Paul Kontonis, Eric Korsh and Teal Newland have joined digital agency Digitas as VP/Group Directors, Content Strategy and Development, overseeing the company's The Third Act content platform (which launched to Real Women of Philadelphia campaign for Kraft.)
Paul comes over from Edelman's MATTER agency, Eric joins from Scout Productions and Teal formerly worked on branded entertainment for 60Frames.
This week marks the launch of PBS Kids Go! Digital Citizenship Initiative, which features a suite of new resources designed to help kids and parents steer their way through the digital world.
The initiative includes the debut of the new interactive game Webonauts Internet Academy ( www.pbskidsgo.org/webonauts), which is free, aims to educate kids about online privacy, how to deal with bullying and identify credible online sources.
Supporting information for parents can be found at PBSParents.org ( www.pbsparents.org ), which includes Common Sense Media's tips for kids' internet use. The debut of Digital Citizenship Initiative coincides with National Cyber Security Month and National Bullying Prevention Month, both in October.
Little Airplane Productions completes further deals for The Olive Branch (26x1), a short-form film preschool series produced by Little Airplane's new non-profit Little Light Foundation ( www.littlelightfoundation.org ).
Picking up The Olive Branch is Disney Australia, British Forces Broadcasting Service Television, Canal+ Multithematiques (France), SVT (Sweden), OXO (Macedonia), NRK (Norway), and WorldKids Foundation (India). The series focuses on two characters that live in the same olive tree and each episode must find ways to resolve their differences and get along.
The Olive Branch debuted on June 1, 2010 on Nick Jr. in the US, with an exclusive six-month window for the first three episodes, as well as on a non-exclusive on Nickelodeon networks globally.
The series has also been acquired by KidsCo Worldwide. Little Airplane is offering the series broadcasters for one unit of their own currency per episode, though broadcasters are invited to make tax-deductible contributions to help cover production costs. The series is endorsed by Deepak Chopra, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and UNICEF.
Nelvana Enterprises will attend Mipcom this fall with several new series on its slate:
Frankly and Friends (26x30, 52x11) targeted to preschoolers the new CGI animated series features Franklin the turtle. The series is a co-production from Canada's Nelvana and Singapore's Infinite Frameworks.
Frankly celebrates his 25th anniversary in 2011.
Mr. Young (26x30) the sitcom follows Adam Young, a 14-year-old genius who is currently in grad school and also starting work as a high school science teacher.
Targeted to kids and tweens, Mr. Young comes from writer Dan Signer (The Suite life of Zack and Cody, The Suite Life On Deck) and is produced by British Columbia-based Thunderbird Films in association with Corus Entertainment's YTV (Canada). The series will debuts on YTV in spring 2011.
Scaredy Squirrel (26x30, 52x11) targeted to K6-11, this 2D animated series is based on the book series by Melanie Watt. Produced by Nelvana, Scaredy Squirrel will premiere on YTV (Canada) in 2011.
Nelvana will also showcase a range of other programs including Life with Boys, Mike the Knight, Sidekick, Detentionaire, Babar and the Adventures of Badou, Beyblade: Metal Masters, Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge, and Hot Wheels Battle Force 5: Fused.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
What Entertains Kids On Mobile
Laurie Sullivan, Sep 20, 2010 11:33 PM
The majority of mobile entertainment devices used by parents and kids host less than 20 apps geared toward children, but about 7% host more than 60 apps for a child, according to The NPD Group Kids' Mobile Entertainment & Apps study released Monday.
Gaming is the most popular type of app downloaded, with the average mobile device used by a child containing approximately 10 game-related apps. Music ranked No. 2.
When it comes to overall downloads, however, music dominates and games moves to the No. 2 spot. Video steps in at No. 3.
Music makes up more than half of all downloads and about 61% of all child-related downloads to a mobile entertainment device. The remaining types of downloads, including ringtones, TV shows and movies, comprise less than 10% of all downloading activity.
Three top themes emerged in the study that keep kids coming back for more, and parents agreeing to allow the kids to download, listen to music and play games. Anita Frazier, industry analyst at The NPD Group, says these themes include the love of music, laughter to keep kids entertained, and fun and addicting applications. "Parents are more willing to pay for apps when they think their kids will use them a lot," she says.
Connecting with friends through social elements also attracts kids. "We all know you're supposed to be 13 and over to use Facebook, but all of us know plenty of kids under that age with Facebook accounts," she says. "The social aspects are appealing to many kids."
