Retail Plus
Chennai
It’s the kid!
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Retail thrives on advertising, which in turn aims at luring them young. A look at how children as the new consumers, look to buying what attracts them…
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Catch them young
Two-year-old Ashwath loves watching ads, and the ones that feature children especially attract his attention. He has now started asking his mother to buy him some of these products too. Like Maggie Noodles.
His older sister Nivedita, all of four years, makes it a point to call her mother every time the Milkybar ad appears on TV. “Buy it for me,” is the refrain.
Not an idiot anymore
The idiot box is no longer just that. It is an insidious Super Marketer. Today, the ads are getting sharper and smarter. These ads know their target audience and are created specifically to appeal to them, especially in the case of products aimed at children – like biscuits, chocolates, health drinks, to name a few. The use of bright colours, intelligent/strong/smart children, catchy music and phrases get the children hooked to the ads very early.
The appeal
Though children begin watching TV early, they are mostly hooked to cartoons. But ads too play an important part in holding their attention. However, it is children over five who relate the ads to the products in the shops.
“My daughter was hooked to ads,” says Poornima of her five-year-old daughter, Aninditha, “She enjoys watching ads, but only recently she asked me to buy her something watching an ad – I think it was the Brain Amaze ad.”
Freebies
“My son is especially attracted to the freebies. He insists on my buying the product just for the sake of the toys.” says Sumathi, mother of six-year-old Yogeswaran.
For girls, the stress is somewhat different. Says Geetha, six-year-old Vasudha’s mother, “My daughter likes ads where children are shown to be smart and confident as a result of using the product.
Packaging
In addition to the ads, the attractive packaging also makes it difficult for parents to take children shopping for grocery. The retail outlets have them displayed prominently, and the bright colours immediately attract any child’s attention.
Life is like that
Branding has become a big mantra and TV ads provide the right outlet for the manufacturers to stress on image-types. The vulnerable young fall for it and sometimes the parents are left with little choice but to give in. Whether they do or not, there is another battle just round the corner.
MEERA S
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