Opinion - Super Awesome

Unlocking the toy purchase funnel

SuperAwesome’s Charlie Brownless examines how to connect kids' requests to parental purchase decisions.

The kids' media landscape has undergone remarkable transformation in recent years, and this evolution shows no signs of slowing down. Amidst these shifts, the foundation of toy advertising remains rooted in the idea of visibility - ensuring your products are seen enough by your target audience to secure a spot on the coveted wishlist. This traditional approach often leans on the notion of 'pester power,' a term that now feels somewhat antiquated in our industry and belittles the often complex negotiation that goes on between parent and child.

Moreover, it's essential to note that encouraging children to pester their parents to buy them something is prohibited under UK kids' advertising regulations, underlining the importance of working with specialist partners who understand the complexities of responsible marketing to children. Ultimately, success for toy brands lies in ensuring child appropriateness whilst harnessing the persuasive dynamics and collaborative decisionmaking processes between parent and child.

Strategic toy marketers aim for efficient, omnichannel reach and frequency to generate excitement among younger audiences and their parents. However, a fundamental aspect often overlooked is the pivotal role childrens' requests for a toy play in influencing parental consideration and motivation for purchase. How does the frequency of these requests impact a parent's decisionmaking process?

In our quest to unravel the subtle nuances of the toy purchasing funnel, we recently launched our proprietary Family Democracy Tracker. This builds on our previous research and allows us to gauge the role of children in household purchase decisions, monitoring shifts over time to discern how and why these behaviours fluctuate. The revelations are striking - among all product categories, the data in the tracker reveals toys as the least likely to be purchased after the initial request. This highlights again the challenge of creating effective ads while remaining appropriate for the vulnerable youth audience that is particularly susceptible to sales pressure. When compared to items like electronics, personal care products, or event tickets, toys seem to face a unique challenge, and as such our industry marketing best practices have developed into something more intricate. The days of relying solely on TV commercials and tied-in shows to ensure a toy's success are long gone. Today's environment demands a more nuanced approach - one that goes beyond surface-level strategies and fosters deeper connections beyond mere product promotion.

Building enduring relationships with both children and parents has become the cornerstone of success. With that in mind, navigating this ever-evolving space effectively requires brands to highlight the intrinsic value of toysenabling brand-to-consumer connections that transcend fleeting excitement and cultivate long-term engagement with young consumers and shoppers.

How do we do this? Of course gaming fosters engaged interactivity and immersion, but our campaign data consistently highlights the efficacy of visibility and engagement across multiple platforms to drive success.

When planning, it's crucial to explore ways to engage audiences across various passion points and channels, driving genuine brand affinity via a long-term engagement strategy. If a product requires multiple requests before purchase, how do you ensure it remains top-of-mind for kids over a prolonged period of time? And crucially, how do you do that in a way that is appropriate for them?

Interestingly, the Family Democracy Tracker data shows YouTube as the most likely platform for advertising to be noticed by kids aged 4-9 in the UK - almost four times more than traditional linear TV advertising (the data shows 86% of kids aged 4 - 9 notice ads on YouTube vs 33% on connected TV and 22% on linear). And as gaming continues to dominate leisure time, TV viewership and attention is likely to diminish further, paving the way for toy brands to further accelerate their shift from TV to digital platforms.

But as we look at how these purchasing trends change over time, the tracker indicates that in Q4, the number of requests made before a toy is bought actually increases significantly. This shift during the key gifting season underscores the need for brands to work even harder to cut through the marketing noise to create substantial impact and excitement. Whilst this might not sound like a groundbreaking revelation, it demonstrates the importance of brands intensifying their marketing strategies not just at launch but maintaining that momentum well into Q4 - as we know savvy consumers are now more likely to shop around for deals late into December.

In the dynamic realm of kids' toy discovery, the enduring truth is clear: adaptability, fueled by data-driven insights, is the linchpin of success for brands within our industry. Understanding the regulatory guidance, the complexities of children's requests, deciphering parental motivations, and harnessing the potential of digital channels such as YouTube and gaming are pivotal steps towards building lasting connections and fostering brand loyalty. The landscape might evolve and trends may shift, but the guiding principle remains the same - embrace change and leverage research and insight to ensure you understand every aspect of this audience to meet their ever-changing needs. In this age of flux, the brands that navigate these waters with an intelligence-informed approach are the ones poised for lasting success.

SuperAwesome’s Family Democracy Methodology: monthly tracker in the US, UK, France and Germany, served bi monthly in each market. Sample, n=500 parents and children aged 4 - 18 per wave, self served online survey (Sample provided by Walr)