Marketing aimed at kids

For young people the Internet is an overwhelmingly commercial environment. Exposure to this online world begins at an early age – as young as age two in some cases – and children are quickly immersed in a constant bath of commercials and branded images.

Research has shown that children under six simply don't understand the idea of advertising, and by the time they have developed the capability to recognize marketing messages they will already be accustomed to a world made up of mascots and logos.

Advergames are online games that are built around brands, products or brand-related characters. Generally, young people don’t identify advergames as online commercials: most think they are “just games”. Fun, fast-paced and interactive, it is easy to see the huge advantage advergames have over ordinary ads. It’s difficult to imagine anyone staring at a magazine or banner ad for three to eight minutes, but kids will happily play brand-focused games for long periods of time.

Virtual worlds also provide tremendous marketing opportunities. Popular destinations for younger kids include Webkinz, Club Penguin, and Stardoll. For teens, it’s all about socializing and experimenting with identity in virtual worlds such as Habbo Hotel, Second Life and There.com. In these immersive environments, marketers can embed their brands, offering virtual merchandise or sponsoring virtual events.

Besides the marketing aspect of these games and worlds, parents should also be aware of what these sites are trying to “sell” to their kids. Food advertisers are increasingly turning to the Web to target young people. It is now the fastest growing venue for food marketers – in 2006, American food and beverage companies spent $77 million marketing their products to youth online.

With increasing pressure to ban or limit unhealthy food advertising to kids in traditional media, such as broadcasting and print, marketers are working hard to engage youth online, away from the mediating influence of parents. For example, Candystand.com, a favorite with Canadian kids, features over 100 advergames – many focusing on candy and junk food.

There are also privacy concerns relating to advergames and virtual worlds. When players have fun on Miniclip and Neopets, for instance, they can ‘Challenge a friend’ or ‘share the game’ via e-mail – not realizing they are giving away their friends’ information in the process.

In virtual worlds, online surveys are a particularly rich source of information for marketers. Players who complete these surveys are rewarded with points they can use to buy virtual possessions and customize their avatars – reinforcing that sharing information online is a fun and harmless activity. (For more information see the Privacy section.)

Parents need to help their kids understand that personal information has value and should not be disclosed indiscriminately.