Hey There Neighbor!

This week, Fred Rogers Productions shared Mr. Rogers’ message to viewers a year after 9/11. Watch the video » here «

His message was a gentle reminder of why I work in Kids Media and the enormous impact someone can have on a child’s life. There’s something about Mr. Rogers that makes you feel like everything is going to be okay… Anyways, thank you for being a part of Jomo’s Corner and I hope you have a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Mattel partners with pocket.watch on YouTube Kids Ad Sales

Last week it was announced that pocket.watch, the digital studio supporting YouTube kids creators like Ryan’s World and Kids Diana Show signed a deal with Mattel to sell ad inventory across Mattel’s portfolio of over 90 YouTube and YouTube Kids channels.

Mattel has been working on expanding the company’s YouTube and social presence as early as 2017. That year the toy company announced a partnership with Fullscreen to create Fullscreen Family to expand their digital reach along with several influencer marketing initiatives. In 2018, Mattel and pocket.watch first began their partnership through influencer content and strategic media campaigns that featured pocket.watch’s diverse network of creators across YouTube campaigns.

Mattel’s YouTube portfolio includes channels for brands including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Thomas & Friends, and more. The toyco has been finding creative ways to engage digital-first audiences on YouTube, including turning America’s most iconic doll into a vlogger.

The Barbie Vlogs (the most recent of which was posted of January of this year) are vlogs about the everyday happenings of Barbie from DIY Tutorials to re-enacting viral challenges, Barbie Vlogs give a glimpse into the world of Barbie. But the vlogs are also a place where Barbie is able to touch on important social issues and provide teachable moments.

In 2020, during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, Barbie posted a vlog confronting racism and what it means to be a white ally. The Barbie Vlogs’ lessons on social issues even got Margot Robbie’s attention in preparation to play Barbie. In an interview with Teen Vogue, she mentioned how “Barbie has this whole lesson about, like, swap out the word ‘sorry’ for the word ‘thank you’”. The video, "Sorry Reflex”, has over 1.3 million views on YouTube.

Most of the content posted on Mattel’s portfolio of YouTube channels falls under three main categories: Series-based, Music-based, and Interactive.

The vast majority of videos posted on Mattel channels are series-based ie. they are clips, compilations, and even episodes of existing series across their portfolio of IP. Branded channels that leverage this strategy include Monster High (which currently has a series on Nickelodeon), Polly Pocket (which recently released a Netflix series), and the majority of preschool brands like Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, and Fisher-Price which posts episodes of classic preschool series like Pingu and Kipper.

Music-based content is the next most prevalent across Mattel's YouTube channels. The Fisher-Price channel leverages the Laugh & Learn brand to post “Toddler Learning Songs” reminiscent of Moonbug’s Cocomelon. The Laugh & Learn playlist on YouTube has over 100 videos with some videos having a runtime of over one hour. Surprisingly there might be even more musical content aimed at big kids. Monster High posts various music videos featuring various characters including videos of the characters singing songs in multiple languages. Additionally, catch me listening to Mega Wrex’s “Smash and Roar” REMIX on the Hot Wheels channel.

In the interactive video space, examples include the Mattel Action channel which leverages a Dora-the-Explorer-esque question-and-answer activity in their recent “Who’s that Dinosaur?” video series reminiscent of the original Pokémon anime’s “Who’s that Pokémon” segment.

Overall, pocket.watch has a large and engaging inventory of Mattel’s iconic brands to monetize on YouTube. Their experience in kids’ media safety and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) compliance is incredibly valuable and allows advertisers to safely reach kid audiences without worrying about ad-targeting issues.

📰 In Other News

• Amazon Executive, Vernon Sanders, talks YA strategy on Prime Video

• Children’s Animation accounts for 13% of the top most in-demand Non-English Series

• Is ASMR the next big wave of Kids Content?

• Spidey is celebrating Rosh Hashanah in a new special airing on Sept. 15th

• BAFTA is working on increasing interest in their Kids awards with an upcoming rebrand

• Snapchat grows 13.4% in user to outpace TikTok as fastest growing social media platform in 2023

🎬 Releases on my Radar

• 9/06 - I am Groot on Disney+

• 9/06 - Doc McStuffins: The Doc & Bella Are In! on Disney+

• 9/06 - The Little Mermaid on Disney+

• 9/06 - Pokémon: Paldean Winds on Youtube

• 9/07 - Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight (S3) on Netflix

• 9/08 - Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series on Netflix

• 9/08 - Tiny Toons Looniversity on Max

• 9/13 - Elemental on Disney+

• 9/14 - Barbie: A Touch of Magic on Netflix

• 9/14 - Dragons: The Nine Realms (S7) on Hulu and Peacock

• 9/18 - My Little Pony: Make Your Mark: Chapter 5 on Netflix

• 9/18 - Alma's Way (S2) on PBS Kids

• 9/21 - Young Love on Max

• 9/22 - Spy Kids: Armageddon on Netflix

• 9/25 - Little Baby Bum: Music Time on Netflix