16-24 year olds have grown up in a digital world and rely on the internet for communication, entertainment, and knowledge. They cruise different styles and cultures online, taking what they like and filtering out the rest. This has led to an era where experiences are highly valued over defined groups. While ambitious and passionate, they also crave personal recognition and worry about failure to achieve their goals. Anything perceived as lacking control causes stress. To effectively reach this demographic, brands must have a strong online presence where they interact and engage audiences. They should focus on creating memorable experiences rather than targeting specific tribes. Most importantly, they must help address 16-24 year olds' social concerns and allow self-expression

1. 16-24 Year Olds
A Cake Perspective

2. Today
4 Key Areas:
1. Communication
Virtual Is Reality
Digital IS Where & How They Live Their Life
2. Lifestyle
Mix And Match Chic
The Death Of Tribes
3. Music
The Raconteurs
Story Telling, The New Social Currency Of The
UK’s Music Fans
4. Beliefs
Who Am I?
16-24 Year Olds Hope, Dreams & Fears

3. Virtual Is Reality
Digital IS Where & How They Live Their Life

4. “They consume more hours of media a week than
they get sleep. They’re masters at multi-tasking,
squeezing 31 hours of activity into one day.
26% of their time is spent on multiple media and as
a result, they have got very good at filtering out
all the boring bits...
Nearly half of 18 to 24-year-old social
networkers (45%) said that, if they had 15
minutes of spare time, they would choose to
spend it on social networking sites, rather than
watching TV, reading, talking on their mobile or
playing video games
The role of the internet in friendships
continues to be very important, with 83%
agreeing that it is important.
The Millennials
Sources: MediaLife 2006, Media Week, Youth Tech Tribe Report

5. Social Currency
With the millennial generation seeing online as a
natural part of their socialising with peers, social
currency has migrated online
Sites with interesting, ‘pass-on-able’ content
become key destination sites

6. Self Expression
Rise of:
User generated content
Blogging
Wiki’s
Social Networking
Twittering

8. Social Networking (3.2m)
Gaming (2.2m) Music (2.3m) Retail therapy (1.9m)
General entertainment (3.1m)
Source: Comscore 2007 / TGI 2007
Where They Are

9. Summary - Virtual Is Reality
Have grown up in a speeded up world. They want it now
Adopted the web for knowledge, communication and
entertainment - everything in their life
Powerful group as they will spread information quickly

10. Mix And Match Chic
The Death Of Tribes

11. “Before the explosion of the internet,
information about street fashion was
much harder to find, and those who
sought it had to rely on trend
magazines, which sprang up in Japan
to cater to otaku—obsessives who
care about the precise type of rivet on
a particular year’s Levi’s or how many
eyelets are on a certain pair of Troop
sneakers.”
Portfolio Magazine, October 2007

12. BAPE
The rise of blogs, broadband and digital cameras
have exposed this cult to a global mass market
Brands such as Bathing Ape have capitalised on
this
Widens out into the mainstream

13. Search volume for Bape

14. The influence of friends on purchases made
is huge, with 91% saying that friends’
recommendations have influence
on what they buy
22% of 16-24 year olds said that, to earn their
endorsement, brands should provide them
with incentives, free downloads/content or
feedback opportunities
11% said social networks have made them
expect more from brands and content online
14% of respondents believed brands appear
more friendly and creative on such sites

16. 21% of 16-24-year-olds claim that they always go online while watching TV.
Source: New Media Age

17. 85% read comics/magazines
% of kids who read magazines
Once a week: 23%
Once every two-three weeks: 22%
Once a month: 31%
Less often: 24%
77% reading magazine less than weekly
Vs 70% visiting social networks every week
Source: TGI

18. “I never wanted to attach an identity to myself
because I am into so much different stuff”
Paul, 23, The Phoenix Report
If you are over-slavishly following one particular subculture that
doesn’t look particularly impressive in terms of self expression which is really, really
important to young people
Paul Hodkinson, Lecturer in Sociology and author of Youth Cultures: Scenes, Subcultures and Tribes
Bands like the Klaxons link elements of electronic,
new wave music, disco, punk and indie and got a
generation of gig going kids into club culture

19. Summary - Mix And Match Chic
Bathe in the now culture of instant gratification thanks
to information and entertainment at their finger tips
Everything they watch, buy or wear defines the world
they live and who they are to their peers
Cruise different styles, cultures and references, taking what they
like and filtering out what they don’t

20. The Raconteurs
Story Telling, The New Social Currency Of The UK’s Music Fans

21. Power Shift
“For years record companies have had their it all
their own way but that’s changing and we have
to change with it”
Ged Doherty, Head of Sony BMG
20 billion songs were illegally downloaded in
2005 alone
IFPI, Piracy Report 2006
64% have recommended artists to others
77% have discovered music they love on SN’s
EMR, 2007 Digital Music Survey
Nokia - Comes With Music
Madonna - $120m, 10 yr deal with Live Nation
Prince - Album give away with Mail
Radiohead - Pay what you want

