The Insights Family expands again with new offices, new starters, and a new venture into Poland

The kids, parents, and family market intelligence outfit, The Insights Family is expanding once again; moving to a larger office space in Manchester city centre, opening a satellite office in Mayfair, London, welcoming three new starters to the company and launching its Kids Insights and Parents Insights businesses into Poland.

The latest flurry of developments for the firm form part of a plan to expand rapidly, following a number of big client wins that includes the media giant HBO Max, the retailer HMV, and the leading media agency, GroupM.

The company has now welcomed Jennifer Knott to the role of senior research manager who joins following a six year stint at Manchester City Football Club where she worked across a variety of research and digital media analyst roles. The team also welcomes Tushar Palawat and Emer Sheffield to its development and data science team, as junior data scientist and UI/UX designer, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Insights Family is continuing its global expansion, increasing its real-time data on children, parents, and families, with Poland being its latest market. This will see the business survey more than 410 Polish kids, tweens, and teens, and 200 Polish parents of children aged between one and 16 every week.

Poland becomes the company’s 18th operational market – following the addition of Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Indonesia earlier this year. This means the company now surveys a family member every 60 seconds.

Nick Richardson, CEO & Founder of The Insights Family, said: “The first half of 2021 has seen the business and every member of the team make incredible progress. We have seen a significant increase in client demand for our products and services as more and more organisations realise that traditional market research and data is no longer fit for purpose.

“Our new offices will enable us to provide an environment in which our team will further prosper, and coincides with the launch of a number of new initiatives as we look to be global leaders in every sense of the word.”

 The company also recently launched its latest tool, the IP INDEX™, which enables brand owners, brand partners, and retailers to identify the performance of their IP in relation to thousands of others, across multiple media types.

New high score | Roblox is outpacing broadcast TV for audience reach – Kids Insights latest

Video gaming is setting a new high score for audience reach in the battle for eyeballs among streaming platforms, YouTube, and traditional broadcast TV, suggests the latest data from Kids Insights Media Mix Compass, and now is the time for toy brands to start paying closer attention.

Here, Nick Richardson, Founder and CEO, The Insights People, and Licensing.biz’s Robert Hutchins explore the latest trends and data to be shaping the shifting media landscape.

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The videogame Roblox has outscored all broadcast TV channels in both the UK and US as the most powerful platform through which to reach young audiences, according to the latest insight from The Kids Insights Media Mix Compass

And the implications if this can’t be underestimated. In fact, compounding the popularity of the video games market, which has continued to grow significantly over the last few years, the potential for it to change the way in which businesses execute the marketing strategies for brands and retailers, is enormous.

Advertising budgets should no longer be solely – or even predominantly – focused on television. The world has changed, and video games are all too often the undervalued platforms to core audiences by marketers.

According to our latest data – sourced through a recently launched Media Mix Compass – teens now spend an average of 1 hour 25 minutes per day playing video games. That’s more time than they spend watching TV.

Generally, kids spend 62 per cent of their available time on digital activities. In the US, for example, for kids aged six to nine, Roblox has a Media Mix Score (MMS) of 128 which is higher than Nickelodeon (91), Disney Channel (80) and Cartoon Network (76). The Kids Insights Media Mix Score considers the reach, time spent and preference of 11 different media types and approximately 1,500 different channels in each region.

This past year has found parents discovering new ways to get their kids to play. With that, one of America’s top toy properties LOL Surprise is joining forces with top digital gaming platform ROBLOX – creating a relationship with the 1st Doll World of Roblox on a Global level. Through these two leaders in toy/play coming together, billions of fans can now discover a more immersive and shared gaming experience.

Toy brands are beginning to become savvy to the step change in the importance of such gaming and entertainment platforms. Just this week, international toy manufacturer, MGA Entertainment detailed plans to launch its LOL Surprise brand onto the Roblox platform.

The launch will kick-off with a ‘testing phase’ through which fans can play with and against their favourite gaming influencers as they explore the LOL/Roblox world.

