Blog: Keeping up with the kids

Kit Hawkins

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Following the Showcomotion conference, Kit Hawkins discusses why cross-platform 'seamless experiences' need to be created for the media savvy youth.

This year I attended the Showcomotion Children's Media Conference for the first time and explored new innovative ideas and partnerships across the broadcast industry.

Children take technology for granted, but we can't afford to be complacent about their behaviour and preferences. They have a much deeper relationship with devices than us adults - by the age of five, many are savvy consumers and intimately familiar with TVs, the internet, consoles and handhelds. Bedrooms are multi-media hubs, with older children aged 12-15 having on average six media devices.

I don't believe that convergence is where the future lies, but rather seamless experiences across devices, toys, live activity or whatever other ideas emerge. Understanding the behaviour of children, and their parents is key to creating content that works across all of these platforms.

Children's media organisations tend to excel in one particular area, and they all struggle to maintain continuity across platforms. Online content can be communal, interactive and uniquely gratifying but it is so fragmented that attracting a critical mass of users is a big challenge. With all these choices, it's difficult to capture attention and very easy to target content in the wrong way. TV has a unique ability to focus attention and build a buzz very quickly, and I believe that broadcast channels must use this to their advantage in order to establish new formats which sit happily across platforms.

Recently, a live cross-platform event format was created by Monterosa Formats for CBBC, called Run!. A hybrid of live online tournaments and animated stories, it involved a fast-paced multi-player game every day over four weeks. It was a big risk and a huge success, and proved that "appointment-to-play" works when marketed in the right way. Direct interaction with television may be declining, but the relationship between TV and web has the opportunity to become much stronger. If children's channels are to remain significant brands in the eyes of their audience, they must do everything they can to bridge the gap.

Television does remain the key platform for children but for the older child the web is becoming increasingly dominant. 'Kate Modern' on Bebo, and the Myspace live events, 'Hey, Play this', where bands perform live shows for Myspace viewers, prove that alongside the functionality of social networks, the young audience want fresh, current and highly interactive content.

Kit Hawkins is co-founder and managing director of creative media group Everybody's