(Graham Brown mobileYouth) Top 10 Youth Marketing Myths

Top 10 Youth Marketing Myths by Graham Brown twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 1: They Grow Up Faster These Days How quickly we forget the toil of our forebears. In the 19 th Century it was not uncommon for young boys as old as 12 to be enlisted in the Navy, work in the mines or near bonded slavery as skivvies, hands and laborers or even girls to be married off to unknown relatives. Despite our historical sentimentality for reflection, the post war world for youth was grim – high unemployment, poverty and disease. If anything, youth today grow up wrapped in cotton wool and less exposed to the harsh realities of adulthood. Yes, the world today is faster. Youth, however, are more protected than ever. twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 2: “Digital Natives” & “Connected Generation” As we sit quietly clicking away looking for answers and read each others’ blogs there is a world out there – a world of young consumers who don’t twitter, who don’t own an Iphone, who aren’t on Facebook day and night. They’re not as brand aggressive or technology savvy as we think. They’re in the bars, at friends houses, at the events or just hanging out. The true “Connected” generation are those who sense the most disconnection in their lives – the 30 something execs on twitter whose social circles are rapidly decreasing and reliance on technology at its zenith twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 3: Fun, Cool and Entertainment If only it were that easy – that it was just about making our products “cool” or “fun” then youth would love them enough to tell 1000 friends. The questions we need to be asking are the “why?” ones; why is it cool? why is fun? Once we start looking at this layer we find the focus moves from the observable to the functional – how great youth brands like Nike and Red Bull are built on this function of social utility that underpins the ephemeral nature of “cool”. twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 4: Brand Cynics Yes they’re cynical alright – cynical about irrelevant brands and selfish marketing messages that merely compound the daily challenge of mitigating the advertiser wall of noise. Discover “relevance” and you have a tribe of passionate brand advocates touched by the marketing sweet spot – the dialogue opens up to allow you into their world and beyond the filter that keeps 95% of all product launches, brand messages and communications out there. twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 5: Youth Still Care About TV Well, let’s face it what right-minded ad or TV exec would tell you otherwise? If your measure of “caring” is based on being in the field of view then Youth Still Care. However, your choice of metrics defines your choice of worldview. Get out there and appreciate that it’s no longer about being in the picture, it’s about having dialogue; dialogue that takes you from being background noise to involving youth in the whole process. twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 6: Youth Don’t Care About TV Youth still watch TV. Youth are still heavily influenced by the content on TV and that is unlikely to change for a generation. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water; TV still has a significant role in the lives of youth but it can’t behave like it’s the only child anymore – now it has competitive siblings. Youth to TV “You’re no longer our precious only-child, TV. We still love you but please bear in mind you now have (lots of) siblings. And your bros & sis are very competitive” twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 7: Advertising is Content Advertising is based on the concept of interruption. Interruption, therefore, cannot be content. Only advertisers who, naturally, believe their message to be of value believe it to be of content but youth don’t care what you know unless they know that you care. Start building a dialogue and start creating content – this is the best advertising you could ever create. Created “value” is advertising (not the other way round) twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 8: If you want to reach youth, go mobile … so say the technologists. Mobile is a promise not a solution. It’s a promise to youth that you’ll make them feel relevant, that you’ll open a dialogue to allow their ideas to be heard, that you’ll give them a voice. If your organizational DNA is not geared to deliver on the promise mobile means nothing. twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 9: They want it all FREE Competition for youth attention resorts to FREE when you lose sight of what it is they really want from your product. Students are more than happy to invest dollars into getting drunk, clothes or the Iphone. When a product has true social currency, when the product is able to connect at the emotional not the observable level of behavior, it is able to extricate itself from the “race to the bottom” that defines the price war for young customers. twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Myth 10: Waking Up Thinking About Your Brand Unless you’re Google or Apple, it doesn’t happen. Get over it twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Are you marketing to or Are you marketing with ? twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Want mobileYouth to present at your company/conference? Click Here twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

Graham Brown mobileYouth.org Youth Marketing Mobile Trends Ideation + Research twitter: grahamdbrown [email_address]

For FREE Youth Trends Reports visit: YOUTHTRENDSREPORT.COM

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(Graham Brown mobileYouth) Top 10 Youth Marketing Myths

by Graham Brown (mobileYouth) on Jul 10, 2009

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(Graham Brown mobileYouth) Top 10 Youth Marketing Myths — Presentation Transcript