The ability to download content or listen to music at no charge continues to entice consumers, especially kids. Seventy-five percent of respondents say free is the highest motivating factor driving app downloads. Other motivators include recommendations by family and friends, the request from the child for the app, and the app's affiliation with a character or personality.
About 82% of all apps downloaded for children are free. Those who purchase apps for children say they're willing to spend almost twice as much as they do. And the willingness to spend more rises as the child increases in age.
Despite some prevailing notions that many apps are used once and then deleted or forgotten, most kids will reuse the same app many times. Only about 1% reported abandoning apps after one use. A child might spend on average slightly more than 20 minutes at a time, but this varies by gender and age, Frazier says.
Most kids use the app multiple times, rather than just once, or only a few times, Frazier says. "Parents told us their kids are using the apps 'over and over,'" she says.
Frazier says the study didn't measure whether the parent became a motivating factor to the child downloading and using the app, but NPD found that apps downloaded to devices owned by the child created more motivation compared with those downloaded to parent-owned devices.
"For devices owned by the parent, but that the child uses, 'it's educational' became a much more motivating factor" when trying to sell the kid on the application, Frazier says. Friends and family recommendations also help to motivate the child into using the application.
Final data includes 1,043 completed surveys from parents who have kids 0 to age 14 using either iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, BlackBerry or another smartphone. The survey was conducted between June 18 and July 28, 2010.
The majority of mobile entertainment devices used by parents and kids host less than 20 apps geared toward children, but about 7% host more than 60 apps for a child, according to The NPD Group Kids' Mobile Entertainment & Apps study released Monday.
Gaming is the most popular type of app downloaded, with the average mobile device used by a child containing approximately 10 game-related apps. Music ranked No. 2.
When it comes to overall downloads, however, music dominates and games moves to the No. 2 spot. Video steps in at No. 3.
Music makes up more than half of all downloads and about 61% of all child-related downloads to a mobile entertainment device. The remaining types of downloads, including ringtones, TV shows and movies, comprise less than 10% of all downloading activity.
Three top themes emerged in the study that keep kids coming back for more, and parents agreeing to allow the kids to download, listen to music and play games. Anita Frazier, industry analyst at The NPD Group, says these themes include the love of music, laughter to keep kids entertained, and fun and addicting applications. "Parents are more willing to pay for apps when they think their kids will use them a lot," she says.
Connecting with friends through social elements also attracts kids. "We all know you're supposed to be 13 and over to use Facebook, but all of us know plenty of kids under that age with Facebook accounts," she says. "The social aspects are appealing to many kids."
The ability to download content or listen to music at no charge continues to entice consumers, especially kids. Seventy-five percent of respondents say free is the highest motivating factor driving app downloads. Other motivators include recommendations by family and friends, the request from the child for the app, and the app's affiliation with a character or personality.
About 82% of all apps downloaded for children are free. Those who purchase apps for children say they're willing to spend almost twice as much as they do. And the willingness to spend more rises as the child increases in age.
Despite some prevailing notions that many apps are used once and then deleted or forgotten, most kids will reuse the same app many times. Only about 1% reported abandoning apps after one use. A child might spend on average slightly more than 20 minutes at a time, but this varies by gender and age, Frazier says.
Most kids use the app multiple times, rather than just once, or only a few times, Frazier says. "Parents told us their kids are using the apps 'over and over,'" she says.
Frazier says the study didn't measure whether the parent became a motivating factor to the child downloading and using the app, but NPD found that apps downloaded to devices owned by the child created more motivation compared with those downloaded to parent-owned devices.
"For devices owned by the parent, but that the child uses, 'it's educational' became a much more motivating factor" when trying to sell the kid on the application, Frazier says. Friends and family recommendations also help to motivate the child into using the application.
Final data includes 1,043 completed surveys from parents who have kids 0 to age 14 using either iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, BlackBerry or another smartphone. The survey was conducted between June 18 and July 28, 2010.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Study: Kids Are Web Experts, But Still Tripped Up By Ads
Mark Walsh, Sep 13, 2010 08:28 PM
A new report by usability experts Nielsen Norman Group confirms what many adults, especially parents, probably already know: that kids are skilled Web users before turning 10.
It's not uncommon today for children as young as nine to be as capable as adults when it comes to navigating the Web, according to the 262-page study released Monday and based on testing with 90 kids ages 3 to 12 who interacted with 53 sites geared to children and three sites for general audiences.
