ITV

Tag: Kids

  • Diptrix.com: Virtual reality grabs kids

    Has anyone heard about the Adventures of Trix Rabbit? Just click your way through the hip hoppity town, to the habitat of the super energetic Trix Rabbit, Diptrix.com. It exemplifies a world of freebies and games galore, a kid‘s haven!

    As marketers look for new ways and means to connect with their consumers, the task becomes doubly hard when the target group is a bunch of kids. In what appears to be an emerging trend among brands today, marketers are increasingly using the concept of community based websites. This provides a medium to directly reach out to each consumer via active engagement with the product, thus strengthening the ‘connect‘ between the two.

    The Dip Trix homepage

    Following this path, General Mills latest offering Dip Trix Cookies ‘n‘ Cream launched diptrix.com simultaneously with its national rollout in March this year.

    To make a big noise around the new product, the brand aimed at creating a “virtual playground” – a space for their little consumers to have fun through games, sharing stories, trivia and downloads.

    A key hook used to build participation was the oft used collect points proposition (in this case virtual currency “cookies”), which can be exchanged for real life merchandise.

    Additionally, the ‘Hall of Fame‘ announces the names of participants with the highest scores. The leader in this currently is a kid who has gathered more than 10,000 “cookies”.

    Diptrix.com also provides a learning experience for kids via quizzes and an opportunity to express their point of view. The brand mascot Trix Rabbit befriends each visitor guiding them through every section of the site and through a story narrates the Dip Trix experience.
     
     

     

    General Mills, India marketing director Gayatri Yadav believes, “Children of today are increasingly technology savvy, requiring marketers to think of new ways to connect and communicate with them. The traditional modes of TV and print media are no longer enough. It is important to explore new media options that allow not just a one way communication, but a two way dialogue and interactivity. The key is to go beyond brand exposure to brand engagement.”

    Brand mascot Trix Rabbit narrates his story

    It is estimated that the average time spent on the site by the TG (kids between the age group of 6-14 years) ranges from 20-25 minutes. Within the first five months, the site had more than 10,000 registered users, with the monthly average of page views nearing 300,000.

    Unlike other community websites that boast of a huge user base, Diptrix.com is content with its set of loyal visitors. This fulfills one of their key objectives which is to increase frequency of visitors rather than expand their reach. The site epitomizes fun for kids with its cute look and feel and it has been calculated that on an average, kids log on to this site to play the games more than thrice a week. The games differ in complexity making it appropriate to the wide TG, although it may be said that the average age of visitors are approximately 10 year olds.

    The key idea was to provide kids with a space of their own to learn, play and be rewarded for their efforts. This subtly acts as a sphere of empowering the ‘little fellows‘, giving them an incentive to keep them coming back for more. They can redeem these “cookies” for a whole range of branded goodies offered at the online store, from Trix Rabbit caps, T-shirts and bags, to lower value items like stationary and stickers.

    The Krissh and Trix game

    Moreover, the launch of the website was also co-ordinated with the release of Krissh. During a promotional period, the official mask of the Indian superhero was distributed on purchase of Dip Trix Cookies ‘n‘ Cream. Currently, a Krissh ‘advergame‘ has been posted on the site, which allows kids to put on the mantle of their hero and outrun the ‘silly‘ rabbit thus, redeeming cookies for the mask. This has served as an effective tie-up as the buzz around this has driven traffic to the website.

    The creative team, Hungama.com (Virtual Marketing (India) Pvt.Ltd) handles the website and has worked on several brand websites including Coca Cola and Axe. However, in this case the challenge for them was to develop an online solution for a kid‘s centric category that had to be exciting and addictive. As a result of being a new entrant in the Indian market, the website had to be an integral part of the entire communication mix.

    Kids voice their opinions on Kid Speak

    Besides the buzz sparked off with Krissh, the website was also promoted via on-pack messaging and TV. However, much ideation went into the initiative as kiddies are no longer passive consumers. The creative team tells us that various competitive kids‘ websites and other consumer engagement websites were analyzed while preparing the content strategy for the Dip Trix website. To keep a tab on the activity on the site, Hungama.com has an in-house tracking and reporting application and follows web trends to monitor page views and visitor analysis, in order to study the behaviour of registered users. “To have a set of loyal visitors to your website, community building is one of the best tools available.”

    To sustain the hype around diptrix.com, content is regularly updated to keep the interest levels high. Two new games are added every month while other sections are updated on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

    Besides, there are plans to introduce new branded merchandise like watches and umbrellas in the coming weeks, as a trend has been observed whereby, kids are accumulating a huge amount of “cookies.” To prevent stagnation, these new items will be of higher value thus allowing kids to redeem the bulk of points collected.

    Kids can download wallpapers & more

    What is also interesting is that this activity also allows for a ‘sharing experience‘ among kids and their parents. As parents guide their kids through the site, it creates for quality time spent and includes parental involvement. Parents are even kept informed about their kid‘s activities and the freebies they win on the site.

