Tween Consumers

Reading the article, Tweens 'R' Us by, Ann Hulbert really got me thinking about the intense marketing campaign that is geared toward tweens. These kids are perfect consumers-- they think they need every product, and have little experience in exercising discretion with their purchases. With marketing campaigns that are of a higher quality than many of the goods themselves, sales to this age group is about $15 billion dollars annually (Hulbert, Tweens 'R' Us).

After switching gears and learning about the Tween Summit, I began to feel as if maybe the world was a more beautiful, brighter place than I had given it credit for. After attending the Tween Summit most of the young girls were motivated to go out and change the world. Four videos on YouTube left me feeling so inspired that I literally had to wipe the tears from my face. The Tween Summit was designed to show tween girls that they are unique, that their voice is important, and that together they can change the world. Tweens spoke with a panel of experts regarding their hopes and fears, their dreams and aspirations. They made video pledges to Obama and really stopped to figure out how they could make the world a better place. This all sounds pretty amazing...and then, of course, it came back to making money off these newly inspired minds.

The young revolutionaries were released into the exhibit hall where the main attraction was the gaming lounge. EA, the first to sign up as a sponsor for the Tween Summit, set up a gaming lounge where tween girls could play all of their newest games. The gaming industry grossed over 7 billion dollars last year just for girls ages 6-12. At Tween Summit they played games like, Littlest Pet Shop, which sold 2.5 million units last year alone. They played Charm Girls, an interactive game for girls to play with their friends where they can tease hair, design accessories, and bake cakes! What happened to the women's liberation movement? When is the gaming industry going to integrate technology with a game that provides messages similar to what the girls had heard all morning? Is this exhibit hall, loaded with trinkets for girls to buy and video games teaching skills that were valued in women sixty years ago, really the follow-up to a morning of such powerful inspiration?

Then, they were provided a lunch of pizza and ice-cream. Now, I love pizza and ice-cream as much as the next girl, but with an impressionable group of girls who already are dealing with issues of insecurity regarding body issues, wouldn't the Tween Summit be a perfect place to show girls that eating healthy can taste great? I would still recommend this event to any young tween girl, but the fact that inspiring tween girls is used as a marketing opportunity makes me feel a bit ill. Maybe, it was too much pizza.

Hulbert, A. (2004, November 28). Tweens 'r' us. New York Times Magazine,6.31. Retrieved June 15, 2010 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/28/magazine/28WWLN.html

Tween summit. (2010). Retrieved June 15, 2010 from: http://www.tweensummit.com/