Elsewhere, last week Hasbro detailed the five year extension of its current partnership with Epic Games’ Fortnite to expand on its licensing programme that includes the addition of its GI Joe character Snake Eyes into the Fortnite video game.

Meanwhile, it is equally important to note the growing importance of other new media options, including esports, which now ranks as the third most powerful media type for boys aged 10 to 12 in the UK, behind only YouTube and video games.

Esports is therefore one of the biggest opportunities for advertisers in 2021. Already one-in-ten teens in the US, UK, Germany, Brazil, Mexico and Canada use Twitch, the premiere platform in the industry for live video content. While physical sporting events were halted amidst the pandemic, the League of Legends European Championship – streamed live on Twitch – boasted the league’s highest ever viewing figures, raking in an average of 819,400 viewers for the final in April 2020.

Meanwhile, even more traditional areas, such as online chess, has witnessed huge viewer numbers over Twitch, hitting as many as 140,000 viewers at a time and helping to fuel a global resurgence in the traditional game, confirmed by the International Chess Federation, that has seen manufacturers hit new record highs for sales of chess boards.

However, marketing to kids is not a one-size-fits-all activity. In the UK, teenage girls are still tuning into Broadcast TV with ITV recording a score of 124 and Channel 4 hitting 99, making Broadcast TV the second most powerful media type with this demographic.

But streaming services and video games took a huge piece from the tasty audience pie. Each year with a growing variety of different online entertainment, the trend for kids to opt for digital platforms over the traditional ones will likely continue.

We also should keep in mind the growing influence and decision-making power of kids within the home being greater than with any other previous generation. Children have their own opinion over many other new categories, such as the purchase of a new car (which 54 per cent more kids say they influence in 2020 compared to 2019).

Although reaching this audience is more important than ever, it is increasingly difficult to do so. Growing up as digital natives, this generation have a far greater choice of what they consume and when they consume it than ever before. Therefore, kids’ attention is fragmented across a huge range of (increasingly niche) platforms, making it harder to reach a mass audience.

Brands spend just 37 per cent of their budget on non-digital spending, yet kids spend a huge 62 per cent of their time on digital, resulting in a mismatch that will cost advertisers $1.15bn in 2021.

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For more information on the Kids Insights Media Mix Compass, and to receive complimentary access to the tool and a copy of an example report please visit www.kidsinsights.com/mediamix

To learn more about the attitudes, behavior and consumption patterns of kids, parents and families, and to get freemium access to the Insights People real-time data portal, please visit: http://www.kidsinsights.com/toynews

The Insights People continues growth plans with new appointments and a head office move

The kids, tweens, and teens market intelligence expert, The Insights People, has appointed four new team members in the form of Claire Garner, Lewis Townsend, Sam Nguyen, and Joseph Newton. With the latest swathe of appointments for the firm also comes a move of offices to accomodate the expanding business.

The Insights People specialises in research and insights on children aged three to 18 and their ecosystems. It surveys more than 5,000 children each week across five continents and 13 countries; more than 277,000 children a year.

Claire Garner joins to lead the bespoke research team and lead the company’s media effectiveness analysis service. Garner has extensive research, insight and media experience having worked at MediaCom for 17 years as associate director, and more recently running Manchester based More Insight.

Nick Richardson, founder and CEO, said: “Claire has been a great friend to the business, pretty much from day one, as she has worked with us on a number of projects. I am delighted that Claire has joined the company, in what is a key role for us, not only oversee our bespoke research team, but also to lead our media analysis and evaluation services, which we will be launching early next year.”

Garner said: “It’s so exciting to be part of a team again, and a team which is so focused on innovation and solutions. Working with Nick in the past, it’s always been clear that The Insights People is a dynamic business. With insight being a long-time passion of mine, being able to work with like-minded, forward thinking people is a fantastic opportunity.”

The company also welcomes Lewis Townsend as account manager, Sam Nguyen as research executive and Joseph Newton as junior developer.

