Marketing to Children....virtually

As many adults have gained an interest to the virtual world ofSecondlife, children are mimicking that interest. Children are not yet on Second life, but they are on Webkinz. Webkinz is an virtual world made exclusive for children that purchase Webkinz products. To gain access to this virtual world a children must purchase a Webkinz stuffed animal. Each animal comes with an ID tag that gives the child access to the virtual world.

The popularity of this virtual world for children has sparked other advertisers. Many advertisers have begun to create virtual worlds to attract their young target markets. Many also are doing so through product purchase. In these cases, most often, a child is more interested in gaining access to their virtual world than the toy, but understand they must purchase it anyways.

Other companies that have followed Webkinz lead include Disney and Mattel. Mattel introduced their "Barbie Girl" site in April. The site now boasts 5.5 million registered users. In August Mattel put our a Barbie Girls mp3 player/flash drive. The device, which is also doll shaped, allows Barbie Girl members to access additional features. Disney's "Penguin Club" has about 1.6 million monthly users. With stats such as that it is no wonder the virtual world cost them $700 million.

These virtual worlds are so successful because children are learning at a young age to use the Internet. At the school I work at many parents admit that their children are better with computers than they are. The children I work with are as young as four years old. Anything that let's children practice and improve their computer skills exciting to them. Also anything that involves animals, which most of them do, are instant favorites. Although I don't know much about the set up of Webkinz, from what I understand children fed, play with and take care of pets. Sounds similar to the ever popular Tamagotchi...

Inspiration for the post provided by The Hottest Thing in Kids Marketing? Imitating Webkinz