The Children‘s Media Conference

CMC 2018 - Birthday Brands

What does it take to become a brand that runs and runs…?  We talk to iconic and best loved brands, all hitting big birthdays this year, to find out just how they’ve kept up with and adapted for the ever changing audience. What’s next in their plan to grow even older? Is there a secret formula or is it a mixture of luck and judgement? Producers of the UK’s longest running Children’s TV shows will share experience, advice and the key to their success in broadcasting longevity.

CMC 2018 - Behind the Screens at YouTube Kids

What’s the size of the audience on YouTube Kids? How do you get your brand noticed on the app? This interactive session provides direct insight on what kids watch, what rises to the top and why.

CMC 2018 - Bagging a Book Deal

In 2017, the children’s book market was worth £46.8 million.

Are you a producer or IP developer/owner? Do you have a brand or licence that you believe is perfect for a children’s book? This creative-focused session talks to publishers, licence owners and consultants about how to generate a publisher-facing concept, what publishers are looking for, how to ‘talk publisher’ and who can help.

The aim is to offer a practical guide to pitching, the tools a licence owner needs, the ‘dos and don’ts’ of project development, how to be on the same page with publishing professionals, and a run down of a publisher’s decision-making process.

The focus of this session is on the creative and strategic process of pitching, not contractual negotiations in detail.

CMC 2017 - Research 9 - The Power of Image

From selfie filters to live-streaming, this session will present the latest digital trends in image and video sharing among UK youth aged 8–17 years, from a Childnet report published this year.

Presented by Hannah Broadbent, Childnet International

From selfie filters to livestreaming, this session will share the latest digital trends in image and video sharing among UK youth aged 8–17 years, providing important insights for content producers looking to engage this image-focused digital generation.

The Power of Image report published in February 2017 explored the role of images and videos in young people’s digital lives, and the influence this can have on their self-esteem, behaviour and emotions.

This talk will reveal a range of interesting insights, including:

• how many selfies young people take before posting one online
• how many young people edit their images before posting them online
• social media and instant messaging sites used by young people.

The report launched for Safer Internet Day 2017 presents the findings of an online survey of 1,500 young people aged 8–17 years conducted by ResearchBods and commissioned by the UK Safer Internet Centre.

The findings reveal how important images and videos are in young people’s digital lives, demonstrating the positive role this plays as well as the risks and pressures they may face as a result.

The report underlines the importance of ensuring that all children have the skills, knowledge, confidence and resilience to communicate using images and videos safely, responsibly and creatively.

CMC 2017 - Research 8 - Open Minds, Open Books, Open Hearts, Fake News

Exploring the impact of how kids respond to fake news, supported with findings from research conducted for ‘The Week Junior’.

Presented by Jo Cliff, Platypus Research and Seema Hope, Dennis Publishing

CMC 2017 - Research 7 - Audience Insights Inspire the Sky Kids App

In a world where digital dominates but kids have an ever-expanding app store of choice, come and hear principles for successfully designing a digital product for kids.

Presented by Pete Maginn, The Pineapple Lounge and Lloyd Mason, Sky

Sky has always been at the forefront of innovative broadcasting, and the Sky Kids app is no exception. Offering high-quality, popular and age-appropriate programming was key, but the challenge was ensuring the platform was interactive, fun and easy to use while providing parents with peace of mind. The Pineapple Lounge got on board ahead of launch and embarked on a unique research process with a philosophy that a constant, rotational dialogue with the target audience – 3–9 year olds – was central to the app’s success.

The research has generated two strands of insight, both of which have been instrumental in the app’s development:

• Tactical, granular level of detail on kids’ navigation and user experience based on age and developmental stage, their ability to read and follow instructions to swipe and explore content.
• More general, behavioural and observational insights that have been accumulated along the way and helped to inform further ideas and designs – all the time grounded in child-centric insight. For example, their desire for and expectation of personalisation – including their own name on their home screen and personalisation of the Sky Buddy avatar within the app.

The research reveals some integral principles for successfully designing a digital product for kids.

CMC 2017 - Research 5 - Can Reading Improve Children’s Self Esteem?

Researchers FK&Y and publisher Egmont discover that an intervention to encourage children to read with their parents not only prompts a love of reading but also has a marked effect on children’s self-esteem.

Presented by Barbie Clarke, Family Kids & Youth and Alison David, Egmont

There is frequently voiced concern that children’s ability to read is declining as their use of tablets and other digital devices increases. Latest research from Neilson shows that while the children’s book market in 2016 was up again year-on-year (+2%), the downward trend of parents reading to their children less continues. In 2016 there was a noticeable drop year-on-year in parents reading to pre-schoolers, and a drop in children from age 5 reading to themselves.

Over 12 months a challenge has been given to 15 diverse families, who would not normally read together, to find out whether they would be ‘open’ to this, and what effect this had on children. Following last year’s ‘Don’t Children Read Anymore? Digital vs Print Research’, Family Kids & Youth and Egmont Publishing teamed up once again, this time to find out whether an intervention, designed to encourage children to read with their parents, would result in a greater love of reading.

We found an increased level of confidence and sense of autonomy on the part of the children who took part. This was reflected in feedback from schools, which, importantly, had a big impact on the children’s self-esteem.

CMC 2017 - Research 4 - The More You Read, the More You’ll Know

BookTrust commissioned Discovery to explore kids’ attitudes to and behaviours in reading in the new digital world.

Presented by Kelly Walsh, BookTrust and Renuka Gupta, Discovery Research

Reading has the power to transform lives and open up the world of possibilities for kids of all ages. But in the chaos of the new connected world, where so many things are vying for kids’ attention, how does reading for pleasure fit in? To answer this BIG question, Discovery and BookTrust want to take delegates on a tour of what we found when we opened up what the reading world of 0–16 year olds, and what BookTrust is doing to ensure the love of reading continues with the next generation.

CMC 2017 - Research 3 - The Anatomy of Children’s Fandom

Brands want fans, but few look at why they have fans and where the value lies.  We explore what child fans bring to brands and how to nurture them?

Presented by Maurice Wheeler, Kids Industries

Ask the people around you what they want to achieve for their brand, IP or idea, and the likelihood is they’ll say they want to gain more fans. There seems to exist an underlying perception that ‘fans’ are more commercially valuable than just viewers, readers, players or even buyers, but no real understanding of what a fan really is, how a fan is made and what is the value of having more fans. To help answer these questions, this session explores fandom within the world of children.

Based on insights from 30 families with children aged 5–11, we identified the key features of brands that inspire fandom, as well as some of the surrounding mechanics: how do children choose what to ‘fan’ and what kind of brands inspire this? Can fandom be lasting or do children tend to be fickle? Given children don’t control money in the way adults do, what is the value of their fandom? And finally – can fandom be created, built from the ground up, and how?

CMC 2017 - Research 2 - Plugged In: How Media Attract and Affect Youth

Young people now have media literally in the palms of their hands. What does this mean? And what we can do to encourage healthy media use in an age of selfies, Netflix, and Facebook?

Presented by Dr. Jessica Taylor Piotrowski, University of Amsterdam

Now, more than ever before, young people are surrounded by media – thanks to the sophistication and portability of the technology that puts it literally in the palm of their hand. Drawing on work that crosses many fields and continents, in this presentation, Dr. Piotrowski will present findings from her new co-authored book (together with Professor Patti Valkenburg, published by Yale University Press) on the role of media in the lives of children from birth through adolescence. During her talk, she will address and highlight the complex relationship between media and young people and reflect on what we all can do to encourage healthy, enjoyable, and responsible media use in an age of selfies, Netflix, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.