Dubit News

Since our last newsletter, there has been plenty of drama at Dubit after a fire broke out in the office below. We came in bright and early one Friday morning to discover a smoked filled building, luckily for us there was no serious damage and nobody was hurt. After an afternoon of working at home and a big office clean, everything is back to normal.

Last week we also attended marketing’s second annual conference; Engage Children Attract Parents. As sponsor of the event Dubit was keen to ensure an informed and lively debate on an ethically provocative subject.

Speakers from the Advertising Association, Disney, Burger King, The NSPCC, The British Heart Foundation, CBBC, Dubit Research and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport all contributed some interesting viewpoints for delegates to digest and think about.

This was Dubit’s first conference sponsorship and to give its own viewpoint and solutions on engaging children our Head of Research Laura McLarty gave a topical presentation on Social Gaming. This delved into the ever-increasing role of Brands using games to involve consumers in new product development and assessed the impact and effectiveness of in-game advertising.

If you’d like to download the presentation, click here.

In the break for coffee and biscuits delegates were invited to put their questions to a live, online focus group of 9-12 year olds. Organised by Dubit using its 3D online viewing facility delegates talked in real time to the moderator, directing the focus of the group without interrupting attendees. Questions ranged from whether they play fantasy football league to what they think of politicians and if they give to charity.

Lunchtime again saw an opportunity to utilise the live focus group whilst also pick up information about Dubit’s direct access youth panels. Dubit’s Schools panel for 7-12 year olds and Informer panel for 13-17 year olds enable research surveys for this hard to reach demographic.

Once delegates finished their Salmon or Vegetarian Lasagne and had taken on board evolving youth research capabilities, they returned to the main room for an afternoon debate on the latest regulations surrounding marketing to children. A legislation panel involving Baroness Peta Buscombe, Chief Executive of the Advertising Association, John Whittingdale OBE MP, Chairman of the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee and Anna Fielder, Senior Policy Advisor at the National consumer Council presented contrasting view points which quickly boiled down to whether advertising to children is morally correct.

The chair of the conference, Andrew Nebel from Barnardo’s fielded questions on both sides of the argument to the panel resulting in a balanced and fair analysis of the current situation.

Delegates left having been party to some thought provoking presentations, hopefully reporting back to their respective brands and agencies so that the issues raised cut through to improve the way we engage children and attract parents.

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