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Final Thesis Thana1
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Marketing to Tweens, Tomorrow’s Opportunity for Environmental and Social Improvement
THESIS – Senior Seminar
Thanais Telphon
12/11/11
Abstract
This paper is about the tweens market and how successful could it be to get them more involved with social issues and environmentalism through marketing. The paper first explores the tweens market, its characteristics, segmentation, and evolution. The paper then looks at ways marketers reach out to tweens today, its opportunity as a market, cases of good marketing campaigns, and the controversy behind tween marketing. Finally, the paper describes best practices and strategies used to market environmentally and socially responsible messages by analyzing data flowing directly from primary and secondary research. Such research may include books of researchers on the tween market, reports and articles from tween specialized companies and newspapers, a focus group with today’s tweens, and a qualitative interview with a professional working most directly in the field of tween marketing.
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Table of Content
The Tweens MarketDefining TweensHow the market evolvesGeneration X Y Z
Marketing to TweensWhy the tween market is a good opportunityWhat has been done? Walt Disney Studios and HollywoodTween Marketing and Social Media
Tweens marketing and its controversyAdvertising to tweensRegulations
How to market to tweens for the better good?Tweens’ concern for social and environmental issues
Strategy for a campaign: the proposal
Foreword
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« He is having his pre-adolescent crisis. » This is the explanation a mother of three children gave me when her ten year old son had an aggressive fit in front of me when I was trying to tutor him in French. Having been a child educator and counselor for four years, and an occasional babysitter and tutor for children age 6 to 14 years old, this was the first time I heard of the term pre-adolescent crisis. Actually, it was the first time I heard of the term pre-adolescent. From that day onwards, I have noticed an increasing change in the way parents view and talk about their pre-teens as if a new stage had appeared between childhood and adolescence. I had not found it particularly significant until I fell on an article in USA Today by Sharon Jason: “It’s Cooler than Ever to Be a Tween, but is Childhood Lost?” Tweens or pre-teens had become the new market opportunity for companies and with that comes controversy as tweens like children are being marketed products and content that is not deemed appropriate for them.
Introduction
The tween market appears to be a great opportunity for companies
and for the influence they have on other markets. Marketing to tweens, as
some companies such as Walt Disney have understood earlier on could
well become the most powerful market today. However, companies that
spot new markets are usually not the most ethically or environmentally
friendly. One may wonder if it would be possible to direct that energy and
potential towards better causes that will most directly affect the tween
generation in the future, such as environmental and social degradation.
In this paper, I will attempt to define this new target market, and what has
been done to market to them today. Then, I will explore the controversy
surrounding them and how tweens could be a great opportunity for
environmental and social change. Finally, I will try to suggest a green
platform and a way that platform could be marketed to tweens for the
better good.
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What is the Tween Market?
Although the tween market has always existed, it has become a
separate segment in itself only recently. Literally speaking, the word
“tween” found its roots in the word “between,” as tweens are said to be a
segment in between childhood and teenage-hood. According to the
Merriam-Webster dictionary, “preadolescence”, which is the scientific
synonym to tween, is “the period of human development just preceding
adolescence; specifically: the period between the approximate ages of 9
and 12.” It is paved by numerous changes both psychologically and
physically, and those changes usually do not occur concurrently.
According to Siegel, Coffey and Livingston in The Great Tween Buying
Machine, tweens can be defined between 8 and 12 years old, with a 2-year
increment difference between girls and boys as girls mature more rapidly.
However, it is hard to determine tweens according to an age group as
children of this age can vary greatly according to their experiences and
how fast they grow mentally. In effect, it would be more effective to
describe the tween segment according to a set of characteristics rather
than their age alone. Moreover, at that specific age children can vary a lot,
and require sub-segmentation as well. A suggested segmentation for now
would be two groups, those children age 8 to 10, and those ages 11 and
12. Needless to say, children age 8 to 10 are more likely to be a little more
towards childhood and interested in child-like activities, while children
ages 11 and 12 who are more likely to be closer to adolescents.
Looking at Jean Piaget’s four stages of development, tweens would
be placed between the 3rd and 4th stage. According to Piaget, the
development of intelligence is sequential and due to the increased
experiences children have in their environment. In the 1st and 2nd stages
that reflect children of age 0 to 2 (“Period of Sensory Motor Intelligence”)
and 2 to 7 (“Period of Preoperational Thought”), those children only work
by simple reflexes, do not have thoughts or understand symbolic images
yet, and go through egocentrism. Further stages however, are more
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interesting from a marketing perspective. Egocentrism means the
“inability to look at things from someone else’s point of view”, it is a phase
in which the child thinks he is always right.1 Moreover, in those two first
stages, children can only focus on one dimension of an object exclusive of
others, and do not understand the transformation process of what
happens between the beginning and the end of an action, and more
importantly for us, “do not understand cause-effect relationship”, and thus
would never be able to understand the idea that their actions could have
an effect on the environment.2 Consequently, marketing to these groups of
children for the better good would appear impossible because of their
psychological immaturity.
