It has been almost two and a half years since we discovered at Stroom that we have quite a few advertisers who focus on the toy market or kids market and that there are actually few insights available for this specific group of advertisers when it comes to this young target group. Thus arose the bright idea to create the 'Kids Monitor', in which we zoom in on the (online) media behavior and leisure activities of young children aged 3 to 9.
The 2nd edition of the Kids Monitor
In December 2018, exactly two years later, we conducted the survey for the second time. The great advantage of this new edition is that it allows a good comparison over time. This creates unique insights into the changing role of media in the lives of young kids. This makes the Kids Monitor extremely relevant for all advertisers operating in the toy market.
Key insights
If we zoom in on kids' daytime activities, we see that watching AV content (for example, Netflix, TV or YouTube) peaks at the time when parent/caregiver is in the kitchen in the morning as well as in the evening preparing dinner. Even during breakfast and dinner, however, the television and tablet have taken their place at the table. Television and YouTube are currently in the lead when it comes to video platforms, but are closely followed by Netflix. This shows that television in particular is a social medium, making it ideally suited to reach multiple audiences, for example parents and children, at the same time.
In addition to watching videos, reading is back
It is also striking to note that all the discussion in the media, in which modern parents are still sometimes blamed for liking to keep their children entertained with the help of the tablet or smartphone, seems to have led kids to start reading more often again. At least, before bedtime. For example, compared to 2016, there has been a notable increase in bedtime reading.
'Gaming' is on the rise
If we look at the largest platform for online video, YouTube, we notice that the differences between boys and girls are immense. For example, young girls seem to be discovering vlogging much earlier, while boys are looking more at gaming videos. Vlogs like THE BELLINGA'S and KOETLIFE are remarkably popular among this young target group.
Another striking result is that gaming is booming even among young kids. In fact, the increase is so great that we can assume that online video will come under more and more pressure.
Stroom Uses the latest research techniques
For the Kids Monitor, over 500 kids ages 3 to 9 were interviewed online, along with their parents. This was done with a unique, fully gamified questionnaire, which made it much easier for us to hold the kids' attention. This had the advantage that we were able to keep the number of dropouts to an absolute minimum.
Of course, the study includes many more interesting insights and developments that we have not been able to outline all of here. The new edition of the Kids Monitor first saw the light of day in February at the Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg. Naturally, we are extremely proud to share these insights with our advertisers so that we can help them better understand the kids market. These insights are seen by our advertisers as a very welcome addition to marketing data already available to them, allowing us to lay a good foundation for our media strategies.
Want to know more about the study? Then contact Rutger Mackenbach or Remco de Stigter. They will be happy to update you on the latest developments surrounding the Kids Monitor 2018.