Growing targets

My 11-year-old daughter has become quite expensive this summer-and I think she is the typical “tween” consumer. She’s taken a break from music lessons, but added tennis, diving and a week at camp to her list of summer activities. But what specifically has surprised me is how much (of my) money she is spending on media consumption.
(But before you read any more of this week’s column, we must agree not to judge my parenting skills, but only focus on her shopping habits as what is typical for a tween. I maintain she is probably consuming less paid media than most. And I don’t want anyone to tell me otherwise, thanks.)
–We pay a $7 monthly charge to belong to Club Penguin, a social-networking site that doesn’t make sense but all her friends belong and that’s the point, isn’t it?
–She’s already seen many of this summer’s blockbuster movies-“Shrek the Third,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Harry Potter,” “Transformers”-and a few less-well-known ones. She knows when “The Simpsons Movie” premieres as well as “Hairspray.” “Hairspray” features Zac Efron, one of her generation’s “it” boys. He hails from “High School Musical,” a Disney made-for-TV movie that blazed trails in showing marketers how much money could be made from (the parents of) the tween audience. Not surprisingly, she is most impatient for “High School Musical 2,” which she knows debuts Aug. 17. Indeed, she got the People magazine special issue devoted to HSM 2.
–She is insisting we get the final Harry Potter book ASAP. (Well, truth is we’re getting it and I am sure she’ll read it after I’m done. Parents should encourage reading, I always say.)
–She wants to go see Miley Cyrus in concert. (We’re hoping all the other parents beat us to the punch and tickets will sell out soon.)
Why should you care? Because not a dime of this considerable spend (of my money, did I mention that?) has been spent on wireless. You see, she still doesn’t have a cellphone, though I suspect it won’t be long before she gets one. A survey this year from iGR Research found that between 50% and 70% of children ages 12 to 14 have their own cellphones, and she is right on the cusp of that age group. Industry collectively could gain millions of dollars by getting more 11 year olds to consume wireless services.
Speaking strictly from a mobile perspective, I cannot believe how much money wireless is losing out on because it has not yet succeeded in being able to sell her dad and me on the idea that she needs a phone. Oh, the wallpapers, games and ringtones she will want to download once she gets her hands on her own device. (Who other than a preteen spends a significant amount of money on wallpapers, anyway?)
However, I also expect there will be arguments over the bill-even with the newest guidelines from the Mobile Marketing Association on how to market to children under 13. You see, she’s especially interested in the things being marketed to children over 13.
So maybe next the MMA should work on educating parents about how to deal with their children’s mobile consumption habits. Because I have a seven-year-old son too.