The latest european recreation reports from The Insights People sees rises smart speakers, surge in the use of audiobooks and the future of film redefined by Disney
The Insights People is the global leader in kids, parents, and family market intelligence. The company and its brands – Kids Insights and Parents Insights – specialises in research and insights on kids aged 3-18 and their ecosystems. It surveys more than 5,000 children every week, across five continents and 13 countries, or more than 277,000 children a year.
Kids Insights has just issued its latest reports, Recreation Report, which focused on the offline lives of kids, from how they spend their time, to what they enjoy doing and what they are currently consuming. These latest reports is predominantly based on the results of surveying more than 5,000 children (in each country) between July and September 2020 across Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, UK and the US.
A key finding from the UK Recreation Report is the increased profitability of smart speakers in the kids market. Although utilised for a range of hobbies – including listening to music (1st), chatting (6th) and even online shopping (7th) – for some kids with speech difficulties, problems arise regarding the device’s accessibility. Working with the Down Syndrome Society, Google collected 1 million voice samples to be implemented into the brand’s voice recognition algorithm and improve their AI ‘Google Assistant’. Taking action to sustain accessibility and address issues can significantly improve a brand’s reputability and therefore drive sales and engagement.
In Spain, Audible has announced its new service for Spanish speaking customers, which allows users to listen to hours of content made available in Spanish. The number of tweens and teens in Spain reporting to use audiobooks has grown by 42% since August, suggesting this generation of kids are utilising newer technology for traditional pastimes. The growing popularity of digital reading formats suggests scope for huge growth in this area, illustrating the opportunity for audio platforms to increase their child-friendly libraries.
Digital brands extending into an offline space is a key finding from the Italian report. Me Contro Te currently rank as the second favourite YouTuber amongst 3-12s in Italy, as well as being the second most recently watched channel. In collaboration with clothing brand Liu Jo, Me Contro Te have released a collection of sneakers for fans of the duo, likely to resonate with their audience who are +90% more likely to buy clothing relating to their favourite YouTubers. This illustrates how having influencers take their brands offline can open wider possibilities of collaboration into mainstream media.
The future of film resonated in the French Recreation Report. Disney is shifting the paradigm by revealing that the new Pixar film Soul will release first on Disney+, in a move which has upset European cinemas. At a time where ticket sales are more pivotal than ever to keep businesses afloat, Disney opting to cut out the middle man may have drastic repercussions on the industry moving forward. In France, Disney+ is already the fifth most popular VOD platform amongst 6-9 year olds, with over one in 10 streaming their favourite Disney shows and films directly to their homes. It’s also true that kids tend to multi-task while watching TV in their homes – 30% of 6-9s play with toys, something that Disney will surely be aware of as they release merchandise alongside the release of Soul.
For more information on Kids Insights and to discover more about kids’ ecosystems – their attitudes, behaviours and consumptions – and what these real-time trends mean for your business, please visit: www.kidsinsights.com/freereport