However, the two last stages of childhood: the 3rd being children age
7 to 11 years old (“Period of Concrete Operations”) and the 4th being
children 11 to 15 years old (“Period of formal Operations”) appear to have
much more potential. In the third stage, according to Piaget, children have
the “ability to apply logic to concrete problems, overcome logical thought-
process, and begin to look at the points of view of others as a way to
reaffirm their own.”3 Moreover, they understand the concept of “seriation –
ability to mentally order elements by size” and classification.4 But, they do
not yet understand and appreciate sarcasm, and abstraction. In a way,
they are like teens that are comfortable with themselves, very positive
and energized but “acutely interested in ranking, and being in
conformance with their peers.”5 The last stage (11 to 15 years old) can
deal with possibilities, abstraction and hypothesis. However, a new type of
egocentrism occurs as they start going through adolescence, making them
extremely self-conscious, and start to withdraw from their family and
authority. Thus, it is important to note that when marketing to tweens for
things that do not concern them on a personal level, one must be careful
1 David Siegel et al., The Great Tween Buying Machine (Ithaca, N.Y.: Paramount Marketing Pub., 2001), 12.2 Ibid.3 Ibid., 13.4 Ibid05 Ibid.
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not to market to them too late when they fall into their inner battle and
social and environmental problems become secondary.
Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, it is important to note the
difference between tween boys and tween girls. In effect, boys and girls
are completely different at this age. Not only do they mature at a different
pace, their identity aspirations are different as well. It has been found that
advertising to boys with ads that only feature girls is unattractive to them;
however, the opposite is not the case. Girls do not mind having advertising
targeted to them with only boys in it, as long as they deem it relevant to
their interest. According Jayson Sharon in USA Today: “Until now, Disney
has been "a tween-girl machine:” it may be that teen idols and celebrities
are more inherently appealing to girls because it's all about personality
and music and relational things that girls are more interested in. 6 Boys at
that age are more interested in “sports and adventure and are not as
easily marketed to by personalities and pop stars."7 Although one reason
for the focus on girl tweens might be their general interests, another might
also be their flexibility as opposed to boys. According to Rachel Chang,
editor-in-chief of tween magazine J-14, there is not arguable a tween boy
market, but only a tween girl market. An example of boy tween-targeted
show is Disney channel XD that has never been slightly as successful as its
sister The Disney Channel.
The tween market evolves fast
Another issue in defining the tween market is that it is constantly
evolving. Created by society, it would make sense that it moves, changes
and evolves with it. In effect, today and yesterday’s tweens are slightly
different. It may be easier to classify the older tweens (age 11 and 12) as
part of Generation Y, and the younger tweens as part of Generation Z
(most recent generation, also called Generation C for Content or
6 Sharon Jayson, USA Today, “It’s Cooler than Ever to Be a Tween, but is Childhood Lost?” USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-02-03-tweens-behavior_N.htm (accessed October 18th 2011)7 Ibid.
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Generation M for Media). We will first look at tweens from the new
generation Z, and the main societal changes that might have influenced
their evolution since what makes today’s tweens different are their
experiences.
First, tweens now come from families that are more fluid and
fractured with step sisters and brothers, single mothers or parents who
are never home. According to The Great Tween Buying Machine, today’s
tweens are more likely to have at-home moms, as parents try to focus on
their children’s education since they were themselves left alone too much
as children. As confirmed by editor of J-14 Rachel Chang, yesterday’s
tweens were more independent than they are today, and would be left to
do things themselves. However, the most recent tween generation has
parents that are much more involved and want to participate in their
children’s lives and activities.
Also, schools today teach more to tweens than they ever did in
the United States before. Standardized teaching material had recently
been created and set up for a uniform education that is meant to be as
objective and informative as possible, as we live today in times of relative
peace between countries. Moreover, technology such as increased
Internet access, social media, laptops, iphone and more is possibly one of
the biggest factors that influenced tweens, shaping them into who they
are today. Combined with school material, tweens “have greater
knowledge of the importance of ecology.”8 As GenXers saw the results of
poor ecological planning among their predecessors, they will teach,
through example to their children that recycling is good.
New economic realities are also one of the big societal factors
that have changed tweens’ state of mind. Seeing their parents being fired
because of layoffs, having lived during continuous recessions, stock
market crashes, and diverse protests against banks, policies, presidents,
and political parties have shaped them. The concept that heroes are
fragile, and that nobody is perfect, whether it is their parents, the
8 David Siegel et al., The Great Tween Buying Machine (Ithaca, N.Y.: Paramount Marketing Pub., 2001), 18.
8
president or their peers, is a fairly new one. Anyone can become a
celebrity today, such as Justin Bieber who started by simply putting videos
on YouTube, and could disappear as fast as he appeared onto the idol
scene. Moreover, young GenYers and older GenZers are the generation
that has been born right after events such as September 11, increase in
threats and violence and global peace.
Tweens have been born in a society where there are logos on
everything. Combined with the increased access of information through
the Internet, this overflow of logos and advertising has made them more
acute consumers than ever before. Finally, the concept that cultural
diversity is good is a fairly new idea that they have been immersed into.
All of those societal factors affected tweens as consumers and
people. It made them “control-freaks” in the sense that they want to be
able to personalize everything. One response by marketers was mass-
customization. According to the Great Tween Buying Machine it also made
them “Good Citizens of the World.”9 Tweens want to contribute to
improving the world, whether it is poverty, pollution or their own
neighborhood. They also feel a sense of patriotism and national sympathy
as transferred from their parents. And finally, of course it made them
savvy consumers.
Allison Pugh in Longing and Belonging: Parents, Children,
and Consumer Culture offers an understanding of the conflict between
generations: parents and their tween children. The book describes the
intricate relationship between parents and children who grew up in
cultures that differ greatly. In effect, according to Allison Pugh, this
generation of tweens is growing with parents that are over-controlling and
loving, but also have a very distant physical presence as they work longer
and longer hours. In effect, in contrast to what is argued by The Great
Tween Buying Machine, even though this generation’s parents would love
to have at least one of the parents living at home and taking care of the
tween’s education, with today’s economic hardships that desire becomes
9 Ibid.
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difficult to accomplish. In effect, nowadays with the decrease in the
average purchasing power of families, both parents need to work, not less
but more.
