Why We Should Listen to Children More and What Is the Dark Social?
Children Make Good Town Planners
OK, in all honesty, they don’t BUT this research from the University of Otago is really interesting for 2 reasons.
Firstly it shows that children do think a lot about others. Typically we are taught that young children (0-6) are very egotistical and don’t think about others needs very much however this research showed that kids do consider others needs beyond their own, making sure that society as a whole can function beyond just the need to fill cities with toy shops and parks.
Secondly, it shows the power of co-creation, I doubt the children came up with anything new but spending time with children and exploring how they think can really help you expand on your current thinking and also evaluate the prominence and validity of certain assumptions you have made.
It’s Time to Visit the Dark Social
To add to the difficulty of engaging with Gen Z peoples, they are now the primary users of the dark social (NB: very different to the dark web!) to connect with peers, making it difficult for brands to track their interactions. This applies to the use of WhatsApp, private DMs and Snapchat as examples of the dark social. The lack of tracing impacts brands engagement numbers and demographic information. When thinking about kids marketing or generation z marketing, brands need to create content that lends itself well to being shared on the dark social, between friends. Collaborations with influencers, short-form content, GIF’s and memes are key.
thred.com/tech/the-rise-of-dark-social-is-changing-brand-marketing/
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