We like to think that part of what we teach our youth is discernment in mass media advertising and resistance to big budget multi-national media campaigns. How are we doing so far? Our children are ripe for the picking, just as we were at their age. Teachers and parents have always needed to monitor and moderate the influence of advertising on our children.

What will happen when we no longer know what advertising is bombarding our children? This will be the next generation of advertising to hit the streets. ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply Engaged’, a market research report commissioned by Yahoo and OMD (media communication specialist), recommends that advertising must be more cleverly matched to the target market, and utilise the global appetite for portable music to deliver a slick (entertaining) and personalised advertising message to their internet and mobile device: marketing communications should play to community, self-expression and personalisation.

This changes the game. Currently, broadcast advertising is regulated by government regulations and industry code of conduct self-regulation. What regulation will occur when it is personalised and streamed through to the user of a mobile phone or PDA? How will we know when our 13 year-old daughter is being brain-washed by the latest alco-pop jingle?  Personalised advertising is a new area of interest for parents and teachers that must not be ignored. Will marketing to our digital generation go underground?