Thus, it is important to look not only at the tweens but also their
parents, older brothers and sisters (Generation X and Y) who possess the
money used by tweens, and so their consent is needed in all tween
decisions.
Although generations vary according to resources, for the purpose of
this paper we will define Generation X as people born between 1960 and
1979, they are usually the parents and grandparents of tweens. We shall
also determine Generation Y as people born between 1980 and 1999; and
Generation X as people born between 2000 and today.
Generation Y
Generation Y are people born between 1980 and 1999, thus ranging
from people that are 11 to 31 years old and enclosing the older tween
segment. They have over-taken the Baby Boomers/Generation X: their
parents or grandparents. Also, according to Gen Buy, not “only are [young]
Gen Yers big spenders themselves ($200 billion a year worldwide) but they
hold great sway over what their parents buy.”10 They are the most
powerful trendsetters, and consider retailers as services to them, and not
the other way around. They are diverse, adaptive and confident. “Less
than 2/3rd are white, 25% were raised in single parent households and 3/4th
have working moms.”11 According to Yarrow and Odonnell, there are
around 84 million Gen Yers today.
There are two main great influences to Generation Y. The first is
“Adoring Parents.” In effect, with the improvement in medical technology
and exploding interest in child development and psychology in the time
10 Kit Jarrow & Jayne O’Donnell, Gen Buy: How Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings are Revolutionizing Retail(Jossey-Bass, CA: San Fransisco, 2009), 12.11 Ibid., 15.
10
they were born, they were the most wanted children in history. Moreover,
technology brought children and parents arguably closer with cell phones
increasing communication and frequent contact. Households are child-
centered, explaining the confidence as well as the power GenYers have on
their parents.
The second greatest influence to Generation Y is of course the
Digital World. As GenZers, the digital age had already started for older
tweens. Tweens are empowered by providing “in-house tech support” as
they know better about technology than their parents. They have never
experienced a world without computers, the Internet, cell phones, or
digital cameras. Technology has given them more access to information,
more freedom, more power and made them “full of playfulness” and
hopeful for the future. In effect, according to a survey done on 6,000
GenYers of 8 to 14 years old, tweens are regularly given online chores that
may vary from “sharing pictures (38%), to getting driving directions
(35%), to even helping with tax returns (14%).”12 This last one is quite
surprising, but it makes sense as more and more governmental and legal
documents now have to be filled online. What this means for tweens is
that a couple of characteristics have been added to their profile. Among
others, they are faster at processing information, they are great multi-
taskers, they require instant answers, available friends, and connection to
others regardless of geography, no hierarchy as the online world is
faceless, less necessity for face-to-face interaction and free access to
information. This also means that they demand immediate gratification,
can get easily bored and will not be interested in things that are too static.
All of these can be distinguished into 4 characteristics: confidence,
connection, choice and speed.
In effect, doting parents and the digital world has given them power
beyond limits, and made them extremely optimistic and confident in their
abilities. They have been told that they are “special” by their parents,
teachers, and advertisers. Their self-esteem is incredibly high for their
12 Kit Jarrow & Jayne O’Donnell, Gen Buy: How Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings are Revolutionizing Retail(Jossey-Bass, CA: San Fransisco, 2009),
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age, which has lessened competition among GenYers. Instead, they have
become team-players who have been trained in school to work in teams,
and are likely to unite with like-minded people around the world “to
champion causes, play computer games, and stay in touch indefinitely
through social networking.”13 “Tweens believe in the power of their own
opinion and their ability to make social change.”14
Connection is the second most important characteristic of
generation Y. In addition to being team-oriented, through technology,
tween form “new families around their own interests and workplace.”15
Because of their less competitive nature, since they were born in a culture
where everyone is a winner, their tolerance and celebration of differences
and their comfort with diversity is striking.
The GenY tweens are also seen as the “most educated, affluent,
diverse population” that has been told that “they can do anything.”16 As a
consequence, they seek perfection in their choices, in their jobs and in
their lives, and with the increasingly wide variety of choices; it ends up
making them indecisive and overwhelmed. In effect, according to Gen Buy,
today’s tween will have 11 to 14 jobs by the age of 38 years old. Because
of that, tweens constantly look for direction from websites and peers.
The final characteristic of tween is Speed. As described previously,
instant information access and processing has made tweens likely to be
easily bored. According to the 2009 Aberdeen Group report, an additional
delay of 1 second on a website or social media platform can lower page
views of a website by 11% and customer satisfaction by 16%. However,
speed also means that tweens are extremely efficient at processing visual
information fast and concisely.
Overall, by combining both characteristics from tweens of Generation Z
and tweens of Generation Y, one may describe the tween market as
13 Ibid.14 Ibid.15 Kit Jarrow & Jayne O’Donnell, Gen Buy: How Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings are Revolutionizing Retail(Jossey-Bass, CA: San Fransisco, 2009), 16 Ibid.,
12
community-based, fast-pace, confident, positive, powerful, most
connected, technology-driven, concerned by social changes, having the
intellectual capacity to understand almost as much as teenagers without
the egocentrism dominating their thoughts, doting parents, bad economic
and political realities, born in atypical families, and have more choices and
influence than ever before.
How to Market to Tweens?
More and more research is being conducted on the tween market,
which is seen as the new marketing opportunity. One may want to look at
the basics of what constitutes a great market segment to target. There are
three basic characteristics to a good market segment: it has to be large
enough, have significant purchasing power, unique needs, and be
relatively easy to reach.
