WFA launched Project Reconnect to provide guidance to marketers so that brand communications more closely reflect what people expect from brands online. We want to build trust by bringing people and brands closer together around an agreed set of ground rules. We asked parents and kids what they thought. Here's what some of the kids told us. More here: http://tiny.cc/ltxrl

1. Project Reconnect:
Establishing how consumers think
marketers should behave

2. Background

3. “Advertisers just shout
their message to sell
their product.”
Female 16, Belgium

4. Consumer scepticism
62% UK & 54% US
consumers say corporations
"only interested" in selling
products.
Source Alterian, May 2010 (sample 1,000 adults in the US and UK)

5. Marketers to
blame?
Marketing is perceived to be contribute to an environment in which:
- Children are overweight and obese
- Alcohol-related harm is on the increase
- People’s online privacy is at risk
- Environmental concerns are trivialised through « greenwashing »
- Marketing turns children into little materialists at too young an age

6. Consumers control
what’s said about
our brands
And we now market products and services without full control over the
messaging that surrounds our brands, yet we are still accountable for
every message, both good and bad.

7. The new normal
1 2 3 4
People think we They are sceptical of They blame us for problems They control much of what is
don’t listen our motives and want to regulate us said about our brands

8. Re-setting the relationship
As an industry, we need to rebuild trust. But how?
1 2 3 4
Listen Dialogue Engage Change

9. Project reconnect:
To demonstrate to consumers that
marketers are listening to concerns and
will change when necessary

10. Process

11. Project Reconnect
Focus groups of parents
1
Listen
Listen
of children 12-18 years:
What’s acceptable and
unacceptable to them as
consumers and parents
(focus on online
marketing)?
3
Engage
Engage
Amongst
industry: assess
learnings, next
steps
2 4
!deablogs
(social media tool) with Open discussion
children aged 15-17: with general public:
What’s acceptable and what is acceptable
unacceptable (focus on versus unacceptable
Dialogue
Dialogue online marketing)? Change
Change brand behaviour?

12. Talking with parents:
Focus groups in Shanghai and London
We wanted to talk to people face-to-face in their
capacity as both consumers and parents:
How do they relate to brands, how do they form their
opinions and what media they use to engage with brands?
In this way, we could begin to understand what forms of
marketing are more acceptable than others, especially in
the digital environment and aimed at their children.
*All were parents with kids aged 12-18 at home and all used the Internet and
were aware of social networking sites

13. Talking with children:
We also wanted to ask the same question to We interviewed kids aged 15-17 via
children of the same age as the kids of the IdeaBlog, an online platform that allows
parents we had spoken to before. Instead of researchers to engage with consumers in
using focus groups though, we used a tool an environment that is intuitively
more befitting of their generation. comfortable for them, since it emulates
social media platforms (such as Facebook).
Discussions last a whole week and can go
into a lot of detail.
With time to explore and reflect,
consumers can provide more
contemplative responses. This provides us
with richer insight

14. Our IdeaBlog
Respondents:
A mixture of males and females aged
15-17 across four countries, US, UK,
Brazil and China.
They are at school or college, are web
savvy, are users of digital social
networking sites and are
non-rejectors of advertising.

15. Brands and marketing in
consumers lives
Before talking about online advertising, we asked our focus groups and Ideablog
communities what was important in their lives. We then opened up the
discussion more broadly about companies, brands and advertising.

16. Brands are not top of
mind for kids or parents < Money
< Jobs
Music, my interests, family < Education
and school Female, 15 (UK) < Safety
< Family
Friends >
[Parents] think about
School/Studies > the bills, about how to
increase the income.
Hobbies > Female, 16 (Brazil)
Family >
Studies (China) >

17. TOP OF MIND BRANDS: TOP OF MIND BRANDS: TOP OF MIND BRANDS: TOP OF MIND BRANDS:
BRAZIL CHILDREN UK CHILDREN US CHILDREN CHINA CHILDREN

18. TAOBAO
(ONLINE SHOPPING
WEBSITE)
TOP OF MIND BRANDS: TOP OF MIND BRANDS:
UK ADULT CHINA ADULT

19. Knowing a brand
doesn’t mean
liking a brand
Both children and adults spontaneously
mentioned brands that they claimed were not
their favourites.
Asked why their favourite brands were their
favourites, they mentioned product
experience, what the brand ‘stands for’ and
what they know of the company behind the
brand.
They rarely mention the marketing

20. Age colours consumer
perceptions of online world
< Less comfortable
You can be exposed to things < I’ve lost control:
that are inappropriate, but my Kids spend too
parents trust the way they much time online
raised me Male, 16 (Brazil) (except in China
where going online
is a treat)
< Tendency to trust
Comfortable online >
teens (less so for
I’m in control >
under 12s)
Teens sense parental trust >
< Parents appreciate
Awareness of inappropriate >
regulatory controls
subjects (alcohol,
drugs, sexual content…)

21. Negative predisposition
to online marketing
I hate pop-ups. They are annoying, < What online
interrupt what I am doing, put me marketing?
in a bad mood and need me to < Pop-ups and spam?
close them Male, 15 (China) < Passive avoidance
< Less inclined to
accept advertising
for free content
What online marketing? >
< Find it harder to
Pop-ups and spam? >
ignore ads
Passive avoidance >
I understand it pays for content /
social networking >
“Banner blind” can ignore ads >

22. Ambivalent views on
targeting < Targeting less
understood
< Parents slightly more
sceptical but
I like the idea of customized generally welcomed
design so I don’t have to < Concerns about
watch things that I’m not length of data
interested in Male, 17 storage
(China) < Companies need to
be transparent
Targeting is easily understood >
Most kids see value >
Generally welcomed >
Concerns about length of data
storage>
Companies need to be transparent >

