Responsible marketing to kids

Not only do ethical corporate sponsorships contribute significantly to important school programs, activities and educational material, but by adding educational value to its marketing material, the corporate community can also provide children with an additional source of education.

From a business point of view, corporate involvement plays an important role in building good relationships and, by doing so, creates a competitive advantage. Today's society expects businesses to be pro-active and adopt a societal management philosophy, which ensures that customers' needs are met with their best interest at heart. Good marketing can therefore be described as adding value to the consumer's life whilst generating sustainable business value.

Having said this, it is important to note that corporate involvement in schools and education in general must be planned with the utmost care and conducted according to strict ethical guidelines.

With the recent controversy surrounding Procter & Gamble's efforts to market its toilet tissue brand, Charmin, to toddlers through a storybook, Edu-Promo thought it appropriate to introduce some ethical guidelines in this regard.

1. Corporate Involvement in Schools via Sponsorships

School-business relationships based on sound principles can contribute significantly to the quality of our children's education. It is, however, very important to ensure that educational values are not distorted by commercialism. The focus should fall on relationship-building and social responsibility through sponsorships and not direct, sales-driven marketing.

The 'Principles for Corporate Involvement in Schools', developed by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the US, is a good ethical guide in this regard:
'Milwaukee Principles for Corporate Involvement in Schools'. Corporate involvement should not require students to observe, listen to or read commercial advertising.

Since school property and time are publicly funded, selling or providing free access to advertising on school property outside the classroom involves ethical and legal issues that must be addressed.

Corporate involvement must support the goals and objectives of the schools. Curriculum and instruction are the responsibility of educators. Programs of corporate involvement must be structured to meet an identified educational need, not serve a commercial motive, and must be evaluated for educational effectiveness by the school on an ongoing basis.

Schools and educators should hold sponsored and donated materials to the same standards used for the selection and purchase of curriculum materials. Corporate involvement programs should not limit the discretion of schools and teachers in the use of sponsored materials.

Sponsor recognition and corporate logos should be for identification rather than commercial purposes. These principles were developed at a meeting proposed by Alex Molnar and hosted by the School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, November 26-27, 1990.

2. Marketing Material with Educational Value

Ethical marketing material with educational value can be a pro-active answer to the global ethical issues regarding marketing to children. Not only does this type of marketing not harm, but it actually gives something back to the child. It can also address specific educational needs of developing countries by providing a much-needed new and additional source of educational material. Edu-Promo strongly believes in this shift from 'how can we implement marketing without doing harm' to 'how can we implement marketing to the benefit of South Africa's children'.

The key words here are, however, 'additional source of education'. One should not confuse adding educational value to marketing material with adding marketing value to educational material. There is a fundamental difference.

Adding educational value to marketing material in its recognisable format, ie, promotional toys, advertisements, marketing services etc. adds value to the marketing process and the child's marketing experience at large. However, using traditional educational mediums such as books, learning material and educational shows as a new way of marketing to children and primarily for commercial gain, could be questionable, especially if its commercial purpose is not highlighted. A billboard advertisement with educational value is, for example, plausible. The problem comes in when a storybook is used as a billboard.

Although marketing material with educational value is a wonderful way to add value to the marketing process, build relationships and provide a much-needed additional educational resource, marketing should at all times be recognisable as just that - marketing - especially when it comes to children with limited understanding.

Where marketing material can be mistaken for something else and the lines become blurred, it is the marketer's responsibility to ensure that consumers are correctly informed. The Edu-Promo mark of approval, for example, not only highlights the educational value of marketing material, but also the fact that the material has a commercial purpose (occupational therapist approved marketing). A simple notice along the lines of: 'This is an advertisement' can also do the trick.

For more information on marketing to children visit www.edu-promo.co.za or email Alda Heunis at .