Digital Marketing to Generation Z
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 2
Ethical issues of digital marketing towards childrenGerda Van Damme (Dreammachine Kids)
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 3
The concerns
AD AWARENESSvulnerability PESTER
POWERUNCONTROLLED
PRESENCE ON SOCIAL NETWORKS
screen addiction
online safety
obesity
lack of parental control
age inappropriate content
UNRECOGNIZED PRODUCT PLACEMENT
violenceUNCONTROLLED PURCHASE
PRIVACY
PEERPRESSURE
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 4
• Kids develop ad awareness only over years (and as a next step
they develop ‘banner blindness’).
• This means that for young kids ‘Advertising should be
recognizable as such’ gets a new meaning.
• Advertising-free world doesn’t exist solution in education
about advertising.
• Studies have been done to detect how kids recognize ads
between editiorial content parts. But what about content that is
completely commercial?
• Nielsen, Children on the web (2010 – revised 2013): ad
unawareness creates usability problems
Ad (un)awareness
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 5
• Kids are more receptive to publicitary messages. They are an ‘easy target’.
• Especially in immersive experiences such as games, virtual worlds.
• More receptive to emotional messaging.• Tendency towards impulsive buying behaviour.
Vulnerability
Very immersive experience from McDonald’s (Avatar)
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 6
• Parents hate it if kids come with very explicit ‘demands’ for things they found on the internet.
E.g. Morrisons banned ad “They’re not open yet darling”.
Pester power
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 7
• Strong lobby in US against (unhealthy) food advertising
• Even a stronger issue in digital marketing, as digital media and screen addiction are held responsible for cases of obesity (unhealthy lifestyle).
Obesity
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 8
• Parents prefer their children to live ‘unplugged’ experience, play outdoors, be creative, etc.
• Constant struggle of parents to get their kids away from the screen (TV, mobile, computer,...).
• Debate about the consequences of long term screen exposure and long term gaming.
Screen addiction
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 9
• Violence is highly accepted by the industry in digital media, especially in games
• Debate about the effect on children
Violence
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 10
• In general (not esp. within marketing context),
people have concerns about the safety of kids going
online. This is relevant within a digital marketing
context, e.g. When brands create online kids
communities.
• This has been an issue ever since the first
chatrooms appeared on the internet.
What Ketnet is doing:“Wanneer een kind zich inschrijft, moet hij eerst een KET-profiel aanmaken, met een foto en met de gegevens van de ouders.
Pas na de formele goedkeuring van deze laatste krijgt het kind een volledig profiel dat hen toelaat vrienden toe te voegen of toe
te treden tot de vriendenkring van andere kinderen. Hiervoor moet hij zowel zijn naam als voornaam gebruiken. Dezelfde
vereiste is van toepassing als u commentaar wenst te geven op de artikels. Als iets gepubliceerd wordt en het kind het om welke
reden dan ook niet meer kan terugvinden, kan hij op een vlagje klikken en aangeven waarom dat niet mogelijk is. Andere
voorwaarde van beperkte toegang: een meerderjarig persoon kan geen kinderen toevoegen die jonger zijn dan 18 jaar. De
presentatoren van Ketnet zijn in elk geval vrienden met elke kind dat een profiel heeft.”
Sonia Livingstone: authority in the field, 16 publications,
several requested by E.U. (‘’Kids Online’)
Online safety
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 11
• Online identity of kids without their consentE.g. commercial photo contests with kids pictures
• Undesirable contacts and spreading of contact data
• This is quite well ‘covered’ in legislation (see Gerrit’s presentation).
Privacy
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 12
• Digital advertising loves to use viral techniques.
• Kids being used within testimonials towards other kids is NOT DONE, whether user generated or not.
Peer pressure
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 13
Gender stereotyping
• Lego news of girl complaining about gender stereotyping makes the news.
• Mattel producing Barbie on Mars and Lego producing female scientist is also world news.
• One of attention points of legislators
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 14
• Parents feel they can’t ‘keep up with kids’. UK study 2013: Close to half of parents say that their child knows more about the internet than they do. Nearly half of all parents of a child aged 5-15 (47%) agree with the statement: “my child knows more about the internet than I do”.
• Speed (always new games, new apps, new rules, new hypes).
Parents feel ‘out of control’.
Parental control (or lack of it)
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 15
• ‘Guilty’ parents
• ‘Guilty’ advertisers (in the eyes of the parents)
• ‘Guilt’ makes parents of today spend more than any other generations on their kids,
especially in the area of digital products.
Your minimal option: stay away from what annoys parents
Leveraging the GUILT-feeling: ‘Compensation marketing’
– Offer parents ways to make them feel less guilty
– Makes advertisers ‘look good’
– Makes parents ‘feel good’
– Compensate for perceived bad characteristics of the product or medium by offering ‘contradictory’
content (e.g. Fast food company giving healthy food tips) trend! (‘helpful and human brands’).
The concept of GUILT and some tips
Dreammachine Kids | Rue Auguste Frison 56, 6040 Jumet (Charleroi) | +32 (0) 10 86 12 42 | www.dreammachine.be | 10 april 2023 Dreammachine Kids presentation, p. 16
• Offer them ‘unplugged’ experiences through digital media.
Example of ‘compensation marketing’
In January 2011, UK based dairy company Arla Foods launched a campaign called Nature Adventure Club, aimed at encouraging children to explore the outdoors. A child-friendly website has been designed to let kids, parents and teachers explore the outdoor activities planned for 2011 and share their achievements on a ‘leadership board’.