Smart Content Marketing: Engaging kids with games + activities, not plastic toys

copywriting and content for kids

The summer blockbuster movie season is coming to an end, and it's time to switch out content marketing themes and characters for SubwayKids.com. I had a fun time copywriting and developing online content, games and activities for this project, and have even spotted kids using their eco-friendly reusable meal bags—the best part of this entire SUBWAY FRESH FIT FOR KIDS™ meal marketing campaign, in my opinion. Sure beats those plastic Happy Meals toys.

Copywriting Samples

copywriting for children

Here's a link to samples of downloadable activities I developed: Monsters University: Content + copywriting for SUBWAY Kids™ + Disney/Pixar

Blog posts: Web content + copywriting for kids, parents + teachers

For more on copywriting and content development programs I've worked on for SubwayKids.com (via the digital brand agency Jack Morton Worldwide), see these blog posts:

Cartoons and Content Marketing: All work and all play
SUBWAY® Restaurants + The Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb

Content Marketing + Cause Marketing: Public relations with a purpose
Random Acts of Fitness for Kids™:  SUBWAY® Restaurants + American Heart Association, Little League® Baseball and Softball, We Can!™ (a National Institutes of Health [NIH] program) and other national partners

Earth Day Interactives: Copywriting with a conscience for corporate clients
SUBWAY® Restaurants + The Nature Conservancy

Cartoons and Content Marketing: All work and all play

This was one of my favorite projects in recent memory. Fun because it required sitting around in my pajamas watching several episodes of Phineas and Ferb, one of my longtime favorite cartoons (right up there with Adventure Time and SpongeBob), and fun because it involved brainstorming silly ideas for games and activities and writing catchy copy involving the evil Dr. Doof and his nemesis, Perry the Platypus (a.k.a. Agent P).

Over the past two years, I've worked on several copywriting and content development projects for SUBWAY® Restaurants and SUBWAY KIDS™. I do this on a freelance basis for the advertising agency Jack Morton Worldwide, through their Boston office. This year's SUBWAY FRESH FIT FOR KIDS™ meal campaigns with Disney have been especially fun, and I love that they're giving away free eco-friendly reusable lunch bags with each meal. Each bag comes with a free game or gizmo inside, plus a special code to unlock other downloadable activities from the SubwayKids.com website. The Phineas and Ferb kids meals came with a make-your-own wallet kit inside the reusable bag, plus a code to unlock these printable games and activities I developed:

Agent P's Cipher Code Wheel

online games for kids

Dr. Doof's Cootie Catcher

content writing for children

and more...

games and activities for kids

I also wrote copy for the Frankenweenie micro-site for SUBWAY KIDS™ and developed content and online games and activities for the new Monsters University FRESH FIT FOR KIDS™ meal, in SUBWAY® Restaurants this month.

Other copywriting and content projects for SUBWAY KIDS™:

Content Writing Samples: Monsters University for SubwayKids.com

Content Marketing and Cause Marketing: Public relations with a purpose
Writing all online content and collateral material for the Random Acts of Fitness for Kids™ national program for  K–6 schools, 2011–12 and 2012–13 campaigns.

Earth Day Interactives: Copywriting with a conscience for corporate clients
Writing copy and features for online interactive "Eco-Quest" game as part of marketing promotion with The Nature Conservancy.  

Creativity as Commodity: The value of cutting through clutter

Picture, caption, period. End of story.

Sometimes that's all you need for a blog post. If it's really, really good, and you're very talented and clever. The picture and caption above are all that comprise today's post on Thomas Hawk's photoblog. Sometimes the photographer writes several paragraphs to accompany his photos, sometimes barely a sentence.

I stumbled upon this image while reading The Battleground of Creativity, a post by Geoff Livingston on, among other things, perfectionism, fear of failure, and the agony of the creative process. As a content writer and editor, I work with clients to whittle down text and push out content at a steady pace. But when it comes to writing my own blog posts, I often struggle. I keep long lists of ideas, thinking I'll spin them into brilliant essays on something or other that everyone will want to read. Or not. I overthink and underproduce. It's hard to be prolific when you're a perfectionist who has a hard time pressing the "publish" button — and then walking away.

My three thoughts of the day:

Sometimes less is more. (Note to self.) Enough said. Don't write three paragraphs if you can say it in one. Don't overcomplicate a blog post; break it into a 3-part series. Leave some white space. Breathe. Let a picture tell a story. Add a compelling caption and be done with it.

You get what you pay for. This minimalist approach only works if the content you post — written or visual — is strong enough to stand on its own. Want an arresting image that breaks through the clutter in inboxes, news feeds, and social media channels? Spend money on a really good professional photographer. Want a logo that's clever, iconic and stands the test of time? Forget crowdsourcing and Fiverr (another rant for another day). Instead, find the most talented designer you can afford. Want a landing page that lures in visitors and ups your click-through rates? Hire a good copywriter. Don't try it yourself. If you want creative work that makes you stand out in a crowd, invest in creative talent.

Lose the LOL cats. In an age where everyone's churning out and repurposing content, it's hard to find ideas that aren't derivative. So when we stumble across something original, a small gem like a black Lab wearing Google Glass, it makes us stop and think. Or bookmark and buy. Or smile and share and re-post on our own blogs, inspired to be a bit more creative and original ourselves the next time around.