Why would a paint company feature two tweens wreaking havoc on their father's blueprints in its ads? And why would a car firm do one demanding to know whose big car her father is driving (he apparently can't afford one) in another? At one time, the answer may have had to do with advertising logic that dictated that no ad with a good-looking child could ever bomb. Not today. The two ads merely reflect a growing trend: of tweens influencing purchase decisions in product categories not relevant to them; and of companies responding to this by targeting the tweens. "The tween today has an opinion on life and the colour of her room," says Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Head, O&M India (that's right, the agency made the paint ad). "Tweens are the biggest influencers of what to eat or which mall to visit and it's the same across the top 50 cities in India."

"Tweens are the biggest influencers of what to eat or which mall to visit and it's the same across the top 50 cities in India" Piyush Pandey Executive Chairman/O&M India

The direct market for products targeted at tweens is an impressive Rs 20,000 crore, and growing at around 30 per cent a year. Much of this amount comes from the usual suspects: fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), food and beverages, and apparel. "Kids are an important segment for us," says Amit Burman, CEO, Dabur Foods, offering the statistic that children account for 50 per cent of the sales of the company's Real fruit juices. "The brand communication has to be two-pronged: it should convince the mother about the health benefits of the product and it should have a fun element to woo kids." Then there's the product itself. The physical shape (or characteristic) of the product is particularly important in the case of foods and FMCGs. That's one reason why companies obsess over the colour of toothpaste, magic pops that crackle when popped into the mouth, or the fruity smell of shampoos.

Far removed from FMCGs, Riaz Patca, Director, Ruf Apparel, also obsesses over physicality. Much of his company's designs are influenced by Bollywood movies (all the rage among tweens he says), and he reinforces this sure-fire strategy with tips from his 11-year-old son on what kids his age would like to wear.

In some ways, however, categories such as these have been supplanted by hi-tech products. Today, a tween is likely to be far more excited by a gaming console than a new kid-friendly toothpaste. "This is the technology generation," says Mohit Anand, Country Manager (Entertainment and Devices Divison), Microsoft India. "Even children five-six years older than current tweens have not had the exposure they do." That could explain why the company's Windows XP business unit has chosen to sponsor the 'Start Your Story' contest on Disney channel or run a promotional campaign at Delhi multiplex PVR for the company's PC games, Age of Empires 3 and Fable: The Lost Chapters to coincide with the release of Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire.

In such categories, tweens may play a far larger role in the purchase decision simply because their parents do not know as much as they do. "Children tend to have a bigger say since they are better exposed to the capabilities of a computer," says P. Krishnakumar, Country Manager (Consumer Desktops), Hewlett-Packard. "Besides, there is immense peer pressure on the (brand and configuration) of the computer owned." That involvement extends into the consumer durable space, with tweens offering their suggestions on the brand of tv or home theatre, or personal digital music player to buy. One reason for that is increasing technological complexity (an 11-year-old tween, for instance, may know more about digital cameras than her 37-year-old father) even in these products. Another is just that tweens (like most other consumer segments) feel the need to be with it. "Tweens are exerting increasing influence in the purchase of products across all categories," says Ravinder Zutshi, Deputy Managing Director, Samsung India Electronics, "and especially so when there is something new and cutting-edge released in the market."

"This is the technology generation. Even children five-six years older than current tweens have not had the exposure they do" Mohit Anand Country Manager (Entertainment)/ Microsoft	"Tweens are exerting increasing influence in the purchase of products, especially so when something new and cutting-edge is released" Ravinder Zutshi Deputy MD/ Samsung India

Despite the trend of tweens being obsessed with anything to do with consumer technology (think a gaming console or the new iPod Video), there are some categories that have traditionally done very well by targeting tweens (apart from other segments) and which continue to hold their own in some cases, or just cling on in others. Books is one such. Few tweens read; however, book publishers (and distributors) have continued to feed off those who do. "Children from families where the parents read still buy books," says Anthony Joseph, coo, India Book Distributors, adding that if tweens are not into books, it probably has more to do with "lack of products and lack of marketing" than the kind of backgrounds they come from. Amusement parks, another such. Some tweens still like to visit amusement parks, although, in India, the business is driven largely by tweens from smaller cities, or school trips. And toys and board games, still another. Just when it looked like traditional (think: mechanical) toys would be overwhelmed by the digital revolution (think: gaming consoles, pc games, and the like) came the beyblade revolution. "Beyblades have kicked off a massive interest in the organised toy market," gushes Daniel Selvaraj, Marketing Manager, Funskool, a company that has an alliance with Cartoon Network to sell beyblades in India. Then, that's a product category that is backed by all the power of a blockbuster TV series.

-additional reporting by Ritwik Mukherjee and Nitya Varadarajan