GenZ

What will the kids after Gen Y be called? "Gen Z" gets my vote, not because it's evocative, but because it's easy to remember.

If I coined a name for them, it would be the "MOBILE-GLOBALS" to recognize the most significant technology of their early childhood and the world-connectedness into which they're being born.

These children are the ones born after the mid-90's (some say 2000). Here are some of the other names in contention.

Computer Generation
Generation M (for Millennium or Multi Task)
Millennials
Google generation
Global Generation
Generation Einstein
Generation Q (for "Quiet", termed by Thomas L. Friedman)
Net Gen, a shortened form of "Net Generation"
Source(s):

Thanks to a blogger named Tehtaza for the list above.

Back to Board Games

Amid all the talk of tech at this week's Kid's Marketing Mega Event (I hosted the Symposium on Media & Technology) I was surprised at how many times kids, parents and speakers mentioned family board game nights. No wonder Hasbro paid $77 million for Cranium.

Frequent mentions of scrapbooking, crafts, Crayolas and outdoor play convinced me that a counter-trend is in full flower. Parents and kids are valiently working to weigh down the anti-tech side of the scale with traditional amusements. Clearly, not all family time is spend gathered around the Wii.

Then I realized I had joined the trend, too. Last week, I had introduced my godchildren to Apples to Apples. They couldn't get enough of it--they never begged once to use my coveted laptop.

Watch for more book back-matter

DVD's provide their "making of" bonuses and funny outtakes, websites provide secret material that's unlocked by codes. Until recently, books just ended with "The End." Now publishing is catching on and catching up. The surge of Book Club questions and author interviews after the final sentence attests to it.

Edgar & Ellen books provided a hidden code that led readers to the site. 39 Clues will take you on a multimedia quest.

I predict that the popularity of our next series, Kaimira Code, will hinge largely on the mysterious back matter that provides coded messages, an unfinished manuscript and a lost diary.

Keep an eye out for a growing trend in intiguing, fragmentary content--the end after the end...

After the college board, the longboard

Chico State University students arrive at class on narrow-tailed longboards. Their feet don't touch the pavement between the dorm and the doorway where they hop off before propping their boards against classroom walls.

Yesterday, a knee-sized Chico resident whizzed by me on a board as tall as he was. Three years old and already preparing for college, California style. Just a reminder, if you're predicting trends always watch California kids.

Carnaby St, is baaack!

This month, teen girls in London floated by on ballet slippers, baring cleavage and ankles in their loose baby doll tops and colorful leggings.

What brought back thoughts of Beatles music for me, were the bright op art patterns and sleazy polyester fabrics. No wonder many moms sported the same look as their daughters.

Universal tweens

While in London, I visited a family in Hammersmith Barnes: 11-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister--lovely, sociable kids living with a single Anglo-Guyanese mother.

They were perfect tweens. The boy loved his Wii, the Simpsons, soccer stars, and Playstation.The girl loved her iPod, Ashlee Simpson, Brittany Spears, Jamelia and Hannah Montana.

I offered them an Edgar & Ellen "Rare Beasts" Book. The boy's eyes lighted up. "I LOVE them!" He said. He had found Edgar & Ellen's "Under Town" and "High Wire" in his school library.

Now I'm crossing my fingers that Edgar joins Bart in his heart. And that his mainstream tastes predict that the twins will catch the big tween wave.

Mums in hijab and headscarves

Again, my attention turned to big strollers this week on Oxford Street in London (this is partially because they were hard to navigate among the crowds).

Though I noted many strollers, I saw NONE being pushed by women who lacked a head-covering. This points to a clear direction for baby and kid product development--it faces Mecca.

Wonk'd Out Room

Wonka promotions contain real kid trends and insights. Today, I noticed that they're offering "Build a Factory Room" online to win a cool room. Why it's on-trend: kids are taking control of their room decor--and kids relish designing environments on-line, too. This lets them do both. http://www.wonka.com/wonkafactory/shome.htm?section=rooms

Wonka's first insightful promo was "Wonkaaaah" The insight: for kids roller coasters provided a rite of passage--they tied the scream to the brand with boxes that screamed "Wonkaaah" to show you'd won. (Full disclosure, my previous team created that one).

Prediction: Next prize trend will be chances to glamorize rooms in kids' virtual worlds.

Edgar & Ellen's April Fools' Day Prankemonium!

Woohoo! I just got back from New York where they told me that Nicktoons Network will celebrate Edgar & Ellen in a big way on April Fools' Day.

Not only will they premiere our "Nobody's Fools" special--but they intend to run each of the other four specials, too. I'll let you figure out their seasons by their titles: "Accept No Substitutes," "Trick or Twins," "Cold Medalists," "Crushed."

The mishcievous pranksters series will debut in August.

Is it wishful thinkig or do I detect a new trend brewing?

Spoonfuls of Stories

Here's my prediction: We're about to see more kids' foods doing tie-ins with publishers.

Why?

Because it's getting hard to stand out from the crowd of brands that are encouraging physical activity. And as food companies keep feeling pressure, they're going to respond with new things that are deemed good for kids.