Townsend added: “After spending my first few days with Nick, and the rest of the team it is abundantly clear how passionate and dedicated everyone is in this business. The company is at an extremely exciting stage where we are seeing growth across the globe, and I am delighted to join the ever-expanding team.”

In addition to the new recruits, The Insights People has promoted Beth Bleathman to the role of senior research executive. She said: “I am delighted to be promoted, and so proud to be a part of such a fast expanding business. I am really looking forward to continuing to grow with The Insights People, and to pass on my knowledge and support to the new research executives who join the team.”

CEO Richardson, said: “I am continually humbled by the quality of people applying for roles at The Insights People, and am absolutely delighted to have Claire, Lewis, Sam and Joseph on board, who all bring incredible skills, energy and a collaborative way of working to our team. And a huge congratulations to Beth on her well-deserved promotion.”

These appointments come after the recent appointments of ex-Reach Plc executives Richard Roycroft and Sarah Mitchell who join as commercial director and group account director.

The company also continues its recruitment activity with it recruiting for roles in research, marketing, tech development and data science. For further information on careers visit: https://kidsinsights.com/careers/

Kids Insights and The Social Store to host webinar on licensing and retail in a digital-centric world

The market intelligence experts, Kids Insights has detailed a new webinar to be hosted in collaboration with The Social Store that will focus on the emerging opportunities for licensing and retail in a world becoming more and more digital centric. The webinar is scheduled to take place on September 17th at 4pm.

Speakers will include Kids Insights founder and CEO, Nick Richardson and founder and CEO of The Social Store, Ian Shepherd. The session will last around one hour with a Q&A session included.

The free webinar is titles Opportunities for Licensing and Retail in a Digital Centric World and will highlight the impact of technology and social media in the retail and licensing industries over the past few years. The session will look to address the challenges which the retail industry faces with emerging technology, as well as the long-lasting effect of Covid-19 and how the industry can evolve with the increase in online spend during this time.

Shepherd said: “I am very are excited to announce that I will be speaking in a free webinar with Nick Richardson from Kids Insights about the latest trends and developments in the world of retail and what the new normal will look like for the industry with more access to technology.

“There will be an excellent discussion which will help us gain greater knowledge of the digitalized trends in retail and licensing as well as identify the key players of influencer marketing.”

The format of the presentation will aim to deliver understanding to the change in kids’ ecosystems with the shift to digital, the future of ecommerce and retail and the relationship between the two going forward. It will also look at the emergence of influencers as a key marketing channel and how they can be embedded into strategies for a variety of industries including gaming, sport, TV and film.

The data provided by Kids Insights shows why brands needs to pay more attention to influencer licensing. Pre-schoolers are showing a preference for buying clothes related to their favourite YouTuber with a 56 per cent growth in the past 12 months. Also, becoming a YouTube influencer is the fourth most popular career choice for tweens (10-12s), illustrating their influence on career choices.

Nick Richardson, CEO of The Insights People, added: “We are thrilled to announce that we are hosting a free webinar with Ian Shepherd from The Social Store. This session will provide an exciting series of new insights that will help us to facilitate a wider industry conversation about the key players in the world of influencer marketing.”

Those who wish to attend the free webinar can register here: kidsinsights.com/socialstore

Kids Insights now launches into Canada and Australia as its global expansion continues

Kids Insights, part of the kids’ market intelligence experts, The Insights People, is continuing its global expansion plans in order to meet the growing international market demand, with new launches into the Canadian and Australian markets. By adding the regions to its roster, they become the 10th and 11th operational markets for the firm.

This follows the company’s recent expansions into Brazil and Mexico, where it launched earlier this year.

Both Kids Insights Australia and Kids Insights Canada will be surveying 400 age and gender representative children between the ages of three and 18 in each respective country every week – or 21,000 a year – enabling the business to provide its data to clients in real-time and monthly insight reports identifying, tracking and evaluating current trends.

The launch into these two markets means that the company now surveys more than 4,000 children a week, and will now be surveying more than 200,000 kids a year across five continents and 11 countries in total.

