Targeting Tweens through iShine
A new movement geared to the important pre-teen demographic is coming to a city near you, keeping the focus on faith while having fun.
by Maryann B. Hunsberger | posted 9/08/2008
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Visitors to my home don't wonder which bedroom belongs to my 16-year-old daughter. It's obvious from the posters of Nick Jonas on the door that a teen girl occupies the space. Although my daughter is in eleventh grade, she's still happily ensconced in the world of Disney, with Selena Gomez on the TV, the Jonas Brothers on her iPod, and Demi Lovato on the radio.
She isn't alone in her fascination with all things Disney. According to Robert Beeson, founder of Essential Records, tweens—children ages 8 to 14—spent $50 billion last year. Their parents spent another $150 billion on those tweens. Much of this money purchased music by G-rated artists on Disney's Hollywood Records label. "The music component of the tween market grew 38 percent last year. It's the only segment of the music industry that grew," said Beeson.
Marketing to adolescents isn't a new thing. As a 12-year-old, I watched The Monkees on TV, bought their albums, and read 16 Magazine. However, the Disney Empire has taken tween targeting to a new level. Their High School Musical and Hannah Montana franchises produce movies and a TV series that serve as ads for lines of dolls, clothing, bedding, jewelry, and wildly successful music. The album Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 326,000 copies in its first week, while the 2007-2008 Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds concert tour garnered $112 million in ticket sales.
Disney is lucratively producing high-selling musical stars while much of the music industry is limping along. Tony Johnsen, an agent who books contemporary Christian concerts for Creative Artists Agency (CAA), states that preteens are now the music industry's main target audience. "We are seeing Disney own the product that's being pumped into the marketplace for the tween group."
While older teens are downloading pirated music free of charge, their tween siblings are dishing out hefty allowances to buy music and related merchandise. "You produce it; they buy it. The kids always find money to spend. I don't know how they do it. It's like this infinite amount of money is flowing through their fingertips and they are going to spend it," Johnsen said.
Johnsen states the tween industry is succeeding because they use film and TV to promote their genre, unlike other artists who rely mostly on radio marketing. "The more avenues you can reach this audience with, the more they will grab hold of it and support it."
Tween music also sells, says Johnsen, because adolescents want music with which they can identify. "Tweens are looking for music that is their own. We didn't want to listen to what our parents or older siblings listened to and it's the same now."
The Christian Market Responds
While the secular music industry has grasped that tweens want relatable music, the Christian music world hasn't been as quick to understand this. Beeson said, "I'm a single dad raising three tween daughters on my own. I feel called to go deeper than the influence Hannah Montana has on my kids. Nobody in Christendom is focusing on this age group. It is time that the church does something to embrace this audience. We can't wait for Radio Disney to get more Christian friendly. Christian tweens need their own music. We need to listen to what tweens think is cool and create resources and make opportunities for artists that appeal to them."
Beeson feels so strongly about this that he has formed iShine, a Christian movement specifically targeted to reach the tween demographic. Though Disney's multifaceted approach to reaching tweens serves as a prototype, iShine isn't in the business of creating tween idols for Christian kids. "My dream for iShine is to be a faith-based Disney model that focuses on the audience rather than a product. It will have a singular concept—that we shine from understanding our identity in Christ. That's what the "i" in iShine stands for—for 'identity' and for 'I Shine in Christ.'"
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