According to Daniel Acuff, David Bonner, Jim Gilmartin, and Dave
Siegel in Market Smart: The Best in Age and Lifestyle Specific Design,
tweens are the most diverse group of people and account for “20.9 million
tweens in the US alone.”17 Thus, the market is most certainly big enough.
As discussed earlier it also has very unique needs as it is a specific
segment created by society. Tweens are also relatively easy to reach as
they can be targeted through almost all Medias: prints with now existing
specialized tween magazines, TV ads, and social media.
Now the purchasing power of tweens is dual. It includes pocket
money, but also and maybe more importantly the influence they have on
what their parents purchase for them and with them. According to the
Great Tween Buying Machine, tweens have around $260 billion annually in
spending power, which is more than significant. Research found that
tweens spend approximately $10 billion annually on their own […] and an
additional $176 billion is spent on them by their parents, and $75 billion”
17 Daniel Acuff et al., Market Smart: The Best in Age and Lifestyle Specific Design (NY: Harper Collins Design, 2009),
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more because of their increased influence on family vacations, restaurant
visits etc.18
We should be bothering about the tween market because they are in
the stage in which branding “begins to take effect.”19 But more and
probably most importantly, it is the segment that has “the most significant
influence, especially on household and family purchases” today.20
It is also the stage when friendship is extremely important. As
tweens because teens, they move away tentatively from their family circle
and towards new circles that share their interests: known as the friendship
circles. They are three stages of friendship according to age. The first is
the friendship stage of 5 to 7 year olds that view friends as a “handy
playmate.”21 At that stage, friendships do not last. The second stage is for
children 8 to 10 year old, which calls for “mutual trust and assistance.”22 In
this stage, which could be considered the young tween stage, tweens seek
friends that will help them and fortify their beliefs. The third stage is for
children age 11 to 15. Friendship is then about “intimacy and mutual
understanding.”23 Tweens staggering between the second and third stage
have a lot of friends, some may be very significant, while others are called
“school friends” or “club friends.” Since friends are very important to
tweens they are always reaffirming their beliefs with them and getting
influenced by them as much as they are influencing them. In a society
where racial and economical diversity is celebrated, groups form around
new interests and constantly aspire to fit somewhere.
What has been done?
Disney is a good example of a company that has successfully
targeted tweens. They were also one of the first companies to notice the
potential of the tween market. They have successfully moved away from
18 David Siegel et al., The Great Tween Buying Machine (Ithaca, N.Y.: Paramount Marketing Pub., 2001), 30.19 David Siegel et al., The Great Tween Buying Machine (Ithaca, N.Y.: Paramount Marketing Pub., 2001), 30.20 Ibid.21 Ibid., 12.22 Ibid.23 Ibid.
14
family-oriented movies and other entertainment towards tween-oriented
shows. Two great examples are Hannah Montana/Miley Cirus, and High
School Musical. According to Valerie Wee in Teen Media: Hollywood and
the Youth Market in the Digital Age the term tween was first “coined in the
clothing industry,” and it is in 2006 that Disney emerged and eventually
overridden “over the millennial tween market.”24
In 2006, the tween targeted movie High School Musical attracted 7.7
million tweens, and its sequel High School Musical 2, 17.2 million. Hannah
Montana had the same success. The series’ soundtrack was downloaded
daily, and the movie that came out of it Miley Cyrus featuring the same
actress gained $31 million in the first week.
Of course, there are some challenges to marketing only to tweens
that Disney had to overcome. One was to stay “clear of any controversial
content or activities that could taint the public credibility” by carefully
managing the social, moral and ethical concerns shared by parents and
legislators.25 Indeed, whether marketers have recognized tweens as a new
market, to the general public tweens are still children that need to be
protected from advertising and marketing.
Also, tween is the age at which children’s tastes and habits mature
“at an accelerated pace” as mentioned earlier, and younger tweens prefer
entertainment featuring characters and situations association while older
audiences are more interested in “aspiration.” 26
One important trick used by Disney was to extend their movie across
multi-media platforms. Actors blended with singers, and their fictional and
real lives became almost impossible to dissociate. For example, Hannah
Montana was a character with two faces: one as a singer and the other as
a normal high school girl. However, the character became reality when
24 Valerie Wee, Teen Media: Hollywood and the Youth Market in the Digital Age (McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina, 2010), 5.
25 Valerie Wee, Teen Media: Hollywood and the Youth Market in the Digital Age (McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina, 2010), 22.26 Ibid.
15
Disney sponsored the actress to a live music tour around the United States
making her a real singer from the fictional character. Being multi-taskers
and multi-media oriented, tweens were extensively attracted to the
concept.
Another insight from Disney is that the movies had to create content
that was “specifically directed and reflect the dominant concerns of
tweens including school, friends, ethical choices, how to navigate the
pitfalls of adolescence, peer pressure, rivalries, struggle with commitment,
loyalties of friends and parents. Indeed, even though the movies were
targeted to tweens, they actually reflected concerns of teens that tweens
aspire to become.”27 Messages often focus on the importance of
friendship, loyalty, and honesty, and most of all “to follow one’s dreams.”28
However, even though teenage concerns are portrayed, the content
must stay “highly sanitized and innocent in its representations.”29 For
example, conflicts are quickly dealt with “no violence”, romance stays
“chaste, stripped of any sexual element.”30 While there is little interest,
maintaining “visual or spatial continuity, a character typical of music video
aesthetic,” there is a need to maintain the atmospheric and emotional
coherence fit to tweens’ psychological level of understanding.31
According to Valerie Wee, the success of Disney in targeting tweens
is also due in large by their ability to “synergistically repurpose a single
concept across increasingly broad range of media platforms, tapping in
stereotypical concerns of tweens mindset, while earning trust of parents
and social institutions.”32
In other words, Walt Disney was successful in targeting the tween
market because of several strategies. The first is their great understanding
of the personal concerns of tweens. The second is their understanding of
27 Ibid., 35.28 Ibid.29 Ibid., 40.30 Ibid.31 Valerie Wee, Teen Media: Hollywood and the Youth Market in the Digital Age (McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina, 2010), 32 Ibid.