22. Everyone Is An Expert
“The ownership of a huge and eclectic music
collection has become ordinary. Thanks to the
iPod, and digital music generally, anyone can
build a glorious 10,000-song collection”
www.rocknrollreport.com
Hype Machine - 700,000 unique users a month
Stereogum 400,000 unique users a month
www.trafficestimate.com
Top 100 selling albums in 90’s = 30% of sales,
today its closer to 5%
Wired, May 2006

23. Festival Fever
“It is total boom time for festivals. They are as
much a part of the summer now as Club 18-30”
Paul Stokes, editor of NME
240 festivals in 2006 a 20% increase from ‘04
Mintel, Music Concerts & Festivals 2006
Glastonbury 2000 - 100,000
Glastonbury 2008 - 180,000
European Market
- 65% rise in tickets sold to Brits at Benicassim
Your Music Entertainment, 2007
Challenges:
Saliency - vs competition
Relevance - of brand at that moment
“Its like all music fashions. Look at the superclubs
that were hugely popular 10 years ago. Now
they are completely gone”
Neil Greenway, founder of efestivals

24. Power of Experience
82% increase in number of gigs
35% increase in attendance
Mintel, Music Concerts & Festivals 2006
The Twang
- Sold out 2000 capacity Astoria before
releasing a single
- Sold out Brixton just 4 months after first
album release
70% attend for the atmosphere as much as
the music
Mintel, Music Concerts & Festivals 2006
“We talk more about music experiences than
music itself”
Mark, 24
“Glastonbury festival is about more than music.
There's theatre, cabaret and a huge outdoor
cinema screen... ”
Imogen Tilden, Guardian

25. Summary - The Raconteurs
Power shifted from institutions to the punter
An era of experience where people are becoming more
discerning and adventurous but less tribal
The social currency of music is shifting from the track to the
overall experience

26. Who Am I?
16-24 Year Olds Hope, Dreams & Fears
Qual groups held by Emotional Logic, 2007

27. Ambitions
“I want to be really really famous, I just want
to be really good at something”
“To be successful and original and have a fun life
doing what I enjoy for a living”
“I want to see everything, go everywhere, travel
the world, own a nice house with a big garden,
get a decently paid job that I enjoy”
90% of London teenagers want a job that helps
the environment
Department for Children, Schools and Families

28. Passions
“My friends, I’m nothing without them”
“I don’t really have a passion, my passion is
just to enjoy life”
“I love taking photographs, I love capturing
moments”
“Making music, playing music, hearing music”
“Travel, exploring new places, learning new
things, good food and drink, laughing with
friends, the great outdoors, driving fast, live
music”

29. When Do You Feel Great?
“Being praised after you have done something,
achieved something”
“Earning money after you have done a hard job”
“Being with friends and being able to do
anything, just being yourself”
“I like Xmas. Then everyone spends time with
each other and everyone gets presents”

30. Fears
“That I’m not going to be able to get a good
job”
“That I’m not going to accomplish anything
before I die”
“Global warming, I just feel so helpless, to be
honest I just ignore it now”
“Growing old and regretting not having done all
the things I wanted to do”

31. What Would You Change?
“Less stress. Remove all stressful things (like)
school. Nice easy life, just lie down all day”
“No laws. You can do what you want”
“Being able to express yourself more. Not having
to hide who you really are. Like a job interview or
something, you have pretend to be someone
other than who you are...because people don’t
like other people they want robots”
“You have to be quite plain to get on. A lot of
people don’t get on with each other and it gets
quite stressful. So you have to work around that”

32. Currency Of Cool
They care less about salaries, and more
about flexible working, time to travel and a
better work-life balance.
The Observer
‘What people yearn for these days is no longer
an old-fashioned ‘status’ job, like being a Doctor.
The ‘cool job’ has become the holy grail of the
modern economy’
‘It is best to think of cool as the central status
hierarchy in contemporary urban society. And like
traditional forms of status such as class, cool is
an intrinsically positional good. ’
Rebel Sell, J. Heath

33. Summary - Who Am I?
Crave personal recognition and the trappings of status
and success
Happiness is their holy grail and money, work, education
and experience are perceived to deliver it
Anything that they do not have control over worries them
particularly failure to achieve their goals

34. Adopted the web for knowledge, communication and entertainment
- everything in their life
Cruise different cultures and references, taking
what they like and filtering out what they don’t
Led to an era of experience where people are becoming more
discerning and adventurous but less tribal
Without defined groups to belong to they crave personal
recognition and the trappings of success
Anything that they do not have control over worries them particularly
failure to achieve their goals

35. Conclusions For V

36. Vital you have a online presence in places relevant to audience

37. Need to create opportunities for interaction,
entertainment and deeper engagement

38. Youth are not a homogenous group or numerous tribes,
they are a mish-mash of reference points

39. What does V say about me? You give them
something to be proud of

40. Music is about experiences - create badges of
honour that people talk about

41. Help them answer their social concerns, their way