Kids Don’t Buy, But They Make You Pay | 106

Bunnings. Bluey. Merch everywhere. 

This one’s about how cartoons are billion-dollar sales machines — and what sparkies can learn from it. It’s not just marketing, it’s positioning. So if your marketing you electrical business in the wrong place… you’re cooked. 

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Transcript

You're telling me that Bluey is blue, but he's actually a boy, and then his mum is a different colour, but she's a female, and her dad is also blue. Bit of a head fuck.

Welcome to Simplified Sparky Marketing. Today we're gonna delve into the depths of cartoons and cartoon marketing — and this is appropriate to your marketing, whether you think so or not.

Recently, I've only been made aware of how much of a multi-billion dollar funnel cartoons actually are — for businesses, for Disney, for Pokémon, for The Simpsons. All those cartoons we watched growing up. It's quite disturbing to stop and think that these cartoons are merely there as an advertising vehicle — so you end up buying their merchandise.

The other day — two days ago, roughly — I walked into Bunnings and was greeted with a Bluey stand. Anyone with kids, anyone that's in the know, will know that Bluey is a red-hot cartoon at the moment. Most kids love it. It's meant to be really good. I’ve never watched an episode myself.

It’s meant to be entertaining, educational, and kids are hooked on it. And once kids are hooked — they want the merch.

That’s why, when I walked into Bunnings, right at the front door, there was a stand riddled in Bluey merch. Probably two metres wide, but ironically, only about a metre high. And I think you can guess why.

A kid is the ideal client. Even though they’ve got no money, they’re being pushed in a pram — perfect eye level. Or they're wandering around, maybe a metre tall if that — depending on their age. That is prime real estate for them to get their little grubby mitts on a Bluey toy, a magazine, a cup — whatever bit of merch they can grab — and then beg their parents to buy it.

Depending on the parents' mood, they most likely will. Just to shut them up.

Most of you have been there. And once you see this, you can’t unsee it.

Same with Woolworths. Same with Coles. As you're pushing the trolley through the aisles — there’s a little kid section. The stuff is at perfect kid-eye level. If they’re sitting in the trolley, their head is chest-height — that’s where the good stuff is. So they spot it, they whinge, and it ends up in the trolley.

Win for Woolworths. Win for Bunnings.

It’s crazy when you stop and think how well-thought-out the positioning is. Like Bunnings — the first thing a kid sees when they walk in is Bluey. And why? Because for the rest of that trip, when Mum or Dad is trawling through the aisles for some bolts or whatever, that kid is going to be whinging the entire time for that bit of merch.

Now — if any of you have been forced to watch K-Pop Demon Hunters (which is currently on Netflix) with your niece, nephew or kid... I was forced to watch it. Twice.

It’s not bad. There’s some absolute bangers in it. But that is their vehicle. They are promoting the music. K-Pop Demon Hunters — the result is kids poking their parents saying, “Can we put that on Spotify?” And then it's played over and over and over again.

So the fictional band, Hunter X, are getting downloads. And whoever owns K-Pop Demon Hunters is getting paid per listen. Because it’s blasted out to so many kids — the downloads are flying. They’re making revenue off the music and the merch.

They’re double-dipping. It’s wild.

So what the hell has this got to do with electricians and marketing?

It’s just to open your eyes. See how clever they are with positioning. It’s the right product, the right message, at the right height — for the right buyer.

If that Bluey merch was up the top shelf in Woolies — the kid’s not seeing it. No one’s screaming for it. That’s why it’s down low. Because that’s where the ideal buyer is looking from.

Is your marketing even in the right spot?

If an adult sees Bluey, they don’t care. But if a kid sees Bluey — they’re screaming and kicking till they get it.

That’s the power of positioning. That’s the power of messaging.

This podcast today — it's here to get your cogs twisting. Am I actually marketing to the right clients? Am I putting my message in the right places?

Or am I wasting time on platforms that will never generate revenue for my business?

Catch you next week.

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