LIVINGSTON, January 23—Public relations and advertising agency The Cherenson Group has forged an alliance with Funderstanding, a product development consultancy focused on the youth market. The alliance, called Cherenson/Funderstanding, will assist companies looking to develop and improve products and services aimed at kids or to improve they way they communicate with the youth market.
 
“There is a strong need for these services,” said Michael Cherenson, vice president of The Cherenson Group. “Ninety percent of new products fail, primarily because of a poor understanding of the customer.  This problem is exasperated when dealing with kids who have a unique set of concerns as compared to the overall market place.”
 
The new alliance will help corporations test product ideas, identify kids’ trends and preferences, make products and services more ‘kid friendly.’
 
“Targeting kids requires different skills than targeting adults,” said Funderstanding president, Eric Cohen. “Kids are even harder to understand than adults as almost any parent of a teenager can tell you.”