Playground News
Decades of THOUGHTLESS, UNETHICAL and LAZY marketing have left parents rightly concerned about messages targeting children. We’ve put together a list of the top 5 dodgy strategies marketers have used in the past, and what YOU can do to ensure you stay on track with your ethical communications around youth-friendly products. 1. PESTER POWER. Parents [...]
If you work in a role that demands connection with teenagers, and you are serious about delivering that authentically (you’re reading this, so I’m sure you are), you’ve no doubt attempted to get your head into the psyche of a teenager. Maybe you’ve revisited your own teenage years and re-read old letters or diaries. Maybe [...]
We are LOVING the new TV campaign from Uncle Toby’s Oats (click the pic below to play). It’s just so… elegant – a classic win/win strategy, based on timeless insight. But it’s the delivery that sets it apart for me. Had the execution been mishandled, it could have been incredibly condescending to the teenager, but for [...]
Young people care about causes. Somehow we all just intrinsically get this, right? It’s part of the idealism of youth – the belief that if anyone can change the future, they can. Think about all the seismic cultural changes in world history and you’ll find the driving force behind them is very often student groups. [...]
Earlier this month, Jada Pinkett-Smith released an open letter on Facebook denouncing the media for their ‘bullying’ of young stars. It was covered on USA’s ABC News here and reported again here on gossip blog DListed (for those of you who’d rather not play a video while you’re at work.) Pinkett-Smith writes: “This last week, I [...]
Once upon a time, the shortcut to relevancy was to pick a popular celebrity and slap their image alongside your product. Marketers knew this was a handy way to borrow ‘cool’, and celebrities were all too happy to pick up an extra paycheck, and maybe a few new fans in the process. Today’s young consumers [...]
Meet 15 year old Jack Andraka. Jack made headlines this month because he created a simple test for the identification of pancreatic, lung and ovarian cancer. Jack’s test is 168 times faster than what is currently available. It’s 26,000 times cheaper - which to me is just mind boggling. And early indications are that it’s almost 100% accurate. JACK IS FIFTEEN! [...]
I know this because I met her, in person, yesterday at my niece’s 4th birthday party. Are you jealous? It was a DORA party, as Allie loudly announced to every single guest as they arrived, one by one. She couldn’t believe her luck! Dora invitations, Dora serviettes, Dora hats and balloons, Dora CAKE and… (deep breath) [...]
American reporters are claiming that hordes of Justin Bieber fans are jumping ship and joining the Eddie Redmayne train! Woo! Who is this Eddie Redmayne? And why are the tweens flocking to him? Les Miserables, of course. This is not Eddie’s first major film role. He was in “My Week with Marilyn” with Michelle Williams, [...]
We’re looking forward to a marvellous year here at Playground and we hope you are too. Have you made any resolutions? We have just three: 1. To hula hoop more frequently 2. To take on more ‘elephant in the room’ issues 3. To actively contribute to better health, happiness and resilience among Aussie youth of all [...]