The true decision makers

Citation

Lindstrom, M. (2007), "The true decision makers", Young Consumers, Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/yc.2007.32108aab.001

The true decision makers

The true decision makers

I have some figures at my fingertips that I think will astound you.

Did you know that a full 67 per cent of families who buy a new car base their purchasing decision on advice given by their children? And that 62 per cent of mobile phones are bought by parents who have been heavily influenced by the opinions of their kids? And we are not only talking about American kids. We are talking about kids right across the globe in countries as diverse as India, Japan, Brazil, Spain, Turkey, German, Thailand, and even Denmark. In short, the power that this young generation wields over their parents has been shown to be nothing less than mind blowing.

The data are a result of the world’s largest study of the tween generation – that is kids between the ages of 8-14. This research was conducted for one of my books, BRANDchild, which looks at kids and their relationship with brands. The research was carried out by Millward Brown, and they interviewed thousands of children in 14 countries, across 70 cities. Among the many startling findings, the overwhelming evidence showed that brand-purchasing decisions were increasingly being made by the children of the household. And this is across the board in almost every product category from snacks and soft drinks to cosmetics and home wares.

What will this mean for your online strategy? It is vital that you structure your message to appeal to both markets. Obviously some features appeal more to parents, and others to their kids. But the challenge is to find out what appeals to each age group, and then let your site reflect a kind of something-for-everyone while most importantly maintaining the integrity of your core message.

The BRANDchild survey shows that combining a structured product presentation will appeal to the adult segment, whereas a product presented in its environment will appeal more to tweens. If your brand happens to belong to one of the 80 per cent of all product categories heavily influenced by tweens, then your site should combine both product presentations.

The use of colour is an incredibly important feature. This is also dependent on what product category is on offer, as well as the context in which the brand is presented. The colours that you select will need to appeal to both audiences, so for example, it would be a huge mistake to think in greys.

This sort of dual marketing is beginning to find its mark. Toyota in Australia has maintained its top position by using chicks, puppies and kittens in their commercials. And as strange as it may sound, using cute pets to sell cars has worked.

But marketing to kids is so much more than simply pestering them – and their parents. It is about achieving balance. You have to be totally honest and completely fulfil whatever it is that you promise to deliver. This is a generation that can detect anything phoney from miles away. Their youthfulness requires nothing less than the most ethical standards you can deliver. They are our future – and your future brand customers!

To key into the extraordinary purchasing power of tweens, there is another essential angle to consider: their language.

Tweens communicate with others all around the globe. In fact 15 per cent do so on a weekly basis. Furthermore, 70 per cent of all tweens in Europe text message – or SMS – each other every day. And the BRANDchild study revealed the emergence of a unique language in which this is happening. I call it TweenSpeak. Our research figures show that close to 60 per cent of all kids across the world have discarded traditional grammar in favour of the far more cool texting language. In fact 25 per cent state that they would prefer to text on their mobile phone or chat on the Internet than communicate “for real”. And this is even if they are sitting side by side.

It has become increasingly clear to me that TweenSpeak is much more than a new way of writing. It is a new language which has operates with icon-based symbols, abbreviations, contractions and numerals – enabling tweens in the USA to talk with tweens in Japan with very little misunderstanding. Now that phones come with full-colour screens and built-in cameras, messages are jam packed with cartoons, broken hearts, houses, trees, animals, and a whole host of emoticons.

See for yourself. Ask any tween to give you a glance at their e-mails or online conversations, and you will see what they call “cute” icons, proving in a whole new way that pictures speak louder than words.

But what does it mean for you? It goes back to the necessity for dual strategies I mentioned earlier. Part of this strategy will mean talking TweenSpeak. This is not to say that you should discard your corporate language, but it is important that you consider the value of communicating to both audiences simultaneously. The challenge will be to integrate the corporate language with TweenSpeak.

Tweens are a unique generation. They are the world’s first truly interactive population. They are born with a computer screen as their window on the world and use a mouse to navigate it. Their expectations of their brands are enormous. Their desires need to be satisfied instantaneously.

Their influence, as we have discovered, is huge. And for all these reasons, it is important that you rethink your description of your target group. And then redesign the way you intend to appeal to your audience.

It is a challenge to achieve the balance between conveying your brand message while maintaining all the ethics that are required to speak directly to kids. But if nothing else, it is something you need to discuss this internally. Because if you fail to pay heed to the language of tweens, it will not take long for them to persuade their parents to support a much “cooler brand” which may very likely on your competitor’s site.

Martin LindstromMartin Lindstrom is author of BRANDchild and BRAND sense.