Almost half the world’s children are now at home, potentially for the next six months. This is a short term phenomenon which will have lasting consequences. Our mission is making the internet safer for kids but today we all have a responsibility to step forward and help parents. Every consumer-facing product and service is now a kids and family company.
The scale of our kidtech platform (we power 12 billion kid-safe digital transactions monthly across advertising, video and community) means we have the best global view into kids activity. Over the next few weeks we’ll be releasing continuously updated data and trends on kids activities but also information and webinars on specific industry challenges and learnings, unique approaches for responsible kids engagement and how to build lasting trust within the family home. Later this week we’ll be releasing our first report with the latest kids data and specific actions you should be taking now.
What should you know right now?
Although parents will be doing their best to home-school children, the reality will be more screen-time. The timing of Italy and Spain’s school lockdowns put them 1-2 weeks ahead of the US and UK. In Spain, which closed all schools from March 16th, internet traffic for 7-11 kids currently looks like this.
As schools continue to close across the world, already in the US we are seeing huge increase in weekday digital activity for 7-11 kids services:
US (7-11): Games +119% Video +100% Education +137%
Assuming this period of stay-at-home for kids will last for six months, it represents a near-quadrupling of screen time and digital engagement compared to normal, across virtually every geographic market.
How should you be thinking about engagement during Coronavirus?
From Zoom to Slack, every consumer-facing product and service is now a kids and family company. It’s an opportunity for you to become a brand that can be trusted by kids and parents alike during this time. More than that, it’s a responsibility we all have to step forward and help families during this period. As you think about your engagement plan during this time, there are three key School Lockdown principles;
Provide value: Parents need you to engage with content and value. They are trying to balance the education and entertainment of their children, not to mention finding the time to work.
Provide relief: It’s a serious, scary, anxious time. Kids need to be reassured by your messaging. Be calm, be funny, be mindful.
Provide trust: Be one less thing for parents to worry about. Keep your content safe and compliant. Stay dependable.
SuperAwesome is here to help
Trusted by the biggest kids brands in the world, our objective is being the best possible global partner for your under-16 digital engagement requirements across kid-safe advertising, community, video and parental consent. Backed by Microsoft, our unique scale and dedicated resources means we can respond rapidly to your needs in this unprecedented environment with data, insights and advice.
Later this week we’ll be releasing our first report with data on how kids are responding to the Coronavirus environment and specific actions you should be taking now. We’ll also be launching our new KidAware Certificate Program and regular webinar programming. In the meantime, if we can help in any way, please get in touch.
