Dicken’s novels invariably open with a bleak description of the landscape – much like the current mood in Ireland. So as we near Christmas, how do we manage children’s typically consumer-driven expectations?
As a parent we need to first consider our own consumption, because as the tagline goes (see the previous blog) “What children see. Children do”. And if we continue to any degree with the ‘possession obsession’ we had during the Celtic Tiger, our children will set their own expectations accordingly.
Parents need to be savvy to children’s needs versus children’s wants. And marketers too. The Grandaddy of marketing Kotler described marketing’s original purpose as satiating consumers’ needs, not the more modern day activity of marketing creating consumers’ wants and then blurring the line between wants and needs.
Successful marketing is about being customer-focused, and in line with this, marketing this Christmas needs to allow for the changed recessionary consumer.
Campaigns like Smyths in Ireland and Hamleys in the UK’s 'bring in your unwanted toys and we’ll recycle or donate them', help set the tone for children and give parents the opportunity to discuss a less flaithiulacht approach to Christmas.
And more than that, this type of relevant and responsible behaviour bodes well for the brand image: my own research has shown that parents expect companies that sell products for children to behave responsibly. And that it is with those companies that parents want to engage.
Marketing, especially at Christmas time, and especially in a touch economic climate, needs to be responsible. And very careful about setting the bar too high for parents. Or/and indeed too high for the products in terms of delivering the children’s expectations.
Ultimately it all comes back to good people engagement. For parents this means manage the expectations… or else expect to be managed.
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