Brutal honesty in children could be a marketing plus

If the Young Turks in your marketing department aren’t delivering

the goods, there could be a very simple explanation. They’re either

still too young to have children of their own, or they obviously haven’t

realised they could save a lot of time and money by first running their

latest half-baked campaign past a pair of passing ten-year-olds.

Like most parents, the discovery that my own offspring can get straight

to the heart of the matter has sometimes proved painful. You’re an

out-of-date yoghurt, announced my eldest at the tender age of seven,

only too aware of my sensitivity at having long passed my sell-by date.

Even more to the point, her younger sister was overheard telling a

friend that, yes, daddy works on the radio, and even if nobody listens

he still gets paid. So there you have it - I can’t recall hearing a

finer definition of public service radio anywhere.

Children and young people are often mistakenly characterised as being

even more fickle and unpredictable consumers than their adult

counterparts.

It is, of course, more that their tastes can change rapidly, so there’s

often little early warning for brand owners that the party is over. For

instance, my two daughters knew that designer trainers had peaked in

Britain months before the likes of Reebok or Adidas appeared to have

spotted that anything was amiss. It all goes to show how risky it is

for, say, the brewers or other fast moving consumer goods companies to

study the drugs culture for ideas and images, which will almost by

definition, be out-of-date yoghurts by the time they reach the

shelves.

Tapping into the consuming passions of children can be tricky.

Advertising agency Leo Burnett is apparently having considerable success

using the internet to quiz schoolchildren on their likes and dislikes in

food, beverages, footwear and entertainment. The idea has spread here

from the US. Sixty schools in Britain have reportedly been signed up. It

seems twice a year children log on to a special web site and answer a

series of questions. The school is rewarded with computer software and

other incentives or samples.

Burnetts says Kellogg used the system to find out more about breakfast

eating habits, while McVitie’s put its money on Orangey Tangs miniature

dolls after discovering how much kids like collecting.

The fact is that most children love filling in multiple-choice forms

about their tastes. I once found my eldest had spent well over an hour

ploughing through one of those extended consumer surveys - and what’s

more, her responses regarding my own tastes were frighteningly

accurate.

Some educationalists are worried about creeping commercialism in the

classroom. At this level it seems harmless enough if there is a tangible

benefit for the school or college - far better than the intrusion of

direct sponsorship or brand names on exercise books.

Nigel Cassidy is business correspondent of Radio 4’s Today programme.

This article was first published on Marketing