This week IAB Canada was joined by Jarrod Walczer, Strategic Insights Manager NA from SuperAwesome who walked us through their latest 2021 Kids Trends, Research and Insights Report With Canadian kids spending more time on screens, across multiple devices, this report solidified 5 fundamental shifts that have occurred during the pandemic that marketers and planners need to understand.
- Tech is the Default Setting
With 60% of 3-9 year-olds owning their own tablets, ¾ of teens with their own phone, and 50% of young teens owning a laptop and a tablet – there is an opportunity to communicate directly to this segment on their own device. With a turn to audio (40% listening to podcasts and 15% turning to voice-based technologies) brands need to leverage these new formats, and the myriad of entry points, in a privacy-first way. There needs to be an omnichannel approach to planning media.
- Gaming and Play Collide
With gaming officially ranking as the #4 hobby amongst kids in Canada – 75% of 7–16-year-olds, and 60% of preschoolers using gaming to escape and connect during Covid, opportunities that exist for brands to showcase products by creating on-screen and off-screen experiences using this metaverse. Kids are spending a substantial amount of time playing alongside their parents and watching others play games, creating more opportunities to leverage co-branding moments and family connections, as well as using the power of gaming influencers and these collaborative environments. Co-viewing and co-gaming both impact family conversations, increasing likelihood to purchase by around 30%.
- Content and Context as Royalty
Thanks to the pandemic, the needs of our kids have clearly changed and marketers need to adjust to this post 2020 context and develop content that makes up for the lack of social interaction and content fatigue. Leveraging the fact that parents and kids are now spending more time co-consuming content and pairing it with the rise of a parent’s ‘Covid compensation’ (not wanting to disappoint children any further) context becomes everything. Where content lives is more important than ever and being in the right place at the right time increases desirability and intent and in turn, will up the bottom line.
- Education is the New Digital Divide
With the shift from in-class to online video, the new default setting for education is online. With this comes screen fatigue and the prevalence of digital poverty and inequality and a new age of truly self-directed learning. Brands that have proven to be successful, such as Lego and Minecraft, are those who have demonstrated that they are not just “fluffy” but also educational. Finding brand partnerships that entail after school activities such as gaming, arts and crafts, or even online exercise classes, are a sure-fire way to tap this market.
- The New Purchase Funnel
With the pandemic has come a new purchase funnel for kids, tweens and teens. Thanks to being at home more, they have become empowered and gained more influence over family purchase decisions. While this group becomes even more technologically savvy, they are putting an increased value on trust, the environment, authenticity, and are do a great deal of pre-purchase research. Knowing this, marketers need to make sure they are ready to embrace this new funnel by providing seamless experiences for both the influencer (the child) and the purchaser (the parent). Opportunities to enhance your portfolio with digital goods, collaborations and online displays that tie into an omnichannel marketing and purchasing model, are now the new frontier for these demographic segments. Use kids’ love of research and review to provide reassurance that your products align with their values.
To sum it all up, every company engaging kids and their families in 2021, should be thinking about the whole family dynamic, creating meaningful two-way relationships, enabling your target community to connect with one another and your brand simultaneously all while maximizing your routes into a home by leveraging the new purchase funnel.
If you are a member working in this space and would like to be a part of the conversation, join our Marketing to Kids working group by emailing [email protected]