The Insights People now operates in the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, and Canada, and works with clients such as Amazon, F1, LEGO, MediaCom, Pokemon, SEGA, Warner Bros and Viacom and has recently grown to a team of 31 based in Manchester city centre.

Nick Richardson, CEO of The Insights People said: “We are delighted to be launching into both Australia and Canada. Like all of the markets in which we operate in, these markets are going through an extensive period of change. Agencies and brands are looking to understand these fluid and dynamic markets, and we have supported these countries and have also received huge demand for our award-winning service.

“Launching Kids Insights in Australia and Canada also represent an important milestone, as we are now surveying an additional 21,000 children in both countries, giving us a new total of 200,000 a year, and providing all of this data to our clients in real-time with expert analysis from our growing team of researchers and analysts.

“We look forward to supporting businesses in Australia and Canada and businesses looking to enter these markets with industry-leading independent data and insights.”

The company will also host a free a webinar under the title “The New Normal Within Kids Ecosystem”, which will be taking place on August 5th. This webinar will give attendees the chance to get an unrivalled overview of the changing nature of children’s attitudes, behaviours and consumption patterns as well as identifying some of the latest trends to watch out for.

To register for the free webinar, visit http://kidsinsights.com/webinar/

The Insights People hires ten, expands into new markets and continues global takeover

The kids’, parents, and family market intelligence experts, The Insights People is continuing with its global expansion plans, having hired ten new starters since the start of lockdown, made its move into new markets, and brought on board a host of new, big name clients including Amazon, LEGO, and Warner Bros.

The company recently launched into South America with Brazil and Mexico in the last quarter, meaning that the firm now surveys more than 3,000 children every week, across four continents and nine countries, and more than 150,000 children a year.

On top of this, and after a strong six months despite challenging conditions in industry, The Insights People has secured a host of new clients including Amazon, LEGO, Star Stable and Turner as well as expanding relationships with the likes of Leapfrog, SEGA, and Warner Bros.

After announcing expansion to Brazil and Mexico earlier in 2020, the company are working on feasibility to launch into other countries and continents.

Nick Richardson, CEO The Insights People, said: “It has been quite surreal and challenging to interview, welcome and work with so many new starters remotely. Though it has been great to see the team adjust to these challenges with our usual can-do spirit. It was critical that we continued with our extensive recruitment despite the difficulties which COVID-19 has caused us as all of the roles are key in building the business to the next stage.

“The recruitment has been across the business, but in particular we have significantly increased our tech and data science team to help us develop and ultimately launch a number of new exciting services.”

The award-winning tech company welcomes Robert Lambert as senior development, Richard Wainwright as data scientist, and Jordan Shaw as junior developer. In addition, the company has expanded its research team, welcoming recent graduates Lucy Holland and Sarah Waterhouse to the team. Connor Walsh has joined the marketing team, and George Sarakins has joined as North America account director. Other roles are still being actively recruited.

George Sarakins, North America account director, said: “The Insights People is a business I have long admired and I am thrilled to be joining at such an interesting time for the kids’ sector. Nick and the management team have some very exciting plans over the coming years and I’m looking forward to helping the company achieve its goals.”

Further to the new additions to the company, The Insights People continues to work on the new exciting developments to its real-time award-winning portal that will now include a content library with the latest industry articles, newsletters and webinars about kids ecosystem across the globe.

The company will also host a free webinar under the title “The New Normal Within Kids Ecosystem” which will be taking place on August 5th. This webinar will give the viewer the chance to get an unrivalled overview of kid’s attitudes, behaviours and consumption pattern across Europe.

To register, visit http://kidsinsights.com/webinar/

 

The Insights People launches SnapSurvey for quick fire market data and insight

The kids, parents, and family market intelligence specialists, The Insights People has launched its new SnapSurvey service, a platform that enables brands to get answers and insight-led analysis on the kids and parents’ demographic within 72 hours.

The platform has been created to deliver data and insight to clients in record time, allowing companies the chance to be more nimble and reactive to demographic trends.

