The document summarizes the key findings from a focus group of 8 British teenagers aged 16-17 from middle income families. The 3 main points are: 1) Their friends have the strongest influence on them and they form close friendships through in-person interactions, though they also use social media. 2) They enjoy working and earning their own money, which they spend mostly on entertainment like going to pubs and holidays with friends. 3) They are not strongly loyal to brands but seek good style, quality, price and customer service. Functionality is also important for items like mobile phones.

2. Teen Focus Group Output
30 January 2008

3. Background
The purchasing power of teenagers is enormous. As a consumer group they are
important to many Brands. Even if teens are not a core consumer today of a Brand,
their potential to be tomorrow’s consumers cannot be overlooked.
We wanted to get closer to these individuals, to understand a bit more about who
influences them, how they perceive brands, how they spend their money and their
general attitudes. We invited 8 teenagers (4 boys and 4 girls), aged 16 – 17, to
participate in a 2 hour ‘consumer closeness’ session at our XPotential Marlow office.
We focused on 16-17 years old as they are of an age where they have developed
their own independence and are no longer considered children. Our participants are
all British from middle income families and attending high schools in the local High
Wycombe area.
Through our small focus group of 8, we now have a glimpse into how these teens
think and what makes them tick.
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4. Insight summary
Teens and Friends Teens and the Net Teen Girls and Shopping
“I believe that I can only really be “Face book, MySpace, Bebo are “shopping is about having a good
ME when I’m with my friends” great for connecting with, getting to time with girl friends more that it is
know and spending time with loads about having to buy something
Teens and relationships of people, but real friends are only specific”
“Age, Class, Sex is not really made when we meet up”
important, what’s important is that Teen Boys and Shopping
I have to meet face to face and Teens and Security “shopping is a necessary evil, I will
‘click’ with someone before I can “Even at school we’re in danger only go if I need something specific
be a close friend with them” (physical), it’s important for us to and I’m more or less sure where I
set good examples for those kids can buy it”
Teens and money
that don’t know right from wrong
“its really important to earn my because parents and teachers Teens and retailers
own money, it gives me can’t really do anything” “just because I’m a teenager
independence and freedom to doesn’t mean I’m not important. I
choose what I want to do” Teens and Nationality look for quality, great service, good
“We don’t feel we belong here value and a great experience just
Teens and Parents as much as adults do”
anymore, being British is no longer
“With most things I want to be a reason of pride”
independent of my parents but if it Teens and skincare
gets too tough I know I can always Teens and Mobile Phones “I know that looking after my skin is
go to them as a last resort” “I don’t really care too much about important but most products don’t
the Brand of my phone. It’s how it work and are too complicated and
Teens and advertising works (functions) that’s more boring to use. Give me something
“If you want me to remember an important to me” that’s easy to understand, nice to
ad, make it really funny” use and that works”
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5. Executive Summary – Who Influences Them
In summary, we found that our group is mainly influenced by their friends. Friendships
are formed through their community at school, social clubs and work. Although they
are open to using different means to network and to enlarge their social circle,
generally, close “trusting” friendship are still formed through face-to-face interactions.
Virtual networking is a means for the teens to vicariously explore outside their own
world.
What is interesting is that teens who have friends from different backgrounds, such as
interests, social or economic, prefer to keep these groups separate. By keeping friends
separate, teens can put on different “faces” with different groups and thereby play out
different roles of their personality.
Our group is at the age where they have just started to gain independence and make
some important decisions for themselves. A majority of them work and earn money
for non-essentials. When confronted with a problem, our group will seek will try to
sort it out on their own or then go to their friends or siblings for advice. For the
teenager, it is only when a problem feels insurmountable or is beyond their means to
solve, do they seek out parent’s help. Otherwise, parents takes a supporting role in
the background of the teens’ daily lives.
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6. Executive Summary – Where They Spend Their Money
The boys seem to be the hardworking lot. All the boys in our group work -- one
started working when he was 13 and one has 3 jobs! However, only 50% of the girls in
our group work. There is a close link between financial freedom and independence.
The males seem to have a stronger tendency to demand their independence at an
earlier age. Our group enjoys working and making their own money. Not only does it
give them more independence, it also helps them learn to manage their finances
better.
