Targeting Teens and Moms:
Will It Work?
MWT came across two new marketing programs this month: one aimed at giving teens more
bang for their telephone buck with more parental control and another aimed at getting
mothers on the Web via their TV’s. The campaigns are ambitious and creative and worth
following in the months to come.
Beginning November 14, BellSouth will offer the first service in its Home Line Series.
The first package, called the Teen Line Pack, is designed for families who want to give
their teenagers a separate phone line, but still maintain some control over what options
are chosen for the service.
Judy Miller, spokesperson for BellSouth, said Teen Line Pack will be available at
retail outlets in Atlanta, Georgia, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and will include an
order form for a separate phone line and number. Parents and/or teens can then choose
options like Caller ID, Call Waiting, Call Return, Three-Way Calling, long distance
blocking, directory assistance blocking, 900-call blocking, per-usage blocking, multiple
service and billing plans.
Miller said this is the first time a younger audience has been targeted. "Teens
have never been in our core audience before. This is the first generation that will
experience competition in the marketplace from the very beginning. This makes it very
exciting."
Trevor Kennedy, an independent analyst with the Aberdeen Group, examined retail
potential for the Home Series line. Miller said, "BellSouth had Trevor do some
research on the potential retail revenue in our area. His answer — $1 billion in the
southeast area alone — incredibly significant!"
Miller added, "The Teen Line Pack will include two disposable cameras (one for the
teen to give to a friend), a $15 cash-back coupon, membership in a teen club and 20
business cards teens can pass out to friends or family members with their new number on
it.
She said once the phone service is activated, teens will be enrolled in
BellSouth’s "Get the 4-1-1 Club" and they can call a toll-free hotline to
hear rotating offers about what’s new in music, fashion, entertainment and other
items of interest to teens. The Club will be updated twice a month.
Miller said studies indicated that kids also use cameras as a way to communicate with
each other, almost as much as they use the telephone. "So we included the second
camera in the Pack, with an access code to the 411 club. That way if the teen gave the
camera to a friend, the friend could try ‘Get the 4-1-1.’" She added that
"get the 4-1-1" was kid slang for "get the information."
Miller said the Teen Line Pack is the first in BellSouth’s Home Line Series. Other
packs planned for release in 1998 target home office users, families with younger children
who use the Internet for educational purposes, heavy Internet users and a pack geared
toward home security.
The firm said Teen Line Pack will be sold throughout three southeastern areas for
$29.95.Other Home Line Series packs are planned for release during 1998.
BellSouth’s site on the World Wide Web is located at http://www.bellsouth.com.
If the net-savvy, technical elite has not exactly rushed out to buy net-enabled
television, maybe they’ll get it for their tech-challenged parents. With this in
mind, NetChannel, Inc. and RCA have mounted a promotion to give away some of RCA’s
answer to WebTV, the RCA Network Computer, and a 3-month subscription to NetChannel’s
Internet access service in an Internet-based sweepstakes.
NetChannel sources said combining the RCA Network Computer with NetChannel’s
TV-exclusive access will bring people to the Internet who don’t want to spend a lot
of money for a full computer system. But it’s not just an Internet-on-a-TV-box,
insisted NetChannel spokesperson Pat Reilly.
"This combination is the Internet and television, not the Internet on television
— a completely different concept from television on demand," she declared.
The NetChannel-RCA promotion is called the Win Your Mom E-mail Sweepstakes and can be
entered on the World Wide Web site at http://www.netchannel.net/mom,
from November 1 to December 31.
Three winning "Moms" will be selected January 8. They will get an RCA Network
Computer valued at $249 and a $60 three-month subscription to NetChannel, which has points
of presence in South San Francisco, Atlanta, Georgia, and London, UK.
Other prizes will include tee-shirts and various promotional materials.
"The combination of RCA’s Network Computer technology and our NetChannel
service lets people use their television to send and receive e-mail, buy concert tickets,
shop, check for TV programs — or generally cruise around the Net," said Reilly.
"This sweepstakes is for moms, and others who don’t call or write. NetChannel
is the perfect gift for kids who want to get their technophobic moms into the digital
age," she said, adding: "It’s an easy fun way to enjoy the Internet with
your television."
"Our programming partners will host banners on their sites on the World Wide Web
to direct users to our NetChannel site to register for the drawing," she said.
Partners include A&E, CBS Sportsline, CDnow and Ticketmaster.
The RCA Network Computer connects to an existing TV set like a VCR. Reilly likened it
to a plug-and-play computer peripheral. Users then can surf the Internet with either a
supplied keyboard or a television remote control, or carry out more specific TV-related
actions.
Citing a popular show as an example, she said, "If Friends is one of your favorite
shows, you would see that it’s on at 8 p.m., tune directly to Friends, then check the
Web for additional information about the program."
One of NetChannel’s services allows up to six users to personalize their favorite
TV programs directly through the computerized box. Besides the programming guide,
NetChannel subscribers have access to e-mail, commerce, communications, entertainment and
sports. Reilly said right now NetChannel is only available for TV, since it’s
designed to let people create their own channels for information.
NetChannel Europe launched their service in the UK earlier this month, said Reilly.
NetChannel is on the Web at http://www.netchannel.net.
(Contacts: Judy Miller, BellSouth, 404-927-7430, e-mail jmiller@bridge.bellsouth.com; Pat Reilly,
NetChannel Inc, 650-615-8756, e-mail preilly@netchannel.net;
or Tim Eaton, NetChannel Inc, 650-615-8741, e-mail teaton@netchannel.net)
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