Twiststl

We recently came across a New York Times article which discussed a new initiative being undertaken by a federal agency to educate children on how they interact with advertising and marketing on a daily basis. The course, designed for children in grades four through six, would basically be a simplified version of media literacy courses which are already taught in many high schools and colleges. Reading the article really got us thinking – if the people we are marketing to are becoming more knowledgeable about the ways marketers attempt to reach them, we need to continually be thinking of new and creative ways to reach consumers. Consumers are already critical of all of the information that is pushed toward them, and if more consumers are encouraged and taught how to think analytically about the advertising they encounter it seems inevitable that they will grow more critical and skeptical of the messages marketers are pushing. 

It’s obvious that this interest in teaching children and tweens about the commercial world they live in is a result of marketers and advertisers increased use of the internet and social media platforms to reach consumers. While we’re not making any judgment calls on the value of the program, it definitely makes our job that much more difficult. If consumers are on the lookout for sales pitches and language that they associate with advertisements even when they’re on social media websites, businesses will be forced to think of more creative ways to engage consumers and draw them in rather than pushing information at them. Now more than ever, marketing efforts need to be a two-way street designed to actively engage even the most critical consumer.

Check out the New York Times article on “ad-ucation.”