Entertainment is top on the list of spending. Going out, defined as going to pubs and
on holidays with friends, was sited as where most money is spent. Libation (drink!),
rather than food is strongly associated with going to the pub.
The next big spend was on shopping which encompasses a wide range of categories
such as clothing, accessories, shoes, cosmetic and skincare. This was predominantly a
girls social activity. Although some boys do shop with friends, generally, it is more out
of necessity rather than as a social activity or entertainment. Shopping online was not
popular with our group. They do browse online but it is rare that they purchase items
online. Shopping is an activity where they can socialise and mingle and be close with
their friends. Music is the only category where online purchases are made. Our group
has apprehension about losing music downloads and so 50% still prefers tangible CDs.
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7. Executive Summary – Perception Towards Brands
Our teens are not brand loyal. They know about brands and have opinions on brands but are not
blindly led by brands. Brands need to be able to deliver a tangible promise, our teens are savvy
enough not be sold on a dream alone.
A combination of style, quality, price and service is needed to sway our group. For shopping, they
are unanimously enamoured with Primark as it offers the right combination for our teen shoppers.
TopMan, (part of the TopShop Group), was also sited to have good styling but when compared to
Primark, the price to value ratio is less enticing.
For clothing, the brand is much less important than the design, style and comfort. These teenagers
are just as happy wearing a cheaper version of a designer copy rather than paying the premium for
a designer brand. Therefore, brands like TopShop, where up-to-date fashion pieces can be found at
affordable prices are a favourite.
For mobile phones, brands are important because of its association with its own operating system.
Once teenagers become familiar with a type of system, they are less keen on switching brands.
This is more of a functionality and practicality issue rather than a true loyalty to the brand.
Our group demand and want good customer service but feels that most shops dismiss them as
important customers and often look down on them. It is important to note that although teens are
very price conscious, they are willing to pay a premium for customer service.
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8. Executive Summary – Skin care
Our group rarely uses skincare products as part of a cleansing regime. For the girls in
our group, this could be because cosmetics were rarely used and therefore, the
perception is that a skincare regime is not necessary. Girls in our group perceive
skincare to be too complicated and too time consuming. Boys find special skincare
products unnecessary; when they do use a product, it is generally a shaving lotion/gel.
A favourite product sited was NIVEA for Men aftershave balm.
When asked about acne products, most said that they don’t use it because it does not
work. However, it later became apparent that most had had a need to use acne
product sat some point but found it did not produce satisfactory results, therefore they
generalised that all acne products do not work.
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9. Executive Summary –Attracting their attention
Generally it is word of mouth that gets our teens to use a product as this is linked
closely with a trusted source – a friend or a relative. It is difficult to attract our group
with run of the mill advertising. Advertising, be it TV, radio or internet must have an
impact, a “Wow” factor to attract our group. If it becomes a talking point within the
community, all the better. Ads that makes our group laugh have the biggest chance of
catching their attention and in doing so will have a better chance of trial or purchase.
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10. Executive Summary – Strong views
Our group has very strong opinions on social and political issues. We discussed several
issues:
Loss of “Britishness”
They feel very strongly that British Culture or ‘what it means to be from Great Britain’
has eroded in the past 10-20 years. They also perceive the state of affairs have
deteriorated such as a failure of the school system, health system, rail and public
transport. Further, they perceive an animosity from other nations towards the British.
The anguish over their loss of “Britishness” weakened a sense of patriotism.
Strict punishment for bullies
They perceive a lack of security in schools. Bullying is prevalent, especially in the
younger age group. They feel strongly that the only way to stop bullying is for the
authorities to enforce strict punishment and that a slap on the wrist will just not do.
Need for more discipline
The group agreed a need for stricter discipline, for example a child misbehaving in a
public space. However, they had divergent views on what type of ‘discipline’ would be
most effective. One group felt that physical punishment with reasonable force, (i.e.:
slap on the wrist or ear), is acceptable as a means of disciplinary action whereas the
other group felt that physical punishment in any degree is absolutely unacceptable.
