How can brand marketing on Children’s Day focus on “older children”?

Abstract: Children's Day is approaching. Instead of trying to catch the last train of "children's marketing" and trying every possible way to open parents' wallets, brands should focus on the potential market of "older children". "Older children" not only have strong consumption desire and certain economic strength, but also allow brand marketing to avoid the dilemma of separating "buyers" and "users".

Who isn't a baby? The adult Generation Z (born after 1995) still cannot accept the fact that they have grown up.

From the popularity of SHE's lyrics "I don't want to grow up", to the prevalence of various cute emoticons on the Internet, from the stress-relieving cat claw toys becoming a hot-seller on Taobao, to various marketing campaigns with "boy's heart" and "girl's heart" as selling points that have aroused enthusiastic responses from young people. Young people who have entered adulthood still long for their childhood.

Rejuvenation is an impossible wish, but contemporary young people do have the desire to "get younger and younger". In fact, from a physiological point of view, people after the age of twelve have already left the category of "children", but psychologically, people can always maintain a childlike heart.

Thus, the term "older children" came into being. Older children refer to adults who are over 18 years old but still retain their childishness and yearn for childhood.

Unlike real children, “older children” not only have a strong desire to buy but also have a certain consumption capacity. According to statistics, more than 50% of toys on the market in 2018 fell into the hands of adult consumers, especially plush toys and decompression toys, which were the most popular among adult consumers. Some male consumers even buy toys for their girlfriends to express their love.

The consumption desire of "older children" can also be reflected in our lives. A large number of users on Douyin show off the stress-relieving toys they bought. Stress-relieving toys such as the lazy egg that can vomit and the super mini washing machine have caused Douyin users to like them crazily.

With both strong purchasing desire and certain economic strength, the "older children" market is like a fertile land waiting to be cultivated in the market, just waiting for marketing to be sown and watered. "June 1st" is a good day at the right time.

“June 1st” is approaching, how should brands market to “older children”?

1. Why is the marketing target of Children’s Day “older children”?

In 2018, a topic titled "The last post-00s has come of age" became a hot search, triggering wails from the "Generation Z". Growing up always comes unexpectedly. In order to compete with the passing of time, young people do not choose to become "adults" but become "older children".

The emergence of "older children" represents the emergence of an unprecedented group of consumers in the marketing market, a huge market waiting to be developed. They have certain economic strength and consumption desire, but lack corresponding products.

Children's Day is approaching. Instead of trying to catch the last train of "children's marketing" and trying every possible way to open parents' wallets, brands should focus on the potential market of "older children".

In the marketing market, the basic logic of marketing positioning is to focus on the target market - deeply explore the target users - and formulate targeted marketing strategies. Among them, target users are the core point that marketing should focus on.

The father of positioning, Jack Trout, once said, "Positioning is not conducted around the product, but around the minds of potential customers." Although tapping into surface users is enough for marketers to make a fortune, the competition is also very fierce. Discovering potential users and focusing on their deep needs are the winning sword of marketing.

It is better to be a miner than a gold digger. Compared to the well-known gold scraps mixed in the sand, the minerals hidden underground are the real wealth worth fighting for. If surface users are broken gold, then potential users are the untapped mineral deposits underground.

To become a "miner" and focus on deep users, you must first understand the one center and two basic points of deep users. Here, tapping into deep users is the focus, and “purchasing desire” and “purchasing power” are the two basic points for monetizing deep users.

1. Exploring deep-level users: the expansion of the “older children” group

Why has the emergence of “older children” become a common phenomenon?

Instead of denouncing the fragility and naivety of those born after 1995, we should focus on the development of society as a whole. Compared with their parents, the "childhood" of this generation of young people has indeed been extended. The popularization of nine-year compulsory education and higher education has extended the education time of young people, which has also extended the prelude of young people entering society. Some young people will even go on to study for a master's or doctoral degree.

In contrast to the extension of the education period, the "marriage age" of modern people is also being pushed back. Young people who have just been freed from the ivory tower need a certain amount of time to accumulate capital and lay an economic foundation for their future family life.

So what we can see is that the road to adulthood for Generation Z is indeed long. On the one hand, contemporary young people have indeed broken free from the shell of childhood, but they are still a certain distance away from truly entering society and starting a family.

During the transition period between the two, "older children" emerged. On the one hand, they have the "childlike innocence" of children, and on the other hand, they have purchasing power that children do not have and aesthetic needs that are different from the older generation.

How to tap into the "older children" market will become the next issue that marketers need to consider.

