The impact of ads on Kids

Advertising companies spend a lot of money every year to make sure their products reach preteens. They have more places to get their attention, like TV, the Internet, games, movies, apps, and your name it. Advertisers also know that kids have a huge impact on what their parents buy—about $500 billion a year. This is the most important thing about marketing to preteens: they can now talk back. Companies are limited in the information they can get from kids younger than 13, but they can still learn about how they act and what they like.

Last but not least, teens are a very important group for marketers. They still haven’t decided which brands they like, but they have money to spend and have a big impact on what their parents buy (even on big-ticket items such as cars). Companies are going after teens where they hang out: in apps, games, and websites that stream music and video and offer other downloadable content. This is because 25% of teens access the Internet through their phones. Teen-focused brands use both old-fashioned marketing methods and new ways of communicating to get people to choose their products.

Ways that advertisers try to reach kids:

1. Getting them young.
2. Companies can better capture customers “from the cradle to the grave” if they get their product in front of their target audience as much as possible. Just picture cartoon characters on diapers.
3. dividing and focusing on genders. As early as possible, brands try to find out which gendered toys people like best. Your child will become a customer as soon as he or she wants “boy” or “girl” toys. That means there will be even more products for men and women.
4. Getting used to new tastes.
5. Marketing junk food to kids is a $2 billion business every year. Toys come in boxes with cartoon characters on them, and cartoon characters promote brands on TV. For example, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head promote potato chips. It works.
6. Advertisers use these ways to reach preteens:
7. The need for something to do.
8. You might be wondering why tween commercials look like they were shot by a jackrabbit high on caffeine. It’s because tween brains need and respond strongly to stimulation. They pay attention when something is interesting.
9. The desire to take part.
10. To this day, brands bury their sales pitches. Because preteens learn best through experience rather than lectures, games, apps, contests, and other interactive tools are used to get and keep their attention.
11. The need to connect with others emotionally.
12. If you have a tween, you know that kids this age aren’t always logical. They’re OBSESSED with a certain game, they NEED a certain song, and they LOVE a certain dress. Marketers use techniques that make kids feel things to help them connect with a product.
13. Ways that advertisers try to reach teens:
14. Making use of insecurities.

Companies that want to sell to teens take advantage of their weaknesses, like the need to fit in, be seen as attractive, and not be a huge dork. It’s very important to teens to know where they stand in the peer hierarchy, and advertising helps them figure out what’s cool and what’s not. Teenage boys and girls are both very open to messages about body image, which marketers use to their advantage.

Data for tracking.

Once a child turns 13, businesses can market to them and collect information about them without many limits. The information they gather is much more valuable because it can’t be used to find out who someone is. Companies can market products to teens or sell that information to other businesses by following their digital footprints to get a clear picture of their tastes, interests, purchase histories, preferences, and even where they are. Talk to your teens about how to use privacy settings and what kinds of information they’re giving companies without meaning to.

Using social media to get help from other people. Advertisers actively ask teens who follow them on social media to promote their products. This is sold in online stores like J. Crew’s, where friends can share items you like. Lots of brands want teens to share how they interact with them (such as uploading pics of themselves with a particular purse, drink, or outfit). These methods reinforce the idea that brands “make” a person, and it’s important for teens to understand that their worth doesn’t depend on what they have (or don’t have).