This document discusses seven common misconceptions about youth marketing. It notes that young people cannot be defined by "coolness" alone, as most live average lives focused on school, family, and mainstream interests. It also challenges the ideas that youth have always been disrespectful or that their population is small, noting Australia has over 3 million youth along with many foreign and traveling students. The document advocates understanding youth culture through pillars like fashion, technology, and socializing rather than seeing them only as consumers or troublemakers.

3. my day job…

4. my website…

5. TYPE THIS INTO
GOOGLE
YPulse
Next Great Thing
PSFK
eMarketer
Ruby Pseudo

6. the seven misconceptions of
youth marketing

7. misconception no.1:
YOU ARE YOUR TARGET MARKET

8. Anyone turning 16 next year…
was born in 1993

9. misconception no.2:
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE ALL COOL

10. ‘Coolness’ is relative…
Your average teenager goes
to school, does their
homework, spends more time
with their parents than their
friends, saves money, listens
to pop music, doesn’t drink
(that much), doesn’t take
drugs and wears a limited
supply of high street fashion…

11. misconception no.3:
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE ALL TROUBLE

12. 'The children now love luxury; they
have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for
elders and love chatter in lace of
exercise. Children are now tyrants, not
the servants of their households. They
no longer rise when elders enter the
room. They contradict their parents,
chatter before company, gobble up
dainties at the table, cross their legs,
and tyrannize their teachers…
Socrates: 460 BC

13. misconception no.4:
THE YOUTH POPULATION IS SMALL

14. a) There are 3,284,000 young Australians (P13-24)
b) There are 200,000 foreign students
c) Over 400,000 backpackers arrive every year

15. misconception no.5:
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE HARD TO FIND

16. Young people are the biggest consumers
of media and entertainment

17. Technology (and advertising) has created:
“Media Fragmentation”
Young people have evolved the ability to:
“Multi-Media-Task”

18. Multi-Media-Tasking
Hours per day spent doing…
12.00
11.00
10.00
1.21
9.00
Gaming
8.00 1.51 On the Internet
7.00
0.88
6.00 3.21
Watching DVDs
5.00 1.13
HOURS
4.00 1.98
3.00
2.00 4.40 Watching Television
2.91
1.00
0.00
Weekday Weekend
Source: The Australian Kids & Family Panel
(Nickelodeon 2008) 11-17 year olds

19. misconception no.6:
YOUNG PEOPLE DON’T CARE ABOUT
BRANDS

20. Kids can discern brands by
18 months…
source: Marketers Merchants of Menace, Herald Sun, published Sept 2007

21. and by the age of two, they
ask for brands by name
source: Marketers Merchants of Menace, Herald Sun, published Sept 2007

22. US teens have 145
conversations a
week about brands
source: The Keller Fay Group, TalkTrack Survey August 2007

23. …twice the rate of adults
source: The Keller Fay Group, TalkTrack Survey August 2007

24. 58% of teen conversations
about bran ds are positive
source: The Keller Fay Group, TalkTrack Survey August 2007

25. Favourite Brands Australia (P13-19)
Strictly confidential – legally protected and privileged information

26. misconception no.7:
YOU NEED TO SPEND ALL YOUR BUDGET
ONLINE BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE ALL THE
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE

27. online is not a silo
Print
Online TV

28. online is the thread that
ties everything together

29. Is there a secret to youth marketing?

30. “Be intimately involved
with your target
audience’s lifestyle,
understand their wants
and needs and the
landscape they live in”
Omar Saar - UniverSOUL

31. The 5 Pillars of Youth Culture
Fashion Sport Technology
Socialising Music

32. (Note: Media & advertising are not a pillars of
youth culture)

33. What is your single
minded proposition?

34. Don’t think advertising
Think ENTERTAINMENT

35. evolve, fragment and deliver
give everyone a little piece, if they like it
they’ll come back for more.

36. Mountain Dew Case Study
casestudy1: www.mountaindew.com

37. casestudy2: www.mooks.com

38. casestudy3:

39. threebillion.com
Contact:
paul.macgregor@mcn.com.au
paul@threebillion.com