Digital is the new playground for APAC kids

Mobile and Internet usage has boomed amongst APAC kids. This, coupled with their considerable influence over their parents’ purchases, offers significant opportunities to be tapped by kids’ brands. Our latest proprietary APAC Kids Market Insights Report 2016-17 evinces that an integrated cross-platform approach is the best one to reach and engage the region’s kids.

Since 2015, we have conducted studies across a robust representative sample of over 2,100 kids aged 6-14 throughout 7 key APAC markets, namely Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The ongoing study explores media consumption and preferences among children and across platforms and devices.

According to the survey, kids are more likely to have access to smartphones rather than TV in 5 out of 7 examined countries. 95% of families across the region have smartphones at home.

Smartphone and TV are the most popular devices for daily usage. 58% of APAC kids with access to smartphones use them multiple times a day, the same for TV. On tablets, 44% of kids with access use it several times a day.

Preference for digital media is rapidly increasing among kids in this region. If they had to choose between the Internet and TV, 77% of kids would choose the Internet. This preference has seen significant year-on-year growth – up 11% compared to 66% in 2015.

Internet penetration is now higher than TV among APAC kids. As reported by their parents, the average time kids spend on the internet on a normal school day is 2 hours 54 minutes – 24 minutes more than that spent on watching TV.

Daily online time increases dramatically with age. 12-14 year olds are online almost 3,5 hours on weekdays and nearly 4,5 hours over weekends, a significant rise as compared to 6-8 year olds who are online 2,5-3 hours a day.

Online advertising gains importance as a gateway for APAC kids at higher age groups to discover new content.  24% of 12-14 year-olds as compared to 17% of 6-8 year-olds discover new toys through online advertising.

We also revealed that kids in the region are very effective at getting their parents to buy them things. Over half of parents claim to have bought an item their child wanted after they saw it online.

TV and digital ads both encourage direct pestering of parents amongst APAC kids, prompt further discovery and spark conversations around the product. Therefore, a cross-platform approach is essential to drive discovery and buzz.

To learn more about APAC kids’ digital behaviour and media habits,  pocket money and spendings, pester power and brand awareness, please get in touch with our TotallyAwesome team.