What makes a brand "cool" to kids?
GELLER: To have a product that's cool you have to have both the right ingredients and execution. It’s sort of like being a chef. Cool products almost always have something about them that kids know: "I know this, I get this, I'm in control of this." And then something that they don't know -- something that's new and innovative, that makes their minds look at that product or that category in a different way.
Another aspect of cool is taking something that is loved, appreciated, exciting in one category and moving it into another. Like carbonation in cereal. Or glitter in shampoo. And, there should be something about it that is not quite mother-approved. It could be attitude, it could be how you use a product, it could be using a product in a way or a place that you‘re not supposed to.
HALPIN: Cool is for teens what fun is for kids. It's the cost of entry to compete in the youth market. Cool is
not a point of difference. that's because there are different kinds of cool and different kinds of fun. Fun with a Gameboy is very different than being on a roller coaster. The same thing is true of cool. Nike is cool in a very different way than Delia’s or Hardcandy cosmetics. Marketers need to determine what particular kind of cool, what particular kind of fun they are offering to kids because that’s where their competitive advantage, creative direction and brand traction lives.
SCHROEDER: When it comes to teens, cool is all about creating a feeling of discovery. Teens prefer to feel that they stumbled across a brand on their own -- that's what creates mystique. Some of the most successful teen brands have worked their way into the teen culture by surrounding teens with their message. Sprite's "Obey Your Thirst" campaign featured a line of graffiti-like stickers. Teens stuck them everywhere and they took on a subversive aura, a movement of sorts that teens advanced. Basketball company "And One" took to the hard courts of New York City and distributed their now ubiquitous "trash talking" t-shirts among serious hoops players. Other teens saw the shirts and clamored to find their own.
McKEE: I think when kids say, "that's cool," what they're really saying is, "Wow, they really understand me. I was thinking about that same thing, and I can't believe an adult got it.” What makes things cool for kids is fun. But you can’t trivialize what fun means. We’ve actually identified eight kinds of fun, ranging from scary fun to silly fun, fantasy fun and even naughty fun.
Which product or service categories are most underdeveloped for the kids market?
HALPIN: One area for teens is automotive. Relatively few brands understand the older teen/young adult when it comes to their first car purchase. A car represents everything good about growing up, it offers something that’s so pure and so full of possibility and hope and optimism. They have an emotional investment in a car that they likely never experience again. Health and beauty aids is another area. What do eleven year-old s need for their skin, as they’re developing? Are there certain moisturizers or sunscreens that should be created and marketed to this sector?
SCHROEDER Another opportunity is clothing for plus-sized girls. A recent study found that 25 to 30 percent of girls wear a size 14 or larger. In spite of this, most stores devoted to teen fashion offer nothing larger than a size 10 or 12. Imagine being a plus-sized girl today. You already feel unsure about your weight and your appearance--and on top of that, you're not given access to the same fashions as your peers. This is a huge issue. I would hope that in the near term there will be a world of products for these girls because there's not much out there now.
GELLER: How about destinations? We know why most families go to Disneyworld and theme parks. But I think many parents ask themselves where should I go on vacation, where should I go for a weekend, where should I spend my Saturday? They want to provide experiences for their children. Families are more child-oriented than ever before. Teens are more mobile than they’ve ever been, but you don't see a lot of destination marketing to young people.
McKEE: Don't forget food. For Gogurt, we took a new slice on the yogurt category to make it relevant to kids and tweens. Even cereal, which used to be marketed just to adults. Now, you can’t help but equate cereal with kids. Polaroid has done a great job of marketing to teens with the iZone. It’s not only a cool camera, but they came up with cool film products and cool interactivity online.
What are the most critical misunderstandings that marketers have about marketing to kids?
McKEE: The practice of gratuitous marketing versus marketing with real integrity. Most people who do it wrong take something that's typically black and make it purple, and suddenly it's a kid product. Gogurt, by comparison, made itself portable by getting rid of the spoon, which was a fundamental problem tweens had with yogurt and it’s suddenly a huge category. The question we always ask is: Are you maximizing the potential of your product? Are you aiming for a home run or simply settling for a single or a double?
