Tweens, Advertising Targeting of

The Media Awareness Network (2005b) describes the identification and labeling of the tween market as “one of the most important recent developments in advertising to kids.” The exact origin of the word tween is disputed, but it generally refers to youth between the ages of 8 and 12 (although some marketers identify the demographic as extending to age 14). According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are roughly 20.9 million tweens between the ages of 8 and 12, a figure that increases to 29 million if one includes those up to 14 years old. Studies show that tweens spend $40 billion on their own and influence billions more in parental purchases. Worldwide, tweens spend more than $300 billion a year and influence an additional $1.88 trillion in parental or family spending. To put it simply: “They have more personal power, more money, influence and attention than any other generation before them” (Lindstrom & Seybold, 2003, p. 1).

The tween phenomenon is not limited to the United States. BRANDchild: Remarkable Insights Into the Minds of Today's Global Kids and Their Relationship With Brands (Lindstrom & Seybold, 2003) provides what it claims is the most extensive study of tweens—a study of thousands of young people representing more than 70 cities and eight countries in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States. This extensive research is used to provide marketers around the world with step-by-step advice for reaching tweens, in chapters titled “Tween Dreams for Sale,” “Bonded to Brands: The Transition Years,” and “The Peer Factor,” to name just a few.

Being “in between” childhood and the teen years, tweens are particularly attractive to marketers because they are at an age when they are starting to develop and focus on their identity development—a fact that also makes them extremely susceptible to advertising messages focusing on self-esteem, popularity, and general identity issues. These are the years when the importance of brands and brand preference, especially as linked with identity, really take hold. Marketers feel they have to get tweens at this age to have their brand loyalty for life.

The publication of books such as kidfluence: The Marketer's Guide to Understanding and Reaching Generation Y—Kids, Tweens, and Teens (Sutherland & Thompson, 2003) and The Great Tween Buying Machine: Capturing Your Share of the Multibillion Dollar Tween Market (Siegel, Coffey, & Livingston, 2004) as well as a growing cadre of youth marketing agencies and self-proclaimed experts promise to help corporate America get it right in reaching this demographic. Some expert advice can be had for the price of a hardcover book, and other advice comes free on the Internet in the form of articles published in various industry publications such as Selling to Kids, American Demographics, and Ad Age.

Still other advice, however, comes at a steep price, evidencing the high stakes of marketing to tweens. For example, the marketing agency Buzzback provides pricey demographic reports and counseling for marketers wanting to understand and reach these young people. Their July 2003 “BuzzBack Tweens Exploratory” report can be had for $750. Online advertising for the report promises it will explain the behaviors, lifestyle, and thoughts of tweens, not to mention their social relationships and shopping habits. The BuzzBack report is a bargain when compared with the 230-page May 2005 Packaged Facts report, The U.S. Market for Tweens and Young Teens: Attitudes, Aspirations, and Consumer Behavior of 8- to 14-Year-Olds, 3rd edition, which sells for $3,500. Again, the online advertising for the report points out the “lucrative” nature of the tween demographic and the “invaluable” and “comprehensive” nature of the report. For marketers who want a more interactive experience, there are the KidPowerX conferences held all over the world and on specific topics related to reaching various segments of the youth market including tweens, again at a cost of attendance in the thousands of dollars.

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