Free teen for cash

Interactive Kids, ages 9 to 17 Sssshhhh! Marketers Hope to Cash In On Teen/Tween Need for Secrecy

Food, shelter, privacy, partying. If you ask teens and tweens what their basic needs are, that's what you're likely to hear, and not necessarily in that order. One of the companies that hopes to cash in on the last two cravings is TalkStar.com, Inc., which last week unveiled TalkStar Free Private Voicemail, a concept that borrows pieces from existing telephone and Internet services. In doing so, the company also unveiled an opportunity for marketers.

The service, which is beta-testing until its scheduled launch in October in six California cities, has two core functions and audiences, says Tim Petras, VP of marketing. The first function, which the company calls "virtual voicemail box," is not attached to a home phone number. Callers can leave messages in it for the user, who can retrieve it from any phone or a computer by dialing a certain number and access code. It's meant to appeal to teens ages 12 to 17, because "kids have no privacy. Most can't afford cell phones," says Petras.

The second function, targeting parents with teens, is attached to the home phone. It's similar to existing answering services, which after four or five rings send callers into a private voicemail box for the family member they want to reach.

Petras plans to reach kids through radio, and outdoor advertising near malls, movie theaters and bus stops. The service is scheduled to launch nationwide by the end of the year. The company's goal is to sign up a quarter-million people by the end of the year.

Your Message Here

Both functions are ad-based. Before recipients can retrieve their messages, they'll get 10 to 15 seconds of commercials from a pool of "tens of thousands of ads," similar to the MovieFone model. The company can match the ad to the demographics of the listener, revealed in answers to a survey asking age, sex, marital status, hobbies and interests. It can also track how often each listener calls in and what spots have already been played. The price for such a captive audience is $80 to $270 per thousand listeners, depending on the nature of the ad and the extent of its targeting.

Here's another marketing and selling opportunity: When calling in for messages, users will also have the option to hear a longer ad, say, a clip of a musical artist's new CD or news about a concert, then to click through to a call center to buy the CD or tickets, or get more information.

That's similar to the service offered by some newspapers. The Washington Post, for example, includes a phone number at the end of music reviews so readers can call in to hear the music they've just read about, as well as at least one ad. You can get more details on a "benefits for advertisers" page on the Web site (www.talkstar. com).

Initially, subscribers won't have the option to forego ads, but down the road, Crair says, the company will offer the system on a fee basis to those who want their messages without commercial interruption, similar to the cable TV paradigm.

Soft Drink's Summer Promo

TalkStar isn't the first to offer private voicemail to kids. For the second year in a row, The Coca-Cola Company is driving product sales by offering kids the chance to "Get a Coke. Get a Code. Get Hooked Up." Cards available in product packages, through radio promos, by phone or mail and distributed by "street teams" show them how to set up a free voicemail box they can use until September 6 if they keep buying the soft drink. The company distributed 45 million cards.

The mailbox is also a source of 10,000 IYDKYDG (if you don't know, you don't go) offers like discounts for amusement parks, restaurants and clothing stores and event info like private shows by musical artists just for cardholders. The company advertised the card and the service in summer issues of teen magazines including YM, sending kids to the Web site www.iydkydg.com.

Dear (PC) Diary

Another entry into the private lives of kids is "Keep It Under Wraps," a software journal for tween girls ages 9 to 13, announced on the same day as TalkStar's service. Privacy features include a password, an on-screen button-controlled text scrambler and a page that looks like homework girls can call up to camouflage what they're really doing. Unlike TalkStar, this product isn't free or ad-based.

The $19.95 product, developed by Smarty Pants Publishing of Australia, is licensed to VtechSoft for distribution in North America. The CD will be available at retail and computer outlets, or online at www.vtechsoft.com/under wraps.html.

(TalkStar, Tim Petras, 650/833-5736, Bruce Crair, 650/833-5730; Diana Garza, The Coca Cola Company, 404/676-4684; Tila Pacheco for VtechSoft, 714/256-8452)