A child’s first bank account is one of the first grown-up things they get, and so ING Direct is encouraging young savers to embark on their banking journey with an advertising campaign for its Planet Orange program.

Planet Orange, launched in September 2009, is an ING savings program targeted at kids, housed on its own website, Orangekids.ca. This summer, the program is getting one of its first big promotional boosts with a media campaign handled by Initiative in Toronto and creative by GWP Brand Engineering.

The campaign is promoting Planet Orange as a destination for youth financial literacy and seeking to engage youth with an online game about saving money. Prizes for the contest include a $250 ING Direct children’s savings account, a piggy bank, and a book about money and savings published by ING in partnership with Owl Kids Books.

The media buy includes ads in Owl and Chickadee magazines and on each mag’s website, Today’s Parent magazine and on the Today’s Parent website, and ParentsCanada.com. A social media strategy is also being deployed, including ‘savings tips’ for parents tweeted daily this week from the SuperStarSaver Twitter account, and posted on the SuperStarSaver Facebook page.

Planet Orange targets children and their parents, a release on the program states. The games on the website teach children about budgets and saving, as they have to earn money to fuel their spaceships and buy only things that fit within their budgets. Children are awarded ‘certificates’ once their tasks are completed and they answer quiz questions. The site seeks to simply describe topics such as compounding interest, information which the bank says is likely as useful to parents as it is to children.

The contest closes Aug. 31.