23. Brand interaction online restricted to websites, except….
Consumers who have everything from a brand, massively
Brand
interested in it and will make an effort to seek things out
‘superfans’ (e.g. Apple)
Trendy Becoming a friend / fan reflects well on you – you are
brands keeping up with the latest (celebrity) trend
Tech Tech brands (such as Xbox) using SNS to deliver something
brands that is not found elsewhere (such as tips, extra games etc)
Brands who provide you with a tangible reward for signing
Rewarding
up and showing loyalty (such as free products, gifts,
brands promotions)

24. Games:
An appropriate
forum for brands
Although a number
of rules apply…
•If it is a free game then advertising during
game play is valid (revenue generation to
allow the game to be played for free)
•If it has been bought or subscribed to then any
advertising / marketing message must ALWAYS be
in the form of placement or integral (such as an ad
on a billboard in GTA)
•And the brand / product must feel relevant to the
context in which it is seen.

25. Discussion forums, a
source of brand
information
In China, Internet Word of Mouth is especially important as a source of credible
information about brands

26. Here is what the kids
had to say…

27. Insights

28. Insights for Digital
Marketers

29. 1. It’s not what you say
but what you do
Everything a company does is a form of advertising. The brand image will be
determined by more then just marketing. Thanks to digital, everyone knows
what your brand is doing, not just what the brand is saying. Increasingly,
consumers don’t distinguish between the brand and the company behind the
brand. The chief marketing officer needs to be strategically linked in to
everything a company does.

30. 2. Don’t call me, I’ll call you
Advertisers must be invited to be part of each consumer’s digital world. In order
to be acceptable, all contact from brands needs to have been specifically agreed.
The consumer needs to feel in control of the conversation.

31. 3. What’s in it for me?
Brand contact needs to offer a tangible benefit to the consumer.
Communications must be different, fun, engaging and/or offer something extra.

32. 4. What are you doing with their data?
People, and children in particular, are broadly positively disposed to tracking
if it makes as more relevant. But they’re nervous about how long you keep
their data for. A day is OK, a month is often seen as too much. Brands need to
be transparent about data storage.

33. 5. Consumers think there is a time
and place for commercial messages
Email contact is OK (if agreed), but SMS marketing is often rejected (in
Brazil, UK and US but less so in China). Younger respondents universally
preferred being contacted during school holidays rather then during
school time. Don’t pester; brands need to be willing to be ignored if it’s
not convenient as it shows more respect.

34. 6. Don’t fake it!
Be open, transparent and treat people with respect. Many consumers are
turned off when they sense “commercial contrivance.” Celebrity
endorsement can backfire if the consumer instinctively thinks: “I know
they don’t use that product!”

35. 7. What digital advertising?
When asked about advertising, most people mention outdoor and TV. When
pushed, they instinctively think of online advertising as pop-ups, banners
and spam and are therefore negatively predisposed to the concept of online
marketing. Children claim to be “banner blind” and prefer advertising they
can simply ignore (such as in the margins of Facebook).

36. 8. Age colours consumer perceptions
of online advertising
Children (“digital natives”) instinctively feel that they have control over their
exposure to advertising online. But parents find it harder to engage as many
do not yet regard the online space as a channel of communication. Both
groups find it difficult to be specific about what is acceptable and what is
unacceptable, because collectively they aren’t familiar enough yet with
online advertising. But they are all quick to denounce pop-ups, spam and
anything that slows down or gets in the way of their online experience.

37. 9. What’s unacceptable offline is also
unacceptable online
Parents apply the same principals online as they do offline when it comes to
issues such as safety and permissibility. They use the same filters to decide
what is acceptable and what is not. Marketers need to use a good dose of
common sense and apply the same advertising standards everywhere.

38. 10. There is a triangle of trust
between parent, teen and regulator
Parents appreciate the controls set by regulatory bodies. It is reassuring for
them to know that there are certain guidelines in place and as a result, they
worry less. They also understand they can’t control what their kids look at
online, but they say they largely trust teens. Indeed, our teens corroborated
that their parents trust them online and that they shouldn’t abuse that trust.

39. 11. Consumers understand the
advertising trade off
Consumers, and children in particular, understand that they get free content
because advertising pays for its production. Conversely, this means that if
they have paid for their content then they don’t expect brand messages,
unless they are properly integrated and add to the experience, for example,
real-life billboards on Gran Turismo.

40. 12. Keep perspective:
Brands aren’t that important
Brands help people identify themselves and feel comfortable.
They are a means to an end, rarely an end in themselves. Marketers need to
ask themselves: does your brand serve, enhance, empower...does it help
people live their lives better?

41. 13. It’s good to talk
People enjoy talking about brands and advertising and they want the
opportunity to be heard. Too often, however, they feel marketers talk at them
and not with them. People express the need to engage with listening brands.

42. Next Steps

43. It’s good to talk:
“It is really nice to be asked to
give an opinion, especially
It’s good to talk: when you are asking for the
opinion of teenagers. It will be
interesting to see if the
advertising companies take
note.”
Female, 17 (USA)

44. So, Let’s talk...
WFA will partner with Ethical Corporation
• To facilitate open dialogue between people and brands
• To help guide marketers so that marketing more closely reflects
what people really want and expect

45. Project Reconnect was conducted by Alice Moss and Caroline
Bright at Firefly Millward Brown for the World Federation of
Advertisers (WFA).
For more information and more detail from Project Reconnect
phases 1 & 2, please contact Will Gilroy at: will@wfanet.org