Being cool helps convey the message to children
The Times, May 2008
The news that Hello Kitty branded mobile phones will go on sale in July was greeted with the predictable furore over how ‘very irresponsible’ it was to market to children in such a flagrant way. The British company selling the products didn’t help its case with its rather disingenuous claim that the product was aimed at women in their 30s. And there is plenty to find wrong with a pink, cartoon-character festooned phone that retails at £310. But the whole issue of marketing to children deserves a more sophisticated debate.
It’s a classic knee-jerk area, particularly when it relates to products which can be deemed ‘bad’ for children – whether it’s possible health risks and mobiles or soft drinks and obesity. The automatic reaction is that marketing to children is a terrible sin and that the only responsible action for any values-driven company is a blanket ban. And it’s all too easy to find a commentator ready to rentaquote to that end.
But that doesn’t make it the right response. Marketing to children is certainly something that needs to be carefully considered and controlled. But to suggest that companies should not communicate with children at all is narrow-minded and short-sighted (not to mention deeply impractical). As our survey shows, 68% of concerned consumers think children aged 12 and over should have their own phone. Children of 12 and above are therefore a perfectly valid target market. Indeed many parents value the added contact the phone lets them have with their offspring and the security this provides.
And this touches on an important point. Not only do many products and brands have a positive impact on children, they are also often best placed to get through to them. A message on bullying, or the environment, or online safety that comes from a cool brand – like Hello Kitty - can have far more impact than the strictures of parents and schools. Stop brands from being able to talk to kids and you cut this opportunity space cold.
