There was a time when children only appeared on a brand's radar if the product itself said ‘kids’ on the label—a cereal, a toy, a pair of school shoes. Every other category pitched to the adult writing the cheque, on the assumption that children had opinions but little leverage on what ultimately lands home from the shopping card. That line has quietly dissolved. The household purchase decision is no longer made at the top and communicated downward; increasingly, it starts with a child's opinion and works its way up, be it the cereal aisle, the electronics store or the family's next OTT subscription.
India is home to more than 250 million children under the age of 14, and this generation is no longer a passive beneficiary of family spending—it is an active participant in it. Dipshika Ravi, National Creative Director at Schbang, counts “food, beverages, toys, travel, entertainment and gaming among the segments seeing the sharpest impact of what the industry has started calling ‘kidfluence’ with technology now joining the list as children weigh in on devices, gaming subscriptions and smart-home products.”
Travel, she believes, is one of the clearest examples. Family holidays are increasingly shaped by children's aspirations, with destinations such as Singapore and Paris often anchored by attractions such as Disneyland. Many purchase journeys, Ravi argues, no longer begin with the buyer—they begin with the youngest member of the family.
That influence is particularly visible in entertainment-led licensing, where a well-loved character can turn an ordinary product into an object of desire. Tan Wee, Executive Director, Brand Commercialization at Disney Consumer Products, says stories and characters have always shaped how families connect, while audiences now follow them across streaming, theatrical releases, gaming and social platforms. That engagement increasingly spills into the products and experiences they choose to bring home.
In India, Wee notes, “Disney's franchises resonate across generations—parents reintroducing the favourites of their own childhoods even as children embrace both classic and new stories in their own way.” This intergenerational fandom, he says, is one of the main reasons that brands across categories continue to collaborate with Disney, with interest also building around upcoming theatrical tentpoles such as Marvel Studios' Avengers: Doomsday.
But children are no longer discovering brands only through traditional advertising. Ravi points to YouTube, gaming platforms and creators as increasingly influential discovery points. “Where brands once simply spoke to children, children now speak back to brands,” she says. Attention, therefore, is no longer something brands can simply interrupt into existence—it has to be earned.
The challenge is doing that while also convincing the parent. Ravi argues that brands often make the mistake of sending both audiences an identical message, when the real opportunity lies in layered storytelling: children respond to fun, surprise and participation, while parents look for trust, value and emotional reassurance.
She points to Surf Excel's ‘Daag Achhe Hain’ as a masterclass in this approach. Children see permission to play, while parents see a message about empathy, kindness and learning. The product, in effect, becomes a vehicle for a larger emotional proposition.
Wellness is adding another dimension to the equation. A new generation of parents—more online, research-driven and conscious of their children's development—is scrutinising categories that once escaped much attention.
Satyajit Mittal, Founder of children's footwear brand Aretto, has witnessed this shift firsthand. He describes millennial parents as deeply involved in decisions around their children's food, clothing, footwear and cognitive development. This scrutiny, he says, has created momentum for categories such as children's footwear engineered around how young feet grow.
Ravi sees the same instinct reshaping product development more broadly. Children, she argues, are influencing products almost as much as advertising, pushing brands towards offerings that are more interactive, collectible and experience-led. The creators and communities they follow are also introducing brands to newer cultural codes—from anime and gaming to Korean trends—forcing companies to evolve faster than traditional innovation cycles.
Yet children's growing influence comes with a significant caveat: brands cannot market to them in the same way they market to adults.
Chandan Khandelwal, Business Head for ZEE5's children's content vertical, KidZ, describes children's advertising as an unusually sensitised space, given the regulations and laws governing communication to young audiences. Even within these constraints, he sees momentum building, with FMCG brands increasing spends and categories such as stationery, apparel, toys, hygiene and self-care attracting greater interest.
Ravi argues that the restrictions should also be viewed as a responsibility. With ASCI guidelines in place, brands should inspire curiosity rather than consumption, encouraging creativity, kindness and imagination instead of simply pushing a sale. She cites Parle-G's ‘G Maane Genius’ as an example of a campaign that celebrates children's potential rather than pressuring them to consume.
Taken together, these shifts point to a larger change in how brands approach the family wallet. Winning over India's youngest consumers is no longer a side hustle for children's brands—it is becoming a design brief across categories. The product has to hold a child's attention, the campaign has to satisfy a parent's due diligence, and the media plan has to navigate a tightening compliance landscape.
For an industry accustomed to speaking to adults about what they want, the harder—and increasingly more valuable—skill is learning to speak to children about what they love, in a way their parents are comfortable saying yes to.
