20 MCV 16/07/10 KIDS MEDIA FOCUS Child benefits
The kids video games market is worth around £1.3bn but it remains one of the hardest sectors to crack. Christopher Dring speaks to the publishers and media trying to sell to the fickle but lucrative children’s market…
ACCORDING to NPD, children under 11 represent 34 per cent of the games market – in the UK that’s £1.3 billion. It is one of gaming’s most lucrative sectors. Titles such as Club Penguin, Ben 10, Peppa Pig, New Super Mario Bros, LEGO Harry Potter, Cooking Mama and Pokémon are amongst this year’s biggest selling video games. And it should come as no surprise
that Turner Media Innovations say that 98 per cent of children aged between four and 14 have a games machine in their home. That’s one hell of a potential audience. Turner also says that 69 per cent of children buy their games new, and not second hand.
“ “They are also very commercially
savvy, much more so than a few years ago and you really need to work much harder to get your message across. “Kids are also not always the purchaser of the game. Parents also need to be convinced that the video game is the right thing to buy.”
Lee Nutter, publisher of kids magazine Nitro, adds: “There’s a lot of noise in the kids’ market, with multiple channels and products all competing for attention – toys, confectionery, TV, movies – games is just one of a long list, and achieving standout is very tough. With games, kids tend not to be the primary purchaser. Not only do you have to convince the child that it’s your
Kids consume large amounts of different media, making them much more fragmented than adults to target.
Scott Wood, Activision
But for all its potential it’s far from an easy audience to appeal to. Children are notoriously fickle, but the biggest challenge is in encouraging the parents to spend the money.
“Kids consume large amounts of different media making them much more fragmented than adults to target,” explains Activision’s senior brand manager Scott Wood.
game they should be buying, but you have to provide them with the ammunition to reach the parent and translate that into a buying decision.”
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT According to Turner, mums and dads are the ones that do the buying 92 per cent of the time – so what can publishers do to attract both children and their parents?
“There are a number of key factors which influence purchase decisions,” says Turner Media’s UK sales director Andrew Mallandaine.
“Positive word of mouth and the cool factor are vital to ensuring that a game reaches the must-have status. Cost is also a hugely important aspect with
BOGOF and discounts being the most attractive things that shops could do to entice young gamers. “Timing is also critical. It is true that half of all game sales to kids are in the pre-Christmas run up, but targeting all school holidays is important and also the post-Christmas voucher and gift money market is valuable.”
”
Of course one of the biggest ways to attract children is through TV. Nigh on every child watches TV – with the likes of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon amongst the most popular destinations. Some of today’s biggest kids video games – such as Ben 10 – began life on TV. In fact,
even game franchises, such as Pokémon, have seen their success driven through TV exposure. And Mallandaine says TV advertising is just as valuable. “We’ve found through our own case studies that a combination of an on-air spot building awareness and driving kids to a website for much more in-depth information and interaction is the optimum media choice,” he continues.
“Being able to play the game and
seeing plenty of in-game footage are both cited by large numbers of respondents as huge influencers on the desire to purchase. But TV is king for this young market who consume very little other media apart from the web.”
WHAT ABOUT PRINT? However, it’s not just about TV and websites. Print can also be an effective way to reach a younger audience. Traditional games magazines tend to skew at the slightly older or teen gamer, so game publishers make use of publications more targeted at kids – such as Ben 10 Magazine, Future’s Nitro or the recently-launched Megaton. However, launching a kids magazine and getting it established is far from easy. So what is the secret to launching a product that can resonate with the younger gamer? “It has to be honest,” says Nutter.
WWW.MCVUK.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52