Maintaining brand relevance with kids

Shows how familiar children are with brands from an early age: 50 per cent of American five year olds are asking for brands by name. Explains what children want from brands: that they are relevant, interactive and deliver instantly, and that the marketing for them is done in an honest and unpatronising way. Emphasises the importance of investing effort into really knowing the Generation Y market in order to develop an emotional connection with young customers that builds brand loyalty and encourages children to endorse the brand to their friends. Concludes with what brand managers need to consider with respect to the trend for co‐branding: these partnerships can be fruitful if the two brands are genuinely complementary and strong on their own, but attempting to refresh a stagnating brand's image in this way can harm the successful brand.