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11. Appendices
Insights and Supporting
data
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12. Teen’s and friends”
Insight: “I believe that I can only really be ME when I’m with my friends”
Friends are influencing factors
Friends are trusted and relied on for opinion
What you do depends a lot on what your friends do
Siblings (from close age group) do have influences on some of the teens
There is a need to fit in
Close friends influence the majority of their lives
Influence means they can criticise each other
There is a different persona with family than with friends (are more relaxed and are
“themselves” when they are with friends)
Get advice from siblings and friends
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13. Teens and Relationship Building
Insight: “Age, Class, Sex is not really important, what’s important is that I have to meet
face to face and ‘click’ with someone before I can be a close friend with them”
Friends formed through physical meeting
Youth need to “trust” before letting another person into their close circle
Youth find different groups of friends which suit their different aspects of their personality
Majority keep different circles of friends that don’t mix
Act differently around different groups
There is a perception that friends from different groups won’t mix
They don’t mind having friends from different social background
There is a segmentation – different groups of friends for different things (different activities)
Some spend more time with school group and some spend more time with non-school group
“I like having separate groups of friends because I can act differently around different people”
They don’t like to mix different “classes” of friends (eg: snob + normal)
Friends through social clubs
Friends through work
Friends mainly through school
Age is not a barrier to making new friends
Although age is not a barrier, it is important to “click” (eg: understand each other)
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14. Teens and Parents
Insight: “With most things I want to be independent of my parents but if it gets too
tough I know I can always go to them as a last resort”
Parent’s attitude affects kids (one teen’s parents are unhappy a lot of time => he is unhappy)
Happy kids have a happy home life
Only some would confide about problems with parents if they really trust them like close friends
Don’t expect parents to pay for higher education
Feel that parents only have responsibility to support them up to a certain age (eg: 16-17)
Feel they can’t live off parents.
Feel that their parent have done enough by giving a roof over their head
Money problems, they will seek out parents. For other problems they will seek friends for advice.
For serious problems, they will go to their parents for help
Perception of a big issue or serious problems are: problem with friends; school work; things that
can’t deal with on their own or with friends
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15. Teens and Money
Insight: “its really important to earn my own money, it gives me independence and
freedom to choose what I want to do”
All the boys work and some started at an early age, whereas only 50% of the girls work
One boy had 3 jobs!
Making money teaches you to manage money better
Even with allowances, work pay makes up larger part of spending money
At age 16-17, majority work and support own expenses
Cautious of credit cards and building up a debt
None of the group own a credit card. All have debit cards
Most money spend on entertainment (going out, drinks, holidays)
Spend most their money on travel, petrol, food and holidays with friends
The ones with jobs who managed their money bought their own things felt more independent
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16. Teens and the net
Insight: “Face book, MySpace, Bebo are great for connecting with, getting to know and
spending time with loads of people, but real friends are only made when we meet up”
Instant messenger used for communicating with overseas friends (cost issue)
On Facebook or web, MySpace, only contact people with the same interest
Checking out profiles and gadgets on Facebook equate to person’s personality
Instant message on computer is not as preferred as phone texting
Used the internet to make friends “more” when they were younger (eg: < age 16)
Accept virtual networking as a vehicle to extend social network
Teens are not as suspicious (dubious) of virtual networking
Gaining International exposure from virtual networking (e.g.: communicate with someone from
Las Vegas)
Broader International knowledge even without travelling
Networking through friends to extend social group
They like Facebook because it provides larger access to networking
They do develop online friendships, but once it is developed, a physical meeting is important
All had access to laptops or P.C
Chatting ≠ meeting people or networking. In their terminology, chatting is for killing time
They use internet chat rooms when bored
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17. Teens and Security
Insight: “Even at school we’re in danger (physical), it’s important for us to set good
examples for those kids that don’t know right from wrong because parents and
teachers can’t really do anything”
There is a lot of bullying in school – verbal abuse and physical
There is safety in numbers
Group felt bullied in their younger years (age 7-10) but are now big enough to defend
themselves
No security at school, don’t feel safe
There needs to be punishment to back up threat, otherwise, bullies will persist.
Having been bullied => turn into bully
Don’t tell teachers. They can’t do anything.
