The New Rules of Marketing to Kids What Indian Marketplace Can Learn from Global Brands That Gave up on Advertising to the 6-12 Year Olds
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CCI NG 3.5 Product: ETMumbaiBS PubDate: 25-05-2016 Zone: BrandEquityWest Edition: 1 Page: BEWFP User: sandeep.dutta Time: 05-20-2016 23:09 Color: CMYK KIDS SPECIAL ISSUE THE ECONOMIC TIMES MAY 25-31, 2016 WEST Pg2 Chhota Bheem: The rise & rise of India’s first Under The AUTO homegrown hero Baby, You Can inside Buy My Car? Given the family car is a rolling testa- ment to its cool quotient, children INFLUENCE typically have a lot to say about this With a few weeks of vacation time at hand, Brand Equity ester power was used to se- cure entirely different purchase. By Ravi Balakrishnan brings you a handy guide on how to talk to an elusive, fickle products over the last few decades. It got a kid a 5 Star ost kids — frequently but not exclusively little demographic: children or a Double Decker in the Mboys — go through a gearhead phase. A time Angry Birds: P70s; a Barbie, a Walkman or when they plaster their rooms with posters of Will the film reboot He-Man’s Castle Greyskull Lamborghinis or Ferraris and can actually explain why in the 80s, another deck of ‘wrestling the six cylinder Ducati bike is a marvel of technology. the franchise? cards’ or a gaming PC in the 90s. These With luck (for the auto industry) the phase may never days, kids have set their sights higher. pass and the kid who gawped in amazement at a Harley Pg3 Think actual cars, the apartment block Davidson or a BMW actually buys one before he’s 30. you live in and what you Add To Cart But then, this phase is also a great time to catch a family while browsing the next Big Sale Day. looking to buy a car since at this point, the child emerges From a time when children were seen but as self-appointed expert, inquiring after rear seat airbags not heard, kids these days have a say in and unusual paintjobs. And, of what were traditionally boring adult con- The child course, the parents are listening. versations. From being informed, the emerges Says Sanjeev Handa, VP – market- child these days is consulted. Blame it on ing, Maruti Suzuki, “As families be- (or praise) parents who are less authoritar- as self come nuclear, the kids born in this ian than they used to be, kids who are bet- appointed century have a lot of say in what peo- ter informed than before, peer networks expert. ple choose. From colours to features Some of India’s finest and peer pressure where everything from And, of they will do research and are more on kids: what makes cars to houses are pitted against each oth- course informed than we are.” It’s some- them tick and how er by their tiniest occupants, and a market the par- thing he has noticed on school visits where the glut of choice has made the deci- where children know more about they’ve changed sion making process a lot harder. Baffled ents listen cars, their variants and sub vari- by the differences between Quadcore pro- ants, a phenomenon that was not cessors, phone memory and storage mem- seen a mere 15 years ago. As a result, addressing their Pg4 ory and just how the iPhoneX is different needs and acknowledging them in ads has become more from the ones that came before it? important. Maruti Suzuki did this recently with an ad From the You can always count on one of the tots for Alto commemorating sales past the 30 lakh mark via mouths of in your circle to do the spadework and a film called India Ki Pehli Sawari showing kids hitch- babes: BE break it down in a more understandable ing rides on their parent’s backs. It’s not just ads speaks to way. BE gives you an insight into a though; while children are enthusiastic about show- handful of categories where con- rooms and test drives, they lose interest when the time young Indians sumers are, for want of a better comes to seal the deal. And so all Maruti Suzuki show- on what word, under the influence rooms have special play areas (minimum 120 square they want of or at least giving due feet) that kids are directed to by the showroom manag- from life & consideration to what their er. According to Handa, these are part of the corporate the brands kids think. identity for the brand, so the deal can be made in a dis- traction free environment. they love. Turn to Pg 4 for e-commerce, Prepare to be Real Estate and BFSI categories>> surprised ILLUSTRATION: ANIRBAN BORA The New Rules Of Marketing To Kids What Indian marketplace can learn from global brands that gave up on advertising