Online Marketing to Kids: Strategies and Techniques

This lesson introduces students to the online marketing techniques used by marketers to target children on the Internet. It begins with a guided discussion about the similarities and differences between traditional marketing methods and online advertising and why the Internet is such a desirable medium for advertisers to reach young people. Student activities include a survey of the marketing techniques used on several commercial Web sites for children; the creation of a commercial Web site for kids that incorporates common marketing strategies; and an analysis of case studies about online marketing to young people.
Learning Outcomes
Students demonstrate:

• an awareness of the format and structure of online advertisements.
• an awareness of the differences between television advertising and Internet marketing.
• an understanding of their own reactions, as consumers, to these ads.

Preparation and Materials

Photocopy student handouts:

• Kids for Sale: Television vs. the Internet
• Advertising Strategies
• Online Marketing Strategies
• Online Marketing Worksheet
• Obtain teacher's copy of CME's Most Popular Children's Web Sites

For Activity 3, photocopy the case studies: Hanging out with the Band and Wonder World to give to students. For yourself, download the analyses of these case studies Between the Lines: Analyzing Pat's Online Experience and Between the Lines: Analyzing Jessica's Online Experience.

For Activity 4, have on hand art supplies such as bulletin boards, scissors, magazines, paint, glue sticks and magic markers.

The Lesson

Day One

Begin by asking your students to share product jingles, slogans or ad campaigns they enjoy. Ask them:

• What are the sources of these ads? (ie., magazines, television, radio)
• Which, if any, of these advertisements do they think they will remember years from now? (Teachers might like to share some jingles or ads from their childhoods, as examples of how ads can be ingrained into our consciousness.)
• What elements make these ads so powerful?

Distribute and discuss the student handout Advertising Strategies. Discuss these traditional marketing methods and encourage students to think of examples. Other advertising strategies such as the use of prizes, contests and give-aways might also be discussed.

All of us have experienced advertising -- on television, in films, on billboards, on the radio and in magazines. But in the past few years, a whole new medium has emerged that is unlike any other in its ability to target and engage consumers.

Distribute and discuss the student handout Kids for Sale: Television vs. the Internet. Ask students:

• Do they use the Internet?
• Have they noticed any of the differences that have just been discussed?
• What kinds of advertisements have they noticed online? (Ask them to record these points for later reference.)
• Discuss the concept of "flow-state," that mental state we enter when we become totally absorbed in an activity such as surfing the Net or playing a video game. Researchers have found that when we enter this state of mind, we become extremely receptive to the messages and images that we encounter.
  • What advantages does this phenomenon offer marketers? (ie., they can sell us their products without our being aware that we are being sold to.)
  • What challenges does this flow state pose to marketers? (ie., they have to create ads that capitalize on, but don't interrupt, the user's flow-state.)

Ask students to review Kids for Sale: Television vs. the Internet for next class. For homework, ask them to list other factors that make the Internet an attractive medium for marketers trying to target kids.

Day Two

Take up answers to the question "what other factors make the Internet an attractive medium for marketers who are trying to target kids?" Answers may include:

• going online is becoming a popular kids' activity.
• often kids go online without adult supervision
• kids today have tremendous spending power.
• kids tend to accept much of the information that they see on the Internet at face value. They lack the experience or knowledge to question the information and activities they find online

Distribute and discuss the Online Marketing Strategies handout. Ask students if any of them have encountered these strategies online. How does online marketing utilize and enhance the traditional marketing strategies that you discussed previously? Ask students to reflect on this and make a journal entry about their observations.

Activities for this lesson include a selection of online, computer and non-computer exercises.

Activity 1: Online Survey of Commercial Sites for Kids
Internet access required

• Distribute the Online Marketing Worksheet to students.
• Divide the class into groups.
• Assign each group five Web site addresses from the Most Popular Children's Web Sites (or sites suggested by students that have been vetted and approved by the teacher).
• Using the checklists, have each group record the marketing methods that are used on these sites and report their findings to the class.
• Ask each group to rank their sites from most to least commercial.

Activity 2: Sample Kids' Site
Computer required

• Divide class into groups.
• Each group assumes the role of a company that wants to build a commercial Web site aimed at children.
• Using html skills or a Web page design program such as "Netscape Composer," students will create a mock Web page with "kid appeal" for their company or product. This page will incorporate the online advertising methods students have studied in class. (Students may want to look at some children's Web sites from the Most Popular Children's Web Sites for ideas.)
• This assignment includes the production of a mock Web page and a written "Site Plan" outlining:
  • the target audience of the site
  • the advertising methods selected to appeal to the target audience
  • why these particular methods have been selected
• Each group will present its "site" to the class, and submit its "Site Plan" to the teacher.

Activity 3: Marketing Analysis
No computer needed

• Let students choose one of the case studies Hanging out with the Band or Wonder World.
• Students are to read their chosen case study and write a two-page analysis of the marketing methods used to appeal to a particular target market, in these cases: boys ages 11 to 15 and children ages 5 to 9. In their analysis, students should also note any issues that emerge from these case studies.
• Once student analyses have been submitted, review Between the Lines: Analyzing Pat's Online Experience and Between the Lines: Analyzing Jessica's Online Experience.

Activity 4: Sample Kids' Site
No computer needed

• Divide class into groups.
• Each group assumes the role of a company that wants to build a commercial Web site for children.
• Using the online advertising methods they have studied, students will create a mock-up of a Web page with "kid appeal" for their company or product. The mock-up should be presented on bulletin boards in order to visually illustrate how the site would appear on the Internet.
• This assignment includes production of a mock Web page and a written "Site Plan" outlining:
  • the target audience of the site
  • the advertising methods selected to appeal to the target audience
  • why these particular methods have been selected
  • Each group will present its "site" to the class, and submit its site and "Site Plan" to the teacher.

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Regarding the spending power of kids, teachers might like to offer these statistics to students as food for thought:

• According to the 2000 YTV Kid and Tween Report, Canadian “tweens” (ages 9 - 14) have $1.8 billion in total discretionary income and influence 10 times that amount in family spending.
• Spending by North America's wired youth (that’s 41 million kids & teens!) is expected to reach $21.2-billion (U.S.) in 2006. (Forrester Research 2001)
• Of that estimated $21.2-billion, online spending by young Canadians will be $1.8-billion. (Compared to $500 million online spending in 2000.) (Forrester Research 2001)