Children’s Media Conference 2017
Reflections on the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield.
The Children’s Media Conference is the prominent UK gathering for professionals involved in developing, producing and distributing content to children. It’s a three-day event, with over 1,200 delegates, 200 speakers and 60 sessions, seminars & talks
Now in its 14th year, CMC welcomes delegates from film, TV, games, licensing, arts, culture, education and media to discuss and share insights from across the Youth content sector.
Though the conference was influenced somewhat by the announcement of the BBC’s investment in Children’s content and product, themes around the growth of VR came across strongly this year.
With insightful talks simultaneously staged across a number of rooms, it’s impossible to see and hear everything you’d like to, though four key themes resonated from my seminar attendance throughout the conference:
· The continued change and development of the Children’s media landscape.
· The increased resonance of personalised and interactive content.
· The changing nature of discoverability and role of algorithms.
· The potential of emerging tech and VR.
The continued change and development of the Children’s media landscape:
Emily Keaney, Head of Children’s Research at Ofcom presented ‘How Open is Children’s Definition of TV?’ with a view on new media types and consumption behaviours. Emily outlined how children are spending more time online than watching TV. This change is driven by 8–11 year olds spending less time watching on traditional TV sets. However, this by no means indicates children are watching less content, with YouTube penetration particularly high, reflecting ‘content stacking’ preferences.
There are differences across the age groups, with YouTube penetration of 37% for 3–4 year olds, rising to 73% of 8–11 year olds and 87% of 12–15 year olds. Younger children are also more inclined to watch whole programmes on YouTube, with older kids more inclined towards vloggers, funny videos, pranks and challenges.
Kids are increasingly device agnostic, with a significant growth of viewing on any device for paid, on demand video clips over the last two years. Mobile phone and tablet viewing have risen by 7 % and 8% in the last 12 months, and any device other than a TV also increasing by 8%.
Watching TV (linear or on demand) is increasingly viewed as ‘valued family time’, with families coming together to watch premium content.
However, I’d speculate that the physical living room itself is changing. With a rise in personal mobile devices and viewing, as well as the emergence of Over the Top (OTT) platforms as Youtube looks to penetrate the living room, we may see living room design less structured around the TV, and more designed for pod spacing.
In a session entitled ‘Play Patterns in Digital’, it was discussed how children are increasingly aware of a wider number of (media and non-media) brands, though this is becoming concentrated in focus on the top, dominant brands. As such, cutting through the noise, finding your niche and targeting effectively has perhaps never been so important, nor is gaining parents as advocates.
Given growth in children’s use of digital product and content, more digital consumption means tracking trends can be achieved with greater ease, with attention paid to increasing/changing regulation here. Knowing the data behind audiences will create real commercial and content opportunities, as will emerging tech. Knowing your brand and your audience, and identifying the real opportunities will be key to any kid’s brand successes.
The increased resonance of personalised and interactive content:
Children are sophisticated consumers and the proliferation of digital tech and content platforms has given rise to an increasing expectation and desire for personalised and interactive content.
Acknowledging this will be significant in maximising and leveraging the potential of a brands content and IP.
In 2015, it was reported 500 hours of content was being uploaded onto YouTube per minute. Given ongoing trends and kid’s focus on this platform, I speculate this is likely rising since towards 1,000 hours per minute. Reflected through more content than ever before competing for the attention of children, a need to provide deeper engagement through valued, quality and relevant content is key. Generation Z/Alpha have adopted a ‘maker/interactor’ mentality, and feeding back, hacking and commenting are a key element to their identity as media consumers.
YouTube UX and experience is significantly dominating children’s expectations, and interacting/liking videos, as well as creating personalised playlists or being prompted to related content is key for engaging them in an onward journeys.
This generation is a generation of ‘swipers’, literally physically interacting with their content via touch screen devices, in an intuitive fashion, with behaviour learnt at an increasingly young age (around 3 years old). The BBC as part of their increased investment in kids are launching three new apps in the near future, with a focus on CBBC Learning as well as an education app, with personalised content, journeys and ‘Digital Citizenship’.