to the 6-12 year olds. By Shephali Bhatt and Amit Bapna Did you know that Mondelez can feature kids below here are several such ‘Did You Knows’ per- eight years of age in its advertisements only if they’re taining to the rules of marketing to children shown under the supervision of parents or guardians Tthat a lot of seniors from the industry ‘did not who’re ‘affirming responsible and monitored con- know’. (We are refraining from naming them sumption’? here lest it costs them their next pitch or account). In Or that Coca-Cola can’t place ads in media advertising’s national interest, we’ve put together a where over 35% of the audience is children set of rules that can help safeguard the children of under 12? men from being exploited at the hands of Mad Men. And that Nestle can’t put any outdoor ads within 50 (Check ‘The Rulebook’ on Page 3) metres of a kindergarten, primary school, or a play- ground, unless it’s for food and beverages that are ‘nu- Why Marketing To Kids Requires New Rules tritionally compliant’ with its global policy? * Firstly, kids under the age of 12 are considered to be malleable. Adults, one assumes, know that ads are meant to “sell” things to them; but you can’t expect all kids to be that discerning. Kids these days are ex- posed to more media than any other generation ever was in its childhood. And as Mondelez puts it in its code of conduct: Younger children have a limited ca- pacity for evaluating the credibility of (or the deluge of) information they receive. * Secondly, childhood obesity has become a worldwide issue. In its 2011 UN Summit on non-communicable dis- eases, the United Nations appealed Adults to the private sector to “reduce the know ads impact of marketing of products are meant high in salt, sugar and fat to children to sell. in light of the dramatic rise in child- You can’t hood obesity over the past decades.” * Thirdly, and this is specific to the expect Indian market: Single TV house- kids to holds are in a majority in this coun- be that try and mothers often control the re- discerning mote during prime time. So, a child in the 4-14 age group inadvertently ends up watching advertisements meant for an older audience. (Point highlighted by Nikhil Gandhi, VP and head of revenue for Disney India media channels). Therefore, not only do brands have to exercise cau- tion while making ads meant only for kids’ channels; brands falling in the Food and Beverages category have to ensure all their advertising maintains a uni- versal standard that promotes healthy lifestyle. Because Rules Are Meant to be Broken? It’s because of the aforementioned reasons that regu- latory bodies have become stringent about the imple- mentation of rules regarding marketing to kids. Yet, a lot of companies don’t adhere to these rules quite often. In 2010, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — the United States’ largest health-centered charity or- ganisation, conducted a study. It showed that “fast- food companies have not adhered to the food industry’s self-regulation guidelines when it comes to marketing to kids.” Continued on Pg 3>> CCI NG 3.5 Product: ETMumbaiBS PubDate: 25-05-2016 Zone: BrandEquityWest Edition: 1 Page: BEWPG2 User: sandeep.dutta Time: 05-20-2016 23:08 Color: CMYK ECONOMIC TIMES THE MAY 25-31, 2016 2 Bheem Me Up Can The Birds How homegrown hero Chhota Bheem took on Mickey, Spidey, Oggy, and won. By Ravi Balakrishnan Fly Again? e are sure this fight plays out in Chhota Bheem V/S The Critics the minds of chil- Rajiv Chilaka, CEO, Green Gold reacts to some of the Will a big screen outing revive the fortunes of dren all over In- most common critiques that have come the way of dia: in one corner, Chhota Bheem the mobile gaming franchise, bringing back kids WSuperman, Iron 1. Kids get hooked to the show when very young and kick up a and their parents? By Amit Bapna Man and maybe fuss on being told to stop viewing it. Parents know best about Doraemon. Facing off against them a what age children should start watching the show. It’s also up scrappy nine year old with an inexhaust- to them to control the TV. Often, when busy fi nishing chores or ible appetite for laddoos, clad only in a catching up with friends, they put on a kids’ channel and then dhoti, surrounded by a ragtag band of suddenly expect the child to switch off in a second. Children are not going to do that. Parents should restrict time on Chhota sidekicks. Chhota Bheem’s triumphs are Bheem or any other show and ought to take time out to play, not just of the imaginary variety, though.