GELLER: Marketers often get carried away by the notion that image is the be all and end all. They tend to look at their product and say, I have to surround it with the accoutrements of cool, attitude and edge, but they forget the intrinsic benefits to kids. Kids really want to know: Why should I put that in my mouth or in my backpack? Why should I bring it into my bedroom? And that is usually the most important part of the commercial. With any food commercial, if you ask children what's the best part, they almost always say, "when the kid took a bite."
SCHROEDER: This notion that because they’re the MTV generation, kids today are all about the remote control and changing the channel. The reality is because they are so over stimulated, most kids actually care about depth and taking the time to understand something really well. They’re not all about quick-cuts and don’t need to be continually entertained.
HALPIN: Kids and teens are still developing; they’re in transition. Marketers need to understand what that transition looks like. Kids and teens have different rituals, different ways of making decisions, they’re almost a different culture. The trick is to look through their eyes, then make your decisions about new product development, what story boards to produce and what package graphics to use, try to see the world as they see it.
How can marketers sustain brand allegiance as kids mature to adults?
HALPIN: One strategy is a portfolio approach where there’s product that grows with the kids -- like Gap with its Baby Gap, Gap Kids and Gap segmentations. Another way is the approach big brands like Coke, McDonalds or Disney are taking, which tailor their communications, advertising and promotions to different age segments, using different messages.
The brand remains the same, but what the brand means to the different targets can change. If McDonalds is always about fast food made fun, then the translation of what that means at different stages of life is what drives that strategy. Their goal is convey to all audiences the impression that McDonalds really understands me, they know what I want. And that’s a way to preserve loyalty as children grow up.
GELLER: They key is to associate the brand with occasions that children and then adults have as they proceed through their lives. So, a child playing baseball puts gum in his or her mouth to relieve stress. As a young adult, I might pop a piece of gum before a job interview. Then, I might do the same years later, before a big meeting.
The same often holds true when you start with a brand while young, like shampoo or toothpaste. The chances are good you’ll stick with these brands as you age. The goal for marketers is to attach their products to occasions that will be mirrored in consumers’ teen years, young adult years and later on when they have their own children.
SCHROEDER: I think Volkswagen is a good example with its “Drivers Wanted” campaign. The brand has been around forever, but they’ve reinvigorated it with fun music and very hip young adults. One thing we notice about teens is that they try on a different personality every six months. They’re constantly exploring and finding different facets of their personalities. As a result, they expect brands to behave somewhat similarly, maintaining some consistency but also keeping themselves fresh.
McKEE: You can also look at it in reverse fashion. That is, adults want to recapture the fun of youth. They’re looking for things that they can take from their childhood, apply to their lives and rekindle the fun of being a kid again. It’s the whole “kidult” phenomenon. This applies to things like board games, chewing gum -- even cereal like Lucky Charms that has heavy consumption among college students.
How different are American kids from those elsewhere around the world?
GELLER: The greatest differences seem to occur as children get older. The younger the child, the more they have in common. They all need to learn to crawl, learn to walk, learn their first words and learn to read. As children grow, they take in the outside world at increasing levels, which stimulates differences. These developmental stages of growth happen faster in some countries and somewhat slower in others, depending on how much the culture encourages or discourages it.
Kids and teens all over the world have the same issues and fundamental needs to explore, gain control and achieve power. Communications may differ around the world. All teens need to develop autonomy and break away from their parents. In South America, you see a lot of communications about teens being together and connecting and friendship. In Europe, you see more in terms of breaking away.
HALPIN: The work of childhood is figuring out the rules of how to become a member of the human race, how to function in this "tribe." Then, once that's figured out, the developmental work of adolescence is a matter of identity definition, and that's where the cultural differences matter more.
McKEE: I think American kids have incredible self-awareness as a result of being marketed to so much and having so much access to information. We have kids in focus groups who talk like brand managers. The vocabulary and language they use to describe product benefits is amazing. Kids are smarter today than many give them credit for. They're not easily manipulated, they use the products they want to use and reject the others. They’re beginning to own their role in this process and have made it a very positive thing for themselves. They‘re very aware and extremely savvy. And they've made it much harder on marketers and the rest of us to reach them and influence purchase behavior.
SCHROEDER: Kids today have much more of a multi-cultural perspective than any other previous generation. Because they have grown up in an Internet-equipped world, they've had access to different cultures and to products from around the globe for most of their lives. The growing number of global brands reinforces this melting pot phenomenon.
