Protecting kids from ill effects of social media

"Australia banning social media for people under 16", said a headline in this newspaper on December 4. It got me thinking how children consume media and my own learning in this domain.

- AMBI PARAMESWARAN

It was in the early 1990s and we were preparing to launch an exciting new confectionery brand. I suggested to my client that the ideal time to break the advertising would be when kids had all the time to try new products: The holidays. My client, a confectionery marketing veteran, violently disagreed. He explained that the ideal time to launch any new kiddie product was when kids had their 'social network' active.

Remember, this was the 1990s and social network then was largely the network kids had in school. Kids found out something new – a new ad, a new product – and the next day they talked about it in school. Another learning was that kids consumed advertising just as adults consumed editorial content. They did not see the difference between the ads and the programmes.

Some of you may remember how your little kids looked at ads on TV with open eyes. Kids consumed ads meant for them even more avidly. Hence, the maxim in confectionery advertising was that you did not need to provide too many impressions, but you needed to get as much 'reach' as possible. Unlike in the case of a typical FMCG product, like soap or toothpaste, where you might operate with a media plan of 30 per cent effective reach and 3+ OTS, in the case of kids you could try for 40 per cent reach and 2+ OTS and achieve a bigger impact.