The Effects of Media on Children

We live in a society which praises individuality and freedom, and therefore to most people it is a scary thought that an outside source, such as the media, has such a large effect on our lives, and therefore it is no surprise that most people do not believe that the media has a strong effect on them. But when it comes to children, the debate becomes more personal. It is common knowledge that children are very impressionable, and that the people they meet, their parents, and teachers can have a huge impact in the lives of Children. I myself can attribute much of my current interests and behavior to the effect my parents had on my when I was a child.

Today, though, many children are in poor families and, as a result, many children often do not have parents that reside at home. Often both parents work long hours, and the children have nothing else to occupy their time except for the media, especially television media. How does what the child sees on TV effect his or her behavior? The real question that faces society is does the increasing amount of violence and sex on TV effect children?

My personal opinion is that violence and sex in the media greatly effects a child's development. The amount of sex and violence on TV today dwarfs what was on when I was little. Does a day not pass when there is a story about a child killing another child, or an even younger girl becoming pregnant? When I go an elementary or middle school I am shocked at the types of clothing that the children wear, and the way that they talk and act. Even elementary school children know about things that I did not learn about till I was in High School, and in my opinion things they should not know about.





But I don't think thouse are not great imfluence for kids.
What do you think?


The problem of Tv Advertising

When you look at the output on your television they are annoying and intrusive. To a marketing manager, or an executive though, the process of creating the ad is like living a little slice of Hollywood magic. It is sexy, and it is fun, and it can make you feel like a movie executive.

Additionally, if your senior management think marketing and advertising are the same thing (and most of them do), TV advertising seems safe to them as they have experienced it. Their experience is that they notice the ads on TV, and that TV ads can be so appealing that entire shows are dedicated to showing the best ads. The reality is that the attention they receive does not mean that they are effective, but this matters less than you would think. The mental perception that TV advertising works is hard to counter even with logic and data.

The reality for marketing managers is that a marketing campaign can be easier to sell to executives if it includes TV. "If we take this TV package with NBC you will get to appear on the Apprentice and talk to Donald Trump about our company." is a very compelling pitch to a CEO. Stroking the pride of an executive in this way can also be a very good way to get advancement in a company regardless of any measurable outcome.

All this is why the downturn economy might cause some companies (the less smart ones) to focus more on TV than other advertising mediums. The question for them is not about the dollar cost, but rather the risk in the investment. Rightly or wrongly TV is often seen as low risk advertising spend. It is human nature to be more comfortable with things that are familiar to us, and things that our peers are doing.

Todd's post earlier today on his discussion with an F500 marketer was brilliant. It was great to see an example of a marketing manager that takes their job seriously and looks for ways to improve the effectiveness of their campaigns. These people are not as rare as my earlier comments might suggest, but it is still good to see them in action. It was also a perfect example of how the podcasting space needs to sell itself to media buyers, clearly and concisely laying out the benefits of the media and then backing it up with hard, defendable data.

If you are a marketing manager that wants to include podcasting in your proposals, what can you do? There is nothing that you can do to replicate the glamour factor of TV, but you can change the executives perception of the risk. As I said earlier, part of the internal risk calculation people make is their familiarity. If you can get your executives actually listening to podcasts they will quickly become comfortable with them and the advertising will be easier to propose.

Here are a selection of podcasts that have great business content that will really appeal to your executives as a starting point. There are so many more as well that I have not had time to listen to myself.