Unhappy Youth Consumers

In her marketing to children speech, Agnes Nairn discusses the problem with such advertising. The children's market is worth $1.88 trillion, which is the same as the GDP of India. As such, it makes sense that marketers are going after younger and younger children, who begin making purchase requests at an increasingly young age. What begins with advertising, unfortunately ends in low life satisfaction. Teenagers in particular are subject to peer pressure where they feel wearing the right brand affects their popularity levels. Rejected teens want cool products to feel better, but are usually still rejected and feeling even more depressed.

The marketing to children speech recognizes the power struggle between parents and corporations where some companies are wealthier than countries and the proximity to technology (like smartphone advertising) allows advertising to bypass parents. Nairn encourages parents to be vocal about complaints they have about marketing, whether it is to other parents, the media or their government. Having meaningful conversations with children about branding is also important.