The Insights People states that it has designed and developed a methodology which enables companies to get quality, unbiased and reliable data efficiently and effectively.

Nick Richardson, CEO at The Insights People, said: “This is an important development to further support clients who need quality information which is reliable and gathered in a way which is correct and unbiased. The approach we take enables clients to feel confident that they are getting reliable data with insightful commentary which can be applied across their business.

“Within a week of launching we have undertaken projects for clients wanting to test advertising creative and for a client wanting to understand some of the impact of Coronavirus on children’s digital media consumption.”

The Insights People has launched the service to cover the following countries: UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. Enabling clients to get up to 300 responses per market of children or parents, with a turnaround in as little as 72 hours.

Sarah Riding, research and trends director at The Insights People, added: “The SnapSurvey has been developed to be a flexible research tool, utilising a proven methodology – enabling clients to quickly gather data and insight for a number of purposes, including developing and supporting content marketing, testing creative concept and supporting client pitches and presentations across individual or multiple markets. And critically it provides clients with a highly effective, efficient and independent solution with expert analysis.”

For more information on The Insights People, their award-winning market research and how the SnapSurvey service could help you, please visit https://kidsinsights.com/solutions/ or call +44 (0)330 159 6631.

Gaming and YouTube properties fuel growth in demand for licensing in the toy space, says Kids Insights’ Global Toys and Games Report

The rise of YouTube and gaming properties, spanning the likes of Minecraft, Fortnite, Sonic, and Ryan’s World have fuelled a growth in demand for licensed properties across the children’s toys and games space over the course of the last 12 months, according to findings of Kids Insights’ first Global Toys and Games Report 2020.

The same report has underlined a number of key highlights from the children’s space, including a universal rise in awareness around sustainability, as well as the role that analogue gaming has to play in children’s and family wellbeing. The findings are all part of the first in a series of industry-spanning reports from Kids Insights.

The Global Toys and Games Report 2020 is the first in a series of studies focusing on the macroeconomics shaping toys, industry trends, and developments in advertising and marketing today.

Among the key findings of the report – the first in a series of reports from Kids Insights (a research organisation that surveys some 105,000 children a year across across Europe and India) – is up to the minute insight on topics spanning wellbeing, sustainability, demand for licensing, and consumer spend.

The initial report has found that today’s children are finding greater financial empowerment and in the US, kids are receiving $3.76bn a year to spend as they wish, with a growing number utilising Debit cards. With that greater means of spend, children are being faced with greater choice when it comes to how they spend their money.

Kids Insights has found that children now spend £581 million on in-experience purchasing, such as Apps and In Game Purchasing, compared to spending £969 million on toys and games.

In the UK, over one third of kids aged six to nine play with classic board games such as Monopoly, Guess Who, and Jenga monthly, while the team’s data shows a positive link between playing board games and positive wellbeing. According to Kids Insights, tweens who play board games as a hobby reported feeling frequently happy 51 per cent more than average. Similarly, they feel anxious at a lower rate.

Meanwhile, the report has also highlighted the growing importance of sustainability, underlining that as families become more eco-centric, brands need to have more focus on their sustainability strategy as this becomes a more important purchasing decision factor.

Other findings include the impact of Generation Speak, as well as the growth in demand for licensed properties, driven by a significant increase in gaming and YouTube properties, with the likes of Minecraft, Fortnite, Sonic, Ryan’s World, and Jojo Siwa performing the strongest over the last 12 months.

Utku Tansel LLB, MBA head of global industry reports, Kids Insights, said: “I have been working in this industry for 12 years and in my career, I have not witnessed such speed of change.

“The industry is increasingly embracing sustainability and inclusivity while AR and AI push limits on innovation-driven largely by ever-rising smart phone/tablet penetration among children.

“Our study takes readers to an exciting journey shaped by key developments and opportunities showcased in new world order.”

To enquire for a full copy of Kids Insights’ Global Toy & Games Report 2020, click on this link.

