The children brands are one of those that, as many people think, are promoting themselves. After all, kids are the most susceptible target and it would seem that a colorful ad is enough to get a buyer. However, apart from attracting the attention of children, it is equally important to get their parent’s trust as well. In Poland, in the children’s industry, event marketing in various forms is the most often used marketing technique. So how do both foreign and Polish brands use event marketing in Poland and who is worth learning from?
Fairs
There are several large trade fairs and industry events in Poland that focus on children’s brands. Participating in such an event is, especially for a foreign company, a great opportunity to get to know the market, talk with Polish consumers and let be seen by them. Such events are, of course, not usually directed to the children themselves, but to their parents. After all, parents still make the final purchasing decisions. That is why all the marketing actions of children’s brands cannot focus only on the users (kids) themselves. In addition, fairs are great places to present products that won’t attract children themselves, such as prams or baby accessories.
The biggest fair in Poland (and one of the biggest in the world at the same time) is the International Fair of Toys and Products for Mother and Child KIDS’ TIME. It agglomerates brands from over 20 countries in the world. Last year’s edition was visited by over 7.5 thousand people. The event brings together such brands as Lego, Gemini, Petite & Mars, Tullo, Lonex, Trefl, and Drink In The Box. Many brands use that fair to launch their new products. This year, the Maxi-Cosi company will present the world’s first air cushion seat.
Another Polish trade fairs for the children’s industry are Mamaville, and “Trends 4 Kids”, where customers can personally talk with exhibitors from around the globe.
Custom events
Besides participating in fairs, many children dedicated brands (from various industries) decide to organize their own events. Usually, those events are directed to the kids themselves, sometimes to children and parents, promoting spending time together and getting to know the brand. The Lego brand is extremely successful in this case, organizing the annual “Lego Festival” in Poland. The event takes place in Warsaw and combines the exhibition of statues with Lego bricks, screenings of the company’s movies and a fun zone with numerous contests for children.
Just as Lego may seem like an event addressed to boys, there are also events dedicated to girls. A great example of such event in Poland can be “Winx Club Magic Dressing Room”, promoted as a meeting with fairies from the Winx Club cartoon. The girls had the opportunity to try on the magic costumes of their favorite heroines, decorate their faces with glitter, make a photo with fairies and take part in contests.
Custom events on a smaller scale, are organized by other well-known brands, such as Mamba with its “Mamba Island” event in the shopping center. Children had the opportunity to move to the magical Mamba World, play numerous games and take classes with animators (face painting and making balloon animals).
Like most brand-centered events takes place in shopping centers, there are also various outdoor events. A perfect example of this is Kinder+Sport Mini Tour de Pologne (previously Nutella Mini Tour de Pologne). The event promotes not only the brand itself but also encourage children to spend active time outdoors and sport. Everything is accompanied by the largest cycling event in Poland – Tour de Pologne.
One of the recent brand’s custom event was the annual “Kubuś league” made by Kubuś (a producer of juices for children). Brand has been encouraging kids to play winter sports and activities such as skiing. The company also has its own analogical summer event that takes place in Polish coastal cities. The event is full of games prepared for children during their summer holiday.
Occasional events
We can include in here all exhibitions, smaller events or other attractions for children, which are organized just for some special occasions. A great example can be Milka with a series of Christmas events for children that took place all over Poland. Brand’s biggest symbol presence (which is a purple cow), games with prizes and interactive Advent Calendar were only the small part of this event.
A similar action was prepared for this year by the Slimebox brand, which for winter holidays organized a big event for children on the ice rink at PGE National stadium. Numerous attractions and meetings with Polish YouTubers awaited the children.
The most important event which any children company cannot dismiss is, of course, Children’s Day (1st of June in Poland). Nimm2 and its own brand Śmiej Żelki create an event on this occasion every year. By sports contest and funny creative activities, the company promotes its “Laughter is health” action.
Traveling events and exhibitions
Many children brands decide on a much bigger event than a single action in one city. The master in this type of events is Disney, who is organizing a spectacular traveling show in the largest Polish cities „Disney on Ice” each year. Children can see the performance of their favorite characters of fairy tales and soak in the magic.
A similar action was taken by the Kinder. For several years, the company has organized a family event “Magical Forest” visiting almost every big Polish city. In addition to the musical, which is in the main part of the show, there is also an open play area during the event, where kids can have fun on carousels, a rope park, and a fairy-tale jungle.
Another successful children’s event, often visited by little girls from all over Poland, was last year’s Sanrio’s company event called „Hello Kitty Fun Day”. The event in Poland was organized in shopping centers across the country, where the scenery of the fairy-tale town was created. Children could learn how to dance, sing songs and took part in Hello Kitty fashion shows. There was also a cafe with cookies with the logotype of the brand.
A similar action, this time addressed to boys, was organized by the Playmobil company in Polish shopping centers. This time, instead of the play zone, it was a fully-interactive exhibition. In addition to this, there were also various contests and the opportunity to purchase selected toys from the offer.
Sponsored events
This is the most common type of events participation in Poland. It is relatively cheap and gives the opportunity for a brand to show itself to an equally wide group of customers. Children dedicated brands very often take part in public events organized for families, outdoor picnics, festivals or, performances. Free gifts, logo on banners or own stand are great ways to reach new clients. A good example of this kind of event is the Family Festival, whose aim is to promote family activities and spending more time together. The event’s partners are numerous children’s brands, such as Spogle or Archery Games.
Another great example of the brand’s cooperation with the children’s event is the sports event Runmageddon Kids, whose one of the main sponsors is Kubuś (a company that produces juices for kids). In addition to numerous banners and advertisements as well as the company’s stand, all participants get some of the brand products.
In Poland, in addition to children and families events, there are also events dedicated to mums. One of them is the Polish Picnic for Mothers, organized for mums with babies. This event is also sponsored by numerous children companies from many industries such as food industry: Mama i Ja (mineral water), Enfamil (baby milk), fashion industry: Little Frog, or a toy industry: Czuczu, or Blocki.
Public castings
A completely different event, organized by kid’s brands are castings for children. Most often they are held in shopping centers in big Polish cities and are fully opened to public. Las year, the children’s store Smyk was promoting its casting for a brand’s face. A few years earlier, similar action was organized by a company responsible for Monster High dolls. It was also a widely promoted casting that took place in Polish galleries. The winners of the casting had the opportunity to appear in the music video for the song „Jesteś Monster High”:
As you can see, children dedicated events can take different forms in Poland. To create an effective event marketing campaign that will reach both children and their parents, knowing the whole industry and the market in Poland is necessary. Our agency has huge experience in event marketing in Poland, working for both large and smaller brands. If you are looking for a good advertising agency that will organize the whole event or just your participation in one of the Polish events, feel free to contact us.