Creative Director at Lego, Jais Holm Christensen discussed how traditional toy brands are also reaching for the digital space, bridging the gap between traditional real world play and kid’s online preferences, best illustrated through reference to Lego Life and Beasts of Balance.
Personalisation also helps kids engage through placing them within content and platforms, reflecting need states linked to identity, fandom and expression, generating an increased likelihood of long term loyalty.
The Sky Kids app team discussed how they’d looked to develop a high level of personalisation in their research session, building unique elements relating to profile and the creation of an avatar ‘Sky Buddy’, which has tested and engaged well, reflecting children’s strong need for expression and allowing for platform differentiation. It also increases the ‘fun’ element, and has prompted 3x heavier use of the Sky Kids app, when compared to Sky Go.
The changing nature of discoverability and role of algorithms:
With 80% of kids having trouble finding content they actually want in a multi-platform world (Dubit) there are clear benefits for brands making their content highly discoverable.
Looking at the explosion of Minecraft, lessons can be learned in how to cut through and connect with audiences, through both finding a niche as well as your audience themselves (go where they are), and rewarding your early users/adopters. Creating a feedback loop will help you stay ahead of competition and relevant, and not forgetting to engage with parents as the actual consumers as gatekeepers.
However, putting quality and relevant content on platforms is only half the battle, with the possibility of going viral relatively small. Attaching your brand/content to something bigger but relevant can help, as well as optimising your content to the strengths of the platform (images, video, description, etc.). This can largely relate to content strategy, looking at content anchors, buckets, themes and campaigns, reflecting your broader brand values.
Increasingly different platforms are adopting and changing their algorithms when surfacing content, to better meet the needs of their audiences (and possibly clients?..), considering their own culture shift and how they drive increased engagement time.
YouTube seems to be favouring longer form content, around 15–20 minutes long, which also works for parents who can allow their kids to consume content while they get ahead with other tasks.
Hub channels have begun to be successful, allowing for aggregation of content, as well as cross promotion. Small and emerging brands, or those with parent brands, could be well advised to attach themselves to bigger brands and cross promote.
Effective tagging, descriptions and linking cannot be underestimated, as well as making content shareable, which can significantly positively impact how and where platforms serve your content. Descriptions should be interesting and as short and digestible as possible — lead with the strengths!
Paid promotions can work, particularly in the initial stages, but brands should be careful how they do this, and keep things authentic.
Emerging tech and VR
VR was a particularly strong theme of this year’s conference, though due to seminar conflicts I was only able to attend one session.
However, despite conflicting views and surrounding VR and kids given cognitive development, kids brands and content producers are excited and increasingly confident about its potential in the kid’s media market, specifically with a gaming and educational remit.
VR is particularly attractive as a medium for kids, given its strong story telling capabilities and immersive features, counter balanced against practicalities around children wearing headsets and the lack of any clear, established and accepted guidelines. For many commentators, VR and kids applications still remains a controversial subject, though I am personally excited about its potential applications.
Despite this, it seems accepted that as technology becomes cheaper and proliferates into homes and living rooms, there will be increasing commercial opportunities within the kids market that companies are looking to be able to exploit.
The industry excitement surrounding VR reflects a growing need for kids to be able to interact with their digital media across the spectrum. From swiping devices to engaging with two-way feedback, a one-way conversation is no longer expected by child audiences.
My understanding of best practise in product and content development:
In conclusion, over two Children’s Media Conferences, the greatest resonance has been the need for knowledge and to adhere to best practise. Most notably in the areas of knowing your own brand; it’s strengths, assets and tone of voice, as well as knowing your audience; who they are, what they’re doing/thinking and what and how they actually want to engage with around your brand. This should start and any content or product initiation and progress fully through build and delivery.
I’ve referenced the difficulty for brands of cutting through the noise and sheer volume of kid’s content and media out there, and to have the best chance of resonating with audiences, there are clear benefits to be realised and steps to be taken.
