Kids Connection, a success story

Kids Connection successfully launched its 22 page high quality glossy A5 printed directory in March 2006 to 10,000 parents and teachers in the local Port Elizabeth market. The comprehensive directory for young families from newborn to 12 years, was born from pure frustration by a mom of 3 who understands the importance of having detailed information related to children and is aimed to assist young families spend less time PLANNING and more time PLAYING. Which has subsequently become our well-known by-line. 

Shortly after the printed publication, the website was launched. The site now receives more than 250,000 hits a month, carrying the revolutionary Self Install Advert which enables clients to load their own advert, automatically proof and then go live vertially immediately (there is a short filtering process by our Head Office). The launch of the “new” interactive world-class website continues to impress with its alignment to global trends in website design. Advertisers receive responses and orders from all over the world. A children’s furniture manufacturer based in Port Elizabeth has received orders from as far as London and Germany.

In March 2010 the annual A3 Calendar, delivered to 10,000 parents in the Port Elizabeth and surrounds market, carries an Extra Murals section for moms to update quarterly. The Calendar presents companies with the opportunity of 12 months exposure. There will also be Calendars specific to the  Garden Route, Durban and Johannesburg regions in the future.

In November 2010 an exhibition was successfully held in to the Port Elizabeth market. Giving child-related businesses the opportunity to meet their customers face to face, allowing them to communicate, educate and interact with their direct target market - parents and teachers

Wendy Beaufort, a former National Marketing Manager left the corporate world to be with her children late in 2005. She identified that concise information relating to LOCAL children’s products & service in the city was difficult to come by. “As parents, we normally go on referral from friends, co-parents at school or in the workplace, we also often feel there may be a lack of choice”.

"Whether you’re a working mother or not, we are all governed by time constraints and entire Kids Connection concept (website, printed publication, calendar and exhibition) assists parents to make quick informed decisions in a busy world.” says Wendy

Mother of 3 children she fully understands that children spell love T-I-M-E and it is her earnest hope that through the Kids Connection concept, she will assist in giving families back some of that time.

The growth and support of the Kids Connection brand is testament to the fact that Kids Connection is bringing value both to parents, teachers and its clients. An electronic newsletter on events, new product launches and news across the country is regularly sent to more than 6,000 parents. Joining this database is quick and free via the website.

Kids Connection Cares is the social responsibility arm of the business and is proud to contribute to the community. Wendy was a mentor on the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation for 2 years. The Foundation provides selected previously disadvantaged beneficiaries with a full scholarship to university with full financial support to pursue a university degree in the fields of commerce, engineering and science. She is also a Member of Retina South Africa Research Program. Often Optical damage in later years is as a result of damage done to the eyes before the age of 7 years.

Wendy, who’s passionate about her product clearly states that it is her daily endeavour to provide a solution to her clients and to parents. “I don’t believe we have the support structure our parents did, we need all the help we can get in raising our children in today’s world” With the harsh economic climate at present, she also emphasises her commitment to provide the most affordable platform for clients with a guaranteed target market and, as importantly, to assist in making parents lives easier, from planning a birthday party, a family holiday or finding that unique gift for a child –“ If I succeed in this”, she says, “I would have done what I set out to do"

Kids Connection, after 5 years in operation, has become a trusted referral system to parents, not only in South Africa, but in many other countries too.