Here are some tips on successfully reaching out to children, assuaging parents' fears and ensuring that your brand messages are welcome in the home.
When I was a child, my siblings and I would wake up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, pour ourselves heaping bowls of Lucky Charms, and settle down for a few hours of "Land of the Lost" and "Hong Kong Phooey."
My parents didn't think twice about letting us park in front of the TV soaking up cartoons, commercials and countless media messages. They were sleeping in. Boy, times have changed!
Now children have all kinds of media at their fingertips, from MP3s to DVDs, video games to websites, and TiVo'd television programs, forcing parents to participate in their children's media interactions and become more marketing savvy.
Their goals? Protect their children, filter the messages, and teach them to navigate the marketing onslaught to make good product choices.
Online communities: where parents go for advice
To test the validity of product marketing claims or get more information, moms and dads used to rely on friends, family and neighbors for feedback. Now they turn to mass communication channels such as blogs and online parenting communities for knowledgeable advice and support from hundreds or thousands of other parents.
Not surprisingly, these parenting communities have become a qualified place for product companies to measure parents' pulse on what they really want and how best to speak to them.
Marketers should realize that they need to tune into these new communication channels for parents and children, not just to get their message across, but to soothe any parents' fears that may have increased with the advent of these newer technologies and media sources. They should understand that they have unprecedented access to a larger community of parents' opinions and ideas that can improve their products and services.
Tips for multi-channel marketing to children and parents
If your company is planning to promote its products and services via a television show, video game, website or an online community, here are a few tips for appealing to children while still addressing parental concerns.
If done correctly, these ideas will help you be more successful in reaching out to children, establishing brand trust, assuaging parents' fears, and ensuring that your messages are welcome in the home. 
Is it safe?
Whether companies are introducing a new toy or utilizing a website in their marketing strategy, parents want to know that the toy and website are safe. Savvy parents comb the Consumer Products Safety website to get details on the latest toy and gear recalls. They read BabyCenter.com for the latest pregnancy and childhood medical findings, and numerous news articles about the dangers of online predators and "cyber bullies" frequently have parents on the alert about online safety. Concerned parents also monitor their children's internet activity and restrict their computer use.
Websites like Piczo and Disney's Toontown enjoy excellent reputations for safety. Piczo is known to parents as a place where their kid's private stuff can only be seen by friends they know in real life. ToonTown is collaborative, but there's no danger of being bothered or harassed within its controlled subscription environment.
ClubPenguin, one of the most popular social-networking sites for children, moved from an advertising revenue model to a subscription model after realizing it couldn't guarantee the appropriateness of the ads being served to the children on its site.
These are real differentiators in the crowded social networking space. A reputation for safety sets companies apart and is very important when marketing to parents.