The recent announcement that Facebook was considering opening its site officially to those under age 13 addresses a widely known but unacknowledged reality: 7.5 million of the social network’s 800 million users are children under 13.
While Facebook Jr. may still only be a rumor, the issue illustrates an enduring dilemma for many marketers: how should they handle it when children embrace products that aren’t specifically meant for them? Food and beverage marketers, for instance, have adopted self-regulating youth marketing restrictions, such as avoiding running TV ads during kids’ programming. However, many adult programs, such as Fox’s Raising Hope and CBS’s NCIS, have large numbers of teens and childrens watching, but marketers aren’t subject to these restrictions.
The Backdoor Method
This presents an opportunity for marketers to reach children, without specifically “marketing to children.” Univision’s Pequenos Gigantes, a reality show featuring children ages 4-12, reached 7.8 million viewers during its second season premiere in June, according to Nielsen; most of its viewers are moms with young children.
Although Kellogg does not consider its Krave cereal as a “child-targeted brand,” the newly introduced cereal has been extremely popular among families with young children, according to grocers. Furthermore, children ages 6-11 saw more TV ads for Krave during the first quarter of 2012 than those in any other age group, according to the Rudd Center. The reason, says the Rudd Center, is that many of these ads appeared during programs such as SpongeBob, Adventure Time, and Victorious that do not qualify as advertising “primarily directed to children” according to the industry’s self-regulation guidelines.
These are just two examples of the many opportunities to reach millions of families outside of the familiar kid-friendly staples.
Other marketers, particularly video game and entertainment brands, focus on teens and rely on the trickle-down effect to reach younger consumers. Many parents also ignore age guidelines when making entertainment choices for their children. One in four parents (26%) allow their children under age 12 to see PG-13 movies on their own, and 20% take their children with them to R-rated movies, according to Ipsos Media OTX.
One in six parents of boys 9-12 (16%) allow their children to play videogames rated M, such as Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat, and 51% let them play T-rated games, such as Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft.
While often the marketing overlap is organic and benign, and sometimes the appropriateness is borderline, with tacit as well as overt support from parents, entertainment companies and brand advertisers are certain to continue to attempt to interest kids in products intended for older audiences.
As with most marketing to kids, it’s all about balancing interests and not overstepping largely undefined lines.
Contacts and Connections: Nielsen, Charlie Pollak, Associate Manager, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003; 646-654-5000; charles.pollak@nielsen.com; www.nielsen.com.
Ipsos OTX, Donna Sabino, SVP Kids and Family Insights, 275 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001; 212-524-8242; donna.sabino@ipsos.com; www.ipsos.com.
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, Rebecca Gertsmark Oren, Director of Communications, PO Box 208369, New Haven, CT 06520; 203-436-2513; rebecca.oren@yale.edu; www.cerealfacts.org.
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