Consumer Influences
Pop culture, religion and community culture are the biggest influences. Family and friends, as well as social media, are also influential.
MARKETING ETHICS
Junk food marketers exploiting loopholes to target kids
By our News Team | 2021
Study by the Cancer Council of Australia finds that food industry codes are failing to protect children.
New research from the Cancer Council of Australia has found that food companies are exploiting loopholes in their marketing codes to push their products to children, with only 12% of complaints made about junk food marketing to youngsters being upheld.
The study looked at six years’ worth of complaints made about junk food being marketed to children and found the food industry codes fail to protect them. Loopholes are being exploited by food marketers and complaints made by concerned parents and the community are being ignored.
McDonald’s, KFC, Cadbury and Kellogg’s were amongst the food brands that were the subject of complaints, with many of them running ads that clearly appeal to children. Yet very few complaints were upheld due to flaws in the industry-designed codes.
Hybrid: Louis Hansel on Unsplash
System is failing to protect our children
Clare Hughes, Chair of the council’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee, said: “The system is failing to protect our children from junk food marketing. Children’s exposure to high levels of unhealthy food marketing affects the food and drinks that they like, ask for, buy and consume.
“There’s no denying that the ads we looked at were clearly targeting children, yet campaigns for products like Happy Meals, LCMs bars, KFC chicken and Cadbury Oreo bars are slipping through gaping loopholes in the current industry codes and reaching our children every day on buses, TV and online.”
The industry codes are not set up to protect kids from exposure to unhealthy advertising, the Cancer Council said.
The most common loophole being exploited by food companies is the term ‘primarily directed to children’ as often advertisers claim that, rather than being directed to children, the ad was equally of appeal to parents.
Complaint against McDonald’s dismissed
An example of this was a McDonald’s Happy Meal ad promoting Peter Rabbit toys. The complaint was dismissed because that theme was found to be appealing to children and to parents who would like to buy a treat for their children.
The research found several other loopholes being exploited by marketers, including that the codes mostly define children as under 14 years, whereas best practice defines children as someone under the age of 18
Another loophole is that, alongside the unhealthy food, ads feature people exercising and sharing food as the current codes say they should encourage physical activity and good dietary habits (including not promoting excessive consumption).
In light of the findings, Cancer Council is now calling for mandatory independent government regulation of food marketing to children.
Source: Cancer Council of Australia
Brand Strategy
Long-established sports brand launches ‘Adidas Sportswear’ line to take on Nike for a bigger share of the global Generation Z audience.
Influencers
Consumer commission investigating misleading testimonials and endorsements, as well as failing to disclose affiliations with brands.
Consumer Preferences
Companies spend fortunes on tracking changing customer preferences and then adapting to them. But is seems brands like Disney may be exempt.
Sports Sponsorship
Marketing deal would cost around US$51.8-million over three years and aim to boost international tourism. But critics are unconvinced.
Customer Experience
Changing consumer expectations mean many CX strategies won’t win and retain customers in this new business environment, study finds.
Retail Industry
Organisation’s mission is to offer education, insights and events that help drive the evolution of the retail industry around the world.
Travel and Tourism
Sector must take advantage by finding fresh routes to traveller engagement and new ways of building customer experiences.
Conferences and Exhibitions
More than 300 exhibitors representing 15 African countries are already registered, along with 275 buyers from 45 countries.
E-commerce
Global e-commerce giant is said to have postponed SA launch to late 2023 and paused Nigerian market entry until further notice.
Podcasting
On a continent where huge numbers of young people are embracing non-traditional mediums, the rise of podcasting seems assured.