The new age of the branded tots

Shanghai Expat Forum Index » Hot Topics Forums » Family Life and Kids

Author

Message

subhashis.basu

Reacher

Joined: Dec 28, 2005
Posts: 342
Location: India - Shanghai
Status: Offline

Posted: June 14, 2006 - 11:57 AM
Post subject: The new age of the branded tots

This is an interesting article from an Indian newspaper today.
What do you think......is the story same everywhere?

The new age of the branded tots
- disney Study reveals significant kids’ facts

A collage of some of the most popular Disney characters
Did you know that kids love to study in their spare time? Or that they decide not only the toothpaste brand for the family but also the insurance agent? Or that girls are as crazy about automobiles as boys?

Some little-known facts, some universal truths and lots of interesting insights into the mind of the smallest, but often most significant, member of the family, form the highlights of KidSense, a study conducted by kids’ brand Disney and media management company GroupM.

Conducted across 10 cities, including Calcutta and the other metros, the study asked 3,400 kids questions ranging from which ads and brands they like and what they pester their parents to buy, to the activities they prefer during spare time and the kind of people they look up to in life.

“A key factor emerging from the study was that Indian families are becoming more democratic. Children always had an opinion. But the difference is, now parents are listening to them,” said Rajat Jain, managing director of The Walt Disney Company (India).

Other interesting nuggets in the study include a strong interest from kids in supposedly adult categories like holiday destinations, bikes and cars; kids choosing cycling as the most popular outdoor game after cricket; their saving pocket money besides spending it on chocolates and chips, and displaying a clear preference for brands.

What also emerged were distinct characteristics among kids’ age groups.

“You cannot look at kids in a single band of four to 14. Particularly with the eight or nine-year-olds beginning to show themselves as teenagers and, on the whole, the age bands shrinking rapidly,” said Jasmeet Kaur Srivastava of research firm The Third Eye, which conducted and collated the data.

KidSense found the four to five-year-olds (or Toothagers, as termed in the study) to see everything “alive” in their world. “For them, cars can fly, doors can talk and birds can sing. Repetitiveness is another positive factor for them, as they want to hear and see the same thing again and again,” said Srivastava.

The Toonagers (six to nine-year olds), on the other hand, realise that there are two worlds — the real and fantasy — and use costumes and play to move from one to the other.

“They are also in search of an identity and often take up the identity of the superheroes,” Srivastava explained.

The world of the Tweenagers (10 to 14 years) is defined by peers. “Peer acceptance is vital. Also, at this age, they form an idea of who or what they want to be,” added Srivastava. The study found boys looking up to a “funny and nice guy” and girls rooting for someone “good-looking, confident and stylish”.

Through the study, Disney and GroupM plan to create a knowledge bank on children and their habits.

“Kids are still a grey area in research in India and there is a gap in data. That is what got us into this,” said Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO of GroupM, South Asia.

The two companies plan to take the initiative forward through seminars, more research and branching out into other markets.

_________________
Motto to live by: Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn ou

HK2ShviaUSA

Reacher

Joined: Feb 14, 2006
Posts: 274

Status: Offline

Posted: June 19, 2006 - 10:18 PM

based on what I've read....tweens in the USA are defined as 8-12 year olds (pre-teens). Based on personal experiences, the repetitive thing (as for their 4-5yo), stopped when my youngest turned 4 and my other 2 kids had even less of that. And the 6-9 yo in the study, my kids stop dressing up when they were 6. So I think the ages need to be shifted a bit compared to USA.

To put things in perspective, we are Americans but have been living in Asia for more than 9 years and I wouldn't say I bring up kids totally American (I am immigrant to USA but when I was 6), but with some chinese traditional values.

"..displaying a clear preference for brands." Definitely! But I think that has to do with recognition and familiarity and not wanting something unfamiliar.

But I don't think that the opening paragraph information is true since we stay away from commerical TV so they are NOT subjected to as much 'brainwashing'.