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Kids learn young that 'A' stands for autos


By Mike Hudson / The Detroit News

Kids, this lesson has been brought to you by the letter "A" -- and the letter "A" has been brought to you by Ford.

Joining a growing industry effort to get noticed by the next generation of new car and truck drivers amid a fiercely competitive sales environment, Ford Motor Co. recently sent out thousands of alphabet posters to preschools as part of a community service program.

Each letter on the poster offers a recycling tip for kids, along with an underlying message that Ford cares about their future.

Harmless community service? Subliminal ad? Either way, more and more, auto companies are trying to get their brands out in front of the young and very young.

In doing so, they're hoping for a chance to influence parents' purchases while polishing the appeal of their brands when junior gets old enough to buy a new car or truck.

Marketing officials say there's no doubt automakers want to influence kids, who in turn often influence the shopping preferences of parents.

Beyond the classroom signage, Ford has a deal to use the lovable, floppy eared dog from Blue's Clues in advertisements.

General Motors Corp. has secured licensing rights to market the $279 Fisher Price Chevy Silverado Power Wheels pickup that kids ages 3 and up can drive.

Toyota Motor Co.p. indirectly appeals to children, providing kid-friendly information about the environment or new technology in cars, but may expand its presence in the near future, said Paul Daverio, marketing manager for Toyota's Prius hybrid gas/electric powered sedan.

"From a marketing standpoint, you want to introduce kids to the Toyota brand," Daverio said. "Furthermore, what they learn in school that day can be brought back to the dinner table."

But advertising to children can be tricky and somewhat dangerous because of liability laws.

And advertising in schools adds another layer of culpability as kids and parents may infer that the school endorses a certain product.

As such, Ford officials deny their posters are aimed at selling the Ford brand to kids. "It's more of an educational effort," Ford spokeswoman Carolyn Brown said.

Advertisers have learned to be wary about blatantly appealing to children in schools.

There's a growing backlash against snack food and soft drink makers from parents who say the chips and sodas their kids buy at school are making them unhealthy.

Typically, snack food companies offer schools money to provide products in cafeterias and other areas.

Worried about the long-term damage to kids' health, New York City recently banned sodas and certain foods from school vending machines. A similar battle against vending machine food was waged recently in Seattle.

"It's wrong to manipulate children because young children especially can't defend themselves against advertising," said Susan Linn, a Harvard University psychologist and founder of the Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children coalition in Boston.

"The automakers attend conferences that focus on how to advertise to kids, so no matter what they say or how they put it, they are advertising directly to kids."

Still, there's no doubt such advertising works. Mitsubishi dealers noticed a marked jump in interest in the Endeavor sport utility after commercials aired featuring Nickelodeon's smash hit cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.

"Right after that commercial began, we started getting huge interest in the vehicle," said Joe Schnitker, sales manager at Moran Mitsubishi in Southfield. "More people notice SpongeBob in that commercial than they notice the brand."

The trick to make such advertising work is catching the imagination of kids and parents, marketers say. The idea harkens back to GM's longtime sponsorship of soap box derby races.

"Kids would have to go into a Chevy dealership just to get the parts for their cars," said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing/Research Inc. in Bandon, Ore.

"The beauty was that you had kids and parents working together on a project so both were getting exposed to the Chevy brand."

Eventually, a controversy involving a cheating contestant led to a national scandal and the sponsorship was scrapped.

Stiff competition has revived the idea of marketing more directly to kids, after decades of focus on adults, analysts say.

In order to increase sales, automakers are trying to plant seeds for the future as well as hit consumers with pressure from the other people in their household -- their kids.

"Children don't go through the same decision-making process that adults do, and you can't discount the nag factor," said Tom Mauriello, principal at Corporate Voice, Inc. in New York, an online brand development firm.

"Kids aren't going to go for Brand X or Brand Y, but they will go for the one that has the X-Box."

You can reach Mike Hudson at (313) 222-2293 or mhudson@detnews.com.