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Companies Learn How To Sell Stuff To Kids

Nathan Dungan, Family Finance Expert

POSTED: Monday, March 6, 2006
UPDATED: 11:20 am CST March 6, 2006

Have you ever wondered who concocts all those schemes that target your child or grandchild with the latest, greatest consumer product?

One high-profile venue for dispensing the best marketing ideas de jour is the annual Kid Power Conference. This year, the conference is being held in Orlando, Fla., at the Disney Yacht and Beach Club.

For 13 years, Kid Power has been convening conferences that bring together top youth marketers from around the world. Their goal: teach conference attendees how to reach the highly profitable global youth market.

The conference description says it all. “With 13 years under our belts, we understand what's important to the marketing minds attempting to engage the ever evolving kids' market. That's why we have organized four full days packed with creativity, education and opportunity. Getting the most out of Kid Power 2006 is as easy as A-B-C-D….”

And lest you think this is small potatoes, think again. Not only are these companies dreaming up new ways to sell even more stuff to your kids and grandkids, they are also targeting you -- parents and grandparents.

According to youth-marketing agency Wonder Group, “if a product or service is purchased for a child, moms tell us that the child is between 80 percent and 90 percent influential in the decision. Even if a purchase is made for the family (like a car or new home) the child is highly influential!”

Having attended similar conferences like Kid Power; I’ve seen first hand how eager companies are to learn new techniques for mesmerizing toddlers, tweens and teens with yet another “gotta-have-it-now” advertising campaign.

Brand imprinting is big business. How big? Think trillion-dollar big.

In fact, youth 18 and under will spend and influence the spending of more than $1 trillion this year in the U.S. With so much money at stake, you can see why conferences like Kid Power have been so successful.

With the stakes so high for being a preferred brand of the under 20 set, how does one successfully navigate the shark-infested waters?

If your current strategy for dealing with the marketing barrage is to “close your eyes and hope it goes away” a few words of warning. It won’t work. When facing adversity, it is best to address it head-on.

Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

  1. Query friends in your neighborhood to see how they are successfully addressing the issue. Word-of-mouth idea sharing is often the best way to bubble-up new ideas.
  2. Raise the awareness of your children or grandchildren by asking them to track all the different ways they are marketed to over the course of a day or a week.
  3. Ask them to identify which, if any, of these messages encourage them to save or share some of their money.

When did you first notice that the amount of advertising to children had increased?

To help you get started, think about how much advertising directed at kids has changed from 1976 to 2006. In short, the contrast is startling.

Nearly 60 percent of kids age 6-11 watch television commercials.

Source: The Center for Media Research

If you have comments or questions for Dungan, click here.

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Nathan Dungan is the author of the book, "How Not To Be Your Child's ATM: Prodigal Sons & Material Girls." Dungan is the president and founder of Share Save Spend LLC, an organization that helps people of all ages develop and maintain healthy financial habits. For more information, please visit sharesavespend.com.
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