Morrisons appears to have found the secret formula to success with their recent and extraordinarily successful advertising campaigns which place child models in the spotlight. The advertisements were first rolled out during July 2010 as part of a new strategy which was overseen at the time by marketing director Michael Bates, and they continue to increase the popularity of the brand.

Previously celebrity-led advertising campaigns, starring ‘Top Gear’ host Richard Hammond, TV presenter Denise van Outen and singer and actress Lulu, were dropped in favour of a the new approach and the results were surprising. Since they aired the supermarket giant has proved just what a difference child models can make to the effectiveness of a campaign.

In fact, the new style adverts were so successful that they led to a ‘Viewpoints’ article on the ‘Marketing Week’ website which astounded readers with figures provided by global marketing and advertising research company Nielsen IAG. The article revealed: “Morrisons experiences an even greater uplift when featuring children [in advertisements]. Recall of Morrisons ads with children in 2010 was 80% higher than those without children; recall of Morrisons as the advertiser was 128% higher; recall of the ad message was 176% higher; and likeability 181% higher.”

Modelling agency Models Direct knows how popular advertisements featuring baby models, toddler models, child models and teen models can be. Now the figures prove it. Neilsen IAG’s research indicates that recall of the advertiser and likeability of the advertisement in campaigns featuring children are both significantly improved.

We provide models from all of these categories to clients who understand the benefits of featuring cute, fun and fresh faces in their campaigns – and with the buzz that these figures have created we can only guess that demand for child models will grow.