There’s been much talk in newspapers recently about the new Firefly mobile phone that’s being aimed at 4-year-olds!
Naturally the middle market is outraged that such young children are being targeted with such propaganda, but the Firefly phone has been on sale in the US for a number of years.
I spoke at a Marketing Conference 4 years ago alongside the US marketing manager for Firefly phones. He explained how they had promoted the phones and the efforts they’d gone to to ensure healthy sales and a good brand image.
Now this all sounds very dull, until you discover that the age range that Firefly targeted in the US was around 4 years older.
You see, the mobile phone market in the US has always lagged behind that of the UK and consequently, Firefly’s market in America was somewhere around 8-11-year-olds, rather than the 4-7-year-olds it seems to be targeting in the UK.
Yup, American kids aren’t anywhere near as cell-savvy as UK children, apparently, so they don’t need one until they’re much older.
If the marketing tactics they employed in the US are anywhere near as effective in the UK, I expect to see a whole raft of Firefly phones sold – can’t say I’ll be getting one for my girls, though!
I love the comments about the new Firefly phone aimed at 4 year olds!! If anyone did their homework they would soon realise that these handsets are aimed at parents. Myself and my husband are the people behind the launch in the UK after being on the market in Ireland for the last 2 years. As a result of careful marketing we address a much wider customer base – our handsets are sold to parents of children typically between the age of 7 and 10, the elderly, audults with special needs to name but a few. We rebranded the manuals and website when we took the licence and removed all images of children. Despite what people wish to print our customers have a need for their children to have some device that allows them to stay in touch with their carers/parents without all the concerns that traditional handsets offer.
I have never met a parent of a four year old who has bought one of our handsets for their child.
Having recently lost my sone (temporarily) in a shop I think these things are great! I would only give it to him whan we were going to a crowded place, but I think it could be a really useful device. Losing a kid is a parent’s worst nightmare, and a kid friendly
phone is a fantastic idea. They just press the mommy button and they’re back in touch. Brilliant, I want one