16
the evolution of the tween market in relation to social media and that
marketers must create multi-media messages and platforms if they want
to get tweens involved. The last strategy their understanding that parents
must be taken into consideration as they will be the ones to allow their
tweens to watch these messages or utilize those platforms.
Tweens and social media
More than technology in general, social media has not only
influenced today’s tweens, it has shaped them. Social media is a platform
that is crucial to tweens, and must not be overlooked. As Valerie Wee
states “the latest cross-media collaboration also represents the extent to
which medium specificities, stylistic distinctions, platform differences and
textual boundaries have collapsed: there has been an intensification of
pose modern hyperintertexual tendencies.”33
In effect, social media had created the final bridge between the
different media platforms. Internet and mobile technologies are not
passive, and a shift has been made from TV to new digital platforms such
as streaming and online gaming. With the low barriers of entry such as
video-distribution sites like YouTube and iTunes, tweens have the
opportunity to create, and distribute content themselves. Tweens are
more involve and participate in the content creation of almost everything
today.
33 Ibid.
17
fig.1 Frank Pompa, Graph, 2009, USA Today.
Gen Buy emphasizes how “there is no social, sex, or racial grouping
anymore” and so, tweens have a feeling of belonging when they buy.34 We
now live in such an individualistic and web-based society that “only half of
Americans today say that they have a friend besides their spouse, to
confide in and rely on for support: one fourth of Americans say they don’t
have anybody to confide in.”35 The consequence is that tweens rely
increasingly on social networks and the Internet to seek for groups to join
and fit in.
Social media also means an increasing emphasis on appearance.
“The fashion faux pas squabbles, and embarrassing moments that all
teens have” can now live forever, and be shared with anyone through
technology like Facebook or Twitter.36 Consequently, tweens are
increasingly self-conscious about their image and about fitting with others
and not make any mistake. While social media have influenced everyone
to change their behaviors, tween were born with social media and have
not known a life without it, which shaped them as people and their value
of appearance and actions.
34 Kit Jarrow & Jayne O’Donnell, Gen Buy: How Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings are Revolutionizing Retail(Jossey-Bass, CA: San Fransisco, 2009), 35 Kit Jarrow & Jayne O’Donnell, Gen Buy: How Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings are Revolutionizing Retail(Jossey-Bass, CA: San Fransisco, 2009), 36 Ibid.
18
Tween marketing and its controversy
Marketing to tweens, similarly to marketing to children would
automatically bring some controversy for its content and for the targeting
itself. An article featured in Bloomberg Business week:”Alcohol, Then
Tobacco. Now Fast-food?” written by Douglas MacMillan explains the
issues related to tweens and obesity. Consumer advocates are trying to
pass laws and regulations on marketing fast-food to children. This article
looks at the negative effects of unhealthy content advertising to tweens,
such as fast-food chains, and alcohol. The article describes some steps
taken towards regulating advertising by fast food restaurants. 15 food and
beverage companies have agreed “to focus greater advertising resources
on healthy foods, part of an initiative spearheaded in 2006 by the Council
of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB).”37 Some critics said that these
initiatives do not go far enough, saying that it does not avoid fast food
companies from marketing to adults. However, regulating anymore would
probably be a breach of the constitution and freedom of speech.
fig.2 www.abercrombie.com.
Other companies target tweens and teens with bad representations
of what is “cool” such as Abercrombie and Fitch that has been criticized
for its highly sexualized and provocative advertising that features “images
37 Douglas MacMillan, ”Alcohol, Then Tobacco. Now Fast-food?” Bloomberg Businessweek,
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jun2009/db20090630_606062.htm (accessed October 18th, 2011)
19
of impossibly thin, fit, beautiful and highly sexualized young people.”38
Some even argue that tobacco and alcohol industry target youth “by
linking smoking in ads with being "cool" and independent and with taking
risks (particularly physical risks),” “placing ads in magazines with high
adolescent readerships, such as Rolling Stone, Maxim or People,” “having
movie stars, who are popular with young people, smoke in films,”
sponsoring rock concerts and sporting events, “placing advertising near
high schools: on billboards, in bus shelters and in variety stores.”39
Finally, an article from Media Awareness Network argues that
“tweens (ages 8-12) are continually bombarded with limiting media
stereotypes on what it is to be a girl or a boy in today’s world.”40 For
tweens that are debatably at a sensitive age where they are seeking an
identity look at these ads as what it really means to be a girl or a boy and
follow the stereotypical images such as that of the ‘tough guy’ or the
‘mini-fashionistas.’
Regulations
“Such new media as social networking and video-sharing sites on
the Web fall outside the definitions maintained by the CBBB” (Council of
Better Business Bureau) that is the main service that protects children
from inappropriate advertisers.41 Although regulations are primarily
focused on television advertising, the Federal Trade Commission has
started to come up with rules regarding online marketing as well. Being
aware of these different rules is crucial to understanding ways in which it
is possible to market to children today.