2. Consumption Desire: Analysis of the Psychological Mechanism of “Older Children”

The growing group of “older children” has become a new marketing opportunity. The next question we need to think about is whether “older children” have a certain desire to consume, and what are their consumption needs?

In the book "Crisis Management and Marketing in the Age of Chaos", Philip Kotler mentioned that our lives have entered the age of chaos. With class solidification and increasing pressure of life, "social animal" has become a way of life. People are filled with anxiety and uneasiness and try to escape from society in order to seek spiritual comfort.

This is particularly evident in "older children". On the one hand, they are physically mature, but on the other hand, they seem not to have reached the psychological age to grow up.

When they are freed from the long years of education and plan to make their mark in society with a wealth of knowledge, they suddenly find themselves facing unprecedented class stratification and skyrocketing housing prices. Their parents were able to make a living in the city in the past when housing prices had not yet skyrocketed, but what contemporary young people earn after a lifetime of hard work may not be as much as the value of some people's existing fixed assets.

"Escape" has become the key word behind "older children". On the one hand, they are looking for their own foothold in society, and on the other hand, they resist the pressure from society and refuse to be fully socialized.

At this time, what marketing needs to do is to create a small escape for young people, and "June 1" is the best day.

3. Purchasing power: The reason why “older children” are so popular

Why “older children” can become a potential gold mine in the marketing market. On the one hand, it is because "older children" do have purchasing power that ordinary children do not have. On the other hand, focusing on older children can avoid separating the "buyers" and "users" of the product.

The sign of measuring the success of a marketing campaign is whether it can get effective feedback from users. Here, the first thing to understand is. Who is the real buyer of the product?

In the marketing process, the buyers and users of products are often separated. For example, the brainwashing advertisement of Melatonin, "I won't accept any gifts this year, and if I do, accept Melatonin" focuses on young people who give gifts rather than the elderly who receive them. Melatonin has successfully captured the needs of young people to "show filial piety" and provided a solution for their holiday gift-giving.

The Children's Day marketing is similar. Those who are truly capable of purchasing the products are not the children, but the children's parents. Traditional Children's Day marketing generally focuses on children, attempting to open parents' wallets through children's requests. However, the consequence of this marketing approach is that buyers and users are separated from each other, marketing is driven by users rather than buyers, and the information conveyed cannot reach buyers directly.

Therefore, Children's Day marketing that focuses on children themselves often fails to achieve the desired results. We often see children crying and begging their parents to buy a toy, but their parents always respond with a “no means no”. This is the drawback faced in traditional Children's Day marketing.

But the Children's Day marketing focusing on "older children" is different. “Older children” are both buyers and users of products, so marketing targeting “older children” has a higher possibility of monetization.

2. How should brands carry out Children’s Day marketing for “older children”?

When did you start to feel like you were growing up?

It probably started when schools stopped celebrating Children’s Day, and there were no more cultural performances or small gifts from teachers. Everyone is reluctant to leave June 1st, but this is particularly evident in contemporary young people.

Whenever Children’s Day comes, we will see messages like “asking for gifts on Children’s Day” flooding our WeChat Moments, “I’m still a baby”, “Anyway, I’m still young, and I’ll be best friends with whoever buys me a gift”... Similar Children’s Day emoticons are circulating wildly in WeChat Moments. It can be seen from this that the holiday needs of "older children" are no less than those of real children. So, now that Children’s Day is here, how should brands carry out their marketing targeting “older children”?

1. The “nostalgia card” that never goes out of style

Rather than saying that "older children" are missing Children's Day, it is better to say that older children are missing their beautiful childhood, their carefree and stress-free past.

Japanese scholar Horiuchi defines happy consumption as a consumption experience brought about by multiple senses, fantasies and emotions. Nostalgia is a special emotion based on consumer experience and is a positive emotional response through the "memory filter".

Therefore, building a scene centered on consumer experience is the key for brands to play the "nostalgia card".

Youku Video’s Children’s Day marketing is a good example. Facing the upcoming Children's Day, Youku Video used the extremely interesting H5 six-frame comics to recreate the scenes of us secretly watching TV when we were children without telling our parents.

The content of the cartoon is as follows: A child secretly watches TV while his parents are out, and turns off the TV before his parents come back, destroying all evidence and pretending that he is doing his homework seriously. At this time, the mother came back and found that the child's behavior was a little suspicious, so she put her hand on the TV. The heat from the TV that had not yet subsided told the mother that her child was not as "well-behaved" as he appeared to be. The mother angrily picked up a feather duster and started a meal of "Stir-fried Pork with Bamboo Shoots".

