Phone Into Kids’ Consciousness

At the Kid and Youth Marketing Power Conference in Madrid, Spain, last month, the importance of cell phones in children’s lives was emphasized by Suzana Curic, in content and media sales for Ericsson. Antonio Pueyo, managing director of the Simba Group, added that Spanish children are using cell phones, on average, three years before kids in other EU countries; Brits get their first cell phone at age 8, according to the Telegraph in 2005.

“This Y generation is different to the previous X generation,” Curic said. “Being in the countryside without access to computers or mobile phones, for example, causes them stress; they only relax when they turn them on. The conditions under which young people live make it impossible to function without communication technology. For them, it is a matter of survival.”

Ericsson teamed up with Fanta to devise an SMS campaign to promote the latter’s products to teens, who are more skeptical and less patient with cumbersome technology than their elders, said Cristina Bondolowski, sparkling beverages unit director for Fanta.

“There is an anti-marketing feeling that started in the United States 10 years ago and is now becoming apparent in the Spanish market,” Bondolowski cautioned. “You have to be more credible and give [teens] quality to attract them and maintain their interest. It’s fun, but you have to work hard because it’s extremely demanding.”

(Go back to Kid and Youth Marketing Power Conference.)