On September 21st, iconic children’s series ‘Where’s Wally?’ celebrates its 25th anniversary, and we at The Value Engineers were delighted to be asked to contribute to a recent Metro piece to commemorate the stripy lad’s birthday. The full piece can be found here.

Created by British illustrator Martin Handford, the ‘Where’s Wally?’ children’s books consist of a series of incredibly intricate double-page spreads. Each scene features the eponymous star hidden somewhere on the page for readers to discover. It’s a simple recipe, but as the lasting success of the franchise has shown – including translations into more than 30 languages, comics, a film and multiple fancy dress costumes – one that is capable of capturing kids’ interest from generation to generation.

So what’s behind the success of a character who looks like nothing so much as the original geek? The answer lies in his versatility…

On the most basic visual level, the superbly drawn illustrations and the intricacy of each spread make them a pleasure to come back to, over and over.  The level of detail in the visuals – requiring only basic text – makes it perfect for sharing across generations and across cultures, as there’s room for everyone to enjoy it.  At the same time, the ‘discovery’ format is both educational and entertaining for children, who love the sense of achievement they get from finding Wally.

It’s not just children who like a game of hide and seek, though – we’ve seen the format used for everything from Top Gear (‘Where’s Stig?’) and meerkats to terrorists (the ‘Where’s Bin Laden?’ picture book was a hot Christmas gift choice a few years ago).

Of course, there’s also something very appealing about brands and properties that one generation can pass on to the next. It’s a phenomenon we’ve called ‘retrotainment’, and it’s something that Generation Xers seem to be especially keen on. Think of the recent return of brands like the Cabbage Patch Dolls and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or the on-going cult appeal of Dangermouse and Thunderbirds.

For proof, why not check it out for yourself the next time you’re browsing in a bookshop? But be warned: finding Wally can prove to be a dangerously addictive pastime…

The rapid pace of change among kids’ audiences – and the brands targeting them – can make it a challenge to stay on top of what’s happening.  That’s why we produce our quarterly Kidscan report, a free review of  what’s been happening with UK kids and families.  We bring together interesting news & info from the past three months with our own analysis, to give you an easy way to keep up to speed.

Hot off the (virtual) presses, our Summer 2012 edition of Kidscan looks at developments including:

• The big news in the children’s television, film & gaming charts in the past quarter
• How Kindle titles are taking over YA fiction
• The impact of the Games on children’s toys and games (and what a Games it was! We’re still reeling from the excitement of 29 gold medals…)
• Innovation Ella’s Kitchen-style, with the launch of ‘spouches’
• How Wagamama is catering to Gen Xers with its new kids’ menu
• Kellogg’s & the Dairy Council’s solution to getting the last of the milk from the bowl
• Whether Moshi Munchies are a step too far for the Brand of 100 Licenses
• LEGO’s Team GB minifigures – the hottest new collectible to hit the shelves
• Argos’ predictions of the Top 10 Toys for Christmas (yes, it’s that time again, sorry)

Of course, you’ll also find our regular round-up of news, stats and features from the UK kids & family marketing sector. As always, thanks our friends at Swapit for letting us share kids’ hot conversation topics in ‘What Kids Are Talking About’, drawn from their tracker research into the brands that children find cool in the world of FMCG, media, retail and more.

If you’d like to receive a copy of the latest Kidscan report, would like to find out more about our recent work with kids or are interested in our thoughts on a issue you may have on kids or family-focused branding, strategy or innovation, please do give us a call.

If you’re looking to stay up to speed in between reports, you can also follow TVE Kids @lou_ellerton for all the latest news.

Happy reading!

Last month, Brand Republic and Harris Interactive published their Kids Brands Index 2011, showing the top household brands among 7-15 year old British children. Based on research with 4,000 kids, the index ranks the top brands in 12 categories, based on their levels of awareness, cool factor, recommendations and overall desirability, among others.

The index makes for essential reading for any marketer dealing with kids’ brands, but also for any business targeting a family audience. So read on to discover five points that struck us, here at The Value Engineers’ Kids practice:

• Of the Top 20 brands, only four actively position themselves as ‘kids’ or youth brands. Of those four, only one has made it into the Top 10 – Haribo, which comes in at #7. While the result might seem surprising to those unused to kids’ marketing, it reflects the diversity among different age groups. The one thing that unites kids aged 7-15 is that all aspire to being older. Looked at in this light, it’s no shock that the #1 brand is Walkers, followed closely by The Simpsons and McDonald’s. All are mainstream brands that pride themselves on an almost universal appeal.
• Six technology brands hit the Top 20, including websites, gaming consoles, mobile phones and A/V. This will come as no surprise to parents of tween- or teenagers, who are used to fending off requests for the latest new technology, but does go to prove the ubiquity of tech among this demographic. Having said that, Apple’s iPhone was the only mobile brand, reflecting kids’ technological aspirations rather than their everyday reality.
• Nintendo came out far ahead of its competitor console brands, with the Wii at #5 and the DS at #9. Compare this to its closest competitor – the Xbox Kinect at #45 – and it’s clear that Nintendo’s strategy of extending beyond the core gaming audience is still paying off.
• Just one retail brand and one ‘fashion’ brand (GAME and Nike respectively) managed to slip into the Top 20, despite the much-cited appeal of brands such as Jack Wills. It’s likely that this reflects the different maturity rates of boys and girls, with boys becoming interested in clothes and other forms of self-expression at a later age, but also the segmentation of the sexes – boys won’t identify with a so-called ‘girls’ brand.
• Finally, it’s interesting to note that the first ‘toy’ brand only enters the list at #18 with LEGO, showing how justified is the toys & games industries’ concern about children growing out of the market ever more quickly.