Or 

To purchase a full copy of Kids Insights’ Global Toy & Games Report 2020, click on this link.

How has GDPR, YouTube FTC, or sustainability affected you? – The Insights People survey

The Insights People and SuperAwesome are calling for final participants in its industry wide research programme into the topics and trends most impacting business in recent years, before the survey closes next week.

The report, which will be published across The Insights People’s own platform, via SuperAwesome and media partners such as Licensing.biz and ToyNews, as well as handed to each of the participants, will take a look at topics such as the impact of GDPR, YouTube FTC legislation, sustainability, and the confidence levels among the industry.

Nick Richardson, CEO, The Insights People, said: “There is no doubt that all aspects of the kid’s industry are going through fundamental changes at the moment. The comforting news for you is no matter if you are in Entertainment, FMCG, Policy, Publishing, Retail, Sports or even Toy industry, the feedback is the same.

“We are in a state of flux – these will no doubt be challenging times for some, and exciting times for others. By taking part in this study it will enable individuals to share their opinions and see how they compare and contrast with their peers.”

SuperAwesome is supporting The Insights People in producing the industry’s first annual report that will be based on results of surveying professionals who work across the kids’ industry.

Industry colleagues are invited to take part in this survey which will explore individual’s confidence levels and analyse how the business is changing, with all respondents receiving a complimentary copy of the report.

The survey will take approximately five to eight minutes to complete.

To complete the survey, please visit: https://qweq.co.uk/index.php/129748?lang=en

Kids Insights: Exploring Gen Z and Alpha’s girls views on gender

International Women’s Day may now have to wait another year before trending on media platforms across the globe once again, but that doesn’t mean the conversation has to stop there. To help fuel the momentum around the topic, Kids Insights – the kids market intelligence specialist -has presented its latest study on children’s views and perception on gender.

The study is based on its quarterly on-track reports, with a depth and breadth of data obtained through surveying over 5,000 British children between October and December 2019, though it also utilises data collected since May 2017.

With continuing wider societal trends of inclusivity and gender equality, there is a drive among brands to make toys follow suit and be more inclusive of gender, race, and diversity.

While developments have occurred at a brand and product level, they are yet to filter through and be reflected in the toy’s children choose to play with day to day. When Kids Insights looked at the favourite toys of three to five year olds, only three toys from the top 10 list for boys also feature on the top 10 list for girls.

Currently, there are only a few toys to bridge the gender gap between pre-school age fans within the top 10, illustrating the challenges of creating toys that appeal to both genders equally.

The report also demonstrates major changes in children’s interests and hobbies that shaping traditional expectations of masculinity and femininity. According to Kids Insights data, the number of girls who are playing football has increased by 12 per cent since Q1 2018. Tween girls are the most likely to play football at 22 per cent.

The number of young ladies who game is also on the rise. From Q2 2019 to Q4 2019 there was a 9 per cent increase in teenage girl gamers. As well as this, while girls are more likely to own tablets and smartphones than a console, since Q4 2018 there has been a 14 per cent increase in girls gaming on their tablet and 10 per cent increase in girls gaming on their smartphones. Although the number of girl gamers is expanding, there are still only a small number of female characters represented in games.

Jenny Kieras, COO Kids Insights, commented: “Our methodology enables us to track the entire inter-connected kids’ ecosystem, examining areas such as how kids spend their time, what they enjoy doing and what they are currently consuming.

“We can see how this generation of children is like no others; inspired and motivated to make positive changes by sharing pure empathy and respect. We believe that companies should invest in product development programmes to make valuable and responsible contributions to inclusivity and gender equality in kids’ space that also make business sense.”

Kids Insights, part of The Insights People, is the global leader in kids’ market intelligence. The company currently surveys more than 2,500 children every week, across 4 continents and 8 countries, or more than 125,000 children a year, and has gained a reputation as the most comprehensive and dynamic market intelligence specialist in kids, tweens and teens; and whose market intelligence is used by companies such as the BBC, Disney, Pokémon, SEGA, Turner and Warner Bros.