''Eye On Advertising:'' Media Smart Association Provides 18,000 Primary Schools With Classroom Material

"Technological innovations have created ever new channels through which advertising increasingly makes its way into our daily life," explains Claude Schmitt, Managing Director, Super RTL and Chairman of the Media Smart Association. "Only if children understand the functions, goals, and mechanisms of advertising, which has become self-evident for them, will they be able to deal with it in a competent way and use it as a source of information. This requires that children be strengthened in their independence, self-consciousness, ability to reflect and criticize," he said, describing the goal of the association, which the TV advertising marketer IP Deutschland has also joined. "Therefore, we want to sensitize children to advertising in electronic and print media and train them to deal with the impressions and information being communicated," added Birgit Guth, who has been part of Media Smart from the beginning as Super RTL's Commissioner for the Protection of Minors and Director of Media Research. "The companies and organizations belonging to the association want to make a contribution towards developing the ability of young consumers to make mature purchasing decisions and to acknowledge their social responsibility. Of course, the improvement of their image is an expected and welcome side-effect." 

After extensive preparations, Media Smart will launch the campaign soon. Recently, about 18,000 primary schools throughout Germany received letters in which the association presents the project and offers comprehensive information and training material which can be ordered or downloaded free of charge. "We have detailed classroom material with worksheets and graphs, the film in VHS format with real, exemplary advertising spots, and an extensive booklet with information and tips for the teachers," said Media Smart Project Manager Silke Knabenschuh. Designed by media experts and pedagogues under the direction of the renowned Professor Stefan Aufenanger from Mainz, it first addresses children in third and fourth grade. "Later on, versions for younger and older children will be considered," Knabenschuh added. The issue of advertising has long been a part of the curriculum, but due to a lack of qualified teaching material based on real TV spots, it was often a neglected topic. The interest at the schools is appropriately great: "The response has been truly tremendous," says Birgit Guth. "We received several thousand orders in the first few days after our mailing campaign." 

A Barbie doll or a mobile phone? Bonicle or Yu-Gi-Oh? Certainly, this is the most interesting question for the primary school children since they can understand it without any previous knowledge. The film is shown to them as the main component of the collection of material. Their teacher shows them how Linda and Simon’s schoolmates show off their mobile phones, and how others present stacks of collector cards for trading, and how dolls and Lego characters are advertised at home on television. "Children are subjected to numerous influences in daily life," Birgit Guth sums up. "They should come to realize that fact with the assistance of the Media Smart package. Advertising is one of many factors that create desires, and TV spots are one but special form of advertising." The worksheets—conceived in an interdisciplinary way in seven teaching units at two hours each—try to explain the multiple facets of advertising to children in an understandable and practical way. For example, they have to identify the advertising shown in the film and then evaluate it according to several different categories, reenact the situations in which desires are discussed in the film, but also design their own advertising posters, and a radio or television spot. Online, www.mediasmart.de offers downloads of the classroom material and additional information for parents; children can also try their hand at interactive games or a quiz. 

Media Smart originates in Canada. During the 1990s the initiative "Concerned Children's Advertisers" set out with the goal—like Media Smart—to inform young consumers about the mechanisms of advertising at an early age. In 2002, the idea crossed the Atlantic: in a cooperation between the advertising industry, media pedagogues, and the Ministry of Education, the initiative Media Smart and the so-called advertising awareness project "Be Adwise" for children between the ages of 6 and 11 was launched. It serves as the model for the "Augen auf Werbung" project of the German Media Smart association, and for a good reason: "During the past three years, the Media Smart teaching material in Great Britain has been used in about 10,000 primary schools," Silke Knabenschuh reported. "This represents about 30 percent of all of the country's primary schools and one million pupils who have had contact with this project." By the end of this year, the number of schools should rise to 12,500. 

Two years ago, Super RTL's Claude Schmit, himself a father of three, became aware of Media Smart's striking success in Great Britain during a conference of the World Federation Of Advertisers in Brussels. Convinced of the idea, he returned to Cologne with information and a collection of classroom material, asking Birgit Guth to take care of realizing it in Germany as soon as possible. With the support of Silke Knabenschuh, she contacted companies that already had an engagement with Media Smart in Great Britain. Just one year later, Super RTL together with a few major advertising companies founded the nonprofit association Media Smart. Today, alongside Super RTL and the advertising marketer IP Deutschland, the members include Burger King, Hasbro Deutschland, Kellogg Deutschland, Lego, Masterfoods, Mattel Deutschland, McDonald’s Deutschland, Nokia, and Zapf Creation Central Europe. Among the sponsoring members are the Gesamtverband Kommunikationsagenturen GWA, the Organisation Werbungtreibende im Markenverband (OWM), and the Verband Privater Rundfunk und Telekommunikation VPRT. Castenow, Gruner + Jahr, Egmont Ehapa Verlag, Iconkids & Youth International Research, TOF Intermedia, and Wächter & Wächter Worldwide Partners also support the association. 

In order to create a breakthrough for the initiative in Germany, the project team of Birgit Guth and Silke Knabenschuh approached teachers’ and parents' associations early on to get their opinions. "The film, which was produced especially for German children, was tested with teachers twice and was revised after a lot of valuable input," said Silke Knabenschuh. Compared with the English classroom material, "Augen auf Werbung" focuses on production processes, aesthetic design tools of advertising, and recognition characteristics of various forms of advertising. As in Great Britain, the supporting companies waived the right to have their brand names or logos named in the classroom material; they are listed only in the teacher's manual with background information and didactic instructions, and on the website. 

A comprehensive press and marketing campaign will accompany the "Augen auf Werbung" project's launch. Half-minute TV spots on all private stations and advertisements in the Gruner + Jahr magazines "Eltern for family" and "Stern" aim at attracting attention of parents and pedagogues to Media Smart. Super RTL airs trailers during daytime and editorials such as a making-of of the "Augen auf Werbung" film in Toggo TV to address those towards whom the campaign is aimed: children. The cost for spots and advertisements are covered by the stations and G+J. "The presentation of our initiative at the Didacta trade fair next spring in Hanover is certainly another highlight," Silke Knabenschuh added. By the way, the British Media Smart project was not only met with interest in Germany but also in other European countries. "Similar projects are being worked on in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands," Knabenschuh explained. This is owed to the efforts of the British Media Smart representatives, who have designed their own project development as transparently as possible and are glad to provide other European countries with their resources. The project managers from the various countries regularly meet in Brussels to exchange information and experiences. 

Now, the German Media Smart team is looking forward to the response at the schools and the feedback from the teachers. "We will continuously assess the data together with the participating experts and, if necessary, adjust the project’s content or expand it to additional age groups," said Silke Knabenschuh. Efforts to gain the support of additional companies are also underway. 

So what about Linda and Simon? In the film, Linda was able to decide on a present. To do so, she gathered extensive information from a friend and on the Internet about the cost of a mobile phone; she studied advertisements in magazines and on television and, finally, decided on a phone with a prepaid card. "Grandma is contributing, as well," she tells her parents. And Simon still doesn't know; school children throughout Germany will have the task to help him decide. 

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