TARGETING KIDS VIA CROSS-MEDIA ADVERTISING BECOMES MORE PRECISE WITH NEW KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS TOOL

Company brings unique expertise to understanding kids' uses of, attitudes toward media

Menlo Park, CA; June 5, 2003: Knowledge Networks/SRI is building out its extensive practice on kids and media, launching a new strategic tool for targeting this in-demand consumer group. Based on high-quality, single-source data, MultiMedia Mentor Junior™ will help advertisers, agencies, and content providers find the best ways to combine media in campaigns targeting kids.

"Marketers understand the importance of today's kids as purchasers and influencers," said Maura Clancey, Knowledge Networks/SRI Vice President and Managing Director. "But the tools for understanding how to reach kids with marketing messages are still primitive. Our research marks the beginning of a more sophisticated approach to getting maximum value out of children's media."

Knowledge Networks/SRI brings extensive experience to the topic; as the exclusive ratings provider for Radio Disney, it developed techniques and questionnaires designed to encourage kid cooperation and alleviate parental concerns. KN/SRI also conducts studies of How Children Use™ Media Technology and - for ESPN and the Amateur Athletic Foundation - kids' sports media use.

The MultiMedia Mentor Junior™ pilot - sponsored by Radio Disney and Starcom Worldwide - is based on some 750 firsthand interviews with children 6 to 11. The result is a resource rich in insights about:

• how to reach kids who consume more sodas or go to more movies;
• which media and/or dayparts may be undervalued in terms of their child audiences; and
• whether specific non-media activities might offer valuable tie-ins with media campaigns.

Knowledge Networks analysis reveals a host of insights that can boost the efficiency of kid-focused media campaigns; for example:

• boys' media use is heavily concentrated in TV, while girls generally divide their time more evenly among the five media studied;
• children with cable-connected TV sets in their rooms spend an additional 1.25 hours with television every day, compared to kids with no in-room sets;
• girls 9 to 11 are the most prolific media multitaskers, combining TV and Internet, TV and radio, and other vehicles more often than boys or younger girls;
• boys 6 to 11 who spend 90 minutes or more a day playing videogames also watch an extra 25 minutes of TV daily; and
• girls 9 to 11 who watch relatively little television spend nearly half (46%) of their media time with magazines and the Internet.

Rather than fusing data from potentially incompatible sources, MultiMedia Mentor Junior™ delivers all-new, single-source information on kids' media use. In addition, KN/SRI asks the same respondents about their use of fast food and soft drinks, movie attendance and videogame use, viewing of specific TV networks, and shopping preferences and other non-media activities. The study also quantifies kids' simultaneous use of TVs and PCs.

Based on Knowledge Networks/SRI's successful MultiMedia Mentor™ - now in its fourth year - MultiMedia Mentor Junior™ combines:

• twice-yearly surveys in which kids 6 to 11 report on their exposure to five key media - TV, radio, Internet, magazine, and newspapers, and
• exclusive analytical software that allows users to develop media allocation strategies focusing on specific demographic groups, product users, and hundreds of other audiences.

Knowledge Networks is the leader in high-quality, innovative Web research, helping clients understand and increase their ROI on consumer investments. The company brings together an exclusive set of consumer research capabilities, including the only Web-enabled research panel created using a nationally representative RDD sample. In conjunction with its expertise in brands, media, advertising, and analytics, Knowledge Networks uses these resources to pinpoint specific steps clients can take to maximize efficiency in reaching and selling to consumers. Other Knowledge Networks specialties include media, brand management, segmentation, and research on pricing, product configuration, advertising, public opinion, health, and social issues.

In 2001, Knowledge Networks acquired assets from Statistical Research, creating Knowledge Networks/SRI. KN/SRI is one of the country's leading authorities on kids' use of and attitudes towards media and media technology. The company also is the leading measurement provider for Yellow Pages directories; other specialties include cross-media allocation strategies (MultiMedia Mentor™) and consumers' interactions with media (How People Use® research).