    As every brand attempts to give its customer the value of an emotional connect, Dip Trix Cookies ‘n‘ Cream believes, “The website is not about generating brand sales but about building an enduring and vibrant relationship with the Indian child. We see this as a long term channel to interact and engage with the child, and build a brand via a relationship, not just messaging, via creating a community and not just communication.”
     
  • BBC to launch kids, English entertainment channels in India

    BBC to launch kids, English entertainment channels in India

    MUMBAI: The kids and English general entertainment space in India is about to get a tad more crowded. BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of UK pubcaster the BBC, has announced that it will be launching two channels in India shortly – preschoolers’ channel CBeebies and BBC Entertainment, offering drama and comedy.

    The launches are part of a global rollout of four new TV channels that will include BBC Knowledge and BBC Lifestyle. BBC Worldwide has stated it also plans a high definition channel in the future. The four channels will be broadcast across all media: linear TV, VoD, mobile and online.

    BBC Entertainment and CBeebies are due to be launched in India first. BBC Entertainment will replace BBC Prime in some countries, initially Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and Thailand.

    BBC Worldwide said the expansion of the channels would be decided on a country-by-country basis. As part of its plans to ramp up its channels business globally, BBC Worldwide is setting up regional offices in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Heading operations in Asia is Christine Leo-McKerrow who has been appointed senior VP for tghe region.

    CBeebies will air in India in Hindi and English and will not carry ads. “We will be setting up an advisory board made up of local/Indian psychologists, doctors, teachers, parents etc to advise us on our programming and ensure we remain relevant and trustworthy,” Darren Childs, the managing director of global channels at BBC Worldwide, has been quoted as saying in a media report.

    In the UK CBeebies targets children below the age of six. CBeebies’ basic aim is to educate and entertain the BBC’s youngest audience. The service provides a range of pre-school programming designed to encourage learning through play for children aged five and under, in a consistently safe environment. For the CBeebies launch in India the channel will have a panel of pyschologists, experts to decide on the programming content. The aim is to ensure relevance and trustworthiness.

    BBC Entertainment, meanwhile, will aim to offer the best of British shows in different genres like comedy, drama and light entertainment.

    Localisation: A report in the UK’s Times says that while initially the plan is to air British shows, the BBC is also looking at generating content from India. It might also look to buy Indian production companies if the business successfully kicks in, the report adds.

    Childs was quoted saying that the company is trying to change how it approaches the international channels business and fit things into a local market perspective rather than push them out from London. He also says that the chanel is close to getting a distribution deal.

  • Animax goes all English from 15 August

    Animax goes all English from 15 August

    NEW DELHI: Animax, the international animation channel, adopts a complete English language feed as a continuation of the Animax Refresh to meet the requirements of an ever growing and discerning Indian viewership starting this month.

    With slick blockbuster animation series and shows that are more youth and young adult focused, Animax is punching into a different market segment to better attract the 15 to 24 years old, an age group with the real purchasing power. Operating a single English language feed is meant to better serve this segment.

    Animax has been a pioneer seeking to change the face of animation in India by offering Indian viewers animation for grown-ups, and not just cartoons for kids. Animax programming tends to be more developed, dramatic animated series portraying human emotions and conflicts.

    These series attract viewers that want intelligent, substantial themes along with the fun in their animated entertainment. The Animax audience are young adults who enjoy daily viewing of their favorite animated series on Animax.

    Says Animax-Country manager- Sunder Aaron, “We’ve converted the Animax feed into English-only to better meet the interests of our target audience in the metros. We’ve targeted the young adults of India who we all see at cyber cafes, playing video games, downloading music and wearing branded clothes. Animax is focused on engaging this discerning audience with our programming. Broadcast in English also meets the demands of our various user-groups who have expressed this preference to us online. “

  • Eight Mumbai kids shortlisted at Hungama TV’s ‘John Aur Kaun?’ auditions

    Eight Mumbai kids shortlisted at Hungama TV’s ‘John Aur Kaun?’ auditions

    MUMBAI: Hungama TV’s Oral-B John aur Kaun (JAK) auditions that were held in Mumbai on 29 July saw over 1000 kids auditioning. The judges had to screen through kids between the age group of 4 -14 years in the first round of Oral-B JAK before short listing 50 kids.

    The final round was held on 30 July in Andheri where celebrity judge Poonam Narula Goel zeroed in on the eight finalists who would represent Mumbai for the final leg. The kids were judged on the basis of their confidence quotient, expressions and creativity in the reaction round.

    The final 8 kids selected from Mumbai are: Kritika Sharma (14), Tanya Sharma (10), Chandni Bhagwanani (13), Smriti Sukhija (11), Anashwar Rurup (7), Rohit Jetwani (10), Gaurav Jetwani (11) and Kevin Johi (11).

    The Oral-B JAK auditions, which received a good response in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, will now travel across Kolkata and Ahmedabad and will culminate in August. The talented eight contenders per city will be flown to Mumbai for the final rounds. This nationwide audition will be aired as a reality show on Hungama TV where these kids will be seen displaying their singing, acting and dancing talents. The selected kids will be further groomed by eminent industry professionals at every step of the contest.

