NEW DELHI: The power of Indian children to influence the purchasing decisions of their parents and grandparents is being targeted by an increasing number of advertisers, who are turning to popular children's channels for the first time.

Industry insiders say the number of non-traditional advertisers adding children's channels, especially cartoon networks, to their promotional mix is on the rise as evidence suggests more parents are watching TV with their children, whose role in household decision-making is also increasing, the Economic Times reports.

Relative newcomers to advertising on Indian children's networks include Maruti Suzuki, the vehicle manufacturer, Honda bikes and Samsung, the South Korean multinational.

The majority of Indian households have only one TV and it is customary for children and parents to watch programmes together, making child-targeted programming still more attractive for mainstream advertisers.

Pogo TV, the cable and satellite channel owned by Turner International India that broadcasts in multiple languages, indicated that other non-traditional advertisers on its network include Micromax, the largest Indian mobile handset brand, electronics groups Hitachi and LG as well as Hero Moto-Corp, the Indian motorbike manufacturer.

The company says it expects the number of new categories and advertisers to grow because non-traditional advertisers can benefit from a very large secondary target audience of parents and grandparents.

Rahul Johri, a senior vice president at Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, which owns Discovery Kids, the channel aimed at children aged four to 12, explained that advertisers do not want to miss out on any opportunity of reaching out to their target audience, which is not restricted just to children.

Meanwhile, Juhi Ravindranath, the ad sales vice-president for South Asia at Turner International India, which owns Pogo and the Cartoon Network, said almost 50% of the company's revenue now comes from non-traditional advertisers.

Santosh Desai, the CEO of Futurebrands of India, added: "For marketers there are a couple of advantages of being on kids' channels. First, there will be some spillover adult viewer and children's role in decision-making for the household has also increased. Secondly, these channels are relatively cheaper in the overall media mix."

Research last year from Cartoon Network found about 75% of Indian parents watch TV 5-6 times a week with their children and this rose to 80% for parents with younger children.

The study also found cartoons remained the preference of children across age groups with 63% of respondents claiming to tune in.

Also, 22% of parents said they definitely considered their children's opinions about the purchase of white goods.

Data sourced from Economic Times, Campaign India; additional content by Warc staff