Kiddie brand power and toons

Food products with cartoons on them

My three year old knows more than me when it comes to brands which are endorsed by cartoon characters, am sure

most kids today know much more about their fave toons and the brands which are endorsed by them, my kiddo’s fave toon characters is ‘Dora’ and ‘Deigo’ and she is very sure about what she wants on her tooth brush,tooth paste, sip-bottle,wrist watch,hair accessories,school bag, eating bowl,on her dresses and under-garments too Kids today get their favorite toons wherever they want. Well there’s more, how can I forget food items such as milk, yogurts , juices, cereals, ice-creams and frozen products not to forget the sport drinks and other accessories for kids.

What a powerful tool a brand is!! It helps recognize a particular product and gives an identity to it.Since not all consumers are same their definition of ‘Brand’ is also not the same; for some its mere a name of a product but for some its attached to quality and price for some body else.

Dora on Yoplait yogurt -Yum,Yum(?)

The power of brand is such that if you take any kid product for example, a tooth-brush, you wouldn’t find any of it without being endorsed by any popular toon character thus with one shot two results are achieved- the tooth-brush sells also the creators of a cartoon character gains benefit through copy-rights and trademarks. This is ‘cross marketing’ and its one of the most effective marketing that a marketer adopts. The Advertising and marketing gurus tell us that it takes “multiple impressions” of a message to get potential buyers to make that buying decision.

The concept is simple. Find products and services that complement yours and work with the companies that provide them to promote their offerings and yours simultaneously.Btw weblogging is also a powerful tool for cross marketing

Other ways of cross-marketing:

Kids’ clubsSeveral corporations have developed branded kids clubs as a way to communicate with and maintain an ongoing relationship with children. The name is a misnomer in that many kids clubs aren’t really clubs, but standard marketing programs with names that imply they are clubs. Kids clubs permit mass marketing on a personalized basis and club members may receive direct mailing such as membership cards, birthday cards, holiday greetings, and newsletters. In addition they can participate in contests, receive coupons and branded items such as posters, screensavers, and discounts for items with the club’s logo. Some examples of kids clubs from corporations include Burger King, Nickelodeon, Fox, Sega, and Disney. The Burger King Kids Club has more than 5 million members. Internet

Online media play an increasingly significant role in the lives of US children and teenagers. US Census data indicate that between 1998 and 2001 the proportion of US adolescents (ages 14–17 years) using the Internet increased from 51% to 75% and the proportion of US children (ages 10–13 years) online increased from 39% to 65%. Families with children represent one of the fastest growing segments of the population using the Internet. US Census data from 2001 indicate that half (51%) of US children 10–13 years old and 61% of those 14–17 years old have Internet access at home.

Advertisers and marketers have begun to target the rapidly growing number of US children online with a variety of new interactive advertising and marketing techniques. The forms of advertising and marketing on the Web differ significantly from television commercials. Utilizing the unique features of the Internet, companies can seamlessly integrate advertising and Web site content. Almost all of the major companies that advertise and market to children have created their own websites, designed as “branded environments” for children. This electronic advertising “environment” and on-line infomercials is evident with food companies, which offer multiple entertaining, animated and interactive areas developed specifically for preschoolers and children around their food products. These sites include games, word-find puzzles, contests, quizzes, riddles, music, e-mail cards, clips of commercials, sweepstakes, downloadable recipes, desktop wallpaper and screen savers that feature their products, and on-line stores that sell licensed merchandise. Children can also sign up to receive electronic newsletters with news about products and promotions. The sites often feature popular product spokes-characters and animated cartoon characters, such as Tony the Tiger, Chester Cheetah, Toucan Sam, and Snap! Crackle! And Pop! The integration of products into games is commonplace. The company’s website is frequently featured on ads or product packaging. Examples of food branded environments for children on food company websites are shown below.

Examples of toys with food brand logos in the US

Play-Doh (Hasbro)
• Play-Doh Little Debbie snack Cake Kitchen
Kit includes Play-Doh, an oven/cookie table, mold trays to make five kinds of snack cakes, creme/chocolate extruder.
• Play-Doh Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Playset
Kit includes mold to make pretend Chuck E. Cheese pizzas.
• Play-Doh Lunchables Playset
• Play-Doh McDonaldland Happy Meal Playshop
Makes a pretend Happy Meal with hamburger, fires, shake and toys. Comes with Happy Meal box.
Barbie Dolls (Mattel)
• Jello Barbie
Barbie wears a t-shirt with “Jello” written on it. Set comes with Jello and mold for making Barbie’s pink Jello.
• McDonald’s Barbie
Barbie is dressed in a McDonald’s clerk outfit. She has a tray of French fries, hamburger, soft drinks. Comes with Barbie’s little sister Kelly who has a Happy Meal.
• Little Debbi Barbie
Barbie is dressed to go shopping. In her Little Debbie shopping bag are authentic miniature boxes of Little Debbie snack cakes.
• Coca-Cola Majorette Barbie
McDonald’s Play Sets (Creative Design)
• McDonald’s Food Cart with Play Food
Features a cart and drive-through window with a play cash register, grill, deep fryier, and McFlurry machine. 30 food accessories including burgers, fries, Chicken McNuggets, pies, soft drinks.
• McDonald’s Deluxe Mealtime Set
• McDonald’s Fast Food Center
Easy-Bake Sets (Hasbro)
• Easy-Bake Chips Ahoy Cake Bake Set
• Easy-Bake Oreo cakes Bake Set
• Easy-Bake Pop Tarts Snack
• Easy-Bake Pizza Hut Menu
• Easy-Bake M&M’s Cookies Bake Set
• Easy-Bake Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger Cakes Mini Bake Set
Fisher-Price Oreo Matchin’ Middles Game (Fisher Price)
A matching game for young children to learn shapes with plastic real looking oreo cookies that pull apart to reveal shapes.
Teddy Grahams Game (Mattel)

So if you might wonder and say ”Oh! my kid eats better than before!!” ”He’s happy ever since he’s got his Diego like costume!” Think again……..

While its sure that we will buy these products rather brands for our children but are we sure it’ll make our kids healthy and happy Are we spoiling them? Is there a way to get out of this? Probably not.

Credits to ijbnpa.org for the table

image credits: Flickr photo