the net result

the net result

this week: pester power

Every fortnight, Karen Gee from eDreams.com helps agents and operators to get the most out of the Internet

Picture the scene. You’ve just settled down to watch that great TV drama you recorded the other night only to find what you’ve actually got is an Open University special on 16th-century farming methods.

Your six-year-old gives you the special look they reserve for moments of total embarrassment like this, and for the umpteenth time explains how to set the video recorder.

Let’s face it, kids know much more about using technology than most parents will ever do. And I don’t just mean the video recorder. Schools are embracing technology more than ever before and with the Government’s pledge to have every school connected to the Internet, that trend is set to continue.

It’s a growing market

According to research group NOP Online, 40% of the seven-16 age group are on-line which represents about three million children. This is a 12% increase on the previous six months and shows the speed of adoption. A recent survey by Group Internet found that 66% of children started using the Internet under the age of five.

It’s a well known fact that children are a very important influence on holiday selection. Parents want them to be happy and relaxed on holiday and only in these circumstances can they themselves relax and unwind. This edition of The Net Result considers how best to target children effectively, responsibly and legally.

Unsurprisingly, there are already many information technology projects targeting children. Jaffa Cakes’ Web site (www.jaffacakes.co.uk) features a special game that kids can download and play which features many of the brand values. One of the most visited sites is Cadbury’s Creme Egg site (www.cremeegg.co.uk) which has many different games, all featuring the eggs.

Development company NoHo Digital has developed several tools for Hasbro’s Action Man brand in an effort to distance it from its military origins and reposition the toy as more sports orientated.

Getting in on the act

But what opportunities are available to the travel industry? There are many opportunities for operators and agents who already carry out special activities for children especially holiday clubs. The most obvious techniques are games and screensavers which can be sent out on a CD-ROM or better still downloaded from the Web.

Screensavers that use holiday themes and show children playing together can be a good way to position your brand as fun and exciting for young children, whereas more upbeat, sporty, lifestyle screensavers will be better for teenagers.

A screensaver sitting on a family computer will remind them of the excitement of their last holiday and make them much more likely to choose you for their next holiday.

Similarly, games which play on holiday themes where youngsters can find seashells and make sandcastles and where teenagers can play beach volleyball or race dinghies creates a fun environment, recaptures the holiday mood and will be returned to again and again. In addition to the initial rewards, these activitiescan kick-start longer term brand loyalty through brand association.

More interesting perhaps is the idea of a personal digital assistant. This special piece of software sits on the computer desktop and allows children to use various tools.

They can perhaps use a currency calculator to work out the sterling equivalent of various overseas currencies, play games, use a climate check to look up the temperatures in various destinations and visit a language lab to learn key phrases in different languages.

Time for a chat

On your Web site, you can have a supervised chat room where kids can post feedback and ideas on holidays, kids clubs and so on. You could have a recipe section where kids can learn how to recreate dishes they may have tried on holiday.

With access to children’s e-mail addresses – and believe you me they all have one – you can use information already available from the booking to send them an e-card on their birthday and at Christmas time. They’re fast, cheap and always well received.

Early leaning: many children under five now surf the Web

Do’s and don’ts of targeting children

Do’s

&#42 DOWNLOADING: make sure all your features and facilities can be downloaded and don’t require expensive on-line sessions.

&#42 INTEGRAting: integrate activities with your overall strategy rather than seeing them as separate actions.

&#42 MULTI-TASKING: ensure your developments are built around the behavioural actions of children who tend to do several things at the same time, eg surfing the Internet, watching TV, phoning a friend. Build this environment into the technical brief.

&#42 TESTING: spend plenty of time testing new developments before launching to the market. Friends and family are ideal.

&#42 Branding: reinforce the values and qualities of your brand.

Don’ts

&#42 Cool: don’t try to be cool. Children will see straight through it and it will end up backfiring on you

&#42 Patronise: don’t patronise children with an assumed level of understanding. Be straight and honest.

&#42 Selling: until digital wallet technology comes into existence in 2003, you can’t sell to children as they don’t have credit cards. Focus on information and education.

&#42 legalities: obtaining and using children’s data is fineproviding there is proper informed consent and that the child’s interests come first. Under 16s cannot enter into a contract which excludes prize promotions, competitions etc.