Strategy

Some of us remember a time when the only things marketed to children were toys. Ricochet Racers, Hungry, Hungry Hippo! Digital Derby, Barbie (of course) and Hot Wheels. That was when a kid had to pester their parents to buy them stuff.

{Points of differentiation, product attributes, value proposition – ah, the olden times}

Yes, toys were marketed to children but they were toys that engaged the imagination, inspired creativity, developed make-believe skills, supported social skills and promoted hand-eye coordination. Nowadays, 12-year-olds are walking around with iPhones and hanging out at Starbucks. What the hell happened?

The term “Tween” was rustled from it’s Middle-English slumber, that’s what happened. Sure, it sounded adorable but what it signified was a thrust by marketers to get hooks for their products and brands into kids while they were still soft and malleable. You don’t need good grades if you’re popular and accepted!

It’s been close to 20 years since tweens were identified as a consumer audience. They are now a $40+ billion dollar market. Clothes are designed to disintegrate after one season, shoes fall apart after a few months and body-image issues dominate. What’s amazing is how marketing to this delicate audience was initially positioned by youth marketers – like it was lifting them out of some kind of bondage! Those poor tweens! No one is listening to their needs. No one cares enough to take their money. Emancipate them! So powerful. We wept.

Thanks to those pioneering youth marketers with the courage to listen to (exploit) what pre-pubescents want, tweens now grow up with low expectations for products, services, media, politics, entertainment, as well as other human beings because they are permanently latched to the teat of high-test mediocrity. Jersey Shore, Housewives, damned near anything on TLC. Impermanence is the standard – everything is disposable. We’re in the Matrix, where’s the red pill?

Crap you don’t need at prices you’ll love is the consumer mantra of today. As we look at economies around the world that are circling the bowl, does this hyper-consumerism make any sense? Why bring the kids into this mess? In his book, Childhood Under Siege - How Big Business Targets Children, Joel Bakan articulates how sneaky and devious marketers are becoming as they stoop ever-downward to exploit kids to feed the bottom line. He’s the same guy who wrote The Corporation. It’s a worthwhile read.

Especially for parents who have just sent their children back to school.