The following is an opinion piece edited by author Graham Brown
The fitness landscape that determines success in marketing to young consumers is changing. 10 years ago, the TV provided the de facto advertising channel to win the hearts and minds of this often difficult to reach demographic. Since 2007 alone, the rise of social networking, flat rate data plans both on mobile and internet as well as a widespread growth in niche media content means that marketers are now increasingly challenged when it comes to both communicating with and understanding youth.
But fear not, because we bring you insight from two of the youth marketing industry’s key commentators to shed some light on what’s hot in 2008 when it comes to trends in youth marketing.
Graham Brown author of mobileYouth and Luke Mitchell from Reach Students bring you the 7 key youth marketing trends to look out for in 2008.
#1 “Free” is a viable business model
Given the increasingly challenging task of reaching out to young consumers, more brands consider the “free” route (eg ad supported or cross-selling) as a viable alternative to paid downloads.
Recent download data from NIN and Radiohead’s respective attempts at “pay what you like” charging models demonstrates that allowing the consumer to decide what value should be placed on the relationship and content can be both profitable and a shrewd PR move.
But it’s not just music artists trying to crack the “free” nut but delving deeper we find well established brands from RyanAir to Google to Skype making money out of young consumers by giving away goods and services others would traditionally have paid for.
Blyk’s attempt to crack the mobile industry nut claims that rather than bring to the telecoms table yet another fledgling MVNO, the startup says the operator’s position is a response to a market need - on the one hand young consumers are keen to have subsidized phone bills and the other we have a line of brands queueing up to build a dialogue with young consumers.
Youth indifference may well prove to be a brand’s most significant cost factor so offering a service for free with the promise of cross-selling related services may well provide the first tentative steps in addressing that challenge.
#2 Transparency
When things go wrong, as they inevitably do, legal eagles compete with internal marcomms departments to issue the highest volume of memos all in the name of Brand IP and protecting corporate interest.
Some of the more innovative brands, however, are going long on being transparent about their values and mistakes when communicating with youth. Household names such as Jet Blue, GAP, Starbucks are learning the hard way that covering up no longer works and consumers, especially the younger ones, warm to companies that admit their human fallacies.
Consumers are tired of being both whitewashed and stonewalled. In an era when youth expect access and brands are willing to provide it, the company CEO that appears on YouTube confessing they’d “screwed up” may lose a few investor friends, but wins the long term hearts and minds of the consumer.
After all, he is like us - human. And people buy people, not brands.
#3 Facebook fatigue
It’s now all about 30 somethings in the world of Facebook. Youth are already exploring new avenues more relevant to their lifestyle - such as Bebo. Do we yet have a student specific SNS?
MySpace’s partnership with MTV to platform young musical talent from the social network is a PR victory in the face of a Facebook population disillusioned with their parents and corporates hijacking the party.
Back in the 80s, youth witnessed their parents squeezing into a pair of Levi’s 501s. No longer was the “original jean” cool because it failed to evolve its consumer relevance in as much as SNS sites seek the latest widget to keep themselves alive.
MySpace continues to thrive despite the naysayers, Facebook however is not the youth player it once was.
#4 The rise of the moderates
You know that student activism is finally dead when even NUS suggests a radical reform of its own organisation. It wants to move away from discussing minority issues and global affairs, and instead reflect the everyday interests of its members.
Individually, most students have a moderate and parochial political outlook these days, more concerned with the price of their Bacardi & Coke than any ethical questions that may come served with it. But now this swell of moderate opinion has become a determined movement.
Look out for a new generation of young leaders, keen to show the world how pragmatic they can be.
#5 “Inner circle” brands
Once young consumers were thought to be naïve and persuadable. Then they were savvy, fickle and cynical to brand messages. What followed was a stalemate where wise brands and young consumers knew each others’ hands and knew it would be foolish to pretend otherwise. Then things got complex.
The brands that are winning now have been allowed into a collective inner circle, one where they carefully manage very sophisticated and very considered relationships. Recent research by Opinionpanel discovered a maximum of twenty brands that students were willing to be Facebook friends with. They included Sony, H&M, Apple and Innocent.
But there is also space in the inner circle for maverick brands who don’t give a damn for high-level marketing approaches. In convenience foods this year, watch as sales of plain, honest and simple Pukka Pies rise, while youth ‘try hards’ like Pot Noodle fall.
See how brands such as Scion and Red Bull are building relevance with youth in our Great Youth Brands series.
#6 It’s cool to be a suit
In the eyes of the young, businesspeople were once the least cool people in the world. Now it’s okay to want to be a suit.
Thanks to Dragon’s Den, The Apprentice, a second wave of internet entrepreneurs (spiritually led by youth icon Mark Zuckerberg), media dramatisation of financial news and ever-increasing opportunities to make money from your bedroom computer, business is somehow sexy.
Witness the clamour of smart twenty-somethings trying to get in to London’s must-see gig of last term. Not “Hot Chip” at the Electric Ballroom, but investment bankers BNP Paribas at the LSE.
#7 Youth turn off the box
The current generation of young consumers are perhaps the first that have had real choice in their media consumption. TV, although remaining a significant channel of influence in their lives, is increasingly being squeezed out by other distractions. Facebook, MySpace, WII, homework, after-scool activities, commuting and just good old “hanging out with friends” compete with TV for youth attention.
And it’s not just the decreasing time spent watching TV, it’s the quality of that time. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 25% of high school students were actively involved in another form of media (playstation, computer etc) whilst “watching” TV. Add to that the increasing fragmentation of media channels (MTV1, MTV2, MTVBase, MTVU etc) you find a situation where advertisers can no longer identify clear front-runners for their marketing spend.
About mobileYouth
(Graham Brown) mobileYouth is a 7 year ongoing research project into how technology such as mobile phones fits into the social universe of young people. mobileYouth helps companies such as Vodafone and P&G understand how to better develop and market youth products.
http://www.mobileYouth.org
About Reach Students
(Luke Mitchell) Reach Students is a digital marketing consultancy focused on the intelligent youth audience. Recent clients include the Cabinet Office, Cancer Research UK, Parcelforce Worldwide and the University of Salford. It publishes case studies, resources and opinion at http://www.reachstudents.co.uk and has been issuing its popular student marketing e-newsletter since 2002.
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