It is important to understand that Children’s Online Privacy
Protection Rules is only focused on children under 13. In that case, the 13-
targeted website must have a way to ask for parental consent. “The
primary goal of COPPA and the Rule is to place parents in control over
38 “Marketing and Consumerism, special Issue for tweens and teens.” Media Awareness Network,http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/marketing/issues_teens_marketing.cfm (accessed October 18th, 2011)39 Ibid.40 Ibid.41 Ibid.
20
what information is collected from their young children online.”42
Nevertheless, it is actually difficult to see how effective these rules are for
two reasons.
The first reason is that children under the age of 13 may agree to
the parental consent notice on behalf of their parents, especially tweens
whom we have seen have the mental capabilities to do so.
The second reason is that it is hard to know which websites tweens
will access, and what content may or may not be appropriate for tweens.
In effect, “such new media as social networking and video-sharing sites on
the Web fall outside the definitions maintained by the CBBB.43 One
promotion Wendy's created for Father's Day asked kids to create e-cards
for their dads, featuring a Frosty, the chain's popular ice cream snack.”44 It
is impossible with the easy access to the Internet, and the decreasing
parent supervision on computers to monitor all the websites tweens
decide to visit. Even if all tween targeted website were to be regulated,
there is no guarantee that those same tweens will not access and have
exposure teen or adult-targeted websites and advertising as well.
Thus, the question is not about the controversy of advertising to
tweens, but what is advertised to them.
How to market to tweens for the better good?
Before understanding how to market to tweens for the better good, one
must first look at whether there is a need for those types of contents or
42 “Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.” The Federal Trade Commission, Protecting America’s Consumer,
http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/coppafaqs.shtm (accessed October 25th, 2011)43 Sharon Jayson, USA Today, “It’s Cooler than Ever to Be a Tween, but is Childhood Lost?” USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-02-03-tweens-behavior_N.htm (accessed October 18th 2011)44 Ibid.
21
not. After all, as many marketers probably would argue, tweens are being
marketed superficial things or unhealthy products because this may be
what they want and what they are interested in. Most certainly, that would
be the take of Abercrombie & Fitch or Victoria Secret, who advertise near-
naked or extremely thin models.
Are tweens concerned for the environment?
iTwixie is a market research company specialized in the tween
market. Based on their extensive database and resources, the company
explores different questions about this particular market that companies
might be interested in pursuing. One of the most recent research reports
they did was conveniently on the concern of tween girls for the
environment, and their potential desire to get more involved in the
movement. On one hand, one may notice that iTwixie is probably
responding to an increasing demand by companies on that subject. On the
other hand, it reveals that to some extent tweens as an ‘opportunity for
social and environmental change’ may be on companies’ minds.
According to this report from Going Green research, volume 1, issue
2 published in April 2011, “tween girls care deeply about our planet.”45
Indeed, apparently tweens and especially tween girls are a lot more
involved in green projects than one might first believe. “To tweens it’s a
wonderful challenge to come up with ways to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle,
because it is in their power to act on these ideas at home and at school.”46
If given the right tools, tweens are eager to get involved in these issues.
45 TweenTrends. “Trending Girls are Green.” Going Green Research, vol. 1, issue 2 (April 2011)
http://tweentrends.itwixie.com/
46 Ibid.
22
fig.3 iTwixie, TweenTrends. “Trending Girls are Green.” Going
Green Research, vol. 1, issue 2 (April 2011)
One reason for that eagerness is that these issues are approachable
to tweens. It is not the thing that worries them the most: according to this
Green Research report only 14 percent of tweens said their main worry is
about ‘the environment, world peace and their future.’ Tweens appear to
be more worried by issues related to their direct personal life such as what
their friends think of them and how well they are doing at school.
However, it is for that very reason that tweens are happy to get involved
with issues related to the environment. Those worries are still on their
minds, but not important and heavy enough for them to be scared of
getting involved. Environmental and social actions are some of the global
issues “tween girls between ages 8 and 14, can feel comfortable
discussing and getting involved in making a difference.”47 Among the three
things iTwixie tween girls want to do in the future is “do [their] best to
change the world.”48
According to a recent Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Staples
Foundation for Learning (SFFL) survey “of more than 1,200 youths, ages 11-13,
92 percent of tweens said they are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned”
about the environment.”49 Indeed, according to one of the judges of “Be Great,
Be Green” award, “when youth are educated about environmental issues, they
become involved in their communities and are able to make big changes.”50
47 TweenTrends. “Trending Girls are Green.” Going Green Research, vol. 1, issue 2 (April 2011)
http://tweentrends.itwixie.com/48 Ibid.49 Sharon Jayson, USA Today, “It’s Cooler than Ever to Be a Tween, but is Childhood Lost?” USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-02-03-tweens-behavior_N.htm (accessed October 18th 2011)
23
It is important moreover, to make a distinction between tween girls
and tween boys’ concern for the environment. While conducting a focus
group and handing out questionnaires to seven older tweens (4 girls and 3
boys), ages 11 to 12 years old; one of the main insights that came out was
that tween boy respondents felt less concerned by environmental issues
than tween girl respondents. If given the opportunity to discuss about
these issues via a social media platform, all tween girls were eager to try,
while boys felt less directly concerned and did not think they would have
the time to do so. Also, two out of three tween boys did not feel like they
had heard about problems related to the environment, while tween girls
mentioned school, TV, or magazines. Tween boys felt “a little” concerned
about these problems, while tween girls mentioned that they felt very
concerned and that “almost each person pollutes the earth” and even if
they do not pollute the earth themselves they “want to change the world.”