Pushing product simply isn’t enough, and there needs to be clear strategy behind who you are, what you do and how you do it. The following is a non-exhaustive hit list of considerations:
Brand considerations:
Benchmark yourself against your competitors — know what they do versus what you do, and how you do things better.
Stick to platforms that work for you, and eliminate those not delivering value. Doing less well, is better than doing more badly.
Know your brand values, USP’s and purpose, and reflect them in your offering.
Identify your content strategy, and consider emerging trends/opportunities.
Don’t box your brand in, experimentation is ok but put your audience front of mind.
Go to your audience before bringing them to you.
Acknowledge accepted and Best in Practise conventions, don’t reinvent the wheel.
TOV and authenticity are perhaps the most important thing in consideration of your kids facing content.
Audience considerations:
Know the social media behaviour of your audience.
Remember, the needs and desires of your audience may/will change over time.
Your audience aren’t all alike, so you should consider segmentation in your product and content offerings. Consider the differences surrounding different touch points.
Make things interactive, two way and personalised where it adds value, and not just for the sake of it.
Make it fun, and leave space for discovery and imagination — kids will find surprising ways to play with things.
Know the audience opportunity, and the gap you’re filling.
Perhaps the most important consideration is to put kids first and central (while acknowledging parents). Test, iterate/pivot, ship. Making assumptions about kids is dangerous and they’ll quickly show you if it isn’t working.
Other highlights:
Beyond this discussion, this year’s CMC offered some real additional highlights, including:
The Anatomy of Fandom, presented by Maurice Wheeler of Kids Industries was a fantastic session, particularly relevant to me given my youth-centric remit within a football club. Drawing on a depth of research and examples, Maurice discussed the importance of fandom to children, and it’s role in forming their child identities, social connections and self-esteem, while positioning fandom’s importance to brands in consideration of consumer revenue, advocacy and longevity.
Through the illustration of the ‘Fan Profiling Tool’, Maurice advocated the importance to brands of developing a fan management strategy, through; understanding your fan base, creating a desired fan portfolio and engineering fan journeys that help realise this.
Indeed, I’ve worked with Maurice and Kids Industries on a wider Youth research piece, and it was fascinating to hear how things have developed since then. A really interesting discussion, and I’ve barely scratched the surface here.
Play Patterns in Digital, though also involving contributions from Dubit and Beats of Balance, as a long time fan of the original product, hearing from Creative Manager of Digital Games at Lego, Jais Holm Christensen was a real treat. Jais discussed Lego’s 85 year history and move into the digital world, and the importance of considering the three key lenses of brand, audience and technology, when moving from the traditional to the new of digital.
The real crux of Jais’s talk for me, was following the ‘few play patterns’ guiding principle, leaving clear space for expression, creation and learning, and allowing kids to play how they want.
Rather than a linear didactic journey, basic mechanisms are introduced for kids to learn, then the mechanisms evolve over time with the child, favouring the natural discovery and exploration. A really cool talk
The Fundamental Needs of Children, presented by Katie French, Head of Audiences Children’s & Learning at the BBC, who discussed the decline of legacy platforms and the rise of social and media choice and control for kids. I’d very much enjoyed Katie’s talk at CMC the previous year, and hearing developments in creative opportunities for brands for under 16’s, that fostered authority, mastery, identity while providing relaxing and wind down opportunities was very insightful.
See you next year…
The CMC really is a great event, I look forward to next year and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in youth media. As well as great sessions and talks, the event finished with a cracking night out at The Plug following a Pizza Express networking event. Catching up with old friends and new was a real highlight of my working summer, though I very much hope to see Rob from Fish in a Bottle smashing up the karaoke next time… ;)
And if you don’t know, now you know… (CMC) https://vimeo.com/227910960
Any comments, likes or shares would be appreciated, and I’d love to hear your thoughts or highlights from CMC17, or indeed anything football media and kids. Thanks
