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Mar 26 2008
7 key trends in youth marketing - Spring 2008
Published by Graham Brown at 11:01 am under marketing strategies
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
http://www.mobileyouth.org/post/7-key-trends-in-youth-marketing-spring-2008/
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mobileYouth » 7 key trends in youth marketing - Spring 2008
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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.
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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.
#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
http://www.mobileyouth.org/post/7-key-trends-in-youth-marketing-spring-2008/
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mobileYouth » 7 key trends in youth marketing - Spring 2008
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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.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: 7 key trends in youth marketing, graham brown, luke mitchell, mobileyouth, reach students,
Students, youth
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