Full results are available courtesy of PR Week via the link above, and are well worth a look. In the meantime, I’m off to McDonald’s for some first-hand observation…

Here in The Value Engineers kids practice, we’ve been doing some exciting work recently on the girls’ properties and toys market, the companies moving from targeting kids to targeting family audiences, and innovation for 6-10 year olds, among others.

Fortunately, we somehow found time amidst all that work with our clients to publish the latest edition of Kidscan - our complimentary quarterly report on all that’s hot in branding and marketing for kids & families.

It’s been a busy time, with the long awaited publication of the Bailey Report, the Easter films fest and the start of the outdoor toys & games season, to mention just three of the topics covered.

In other news, the past quarter saw some significant new arrivals in the television viewing charts. New properties dominated the pre-school charts at CBeebies, for example, pushing longstanding favourite Charlie & Lola into third place. 3rd & Bird, Yoko! Jakamoto! Toto and Octonauts are all emerging as strong contenders in the pre-school market, while Grandpa in my pocket has managed the difficult feat of attracting both pre-schoolers and their older siblings.

In books, meanwhile, it seems the supernatural may finally be losing some of its appeal, as the charts remained free of vampires, ghouls and other such beasties for the second quarter running.

With the conclusion to the Deathly Hallows premiering in London’s Trafalgar Square tonight and people of all ages camping out on pavements in anticipation, it’s no surprise that Harry Potter dominated the character charts last quarter, and we’ll doubtless see the merchandise climb back up the toy & gaming charts over the coming weeks. 

Finally, for those counting the days till they can start their Christmas shopping (!), our news round-up covers Tesco’s prediction for this year’s bestseller: the foot-high robots, Fijits.

You’ll find all of the above and more in the new edition of Kidscan, including film, TV, gaming and toy charts, and our analysis of a baker’s dozen of brand and marketing launches for kids and family.

So if you haven’t yet requested a copy, why not drop  me an email at or tweet The Value Engineers Kids practice @lou_ellerton, and get up to speed?

For those interested in kids’ marketing, the start of the year means that the hustle and fanfare of the world’s Toy Fairs dominates headlines, blog feeds and Twitter accounts for weeks on end.

Kicking off in London, the Toy Fairs bring together manufacturers, buyers, marketers and journalists in a whirl of primary colours, showmanship, blips, beeps and blisters as they pound the halls in the hope of finding (or selling) the next big thing for today’s children.

As always, there have been a host of toys, games and brands touted as the new yo-yo/ Rubik’s Cube/ yo-yo/ Barbie/ GameBoy/ Pokémon (*delete as applicable). In some ways, the interesting thing is the consistency across the decades: LEGO took two of the UK Toy of the Year Awards for its LEGO City and LEGO Mini Figures;  Crayola took Activity Toy of the Year in New York; Monopoly and Scrabble both came away with awards for their new, technology-enhanced incarnations. Meanwhile, some old favourites (well, ‘old’ for 30-somethings) have re-emerged, with launches promised for Cabbage Patch Dolls, Thundercats and Smurfs, among others.

One product stood out in the crowd, though. Fisher-Price’s Laugh & Learn Baby iCan Play case for the iPhone and iPod Touch has caused a storm in the blogosphere, with parents, educators, geeks and gurus lining up to sing its praises.

It’s an incredibly simple concept: a sturdy plastic case complete with easy-grip handles, rattles and shapes, designed to protect a  parent’s iPhone or iPod Touch from their offspring’s demanding if occasionally uncoordinated fingers. With a predicted RRP of just $15 in the US, it’s difficult to believe in a way that something so basic can be causing so much fuss.

What Fisher-Price has done with the iCan Play Case, however, is create a product that serves a very real consumer need. It has done so by anchoring its innovation in consumer insight.

I don’t know the details of methodology or process that have underpinned the development of the iCan Play Case, but I do know from our experience here at The Value Engineers that there is a world of difference between research – the act of observing and reporting on consumers’ attitudes and behaviour – and insight, in which the results of that research are used to unearth a more fundamental kernel of truth. It’s that quest beneath the surface that we seek to bring to our clients.

So what is the fundamental truth that underpins the iCan Play Case? In my admittedly subjective opinion, Fisher-Price has recognised and reflected a radical shift in the way that technology will colour children’s environment going forward. To date, technological innovation has been driven first and foremost by adult markets – developed for adults, by adults. Once established, a trickle-down process of modification and simplification began, eventually resulting in a format and at a price deemed suitable for children.

Not until the advent of the iPad did we see a new technology arrive that so clearly and immediately engaged kids. Who can forget the first footage of toddlers playing so comfortably with touchscreen technology while their parents struggled? Almost as soon as the iPhone launched, stories began to emerge of parents handing over their most prized possession in the hopes of distracting young Jack or Olivia from the boredom of a traffic jam or supermarket sweep. Developers quickly realised the opportunity, and a raft of kid-friendly apps appeared.

Now, however, one of the world’s leading infant play brands has weighed in on the side of parents. In launching the iCan Play Case, Fisher-Price has shown that it’s time to accept that children are adopting new technology as fast or faster than we are – and to discard the old idea that kids’ technology should be cheaper, simpler or more basic. Not a bad day’s work for something that costs less than a Rubik’s Cube…

Nice one, Fisher-Price.