McCann to roll out its Junior arm

McCann-Erickson is launching a children’s research service this week, called McCann Junior.

McCann Junior is a group of research products which are produced quarterly from a continuous programme of weekly interviews with children aged between five- and 11-years-old.

It aims to provide an inside track on how children think, behave, what they want and how they consume media. It will cost clients 6,000 per quarter.

McCann-Erickson London created Junior, which will be replicated in the agency’s European offices. The project is being run by a dedicated team of five, including account director Naomi Gibney and co-ordinator Emma Donaldson.

The agency already runs a continual consumer research project in 177 countries called “Pulse”, and it has a youth marketing agency called Magic Hat, which concentrates on the 12 to 17 age range.

McCann-Erickson managing director Ben Langdon says: “The dilemma is that it is adults who develop products and advertising for children – and maybe it should be the children.

“With McCann Junior, we have created a way of getting into the minds of children and, most importantly, reminding ourselves of what it is like to be an eight-year-old again.”

Contents of the quarterly compendium will include papers on Kids Media Insight, an expert view on children’s issues, international new product development and packaging trends, and analysis of the latest children’s advertising.

Factfile, page 38