Automobile Marketers Are Hopping on the Pester Power Band-wagon
Katie Bastian
You heard it here first!
In my last blog I wrote about the strong influence that kids can have over their parents purchasing decisions and how the trend for marketers to target kids is growing more than ever.
An online article published by the Wall Street Journal on November 9, 2006, further discusses this same phenomenon, and it starts out siting the exact same Toyota Scion marketing campaign to children on Whyville.net that I mentioned in my blog.
The article goes on to talk about other marketing tactics car companies have recently used to target kids. For example:
HUMMER - A HUMMER toy car was given out in McDonald’s Happy Meals in August. The company also started a website called HUMMERkids.com, with games and printable coloring pages. Then, in the fall, HUMMER started making a HUMMER kid’s bicycle, a children’s tent and a number of new ride-on products.
Mazda - Dealerships are featured in Electronic Arts Inc.’s new “Need for Speed Carbon” driving videogame. In addition, Mazda paid for its RX-8 model to be the superhero’s vehicle in the Top Cow Revved comic book series.
And, three unnamed car makers are in talks with My Gym Enterprises, Inc., a chain of franchise gyms around the country for kids between 3 months old and 13 years old, to incorporate miniature vehicles into classes.
The article confirms that car marketers are on the right marketing track. According to a study by J.D. Power & Associates, 62% of parents now say their children “actively participate” in car-buying decisions and 28% of moms say they listen to their children’s wishes regarding a vehicle purchase.
Some call it manipulation of young children, others call it fun and educational. I call it smart.
As I said in my last blog, I believe that car marketers reaching out to a younger audience will build “brand image and lifetime relationships with younger clients because not only do kids influence their parent’s purchasing decisions, but it will also help American carmakers build brand loyalty early in a customer’s life.”