However, it is impossible to generalize the distinction between girls
and boys of tween age when it come to environmental concern. Although
boys did not feel as concerned by social and environmental degradation,
when asked if, given the opportunity, they would participate in changing
and solving these problems, two of the tween boys said yes, for “their
generation and the one after them,” and one said “maybe.” Moreover,
when asked: “if a website was created for you and your peers where you
could talk about these issues with other people like you, and discuss how
you could improve the planet’s condition, would you use it? How much?
Why not?”; six out of seven of the focus group tweens said they would,
and at least once a week if not more. Two also said they would spread the
word and make it known by as many people as they can.
Furthermore, it was interesting to notice that when required to list
the five things that worry them the most today, almost all of the focus
group tweens mentioned the “end of the world”, or “2012.” Such a pattern
shows that tweens’ worries have elevated to that of adults’ via subjects
50 Sharon Jayson, USA Today, “It’s Cooler than Ever to Be a Tween, but is Childhood Lost?” USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-02-03-tweens-behavior_N.htm (accessed October 18th 2011)
24
raised potentially with their older sisters, brothers and parents. Utilizing
tweens’ concerns might have great potential in attracting them and
encouraging them to take action. It is of course not about scaring them,
but about giving them a platform and the tools necessary to fight against
what they are concerned about.
fig.4 Waldoks, Ehud Zion. « Tweens use ‘virtual home’ to learn environment-protection.” 2011, www.jpost.com.
The growing concern of tweens for the environment has recently
been answered by a few new businesses, one of which is called Eco
Campus, a virtual, web-based world where tweens can create a virtual life
and continue to expand their knowledge on environmental issues at the
same time. According to an article in the Jerusalem Post, “Tweens use
‘virtual home’ to learn environment-protection” published in January 2011,
this educational/online gaming platform has been targeted towards Jewish
schools to educate them on green messages. The website is to teach
children age 8 to 15 years old, the importance of environmental values.
This platform is a good example of the increasing interest in catering to
tweens about subjects that go beyond mere consumerism: environment
and social responsibility.
Furthermore, tween-targeted companies have undertaken some
green campaigns in the past few years. Speaking with the editor in chief of
J-14, Nickelodeon (a children and tween television channel), Bravo!
Magazine and Disney Channel were brought up. Nickelodeon, among
others has done a campaign where they would give out tote bags with
25
quotes about social responsibility. Bravo! Magazine, the German sister of J-
14’s most successful campaign was “Bravo Goes Green,” and finally
Disney Channel came up with a contest where tweens could get their
favorite stars to come to their schools and plant a tree.
However, those types of businesses and campaigns are very rare
and very few of them exist today. Most companies have been conducting
green campaigns as part of their businesses, but marketers to tween have
toned down on these campaigns and messages several years ago. Thus,
understanding the best strategy to market environmentally and socially
responsible messages to tween is still a question in the waiting.
What strategy should we undertake for a marketing campaign promoting socially and environmentally effective messages?
Conducting an interview with editor-in-chief of J-14 magazine Rachel
Chang, some of the main things that were brought to light were the best
strategies to reach out to tweens. Among others was mentioned the
importance of social media, stars, and the ‘coolness factor’. Relying
on previous extensive research as well as Rachel Chang’s insight, we shall
recommend the best strategy for marketing for the better good.
J-14 is a magazine targeted and read by children ages 10 to 16 and
sometimes even younger. Rachel Chang started working at WD, when
tweens was not really a market yet. She used to watch a lot of Disney
Channel at the time, and one day WD, who was never interested in the
tween market before asked her to get them Lizzie McGuire, one of the
main actors of Disney Channel that had become increasingly popular.
However, according to her, what really triggered the apparition of the
tween market and made it more mainstream was probably High School
Musical. At that time, marketers did not know in which direction to go, and
“did not want to admit that the market [of interest, mainly teens and 20-
something] was getting younger.”
26
Objectives and Benefits of marketing socially and environmentally
responsible messages
Tweens have become the new market opportunity. Nowadays it may
even be called oversaturated. Marketing messages, advertising and stars
have “become impeded into [tweens’] interests.”
Through this paper, we have proven the need and interest of tweens for
environmental and social activism, as well as their potential as a market.
Marketing tweens for the better good would not only be an opportunity to
educate the future generations that will be most directly affected by the
changes occurring on the planet and see firsthand the consequences of
today’s environmental and social concerns, but they will also be able to
influence their parents and parents’ decisions, as mentioned earlier in this
paper.
Strategy
It is important to emphasize again that tweens’ parents are as
important as tweens themselves and must always be taken into
consideration when targeting tweens. During the interview, Rachel Chang
reflected on the popularity of star Selena Gomez. This specific star has
nothing special; however tweens are interested in her because she
appears very ‘normal’ and thus very approachable. Tweens actually look
up to her and feel like they can be like her. Moreover, Rachel states that
there is also a safe factor involved. Selena Gomez may also appeal to the
parents of tweens because of her very clean and proper image making the
parents of the tween more likely to agree to let them watch movies or buy
magazines in which she is displayed.
27
Consequently, to market messages successfully there is a need to
make sure that these messages are appealing to the tween but also
seems proper to the parents. According to The Great Tween Buying
Machine, “it is better to advertise products directly to the tweens instead
of, or at the very least, in addition to, their parents,” but the parents must
always stay on one’s mind as they are the ones to make the final decision
and the purchase in the end.51
Another strategy direction in marketing to tween is the ‘coolness’
or ‘star factor.’ Stars like Selena Gomez who are approachable and to
whom tweens look up to since they are slightly older than them can be
great message endorsements. According to Rachel Chang, some
photographers are hired to follow stars around and take pictures of them
throwing recyclable products in recycling bins. While Disney was able to
create their own stars, using an existing popular star to market
environmental and social responsibility would encourage tweens to act the
same.
