Little emperors not so little anymore

Conjure up a "little emperor" and you'd be forgiven for imagining an overweight, spoilt young boy with an extended family indulging his every wish. But at MEDIA's recent China Brand Seminar, McCann-Erickson Asia-Pacific senior vice-president and director of consumer learning David McCaughan, identified that within China's unfathomable markets, change is moving at a pace where the given norms of one generation are being re-written by its successors and predecessors alike. And amid the stories of health experts in Beijing battling to motivate overweight 10-year olds at summer camp, an older generation of little emperors is also out there waiting to be catered to. Identifying the "teens, the career builders, the family builders and the new-life builders", Mr McCaughan highlighted MCCann's own Pulse survey which had delved into these segments. "The (original) little emperors are part of the adult world now, their parents are middle-aged and their grandparents are in their late 50s - their grandparents are the new-life builders," Mr McCaughan said. And mistakenly, marketers and researchers had been touting the "little emperor" tag as gospel for the past 10 years. "We need a reality check - we may have been in the habit of using this tag since 1990, but when you look at it, the real little emperors are from 20 years back when the one-child policy was introduced," he said. The "original" emperors are hanging-out, preparing for university and getting ready to join the workforce. "These career builders re under 25, in their first job, and unsure about their future or earning money," he said. and more contradictions abound - for though the fastest-growing population segment in China may be the middle-aged, middle-class consumer, the latest batch of little emperors has "grown up on GameBoy", he said. "They think Pepsi is 'out', and they see themselves as representing the worldly success of their family unit," said Mr McCaughan. Admitting that the roles of parents were also in a state of flux, the "first generation" of emperors were influenced by young mothers, who supported their husbands and had channelled their unheeded hopes into their children. Today's 29-year old, middle class mother, on the other hand, holds motherhood high on a list of priorities, which include going to the gym and maintaining a successful career after childbirth. And for the youngsters themselves, "gadgets" allowing escapism, and the Japanese comic-book phenomenon held universal appeal. "Gadgets like the Walkman and Tamagotchi give youngsters the freedom to create their own world," Mr McCaughan said, adding that comic books were still an untapped medium for marketers. Not surprisingly fast food giant McDonald's was also a core draw on their wish-list - not for the cusine, but as a place to escape the confines of the family unit, open up to your peers, and hang out. "There's pressure on the little emperors being the worth by which their familty is measured - they're seen as the bage of (family) success." In addition, teens growing up on "hot media", namely the Internet, patronised Internet parlours as an extension of the McDonald's experience. " They go to experience aspirational friendship, and virtual communication via the keyboard means more, it means you're committed, even if your 'virtual friend' is sitting right next to you." According to McCann Pulse results, youths in China also looked to the media to weave a story. These ran the gamut from Sony PlayStation2 - recently launched in Shanghai - to plot lines for TV commercials; teens had a tendency to remember more if they featured a strong beginning, middle and end.

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