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FiMinsight
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TARGETING
KID CONSUMERS:
Pester Power vs.
Purchasing Power
Move over
pester power. FiM's Eddy Harding argues that the key to
success in the kids' market lies in harnessing kids' purchasing
power
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In recent years, 'pester power' has been one
of the buzzwords of the kid marketing industry. Harnessing
its power has become a holy grail for those who believe it
to be the key to parents' purse strings. |
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However, pester power is not a lifelong or even childhood-long
phenomenon. Pestering kids grow quickly into purchasing adults.
This change does not happen overnight, nor does it happen
in a vacuum. Stating the obvious? Perhaps. But poor information
on just how and when this transformation takes place, combined
with limited targeting options, has made developing age-appropriate
marketing strategies notoriously difficult. |
"Pestering
kids grow quickly into purchasing adults. This change does
not happen in a vacuum"
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As a result, advertisers have had little choice but
to use a blanket approach. Based on the 'pester power' principle,
advertisers have aimed almost solely at building brand awareness,
rather than encouraging purchase. While
this approach is indeed suitable for children reliant on parental
purchasing, it is less appropriate for those children with
their own purchasing power. |
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Today's kids have more money at their disposal at a
younger age. And, as children grow, so does their spending
power, with 15 year olds having approximately 4 times more
spending power than 7 year olds*. |
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Also, rather than haranguing their parents into buying
products for them, FiM research shows that kids are increasingly
going out and buying products for themselves - especially
snack, drinks and music (see
table). In
this sector especially, the importance of kids' own purchasing
power is clearly evident; Datamonitor estimates that child
purchases accounted for over £1.6bn in the food industry last
year alone. |
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So,
what are the options? |
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To
cover all the bases, advertisers must look for ways to address
kids not only as 'pesterers', but as consumers in their own
right. How? Build purchasing habits as well as brand awareness,
and target these strategies appropriately, according to the
purchasing power of the age-group in question. |
"Kids
are increasingly buying for themselves. To cover all the
bases, advertisers must work to build purchasing habits
as well as brand awareness"
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It's
not as difficult as you might expect. The good news for advertisers
is that there is no need to reinvent the wheel: my experience
has shown that traditional "adult" marketing strategies such
as sampling, couponing and loyalty clubs have proven highly
effective among kids as young as 7.
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Segmenting
the kids market is also surprisingly easy. Channels such as
FiM's Schools Sampling Bags enable advertisers to pinpoint
kids by age-group, TV region and even by sex (in teenage bags).
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In
a highly competitive marketplace, advertisers cannot afford
to ignore opportunities to target their advertising more effectively.
Harnessing kid's growing purchasing power effectively is quite
simply a must. If you don't, you can be sure your competitors
will. |
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And,
if you don't believe me, take a look at our client list. |
| Eddy
Harding is FiM's Projects Director and a Member of the Institute
of Direct Marketing. |
| *
Family Expenditure Survey, Office for National Statistics,
© Crown Copyright 1999 |
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