With changing times, in whatever the type of media, say print or TV or Radio, even SMS, one point is very clear, the marketers are moving more towards the children but are more than targeting them with the products that they actually consume.
From "Arjun Amma Yaaru?"
à A Tamil AD Slogan meaning "Who is Arjun's Mother?" to "My Daddy's Strongest", they widely cover all the aspects of consumer products — be it Sports Utility Vehicle or Milk Powder , vacuum cleaners or water purifiers, tooth pastes or floor cleansers, Soaps or even home appliances. Children are no longer being treated as passive viewers, but are targeted as 'Influencers' in household buying rather than looked down as initiators for only products which they consume.
"Arjun Amma Yaaru" Campaign In Tamil Nadu"
Not only have children become a significant support for product ads, but varieties of merchandise aimed at them have expanded a great deal as well. Now, there are entire TV networks exclusive for kids which really made this paradigm shift in the marketer's way of AD making.
Children's channels have now emerged as a new phenomenon. Before 2001, there was only one channel for kids in India — Cartoon Network. But in 2004 alone, four new channels were launched — UTV's Hungama, Sony's Animax, Turner's Pogo, Disney's Toon Disney. In addition Regional Channels targeting Kids like Chutti TV(Tamil), have made their chances of targeting much more favorable.
A recent global survey conducted by Synovate, a global market research firm, concluded 42 per cent kids in India influence their parent's decision in buying high-priced goods like cars.
Marketing High Involvement Products
A Cartoon Network study showed 31 per cent of parents take their kids along to buy refrigerators and washing machines. This phenomenon, no doubt, has opened the eyes of brand marketers and TV heads towards a new segment that for long remained unexplored in India. No wonder, every second ad features a child J
Cartoon Network, which started with 5 million households, has reached 22 million households today. Purnendu Bose, COO, Hungama TV, which launched in September, says: "With 315 million kids around, it's time to bring in these channels that may become a bigger phenomenon than the news segment in this country."
But experts say so many more channels means that winning over Indian kids is not going to be easy. With millions of them suddenly having a plethora of channels to surf, finding 'sticky eyeballs' is going to be a big challenge.
So, channels are trying to differentiate programming, either by churning out more local content or by customising events. Added challenge here is that unless the marketers change their ideas with market dynamics, they'd be left out.
Exerts confirm that as more players enter they will only help expand, penetrate and educate the market. Clearly, more channels will lead to different genres developing their own USPs, which is only a positive win-win strategy.
According to an Ernst & Young study of 2004, one-third of the total AD making expenditure in India goes primarily towards targeting children and causing them to use their elusive power for the purchase process to happen. But as TV networks battle it out for little hearts, Indian kids have never had it so good. This clearly the impact of Pester Power on Advertising in the Indian Scenario J
REFERENCES:
- Ernst & Young Study report – 2004
- Times of India Edition – 5th Feb, 2005
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