This past summer, Nickelodeon launched the SpongeBob Challenge, an Alexa Skill for, natch, children. In a few short months, the network has learned a lot about voice activations, and shared what it now knows at Ad Age Next's Tuesday session, "Case Studies You Can Use."

"One key thing we learned was how much kids enjoy it," said Matthew Evans, executive VP of strategy, new business and digital at Nickelodeon Group. "And we learned a lot in developing it, and understand the things to keep in mind when making a voice product like this, especially with kids." Like the fact that when a kid plays a game, it's often a family affair, which means lots of voices talking at once.

Other key takeaways, shared with Jeanine Poggi in a video after the presentation, include the need to "make failure fun," Evans said. "Voice is a new tehcnololgy, not everything is going to be perfect ... sometimes there will be a misalignment [and] we wanted to create a fun fail state so kids didn't feel frustrated or disappointed."

For specific tips, and a sense of what the opportunities are for kids' brands, have a listen.