Our economy is based on consumption.
The main influence on consumption is marketing and advertisement.
The marketing is one of the main force in our everyday life, but apart of a narrow minority, almost nobody is aware of how it works, and how it influences our choices every day.
The general aim of his book is to share the science of marketing with the wider (not highly educated) public in order to regain control of their own choices. More precisely, we would like to offer help to parents who feel that they are loosing the fight against the pressure of advertisements targeting their children. The final target is that like the multiculturalism and enviromental awareness, the "technics in marketing" should have a place in the daily life, (like the highway code, where we all learn from early age to stop at the red light, look around before cross the road and other rules to stay safe and alive.) The education system need to be warned that this area was undeservedly neglected in the past.
The book will be written by experts in the fields of child psychology, economy, market research, sociology, journalism and other relevant sciences. It will use a simple language, examples, images and a lot of humor to make the complex subject of the marketing easier to understand and entertaining to read.
CONTENT
- The book is not an outright anti-marketing book. The marketing is not evil, but often used unfairly. The target is to identify the aggressive and abusive martketing tecnologies, understand their composition and develop strategies to neutralise them in the children's environments.
- To educate the parents and children to recognise marketing technics. It should to start the early - 2-3 years of age - because the effects of marketing starts at this age: the children getting familiar with logos, brands, slogans, fachion.
- Most of the parents do have the feeling that something is not right, but they can not express it in words, so they do not talk about it, therefore they can not do anything about it, and they feel, it is only their problem. They need a clear set of terminology to be able to understand and discuss the whole concept.
- After a long fight, the unhealthy products got regulated and warnings written on them, "penalty" taxes applied, and their advertisements banned. It is important to recognise that certain poducts and practices are dangerous to the family and need a similar treatment.
FOCUS
All the contents need to be considered by the following point of views :
- child psychology: studying how the effects of marketing changes the child's behaviour and his/her relation to the authoruty of the family. Developing "immuising" strategies.
- marketing/advertisement: technologies used, classifying them by "danger level"
- sociology: finding out, how it effects to the relations in the wider society
- literary qualities: easy to read for the wide public, preferably a light style, with lot's of humor
"IMMUNISING" STRATEGIES
- The personal example is the strongest way. Demonstratively not folloving negative trends, becoming a conscious consumer would become the best way to make the children understand. Daily explaining our consuming habits.
- It is fairly easy to teach the cild that the sugar taste good, but causing holes on the teeth and makes them fat and lasy. So the food can be classified to tasty but bad and not to tasty but very healthy. This analogy can be used for films, books, computer games too.
- It is very useful to point out that a shiny box often covers low quality toys, food, etc.
- Minimise advertisements in the child's environment... less TV, minimal internet, good selection of children's magazines. Explaine in details the unavoidable marketing technics and advertisements
- ...
CHAPTERS
- Description of the consumer society with its negative sideeffects and establishing the fact that many of us notice them or suffer from them, and it is not necessary to be like that.
- Pointing out the areas where the advertasing/marketing is in conflict vith the family's traditional values in different age groups.
- Outlining the fair legal demands of "advertisement-free" public areas where people/families can spend their life without aggressive influences. (bus stops, streets close to schools, kindergartens, TV channels, effective turning off advertisements on internet, etc). Can that be an individual's right to minimise/select the advertisements around himself ?
- Explaining the psychological and emotional tools to influence our decisions. The power of brand names. Here we need precise details about the attractiveness of sweet/silly cartoons, comics, violence, what are the "baits" to glue the children in front of the TV or magasines, where they become emotionally "receptive" for the advertisements. Make the parents aware, that TV programs and magasines only the media to transmit advertisements. Programs, articles are selected to create positive environments, feelings for the advertisements, so themself also have to considered as adverts.
- Offering practical advises, helping to "immunise" the children against the most dangerous effects.
- Attaching a simple ( 4page) workbook for all the different age-group (2-12) where they can practice to spot the advertisement among neutral information and/or differenciate between good and bad marketing technics. (example: out of 3 pictures which is an advertisement? What method it using? Is it fair?)
- Glossary with the most tipical good and bad advertising practices for guidance for the parents.
LEGAL ISSUES
- Because the book's main subject is advertisement it is inevitable to use logos, brand names, registered trademarks, examples, and their uses are normally restricted in public media. It seems important to clarify they usage to avoid legal diffculties.
SUPPORTING PROJECTS
- Contacting one or more Parents Association which would contributing to the project, and where the issues could be discussed and put in practice with children.
- Agree with Ecole Maternelle Gerald Phillipe to test the workbook for the agegroup 3-6. Prepare 20 pictures for the children to see if they recognise the difference between the "real" activities and adverts. The process should be filmed to be able to share the results with professionals for study the result.
EXPECTED EFFECTS
- Short term: taking fuller control of rising the child, turning them back to the family, substantial savings on the unnecessary products, less conflicts within the family.
- Mid term: better parent-child relations especially during the complicated teenager period, more positive social behavior patterns
- Long term: the more family oriented children can contribute to a less material society and taking good care of the elderly.
- The industry: it will attempt to use more sophisticated methods, but finally they have to recognise the fact, it need to offer the goods and services what the public really need and want.
- The politics: will see that the public is more aware of their communication methods therefore these methods become less effective, increasing the chances of those players who use the more "honest" communication methods.
- Ideology: By provoking a dicussion about one of the most visible but least understanded komponent of our consumerism-based life, it can create a new method to build a more liveable and sustaniable society.