That wasn't always the case. When Nielsen Norman conducted its first study of kids' Web use in 2001, it found that children ages 7-12 weren't necessarily the computer whizzes people commonly assumed. But with kids being introduced to the Internet at earlier and earlier stages, children in that age bracket are now seasoned Web hands, while their three- to six-year-old counterparts are the ones stumbling to find their way.
Even then, "some 3-year-olds are very good at using the Internet," said Raluca Budiu, lead researcher on the report, in an interview Monday. But kids still aren't so savvy when it comes to recognizing the difference between ads and editorial content online. With marketers increasingly trying to blur the line between advertising and content online for adults, it's hardly surprising that kids can fail to separate the two.
But unlike adults, children -- especially those under the age of six -- were unaware of the concept of advertising, while older kids may know about ads but couldn't always distinguish them. "Even when words such as 'ad' or 'advertisement' marked the ads, some of the children still clicked on them, thinking they were legitimate content," states the report.
Sites should be providing more prominent notice of advertising by making the ad markers large enough for children to see in display ads and by explicitly saying when an ad appears at the start of a video. The study cites pre-roll ads on the Cartoon Network that ran before video-centric games and confused children because the word "Advertisement" appeared in tiny print at the top of the screen.
The study recommends that ads aimed at children avoid calls to action like "Click here" or "Play now" because they are likely to grab kids' attention away from page content without the understanding that they are clicking on an ad. That might sound like a marketer's dream, but Nielsen Norman suggests that's not necessarily the case:
"When children click on ads, they often get to content that is not appropriate for them (for instance, it may have a lot of text, or it may be just different than what they were hoping to find), and thus they might feel disappointed and cheated. Often, the bad experience on the ad site reflects upon the original site, and children decide to go somewhere else." So irresponsible marketing backfires.
The study also advises that ads should have consistent placement on the right side of a page, as on sites for adults, to help children distinguish between ads and content and learn that clicking on the right side could take them to a different site. The children's site Funbrain, for instance, ran ads that sometimes appeared on the right, and at other times in the center of the page, creating confusion.
Once kids have clicked on ads, they should be clearly warned they are leaving the Web site with a dialog-type box in the middle of the screen, with options to continue or go back. Nielsen Norman found that many sites still didn't provide adequate notice, but many more did than in its original study nine years ago. Discovery Kids was among the sites that did a better job of indicating to young users that they were exiting the site after clicking an ad.
In what seems like advice that could lead to confusion, the study suggests matching ads closely to site content. The reasoning is that if kids see ads containing content not geared to their age group, they assume the site would not interest them either. Most sites matched ads to content well, although there were exceptions, like an ad on Neopets for AT&T U-verse -- a service for adults.
Government-mandated rules for online marketing to children include the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires Web sites to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children, including their names, home addresses, email addresses, or hobbies.
The FTC also works with the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, which publishes self-regulatory guides for children's advertising.
A new report by usability experts Nielsen Norman Group confirms what many adults, especially parents, probably already know: that kids are skilled Web users before turning 10.
It's not uncommon today for children as young as nine to be as capable as adults when it comes to navigating the Web, according to the 262-page study released Monday and based on testing with 90 kids ages 3 to 12 who interacted with 53 sites geared to children and three sites for general audiences.
That wasn't always the case. When Nielsen Norman conducted its first study of kids' Web use in 2001, it found that children ages 7-12 weren't necessarily the computer whizzes people commonly assumed. But with kids being introduced to the Internet at earlier and earlier stages, children in that age bracket are now seasoned Web hands, while their three- to six-year-old counterparts are the ones stumbling to find their way.
Even then, "some 3-year-olds are very good at using the Internet," said Raluca Budiu, lead researcher on the report, in an interview Monday. But kids still aren't so savvy when it comes to recognizing the difference between ads and editorial content online. With marketers increasingly trying to blur the line between advertising and content online for adults, it's hardly surprising that kids can fail to separate the two.
But unlike adults, children -- especially those under the age of six -- were unaware of the concept of advertising, while older kids may know about ads but couldn't always distinguish them. "Even when words such as 'ad' or 'advertisement' marked the ads, some of the children still clicked on them, thinking they were legitimate content," states the report.
Sites should be providing more prominent notice of advertising by making the ad markers large enough for children to see in display ads and by explicitly saying when an ad appears at the start of a video. The study cites pre-roll ads on the Cartoon Network that ran before video-centric games and confused children because the word "Advertisement" appeared in tiny print at the top of the screen.