Physical violence is always wrong with a child
If you are spoon fed, then you don’t know right from wrong and don’t take responsibility for your
own actions
Very opposing views on disciplining unruly children
Groups feels that more needs to be done (eg: punishment for bullies)
Whole part of growing up is to find out for yourself
Need to find out what’s wrong for yourself
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18. Teens and Nationality
Insight: “We don’t feel we belong here anymore, being British is not longer a reason of
pride”
Group feels they are losing British culture to whinging minorities
Youth feels like UK has changed for the worst, (especially in the last 10 years)
Group feel that UK are America’s puppet – don’t make their own decisions
British teens thinks people dislike the English
British teens feel there has been lots of changes in the last 10-20 years (not good changes)
Feels that British culture is being erased
They all felt that every other nation hates the English
Not proud of their own country
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19. Teens and Shopping
Insight:
Girls “shopping is about having a good time with girl friends more that it is about having
to buy something specific”
Boys “shopping is a necessary evil, I will only go if I need something specific and I’m more
or less sure where I can buy it”
Shopping is a social activity
Important for girls to shop with friends. Not so much for guys.
Guys generally prefer to shop by themselves and will go to a shop only if they want something
and will leave the shop once they’ve got what they want
Most go shopping at the shops and not online
They will look at things online but not buy the things online
Group rather go to a shop than shop online
Guys don’t care so much about buying clothes
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20. Teens and Retailers
Insight: “just because I’m a teenager doesn’t mean I’m not important. I look for quality,
great service, good value and a great experience just as much as adults do”
Service is important
Customer service is important and even though price conscious, would pay a premium for
customer service
Group feels spoken down to when going into shops – prefer shops that have good customer
service
Teens feel they get treated differently (looked down at) at stores
Design, quality and cost important in selecting clothes
Want the best deals for their money – especially the ones that work for it
Clothes quality is important
Prices are important – they do pay attention to prices
Group (on whole wasn’t interested in XBOX or video gaming (not much time to play games)
Internet games – depend on different people, in our group, they weren’t interested in this
See big brands (e.g.: Tesco as cheaper, value for money)
The clothes at John Lewis are expensive and old fashion
Primark = good design, good quality and good prices
Primark is a all-round favourite place to shop
Think NEXT is old men’s shop
Topman is a good shop for guys
The price of a piece of clothing (e.g.: cheaper version is more important than an expensive
branded one)
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21. Teens and Skincare
Insight: “I know that caring for my skin is important but most products don’t work and
are too complicated and boring to use. Give me something that’s easy to understand,
nice to use and that works”
Generally don’t feel that acne products work
Skincare is not on top of list of items to spend money on
Word of mouth and TV adverts is how they choose their skincare products
They find that a skincare regime is tedious, too time consuming and complicated
If males buy skincare, it’s normally for shaving as opposed to a moisturizer/cleanser
Like NIVEA for Men, the product has good function
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22. Teens and Mobile Phones
Insight: “I don’t really care too much about the Brand of my phone. It’s how it works
(functions) that’s more important to me”
Mobile phone (reflection of personality?)
Once you’ve used a phone brand, they stick to it, but brand loyalty is due to familiarity with
functionality and don’t want to/can’t be bothered to learn a new operating system
Group prefers the simple, easy to use mobile phones -> Nokia is perceived to be too hard
Mobile phone selection based on brand/functionality, then price/package
LG phones not very good
Teens would be lost without their phones as they are very dependent on it
Teen segment have high mobile phone usage
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23. Teens and Advertising
Insight: “If you want me to remember an ad, make it really funny”
Advertising need to do something big to attract attention (eg: comedy)
If a brand (ads) makes them laugh, they a
re more likely to try it/use it
Advert needs to make them laugh
Internet ads don’t really work unless they are really different
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24. “We align individuals, functions and
organisations, throughout the world, to create
and deliver brand equity”
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25. Our Credentials
XPotential is a brand focused strategy consultancy that
helps to align individuals, functions and organisations
throughout the world to create and deliver Brand Value.
We work with some of the world’s biggest brands to deliver
outstanding results. We orientate individuals and teams in the
organisations to focus their responsibilities to deliver value to
their most important asset - their brand. We are proud to have
worked with over 30 companies in over 50 countries and
touched tens of thousands of individuals, delivering some of
their most impressive business results.
We do this through working closely with the leadership of
organisations to develop Brand Centric Vision and Strategy
through a deep understand of the challenges and opportunities
for the Brands and the Company, the Brand Vision and the key
audience for change.
We then design and implement a programme of brand centric
change including communication, engagement, training and
follow up. We have worked both cross functionally and also
through specific areas including sales, supply chain,
innovation, marketing, R&D, finance and HR.
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26. “We align individuals, functions and organisations, to
create and deliver brand equity”
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