It’s Christmas. Toy marketing is in full swing and our screens are full of Christmas ads for all manner of games, toys and tech. No-one can underestimate the effectiveness of linear content and pester power. But it’s also worth remembering how children’s embracing of technology is changing the way they connect to brands.
Technology has had a hugely liberating effect on the youngest in our society. Touch, gesture and voice navigation have opened up a whole new world of learning and possibility. And this has big implications, as technology has also liberated marketers to engage, excite and delight in new and profound ways.
But has the marketing industry kept pace? With notable exceptions such as Lego, whose product and marketing have embraced technology in , many brands are failing to make the most of the opportunities new technology is providing.
To do that, brands need to do more than put themselves in the shoes of their child audience. They need to, quite literally, think like a child.
Think like a child
So what do children want? Despite the changes technology and the Internet have brought, children are still children. Their fundamental wants and desires are the same. Technology has merely made the process of keying into these fundamental needs easier than ever before.
Children want to explore and discover, but this is a different kind of exploration to adults. Young children actively enjoy the circumlocutious route and the surprise. For them the journey can be as exciting as the destination.
Young children actively enjoy the circumlocutious route and the surprise. For them the journey can be as exciting as the destination.
As marketers we need to leverage a child’s love of surprise and anticipation to make the process of discovery as engaging as the content itself. Brands need to think about how they can create immersive experiences that allow children into their worlds, allowing children to discover on their terms and in ways that might seem a little odd to grown ups.
Children want to imagine and create; touch screen technology has allowed those too young to hold a pencil to draw and create as never before (and without so much newspaper on the floor).
Technology gives us opportunities to facilitate creativity and unlock imaginations. Brands need to create an ecosystem of content that allow children to experience their products both physically and digitally – just look at she sheer number of apps created for Mattel-owned . Yet even the simplest technology such as heat sensitive paper can be magic dust to young children.
Creating and manipulating
Children want to customize and identify. They enjoy the process of creating and manipulating avatars on console games and apps as much as playing the game itself. It’s all about empowerment. Children have limited control over their lives, so giving them opportunities to affect their surroundings, to tailor and shape their experiences, is hugely powerful.
McDonalds’ creation of interactive playzones uses overhead tracking cameras with infra-red technology to respond to children’s movement. Brands need to think how they can empower children to physically affect their properties.
But, perhaps most of all, children want to share. "Look what I’ve done, mummy!" Not only do children enjoy showing off their achievements, they enjoy shared experiences.
Technology gives us the ability to link young and old, brother and sister, parents and children across shared devices and experiences. cleverly majors on the ‘togetherness’ angle of their toys. Yet there is even greater opportunity to engage children and adults at the same time, especially in-store, via shared experiences where a grown-up or sibling can add an extra dimension.
The more brands and marketers can immerse themselves in the world of children – and their fundamental and unerring wants, needs and desires – the more engaging we can make the experiences we create. The true power of technology is the fact it can create moments of direct contact between brand and consumer. Therein lies the incredible. We’re only just starting to unlock it.