Ergo: reading

Notice the Mom-friendly promotion on the cover of Cheerios box. It's an on-pack book for pre-readers, with publisher, Simon & Schuster--it's part of a larger program called "Spoonful of Stories." The book is "Horace and Morris Join the Chorus."

Watch for a chorus of reading-related promotional programs in 2007/2008.

Kids and cooking shows

Did you know that U.S kids love watching Rachel Ray? And that cooking shows are drawing them into the kitchen?

This pic is from Rachel Ray's kid page--it invites children to submit recipes that may be selected to be featured. Another example of kid-influenced content!

This is great news for parents who want to introduce new flavors...it IS well-known that kids are more likely to sample what they prepare themselves.

Pirate in the Phils

I'm going to stop talking about pirates, I promise! But Pepi's father sent me this photo from Manila where three-year-old Pepi is out on the town dressed as Captain Hook.


Judging by his costume, adults have been heavily involved--a clue as to why the trend is so wide-spread. Parents like pirates, too!

See entry from October 15th...

High-tech user-generated content

Props to "YukaHotanashi" a young YouTuber who has practically created an Edgar & Ellen network of her own. Check out at least a dozen of her creations--mixing eclectic music, inspired editing and a wry sense of humor.

Low-tech user-generated content

User-generated content is the present and future of kids' entertainment and marketing. Bloggers and YouTubers know. But so, evidently, do spray painters. Full disclosure: Graffiti Jam was hosted by Terracycle, who makes plant fertilizer from worm poop. Edgar & Ellen partner with their in-school recycling program called "Bottle Brigade."

Yo-ho-ho and a stick of gum

Pirates are getting younger these days. I'm in New York for the Bryant Park Book Festival and, in helping spread the word for Edgar & Ellen's "High Wire", I've given out "Master of Mischief" stickers to many of the original mischief-makers of the high seas.

It's a good 15 days before Halloween--so the fact that the pirates look to be 11-year-olds with plastic cutlasses does nothing to dissuade me from thinking they're on shore leave from the bounding main.

Marketers alert! Start thinking pieces-of-eight, parrots, jolly rogers, walkable planks, eye-patches...we're entering a pirate period.

The new "Big Three"

The three used to be ABC, CBS and NBC--today they're Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. But watch out! The same wave that hit the TV networks will hit the social networks.

This time, media fragmentation will happen at internet pace...that is to say, faster than the speed of habit-formation.

Who do you predict will stand shoulder to shoulder with these three?

Pomegranates, the "it" fruit, what's next?

Aimee (16) from Chagrin Falls, Ohio tells me her favorite drink is a Starbucks Pomegranate Frappucino. I asked her what she thought would be the next big fruit--now that Kiwi is in the shadow of mighty Pomegranate.

She was traveling in California's wine country and came up with an unexpected reply based on her observation of menus there: "heirloom tomatoes!"

My Chicago Farmers' Market would agree. The heirloom tomatoes in all their misshapen glory cost as much as rubies.

Flocking to Crocs

In the airport in Denver, on the streets of Seattle and the farmers market in Chicago, stroller babies, rollicking kids and even my business colleagues are wearing these childlike candy-colored concoctions.

Mini Mouse would delight in choosing her new shoes in pinks and lavenders, reds and greens...

Now, elegant Anne Werner notes that her friend Sally turned up in pale blue ones. This trend it running up and down the ages--kid trend or trend that makes you feel like a kid again?

Trend-spreaders: Asian youth in the USA

Traditionally, London interprets global youth trends before they spread into Europe. Tokyo is the interpreter for Asia. Now Asian-American kids are stepping into the role of interpreters for the US...

according to Cynthia turner's Cynopsis:

Asian American young people see themselves as trendsetters in three cultural categories: technology/gadgetry, anime/manga and video-gaming. Nearly 80% of respondents believed the first two are areas where Asian Americans are influencing trends, while 72% of respondents cite video gaming as the third major area. Other areas included food/culinary arts and the visual arts.
Asian American youth are more likely to identify and seek out trends through word-of-mouth messaging, in particular with second-generation Asian Americans. Among the first-generation, TV holds the greatest influence in helping them learn about new trends.
While first-generation respondents preferred Pop/Top 40 music, second-generation Asian Americans strongly preferred Hip Hop and Alternative music. Among the latter, 62% liked Hip Hop/Rap the most, followed by 51% favoring Alternative/Indie music.

from Intertrend Communications, July 27, 2006

All Candy Expo: wrapp(er) up

Here's Marie Pavlich's list of Key Candy Trends

She walked the floor with her notebook in hand. I walked it, too, notebookless, and I agree.


-Energy and vitamin supplements added to candy (i.e Jelly Belly “Sport Beans”, Jolt gum for weight management)
-Portion Control Candy (i.e 100 calorie bars, Nestle “Stixx”)
-Sugar free candy or candy w/out refined sugar
-Dark chocolate versions of popular candy bars b/c of antioxidants
-Brand licensing out to other brands (Florida’s Natural candy, Jolt gum)