Toy Makers Dial Up 'Tween' Set
In the battle for new cellphone customers, the under-13 crowd has been largely left alone by marketers.
But that could soon change. Companies are designing cellphones for the so-called tween market, a demographic loosely defined as 8- to 13-year olds. Toy maker Mattel Inc. plans a new phone that comes in a kid-friendly design influenced by its popular My Scene line of dolls. A phone from Chicago-based Firefly Mobile Inc. includes just five buttons, and only allows kids to call home, 911 or a handful of other preprogrammed numbers.
Already, cellphone use among young people is growing: A study from research firm IDC found that 22% of 10- to 14-year-olds had cellphones in 2004, up from 17% in 2003. Toy designers are hoping to attract even more tweens by marketing their products to parents who want to keep track of their kids but feel uncomfortable giving them expensive, fully functional handsets meant for adults.
From left: Hasbro's ChatNow ($75 a pair), Mattel's My Scene ($50) and the Firefly from Firefly Mobile ($199).
"The marketing needs to resonate with the mom or dad," says Jerry Hug , chief strategy officer at Single Touch Interactive Inc., which is helping to build and market Mattel's phone. The gadget is expected to hit toy-store shelves this summer, with a $50 price tag and 30 minutes of included air time. Like other phones aimed at younger kids, there are no service contracts -- minutes have to be purchased by parents in advance, protecting against overage charges. The handset is plastered with a floral design in loud colors, and users can download ringtones linked to characters in the My Scene doll collection.
The My Scene phone comes with a unique twist for young users who want to get more air time. Parents can use a Web site to list chores they want kids to complete in order to "earn" more minutes. Kids can log in to the site and note when they make their beds, finish a homework assignment or remember not to fight with siblings. When their minutes run out, parents can visit the site, confirm that the chores were completed and buy more minutes.
The phone from Firefly is more restrictive, though it tries to hide its parental safeguards behind a kid-friendly design. The five-button, calculator-sized device has a flashing light display, translucent shell and a big clip that can be attached to a backpack. The phone costs $199, and that includes 12 months of service or 1,200 minutes, whichever comes first. So far, the Firefly is available on Triton PCS Inc.'s SunCom in the Southeast. Firefly says the phone and service will be available nationally later this year.
Another device, the ChatNow from Hasbro Inc., looks like a cellphone but is actually a two-way radio. Users have to be within two miles of each other to talk or exchange text messages. It also includes a built-in camera, and kids can "decorate" pictures they take of their friends with green hair and cartoon eyes.
"It's a cellphone with features designed specifically for the 8-12 set," says Jeff Jackson, a vice president of marketing at Hasbro. "But it's definitely not a toy. It's a communication device." The ChatNow will be available in toy stores this summer at $75 for a pack of two. No service plan is required.
For years cellphone makers have been targeting older teens and young adults with hip marketing campaigns and prepaid phone services. Of Nextel Communications Inc.'s 2.9 million new customers in 2004, more than 750,000 came from its Boost Mobile prepaid service, which caters to users who may not have a credit card or want to sign a service contract. Spokesman Mark Fewell says Boost has stopped short of targeting tweens, instead focusing on customers who have their own spending money.
The rising use of cellphones by teens is already creating headaches in schools, where teachers have complained the devices are too much of a distraction. "I think it's a bit ludicrous" for young children to use cellphones, says Bill Scharffe, a policy director at the Michigan Association of School Boards, which advises schools on setting rules for cellphone use and other behavior. He worries that cellphones can be used by kids to cheat on tests and play games during class. He says it is inappropriate to market the devices to children too young to use them responsibly.
While restrictions built into devices like the Firefly could help concerns that the devices are being misused, analysts say the limitations could represent a hurdle for marketers who need to convince kids their phone is as cool as the one being used by an older sibling or a character on TV. "When they see a product that doesn't fully understand their needs, they say, 'That's for babies,'" says Jori Clarke, president of Milwaukee-based youth-research firm Circle 1 Network. "I think these limited-access phones are going to be labeled as baby phones."
为13岁以下的孩子们设计手机
在争夺手机用户的过程中，营销企业大都忽视了这样一个消费群体──13岁以下的青少年。
但这种局面可能很快就会发生改变。手机生产商们正在针对所谓的青少年（泛指8岁-13岁的人群）市场设计手机。玩具制造商美泰公司(Mattel Inc., MAT)计划推出一款在设计上迎合青少年口味，颇具My Scene系列洋娃娃风格的手机。而总部在芝加哥的Firefly Mobile Inc.推出的一款手机只有5个键钮，孩子们只能用它拨打家里的电话、911或者其他少数几个已经提前设定好的号码。
使用手机的青少年越来越多。国际数据公司(IDC)的调查显示，2004年有22%的10岁-14岁孩子拥有手机，高于2003年的17%。玩具设计商希望，通过向孩子们的父母推销产品吸引到更多的青少年用户。这些父母希望掌握孩子们的行踪，但又不愿把价格昂贵、功能强大（很多功能对于成年人来说才有用）的手机交给孩子们使用。
Single Touch Interactive Inc.的首席策略长杰瑞?哈格(Jerry Hug)表示，营销工作应围绕父母进行，争取能够获得他们的共鸣。Single Touch Interactive正在帮助美泰公司开发并推广手机。预计美泰公司的手机将于今年夏季投放市场，售价为50美元，内含30分钟的通话时间。和其他面向青少年的手机一样，这款手机并不附带任何服务合同，通话时间必须由父母提前购买。这等于对孩子们的通话时间做出了限制，防止他们无节制地通话。手机上有一个色彩斑斓的花形图案，用户可以下载和My Scene洋娃娃系列中各种人物相关的铃声。
My Scene手机还为那些希望更多通话时间的年轻人提供了一条独特的渠道。父母可以登陆网站，列出若想获得更多通话时间孩子们需要完成哪些家务，比如打扫床铺、完成家庭作业等。孩子们之后登陆网站，察看父母的要求。等他们用完手机的通话时间后，父母们再登陆这个网址，查看孩子们是否按照要求做完了家务活，然后再决定是否购买额外的通话时间。
Firefly的手机使用起来更加严格，尽管它试图通过迎合孩子口味的设计来掩盖父母们的监管。这款只有计算器大小的手机有5个按键，有个数字显示屏，机身透明，还有个大夹子可以固定在背包上。这款手机售价199美元，通话时间的有效期为12个月或1,200分钟，以先到为准。
Hasbro Inc.推出的ChatNow与其说是个手机，还不如说是一个双向无线对讲机。它的有效使用范围只有2英里，用户之间可以通话或者收发文字信息。手机配备一个内置摄像头，孩子们可以用它拍照，然后用绿色头发或者卡通人物的眼睛等预置模式修改图像。
Hasbro的营销副总裁杰夫?杰克逊(Jeff Jackson)表示，这款手机是为8岁-12岁的孩子们量身定做的，但绝不是一个玩具，而是一个通讯工具。ChatNow将以每对75美元的价格在今年夏季投放市场，用户同样无须签订服务协议。
尽管Firefly等厂商的设计可以缓解人们对青少年无节制使用手机的担心，但分析师们认为有限的功能将为营销人员构筑一大障碍，因为这样就很难让孩子们相信他们的手机和那些年龄较大的孩子们以及电视人物使用的手机一样酷。总部在密尔沃基的调研公司Circle 1 Network的总裁约里?克拉克(Jori Clarke)表示，如果孩子们认为需求没能得到充分满足，就会对产品不屑一顾。
