Skip In Time: New Research Service Targets Kids
Erik Sass
Media Daily News
April 11, 2008
Scarborough is
launching a new research service focusing on children
and teenagers called the Scarborough Kids Internet
Panel, producing the acronym SKIP. Based on an Internet
panel of 75,000 young people ages 5-17--as well as their
parents--Scarborough says the new custom research
service will allow its clients to gather a variety of
data about the preferences, habits, and attitudes of the
next generation of consumers.
Clients can target the entire Skip panel or just
specific segments. The members have already been
profiled by Scarborough based on demographic and other
characteristics. They can also target regions. Typical
queries might include product usage, brand awareness,
shopping patterns and advertising effectiveness, but the
custom research service aims to give marketers wide
latitude.
Skip panelists are invited to participate via email,
with their parents copied on the email when the
recipient is under 13. The email addresses are obtained
by recruiting ads on Web sites popular with kids and
teens. The panelists are given incentives to complete
surveys in the form of "points" that can be redeemed for
merchandise online. The merchandise also requires
parental approval before it is shipped.
According to Scarborough, the service is fully compliant
with the Children's Online Privacy Protection.
Skip is one of a series of new initiatives from
Scarborough. Two weeks ago, the company said it is
canvassing marketers and other clients to assess demand
for expanding its research operation into more
"mid-tier" markets.
Using its existing research efforts in mid-tier markets
as a model, the expansion would study local media in
smaller markets, including TV, radio, online, and
out-of-home opportunities, as well as consumer behavior
such as driving patterns for work, recreation and
shopping.