Toy Makers Dial Up 'Tween' Set Cellphones From Mattel, Hasbro and Others By VAUHINI VARA In the battle for new cellphone customers, the under-13 crowd has been largely left alone by marketers. But that could soon change. Companies are designing cellphones for the so-called tween market, a demographic loosely defined as 8- to 13-year olds. Toy maker Mattel Inc. plans a new phone that comes in a kid-friendly design influenced by its popular My Scene line of dolls. A phone from Chicago-based Firefly Mobile Inc. includes just five buttons, and only allows kids to call home, 911 or a handful of other preprogrammed numbers. Already, cellphone use among young people is growing: A study from research firm IDC found that 22% of 10- to 14-year-olds had cellphones in 2004, up from 17% in 2003. Toy designers are hoping to attract even more tweens by marketing their products to parents who want to keep track of their kids but feel uncomfortable giving them expensive, fully functional handsets meant for adults.
"The marketing needs to resonate with the mom or dad," says Jerry Hug, chief strategy officer at Single Touch Interactive Inc., which is helping to build and market Mattel's phone. The gadget is expected to hit toy-store shelves this summer, with a $50 price tag and 30 minutes of included air time. Like other phones aimed at younger kids, there are no service contracts -- minutes have to be purchased by parents in advance, protecting against overage charges. The handset is plastered with a floral design in loud colors, and users can download ringtones linked to characters in the My Scene doll collection. The My Scene phone comes with a unique twist for young users who want to get more air time. Parents can use a Web site to list chores they want kids to complete in order to "earn" more minutes. Kids can log in to the site and note when they make their beds, finish a homework assignment or remember not to fight with siblings. When their minutes run out, parents can visit the site, confirm that the chores were completed and buy more minutes. The phone from Firefly is more restrictive, though it tries to hide its parental safeguards behind a kid-friendly design. The five-button, calculator-sized device has a flashing light display, translucent shell and a big clip that can be attached to a backpack. The phone costs $199, and that includes 12 months of service or 1,200 minutes, whichever comes first. So far, the Firefly is available on Triton PCS Inc.'s SunCom in the Southeast. Firefly says the phone and service will be available nationally later this year. Another device, the ChatNow from Hasbro Inc., looks like a cellphone but is actually a two-way radio. Users have to be within two miles of each other to talk or exchange text messages. It also includes a built-in camera, and kids can "decorate" pictures they take of their friends with green hair and cartoon eyes. "It's a cellphone with features designed specifically for the 8-12 set," says Jeff Jackson, a vice president of marketing at Hasbro. "But it's definitely not a toy. It's a communication device." The ChatNow will be available in toy stores this summer at $75 for a pack of two. No service plan is required. For years cellphone makers have been targeting older teens and young adults with hip marketing campaigns and prepaid phone services. Of Nextel Communications Inc.'s 2.9 million new customers in 2004, more than 750,000 came from its Boost Mobile prepaid service, which caters to users who may not have a credit card or want to sign a service contract. Spokesman Mark Fewell says Boost has stopped short of targeting tweens , instead focusing on customers who have their own spending money. The rising use of cellphones by teens is already creating headaches in schools, where teachers have complained the devices are too much of a distraction. "I think it's a bit ludicrous" for young children to use cellphones , says Bill Scharffe , a policy director at the Michigan Association of School Boards, which advises schools on setting rules for cellphone use and other behavior. He worries that cellphones can be used by kids to cheat on tests and play games during class. He says it is inappropriate to market the devices to children too young to use them responsibly. While restrictions built into devices like the Firefly could help concerns that the devices are being misused, analysts say the limitations could represent a hurdle for marketers who need to convince kids their phone is as cool as the one being used by an older sibling or a character on TV. "When they see a product that doesn't fully understand their needs, they say, 'That's for babies,'" says Jori Clarke, president of Milwaukee-based youth-research firm Circle 1 Network. "I think these limited-access phones are going to be labeled as baby phones." Write to Vauhini Vara at vauhini.vara@wsj.com http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110986361996469533,00.html |
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