Children are a piece of white paper

Children are a piece of white paper

By Jonminofri Nazir

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian children, especially those living in
Jakarta, usually have similar tastes.

Today, most of them love T-shirts, bags, shoes, books or any
other product bearing the cuddly Teletubbies characters.

Birthday boys and girls no longer demand red-nosed clowns to
enliven their parties; instead, they cry for Teletubbies'
TinkyWinky, LaaLaa, Dipsy or Po.

It used to be Pokemon. Boys used to want anything that had the
yellow pocket monster stamped on it. Of course, Winnie the Pooh
is the classic and remains a favorite as even parents today buy
for their children bedsheets, wallpaper, desks, bags or pencil
cases bearing pictures of the friendly bear and his friends.

There are of course plenty of other foreign characters,
including Power Ranger and Doraemon, that have over the years
become children's favorites.

Some of the local favorites include child wonders Sherina and
Joshua. About two decades ago, the most popular character among
Indonesian children was Si Unyil -- the black-capped chubby
village boy with a red, pouting mouth adorning bags, books,
shirts and other products that children thought they could
not live without.

Will we soon see a new character become the rage among our
children? Time will tell, but it usually takes no longer than six
months before a new favorite emerges.

Smart inventors and creators are working overtime to provide
children with that new favorite.

Parties that usually take advantage of the rage include the
traders in Mangga Dua, West Jakarta. Take a stroll around the
stuffy marketplace and encounter kiosks that specialize on Winnie
the Pooh.

Find also kiosks that sell products solely bearing the
pictures of Doraemon. These are also the suppliers for traders in
other marketplaces such as Blok M, Tanah Abang, Rawamangun,
Tangerang and Cikarang.

White paper

Why do our children love these characters? This is cinch: for
hours on end every day our children are fed films or commercials
on these characters.

Our children watch Teletubbies twice a week, for instance, on
Indosiar, a private television station, while Doraemon greets
them every day on RCTI.

In fact, all other TV stations air Doraemon, the Japanese
comic character, at least once a week. Children who love these
shows can easily add to the number of times they watch them by
purchasing readily available VCDs of Doraemon, Teletubbies, Power
Ranger, Pokemon, Winnie the Pooh and the other
characters.

Why do children love these characters? Maybe because they can
identify with their idols. Children younger than five years old
usually accept unquestioningly whatever fare the TV stations feed
them.

Educators say this is because they are innocent, as white as a
piece of paper -- and adults write on this piece of paper. When
they are allowed to watch Teletubbies every day, they will grow
to love these characters who greet each other with "E-oh."
Likewise for Doraemon and other characters.

TV and children

There are plenty of entrances to a child's mind. Parents and
family members are the best gate. Next come the peer group,
teachers and anyone close to the child.

Television, however, remains the most effective means because
unlike parents, siblings, baby sitters or others, TV never gets
tired or bored.

Smart TV station managers know the best time to air messages
for children.

Sunday morning is the best time because this is when children
are able to sit before the tube uninterrupted while adults are
doing their own work.

Weekday afternoons are also a good time for children's
programs.

Producers of goods and services make the most of the power of
TV to "write" on children's mind, showering them with messages
they hope will be etched in their minds for a long time.

Sometimes, they insert their messages through children's
favorite characters such as Sherina and Joshua. Sometimes, they
use the commercial breaks of practically all shows to influence
child viewers.

If Doraemon is aired for 60 days, the audience will be
bombarded by at least 24 commercials (for a duration
of 12 minutes).

The commercials may seem short, but it is very effective.
Because it is packaged so nicely and in a very attractive way,
children love and remember them.

Remember the advertisement for Oreo biscuits: "Diputar,
dijilat, dicelup" (twist it, lick it and dunk
it!). It was considered a success as sales of the product had
testified.

What about the other media such as magazines, newspapers,
brochures?

They are, however, not as effective as television, because
reading to many children is not as amusing as watching the tube.

Children as market

As many have said, the world's most famous producer for
children is Walt Disney. It creates products that children simply
love, and uses the most effective selling method that it
maintains even until today.

First, they create an interesting character, and turn it into
a TV show or film. Next they launch an aggressive promotional
campaign that often includes appearances of the character on TV,
or in shopping centers among other places.

Along with the promotional tour is the launch of tie-in
products such as pencil cases, notebooks, bags, shirts, shoes and
other merchandise.

Sometimes they do not even produce the goods, but sell the
licenses to other companies. Big money is certainly involved in
the process.

That was the route Walt Disney walked when they launched world
successes such as Hercules, Winnie the Pooh and other Disney
products.

They literally cover the world with their products.

Here, producers wishing to fish in the same pond often
"borrow" these characters to launch their products. Or they might
try to create their own character, though generally without much
success.

The Fox glue producer, for instance, created the Captain Fox
character, but because its promotional campaign was limited to
the print media, it had not been very successful.

This is yet another proof that one needs TV if one wants to
sell products to children.

Adult ads

Not all children's products are advertised during children's
programs. In fact, not all "children's commercials" are for
children.

Some "adult commercials" target children in the hope they will
persuade their parents to buy the products. Remember the
commercial for Kijang's multipurpose van? It encourages children
to convince their parents that the van is good because it can
transport the whole family from "A-a, Teteh, Tante.." (big
brother, big sister, aunty...)

This particular commercial was so powerful that in some West
Java regions, families think they have nothing to be proud of
unless they have a Kijang in their garage.

There are people who are against "using" children in
commercials for the purpose of influencing parental decision-
making, but one has to admit this is a very effective strategy.

The fact is that commercials for cars, property, electronics,
tourism and daily consumer goods are almost always featuring
children despite the fact they are not the ones holding the
purse strings.

Another purpose being served in using children for commercials
is to educate them about the values of the products, in the hope
they will remember them even when they are all grown up.

Whatever is written on their mind when they are young, the
children will remember all their lives.