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.