A mobile game which has been enriched thanks to the tv series that the children are watching simultaneously ; a web-series produced by Mattel and released on YouTube Kids where Julie, age 6, the book in the manner of a tutorial of the makeup blogger, secrets of game with her Barbie… the toy manufacturers are trying to adapt to the new behaviour of the children.
“Ten years ago, to try to sell a product, it was enough to put it in a catalog and do a little tv advertising. Gold to 6 years now, and they look at all YouTube. It must be where the children are today, ” says Christophe Salmon, general manager of Mattel France.
Lens brands ? To stem a phenomenon that manufacturers complain year after year : drawn by the screens, the more young people leave the world of the toy earlier and earlier. 36% of children 7 to 12 years of age already have their own tablet, 22 % have a smartphone and 19 % a computer, according to the study, Ipsos, Junior Connect, published in march. And they spend 6 to 10 hours on Internet per week on average, where, in 2012, they had spent that 4 hours 50. And the younger people are not spared : children under 6 years old “surf” for 4 hours 37 per week, compared to 2 hours 10 four years earlier.
To follow this trend, Mattel has accelerated significantly its investment in the content on the Internet. “When we spent 100 euros in television, today it is 80 and 20 euros in the digital. And the ambition of the next two to three years is to move to 60-40 euros, ” says Mr Salmon.
Consumers of content
“On average, most of our toys are designed for 6-7 years, says Mathilde Dezalys, general manager of Bandai France. But our mobile game related to the tv series around Zak Storm is intended for 6-12 years. It is a way to start when children are quite young…
