By Olutayo Irantiola

“Keeping the child in me alive — weren’t we all creative in some way when we were children?”

-Monali Shah

Let’s cast our minds back to our days as children and also some of the traits we see now as parents.

Back then, there was no right or wrong exploration; until our parents and other adults started defining boundaries.

A child is never right or wrong when it comes to creativity, they start out by being everything they can imitate. They want to cook like Mummy, wash the car like Daddy, build their brick sets in a different way, arrange new words on Scrabble — not caring whether or not the words exist in the dictionary.

Children have a magical way of transforming even boredom into adventure. Once they are silent in the corner of the house, they’ve definitely got themselves engaged in one activity or the other.

With a bit of their wild imagination, they can turn any moment into something captivating; and with the plethora of apps, television programs, indoor and outdoor games, children always find ways to create their own happiness. without any interference and all that comes their way- candies, cartoons and in their ways.

There is currently a rave-of-the-moment TV advert (done by WPP and Noah’s Ark Communications Limited) for a popular toothpaste brand in Nigeria. The commercial spots children shedding their teeth, speaking about oral care with an approach of childlike-innocence. were used in the advert and it has gained prominence. In many of such cases where children are used to make adverts, it is usually a hard sell to the client. This ad is one of many where children are featured; and here are a few things I found out as to the benefits of featuring children in communications: also turn the spotlight towards children.

In my further query on why children are used for adverts, these are my findings-

• Emotional appeal: adverts featuring children tend to evoke strong emotional responses in viewers; tapping into family values, nostalgia, and a sense of warmth and affection.
• Universal appeal: family-oriented products ads featuring children, resonate with a broader audience including parents, grandparents, and caregivers across cultures, and thus, will stimulate future purchasing decisions.

Needless to say, advertisers are held to stricter guidelines when using child models, ensuring ethical and responsible practices void of exploitation and ensuring their well-being.

Where am I heading to?

In Marketing Communications, during the ideation process, some ideas come up like brainwaves, and are perceived to be childlike. As such, we are quick to dismiss them — tagging them as irrelevant and maybe baseless. However, if we patiently explored all the potential and possibilities that such ideas could hold, that ‘brainwave’ could just go on to be that award-winning campaign for you, and super money-maker for the client.

So, just as with children, we need to be patient, flexible, open and willing to explore new and various approaches — whether in product design, ideation, or generating a visual or a story; because there’ll always be a way to make that idea work — trend, rouse curiosity and get people talking.

Olutayo Irantiola writes #PRQuote Weekly