Zoogs Attempt To Bridge Gap Between TV and Internet

Selling to Kids, March 3, 1999

Zeether - is it the next frontier? Disney thinks so, and is hoping to be the first to conquer it, with the help of the Zoogs. Zeether is what Disney has dubbed the space between television and the computer, and it's hoping to bridge that gap and bring more kids to its television programming at the same time.

ZoogDisney is Disney's attempt to blend television programming with the online world, in hopes of appealing to kids 9 to 11, a traditionally hard group for Disney to attract and maintain. In August, it launched ZoogDisney (www.zoogdisney.com), in conjunction with the premiere of three original shows on the Disney Channel.

"We were noticing a trend where kids were including Web surfing as one of their choices in leisure, adding it to television and video games," said Eleo Hensleigh, VP marketing at Disney Channel.

Disney also saw that 9- to 11-year-olds were spending a lot of time online. "The time was right to get away from the traditional marketing Web site and make more interaction between the worlds," Hensleigh said.

Focus groups showed that online kids like games, building a sense of community, and collaboration. So the shows attempt to appeal to those online activities. "Bug Juice" follows real kids during eight weeks of camp; "Madlibs" is a game show; and "Going Wild" is a nature show with Jeff Corwin.

Disney created Zoogs, characters that live both on air and online (in the Zeether). When the shows air on Sunday evenings, the Zoogs appear at the bottom of the TV screen and urge kids to go online to answer questions, take quizzes, chat, or play games. During the week, the results of the online input are gathered and incorporated into the television shows. The re-edited shows are broadcast the following Saturday.

The experiment is nearing its sixth month, and Disney likes what it sees.

"We are seeing very, very positive results in building the 9- to 11-year-old numbers," Hensleigh said.

In fact, hits at DisneyChannel.com increased 450% from May 1998 to January 1999, with a 387% increase in daily users, and a 605% increase in page requests during that same time period. Disney attributes the increases to Zoog. Zoog's Live Events were in the top five "most attended" chats on Disney.com.

Additionally, ZoogDisney.com has become the most highly trafficked area on Disney.com, coming up from the bottom just months ago.

Promotion Efforts

Disney has promoted the site on air mostly, but Hensleigh thinks it has stayed so popular because of the abundance of activities offered to kids. The only complaint received from kids is that they want more: more games, more chat and more frequent new content.

Based on Zoog's success, Disney may expand the idea to other shows, Hensleigh said.

"If it makes sense, we'll do it," Hensleigh said. "We've learned a lot. It is not entirely easy. But people are starting to think differently about online. It is not a replacement for television, but a means to enhance it." (Eleo Hensleigh, Disney, 818/569-7500)

Zoog Disney By the Numbers

* From December '98 to January '99, households, kids 2-11 and kids 9-11 have all seen ratings gains per Neilsen. Households are up 8%, kids 2-11 jumped 16% and kids 9-11 climbed 14%.

* Audience composition for the 5-7 p.m. time period has continued to shift toward the 9-11 age target - up 30% in January compared to a year ago, while season-to-date is up 53% from last year.

* Tweens 12-14 and teens 12-17 have shown sizable ratings gains within Zoog. Compared to the premiere month (Aug. 98), tweens are up 60% and teens were up 38% in January. Tweens 12-14 and teens 12-17 captured their highest monthly averages to date in January.

* In December, Media Metrix ranked Disney.com 22 in total Internet traffic and one in entertainment. DisneyChannel.com is the most trafficked Web site on Disney.com since the launch of ZOOG.

Source: Disney, S2K