The study recommends that ads aimed at children avoid calls to action like "Click here" or "Play now" because they are likely to grab kids' attention away from page content without the understanding that they are clicking on an ad. That might sound like a marketer's dream, but Nielsen Norman suggests that's not necessarily the case:
"When children click on ads, they often get to content that is not appropriate for them (for instance, it may have a lot of text, or it may be just different than what they were hoping to find), and thus they might feel disappointed and cheated. Often, the bad experience on the ad site reflects upon the original site, and children decide to go somewhere else." So irresponsible marketing backfires.
The study also advises that ads should have consistent placement on the right side of a page, as on sites for adults, to help children distinguish between ads and content and learn that clicking on the right side could take them to a different site. The children's site Funbrain, for instance, ran ads that sometimes appeared on the right, and at other times in the center of the page, creating confusion.
Once kids have clicked on ads, they should be clearly warned they are leaving the Web site with a dialog-type box in the middle of the screen, with options to continue or go back. Nielsen Norman found that many sites still didn't provide adequate notice, but many more did than in its original study nine years ago. Discovery Kids was among the sites that did a better job of indicating to young users that they were exiting the site after clicking an ad.
In what seems like advice that could lead to confusion, the study suggests matching ads closely to site content. The reasoning is that if kids see ads containing content not geared to their age group, they assume the site would not interest them either. Most sites matched ads to content well, although there were exceptions, like an ad on Neopets for AT&T U-verse -- a service for adults.
Government-mandated rules for online marketing to children include the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires Web sites to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children, including their names, home addresses, email addresses, or hobbies.
The FTC also works with the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, which publishes self-regulatory guides for children's advertising.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Some Spanish language news
US-based Hispanic broadcaster Vme launches Vme Kids, a new US channel specifically targeted to preschoolers, for whom Spanish is their home language, and their families.
The new 24/7 channel launches on AT&T U-verse, with further carriage deals in the works, featuring a programming lineup including Dibo (the Dinosaur), Los Difraces de Dougie (Dougie in Disguise), Los Supernumeros (Numberjacks), Bruno y los amigos Banana (Bruno & the Banana Bunch) andCinco Minutos Mas (Five Minutes More), LazyTown, Jim de la Luna, Musti, 7 Pets, Pororo and Connie la Vaquita (Connie the Cow), among others.
Vme is supporting its carriage partners with local marketing events including book tours with its sister company, Santillana USA and a LazyTown Live! school tour. The new preschool channel will feature programs and interstitials designed to help kids use their Spanish language skills and vocabulary in English, as well as providing parents with activities to reinforce what their kids are learning on screen.
Vme will continue to offer its daily kid-targeted programming block on the Vme network.
Canada's Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group and Brazil's Mixer are teaming up to develop the new interactive preschool animated series, Vivi, for TVO(Canada). The series will feature a mix of 2D cut-out animation and live-action.
Vivi follows the travels of an artistic girl, Vivi, and her grandmother, during which Vivi creates interesting souvenirs and scrapbook from the various cultures and locations she visits. Mixer will produce the animation, while Skywriter designs the interactive online component for the property.
Vivi has received funding from the Brazilian program, AnimaTV, which aims to stimulate animation development in Brazil.
The new 24/7 channel launches on AT&T U-verse, with further carriage deals in the works, featuring a programming lineup including Dibo (the Dinosaur), Los Difraces de Dougie (Dougie in Disguise), Los Supernumeros (Numberjacks), Bruno y los amigos Banana (Bruno & the Banana Bunch) andCinco Minutos Mas (Five Minutes More), LazyTown, Jim de la Luna, Musti, 7 Pets, Pororo and Connie la Vaquita (Connie the Cow), among others.
Vme is supporting its carriage partners with local marketing events including book tours with its sister company, Santillana USA and a LazyTown Live! school tour. The new preschool channel will feature programs and interstitials designed to help kids use their Spanish language skills and vocabulary in English, as well as providing parents with activities to reinforce what their kids are learning on screen.
Vme will continue to offer its daily kid-targeted programming block on the Vme network.
Canada's Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group and Brazil's Mixer are teaming up to develop the new interactive preschool animated series, Vivi, for TVO(Canada). The series will feature a mix of 2D cut-out animation and live-action.
Vivi follows the travels of an artistic girl, Vivi, and her grandmother, during which Vivi creates interesting souvenirs and scrapbook from the various cultures and locations she visits. Mixer will produce the animation, while Skywriter designs the interactive online component for the property.
Vivi has received funding from the Brazilian program, AnimaTV, which aims to stimulate animation development in Brazil.
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