Following that thought, even though schools may be a good platform
to market messages, linking those messages with education may hinder
the coolness of the message and associate the marketing campaign with
homework instead of fun. For messages that are very heavy, such a
source may not be the best solution.
Moreover, it is important to segment the tween market. To market
‘green messages’, we may want to focus on the older tweens, ages 10 to
12 years old who are learning about environmental issues at school, and
may be more exposed to world news. Segmentation must also be created
between boys and girls. According to previous research, it became
apparent that there is a clear difference between tween girls and tween
boys. It is even argued that there isn’t really a boy tween market. Thus,
marketing campaigns that call for action needs should be targeted
51 David Siegel et al., The Great Tween Buying Machine (Ithaca, N.Y.: Paramount Marketing Pub., 2001), 125.
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primarily towards girls. Rachel Wang confirms the small potential of boy
tween marketing mentioning that a boy J-14 magazine had been launched
in the past, and was given up after two issues for its lack of success. Justin
Bieber is also a great example of girl marketing. Even though the star is a
boy, a Justin Bieber girl fragrance and nail polish were created and had
incredible success with tween girls.
The best platforms to market tweens are increasingly social media
platforms. Rachel described a meeting she had with a business owner who
has just started a virtual portal that looks like Facebook but works like
Second Life, with avatars instead of pictures, and the possibility to get on
forums to discuss areas of interest with other tweens. According to the
owner, the average user was a 12 years old girl who spent 65 minutes on
the site. The tween girl had started her own businesses on the platform,
and made fake profit daily. Such an example shows the potential of
tweens’ social media platforms and tweens’ abilities when it comes to the
Internet.
As a consequence, using social media as the main tool to market to
tweens is the best strategy. However, as seen in the Walt Disney case,
tweens use more media than they ever have before, and because they are
great multi-taskers it is necessary to look at the other media platforms as
well. It is important to note that tweens use more than one media at once.
The most used media platform by tweens while being on the computer is
the television. According to The Great Tween Buying Machine, television is
still by far “the king of media vehicles for reaching this market.”52 Print
media cannot be underestimated either. “Tweens spend an average of 17
minutes on each magazine.”53 However, as confirmed by Rachel Chang,
magazine prints is mainly able to survive because of the physical posters
offered in the print that tweens enjoy hanging on their walls and cannot
acquire through digital media.
52 David Siegel et al., The Great Tween Buying Machine (Ithaca, N.Y.: Paramount Marketing Pub., 2001), 132.53 Ibid.
29
If a main channel had to be chosen, social media is the one with the
most future potential growth. The radio will most likely disappear in a
couple of years as parents are less likely to purchase new radios today.
Print will also disappear slowly with the creation of portable magazines
through tools such as the I pad. Even television is being replaced
progressively by computers where tweens can actually choose what they
want to watch and when through live streaming.
It is clear that marketing the green has been identified as outdated
and was big with marketers 3-5 years ago. According to the editor of J-14,
marketers may have stopped marketing those messages because they
decided it was not ‘in’ anymore, and so the tweens and parents stopped
talking about it forming a vicious circle of forgetfulness. Thus, it seems like
the perfect time to start marketing right now to tweens a message that
has not been over-marketed to them yet, and will appear relatively new
and exciting. This is an especially good time as we are nearing the end of
2011 and the beginning of 2012, a year of great interests for tweens as
discussed previously.
The message or platform that will promote environmental and social
activism will need to be also more focused on the fun aspect, than the
educational one. It is important to note that while tweens “use computers
for a variety of tasks, the number one reason is playing games.”54 This
means that tweens use social media and the Internet mainly for
entertainment, and as such, messages directed to tweens will have to
appeal to the ‘fun’ aspect of getting involved with these issues such as
games, competitions, team projects. The platform and message will also
have to encouraging the tweens and giving them the freedom to shape
the direction and course of action of the portal themselves.
Finally, tweens is a market that has just started to understand the
concept of humor and sarcasm. Messages can then play on the double-
54 David Siegel et al., The Great Tween Buying Machine (Ithaca, N.Y.: Paramount Marketing Pub., 2001), 138.
30
meaning that could relate the environment to tweens’ own personal
concerns. One such concern is ‘bullying” that is very big with tween
markets and magazines today, as reaffirmed by Rachel Chang.
Conclusion/Personal Reflections
We have seen through this paper that the tween market has
emerged both because of marketers’ desire to over-segment, and because
of social changes. Society’s evolution has created children that are
becoming more savvy consumers than their parents. Because of their
great power in themselves, but also by their influence on parents and
society in general, tweens are already a great opportunity for socially and
environmentally-directed messages. I have suggested the best ways to
market these messages for the better good to tweens today while
breaking through an oversaturated information culture, by relying on the
work and experience of prior researchers, interviewing an editor working
directly in the tween market today, and conducing a focus group with
tweens.
Nevertheless, I believe the tween market to be extremely versatile.
It evolves as times evolve, and seeing how fast society changes today it
would come with no surprise that in a few years or even a few months the
tween market will have changed once more. Consequently, there will a
need to constantly update research on the tween market and its current
areas of interests to stay in line with its needs and desires. I also believe
there to be a cycle to generations’ evolution and we might experience a
reverse trend in this market in later years: instead moving forward and
embracing new technologies, tweens would go back to older media
formats such as books and letters.
31
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