Services Worldwide, Inc.
Children's Market Services Worldwide, Inc.
"Strategic Planners in the Youth Market"
1385 York Avenue Suite 27G
New York, NY 10021
212-794-0983
FAX 212-396-1280
www.kidtrends.com
Publisher Children’s
Market Services Worldwide, Inc..
Author Dr.
Selina S. Guber
Publication Date JULY
2004
All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced without permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents:
1. Kidtrends™ of the New Generation 1
The New American Family 1
The Technology of Tomorrow In Home Life 3
Education: A Means To An End 4
Food and Eating Habits 5
Fitness and Looking Good 6
Environmental Concerns 6
Money and Money Management 7
Influence In Action 8
Making Choice Is Important 9
Peer Pressure 11
Nike’s Full-Court Press 13
Outside Influences 15
How Do They Do It? 16
Influence On The Toy Shelf 18
Influence In The Supermarket 19
And Beyond 20
Parent-Lead Purchases 21
Grandparents 22
Summing Up 22
And The Children Shall Lead 24
Starting Out 25
The Ground Rules 27
Sexes 28
The Suburbs Are The Middle Ground 29
Setting Up 30
The Work Environment 30
The Warm Up 31
Drawing Pictures 32
Play Acting 33
The Discussion Guide 34
The Process 35
Analyzing the Results 36
The Management Report 37
A Word of Caution 38
One-on-Ones 38
Anthropological Alternatives 39
Summing Up: Questions To Consider 40
Why Do Quantitative Research? 42
What Quantitative Research Can Tell You 43
Custom Research 44
Syndicated Research 45
Custom Research Starting Out 46
Mall Interviews 47
Making It Fun 48
How One Company Did It 50
Phone Survey 51
Tabulating The Results 52
Summing Up: Questions To Consider 53
It’s A Modern World 55
With Traditional Values 56
Blue For Boys, Pink For Girls 57
The Enduring Barbie 58
Boy’s Products, Girl’s Products 60
Nature and Nurture 60
The Fitness Movement 62
Fashion-Conscious Fellows 63
Make-Up 64
Going Out on the Town 65
Supermarket Surprise 66
Household Experts on Food 67
Summary: Questions to Consider 68
The Big Idea 69
Your Goal: To Fill a Need 70
The Basics 72
How Do You Define Success? 73
Children’s Toothpaste: A Study in Flexibility 74
“Kidsizing” Grown Up Stuff 75
Research, Research, Research 77
“Straddle” Products 78
Old Product, New Technology 79
Educational Products 80
Updating the Classics 82
Licensing 82
Miniaturizing 83
Topical Product 84
Summing Up 84
What’s in a Name? 86
Why Names and Packages Are Important 86
Testing the Name 88
Where Do Names Come From? 89
The Process of Generating A Name 90
Two Kinds of Names 91
Familiar Breeds Security 93
A French Catalog 94
Packaging: Make It Eye-catching, Keep It Simple 95
Colors and Designs 96
How Much Should a Package Say? 98
Summing Up 99
Fast Facts 101
The New American Family 101
Children as Primary Consumers 102
Kids as Shoppers 102
Starting Out: Convenience Stores 102
Grocery Shopping with Mom 103
Toy Stores: The Kid Mecca 104
In Store Displays and Promotions 105
Sampling: A Small Taste 106
Arranging the Goods 107
Advanced Shopping: Mall Mania 108
How One Store Does It: The Gap 110
Music and Electronics 110
Cards ‘n Things 111
Summing Up: Questions to Consider 111
Favorite Commercials 113
The Hula Hoop Factor 114
Should You Advertise? 115
Beware of the Giants 116
But Don’t Be Intimidated 117
The Numbers Tell the Story 118
Television: The Traditional Choice 119
Results Now 120
Who Do You Want to Reach? 121
A Note About Ad Agencies 122
This Can Be Fun 123
The Formula: Tell a Story 123
Keep it Simple 124
Limit Your Arguments 124
Know Your Target’s Age 125
Use Older Models 125
Make It Fun, Make It Bright, Make It Rock 126
Learn What Kids Care About 127
Not Cynics 127
New is Cool 128
Tony the Tiger and Co. 128
Media Buying 129
Competition from Video Games 130
What About Mom and Dad? 131
The Rules 131
Product Presentations and Claims, Sales Pressure, Endorsements 132
Disclosures and Disclaimers, Comparative Claims 132
Safety 133
The Good News 133
Summing Up: Questions to Consider 134
Kids Are Readers Too 136
The Magazine Explosion 137
Benefits of Print 139
What Magazines Attract Kids 140
Print Advertising: Be Interactive 142
Kids’ Ads Are Different 142
Kids Are Curious: Make the Most of It 144
Be Sensitive to How Kids Think 144
Direct Mail and Kids 145
Building a List 147
What Do You Say in Direct Mail? 147
Making It Cost-Efficient 148
Cooperative Mailings 148
Custom Magazines 149
Summing Up 149
Stickers On My Sneakers? 151
What Premiums Do 152
Kids Are Joiners 154
Make The Promotion An Extension of Your Product 154
Make It Fun 155
Plan, Plan, Plan 156
Kool-Aid Summer Fun 156
Make It Educational 157
Keebler Promotes Self-Esteem 159
Make It Collectable 160
Teenagers: 12-18 Are Major Users of Computers and the Internet 162
Children Ages 6-11 164
Children’s Activities While Online 165
Under Five Crowd 165
Nickelodeon Online 166
What Companies Can Do to Attract Kids to Their Websites 167
Privacy Policy 167
Online Research with Kids 168
Internet Usage as Part of Education 169
Marketing to the Modern Teen 171
Computer Ownership 172
Internet Usage 174
Internet Shopping 176
Websites Kids Buy From 178
How Children Pay For Purchases Made on the Web 179
Laws Regarding Selling to Kids on Web 180
Latino KidTrends Marketing 182
Targeting the Latino Market 185
African American KidTrends Marketing 186
Targeting the African American Market 186
Kids Spending Power 187
The Age of Transition: How Tweens Differ From Kids & Teens 190
Tweens Are Growing Up Faster Than Previous Generations 190
The Internet Contributing to Their Growth 191
Lifestyle Influenced by the Media 191
Role Models of Boys & Girls 191
What Motivates Tweens 191
Age at Which Brand Preferences are Established 192
Tweens as Future Consumers 192
More Money to Spend 193
Tweens Buying Power 193
Tweens Influence Over Family Spending 193
Parents Still Have Control But are Giving
Tweens More Freedom Than Before 194
Marketing to Tweens 194
Tweens Coming of Age 195
New is Cool 196
Predicting Trends 198
Know Your KidTrends 200
Trend 1: New Technology 201
Trend 2: Education – A Means to an End 202
Trend 3: Family Life is Alive and Well; But Different 204
Trend 4: Fitness & Looking Good 204
Trend 5: Sports: Let the Games Begin 205
Trend 6: Sex Education 206
Trend 7: Importance of Eating Healthy Foods 207
Trend 8: Save Planet Earth 207
Trend 9: Spirit of Patriotism 208
Trend 10: Money, Brands, and Possessions 209