This marketing campaign combines the "watching videos" scene with our childhood memories very well, making people laugh while reminiscing about their childhood. It can be said to be a classic play of the "nostalgia card".

Zhaopin.com’s Children’s Day marketing is also combined with the hot-blooded comics we loved to read when we were children. "Goodbye, the last Children's Day", Zhaopin's H5 marketing awakens our youth immersed in Japanese comics through black and white illustrations, passionate young people, Japanese painting style and slightly "middle school" lines.

"Real success is no longer about how much money you have, but how much you earn on your own." The last conclusion is even more connected to the operating theme of Zhaopin.com, deepening users' understanding of Zhaopin.com.

In fact, the purpose of a brand playing the "nostalgia card" does not necessarily have to bring about a direct conversion in sales, it can also be to deepen the brand image and increase brand value. "June 1" marketing is a good opportunity.

2. Acting young and cute is a powerful tool for the June 1st Camp to carry out marketing by leveraging the situation

With the popularity of the "moe" culture with anime, otaku, and cuteness as the keywords, selling cuteness has also become a business. What are the characteristics of Children's Day? The biggest feature is that those who celebrate the festival are "babies". The easiest way for "older children" to celebrate the festival is to disguise themselves as babies. When conducting Children's Day marketing, brands can not only meet consumers' needs to "act young and cute", but they can also implement the "act young and cute" strategy themselves.

The Children's Day marketing campaign of daily photoshopping is a good example. Tiantian Ptu once cooperated with QQ Space to

A few days before Children's Day, a photo-editing game called "My Elementary School Student ID Photo" was launched. You just need to take a photo and upload it to Tiantian Ptu, and the software will automatically synthesize it into your elementary school student ID photo.

At that time, this marketing method aroused enthusiastic response from netizens and caused a screen-sweeping event in the circle of friends. Tiantian Ptu has a good insight into the need of "older children" to pretend to be younger as Children's Day approaches.

Alipay’s operations on Children’s Day have also attracted much attention. On Children's Day, Alipay added the word "baby" after each user's nickname, which made users feel very heartwarming. Some netizens even joked that this was because Jack Ma wanted everyone to call him dad.

The brand's pretending to be young has always attracted much attention, and the "pretending to be young" marketing on Children's Day can trigger discussions across the entire network and achieve a good marketing effect by leveraging the momentum.

3. Cross-border marketing: grasp the key word "innocence"

Using childish language, cute illustrations, and cheerful colors is half the battle. If a few cute "cute creatures" are added, the childhood scenes can become a harvester of "older children".

Following the cross-border cooperation with Meiji Jing to launch White Rabbit Toffees-flavored lip balm, White Rabbit Toffees has once again carried out a "magic cross-border cooperation" with the Smell Library and launched a White Rabbit Toffees-flavored perfume in time for Children's Day.

Taking advantage of the "June 1" Children's Day trend, White Rabbit Milk Candy accurately captured the hearts of "older children".

"A little bit of childishness" has become the slogan of the White Rabbit milk candy-flavored perfume. In the advertisements for White Rabbit perfume, White Rabbit also accurately grasped the "keyword" of innocence, telling the adventures of each White Rabbit fragrance product and contemporary "older children". With the theme of creating a childlike dream, the content of the advertisement is childish and imaginative. Petals are flying in the air under the blowing of electric fans, children slide down the slide on their knees and hug each other, and children dance and play rock-paper-scissors with each other...

The whole advertisement is both dreamy and beautiful, like a childhood dream. At the same time, White Rabbit and the Smell Library have set up "candy grabbing" machines in 25 cities including Beijing and Shanghai, and their operation mode is similar to that of claw machines. Through interactive marketing and scene immersion, "older children" seem to have returned to the carefree past.

To establish an emotional connection with users, all a brand needs to do is to make consumers recall the joy and beauty in life. Undoubtedly, this cross-border marketing of White Rabbit Milk Candy once again allowed "older children" to regain their innocent past and met the needs of adult consumers for Children's Day.

3. Conclusion

The most important issue in brand marketing is to understand who the real consumers are. Deeply cultivating potential markets and tapping into potential consumer needs are powerful tools for brands to break through.

Children's Day is approaching. Compared with children, the focus of brand marketing should be on "older children" who are already adults but have certain consumption desires and purchasing power. After all, children do not have purchasing power. Instead of trying to impress children's parents in a roundabout way, it is better to focus on "older children" who have purchasing power and purchasing needs.

With Children’s Day approaching, how should brands market to “older children”? Just grasp the three key words: "nostalgia", "pretending to be young" and "innocence".

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Author: Fang Yun

Source: PR Home