How To: Creative Marketing for Children
We are living in a digital world with 60% of consumers shopping on their smartphones (WGSN, 2019). Society feels busy and anxious. Children are growing up with this experience as the “norm”, so it’s important brands leverage social channels in a positive and empowering way to communicate their messages. We wanted to scout out which retailers are achieving this well for our newest generation.
TikTok may have been missed by a grownup audience, but young consumers are embracing its creative powers. This video-sharing social application allows users to express themselves in short, fun clips. US department store, Macy’s, utilised TikTok for their “Back to School” campaign. They encouraged students to share their style and dorm rooms as the new school year began. The app offers bite-sized, quirky video content — easy and fun to digest!
We adopted a similar approach for the accessory brand, Light+Nine’s #ClassOfCloud campaign, where we designed different patches (also known as nimicks). These portray a series of characters whom children can relate to. Children can accessorise their Light+Nine bags to reflect their aspirations and personality. Due to the playful nature of the designs, the campaign has been successfully shared on visual platforms, such as Instagram.
Above: Light+Nine nimick by Buttercrumble. Photography by Dini’s Photography
Brands such as Gap Kids are also using Instagram to reach a younger audience. They featured six musically-talented children, all playing to Guns N Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine”. This campaign was transformed into short clips for their Gap Kids account and was hugely successful, with the complete ad gaining over 775k views on YouTube. Notice how you can tailor your content and publish it across multiple networks.
Moreover, LG Electronics are embracing video content. The company has pledged to help students tackling stress at school. LG is partnering with not-for-profit organisations such as Project Happiness and Inner Explorer to deliver a feel-good initiative. They want to teach children skills such as mindfulness, purpose and gratitude to express that life’s good (appropriately suited for the LG brand)! To create video content, they partnered with SoulPancake to deliver the programme to a selected number of schools across the US. It’s a fantastic example of a large corporation using collaboration for good, despite children not being LG Electronic’s main audience. It’s a wise move for the future.
Above: LG Electronics launch “Experience Happiness” in partnership with Project Happiness and Inner Explorer.
Social media doesn’t seem to be disappearing anytime soon, despite concerns. We must use social media to nurture positive and kind feelings — especially for our young generations. Has your organisation thought about creating a campaign for good? We’d love to hear from you.
Article written by: Abigail from Buttercrumble. Banner image by: Dini’s Photography.