    Finally, one boy and one girl will be chosen to act in a UTV-produced movie with Hungama TV’s brand ambassador John Abraham. The winners will also be presented with a cash prize of Rs 500,000 each, along with a three year contract with UTV to manage their acting careers.

    Hungama TV COO Zarina Mehta said, “Hundred’s of hugely talented children gathered at the Mumbai auditions and Poonam had a very tough time to finally shortlist the eight kids. The excitement, energy and enthusiasm of the kids and their parents was an inspiration to all of us at Hungama TV. We are truly delighted with the response.”

  • Innovative content & localisation a must to catch the ‘tough crowd’

    Innovative content & localisation a must to catch the ‘tough crowd’

    MUMBAI: Kids have been gaining the mind space of more and more broadcasters across the globe. And why not? These tech babies who are the fastest to adopt any new technology are also contributing to core family decisions and have a large chunk of spending power at their disposal.

    In such a scenario, kids broadcasters have to be that much more vigilant to cater to their needs unremittingly. At the second day of the Promax&BDA conference, kids programming took center stage.

    While Nickelodeon UK vice president and creative director Peter Drake spoke on how to cater to the “Tough Crowd” i.e. the kids; whereas Walt Disney Television International (India) director programming Nachiket Pantvaidya touched upon the issue of how to localize international brands.

    “Kids have changed the way they consume media. More and more kids now feel the need to be in control with all the gadgets that they are exposed to. Moreover, with parents being busy in their work, the need for a digital nanny has also become prevalent now. In such a scenario, we, as broadcasters have to make viewers see us as more than just a TV channel,” Drake said.

    He spoke about an interactive show – Me:TV! on Nickelodeon UK, wherein kids who have a webcam can host the show from their homes. “The aim was to utilise new technology to deepen the kids’ experience of our brand. User generated content can be tapped to a great extent in the near future,” Drake said.

    Another point which came out was that there was a need for broadcasters to develop evolving communication so that it can work on all delivery platforms rather than just television, which in turn would throw up new revenue opportunities too.

    “In the end, it’s still about having great content but it’s just about how you present it that matter the most,” Drake concluded.

    Disney’s Pantvaidya, on the other hand, dwelled on the various reasons why an international brand should localize itself to suit local sensibilities. “Localisation is cost effective and at the same time it is essential for building cultural relevance. As far as what needs to be localized in a channel to create relevance, it would be language, local faces, formats, narrative content and graphics,” he said.

  • PBS Kids Go! channel to launch in October 2006

    PBS Kids Go! channel to launch in October 2006

    MUMBAI: PBS will be launching a new 24-hour digital broadcast channel for early elementary school-age children, called the PBS Kids Go! channel in October 2006. The new channel, which follows the success of the PBS Kids Go! afternoon programming block on PBS member stations, will be entirely devoted to early elementary school kids, an audience with limited choices for media content that is educational and entertaining.

    The announcement was made by PBS Kids Next Generation Media senior vice president Lesli Rotenberg.

    “This age group is just entering school and is experiencing unique, first- time life events but they have limited educational entertainment choices that support this very important developmental stage. As an extension of the PBS Kids Go! block, the PBS Kids Go! Channel provides this inquisitive, curious and media savvy age group with fun, educationally based programming that fulfills our mission of empowering today’s ‘big’ kids to discover themselves, explore new relationships and embrace a love of learning,” said Rotenberg.

    Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman, produced by WGBH Boston, premieres during PBS Kids Go! on PBS member stations’ national broadcast service beginning 29 May and will be a part of the PBS Kids Go! Channel in October.

    Other new additions to the PBS Kids Go! Channel will include:

    KidsWorld Sports, WishBone and Kratts’ Creatures in 2006, and Animalia in 2007. Each of these programs will also have a new companion internet site on pbskidsgo.org.

    Favorites from the current PBS Kids Go! programming line-up will also be a part of the channel including Maya & Miguel, Postcards from Buster, Arthur, CyberChase, Zoom and DragonFly TV. The PBS Kids Go! programming block launched in October 2004 and continues to be a success with early elementary school viewers. PBS has seen a 17 per cent increase in national viewership among 6 six to eight year olds, while remaining steady with preschoolers during the afternoon time period.

    Also new to the PBS Kids Go! Channel will be a Spanish language block called Vayan! (which means “go” in Spanish). The one-hour block will include existing PBS Kids Go! series, such as Maya & Miguel and CyberChase, in Spanish with English subtitles. With the addition of this block, not only is PBS continuing to serve the fastest growing segment of the US population but it is also providing tools for students who are learning Spanish as a second language. PBS’ daytime audience already exceeds the percentages of minority breakdowns that make up the US population — for example, Hispanics compose 12.5 per cent of PBS’ Daytime audience but only 9.8 per cent of the US population.

    The PBS Kids Go! Channel is part of the PBS Kids Next Generation Media initiative, the previously announced broad-based five year initiative that provides a framework for addressing the changing digital children’s media landscape and the way kids consume media today. Consistent with that mission, the PBS Kids Go! Channel will feature age-appropriate interactive content at pbskidsgo.org and on the Internet sites for the new broadcast series.