Super Bowl commercials often set the stage for marketing trends in the upcoming year. Reaching a massive audience, these highly coveted spots are ideal for introducing a new product or service. While celebrity endorsements, crowdsourcing and social media interaction are nothing new in the marketing industry, the Super Bowl has demonstrated how commercials using these tactics can be used as a catalyst for targeting a teenage audience - and why the opportunity is tremendous for brands looking to appeal to a younger demographic.» 1 Comments
Upon getting to author my first article for Engage:Teens, I asked my 14-year-old son, "What is something about teens you would like people to understand?" His response: "We're lazy, and that's okay."» 3 Comments
Crushes are a powerful thing. Teens might find themselves totally smitten with that cute guy or girl sitting two desks away in math class. Or maybe just the hot new band everyone was talking about at lunch. But as Valentine's Day approaches, we've been thinking about a very specific form of young love: brand crushes.» 0 Comments
One Direction, a little band you might have heard of, just released its latest video for the single "Kiss You," and it contains a few lessons for marketers trying to reach a teen audience, from how to dominate social media to feeding the need for nostalgia to building an emotional bond with fans. If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out here.» 0 Comments
Nielsen recently released overall numbers for 2012. While some statistics were expected, others were surprising. Among the most baffling is the fact that only 6% of teenagers said that Twitter is their main social media source.» 0 Comments
Adults aren't the only ones who set goals and resolutions for the New Year. But when we asked teens to name three things they hope to do in 2013, we were surprised by the most popular response: Do well in school. In fact, 70% of teens we surveyed (roughly 30 in all) named academic achievement as a top goal without even a hint of irony.» 2 Comments
Although it's unlikely to be officially added as a new word in the Oxford Online Dictionary (alongside recent additions "vajazzled" and "tweeps"), by the close of 2012, it's very likely that you will have come across an article or a tweet or a Facebook post that included the au courant colloquialism YOLO. What is YOLO, you might ask? For those of you without a Tumblr account or a teenaged child (with a Tumblr account, of course), YOLO is the cleverly crafted acronym for "you only live once." Think of it as "carpe diem!" for the text-messaging generation.» 0 Comments
Want to know the potential impact of 3D printing? Ask a teen. For the past year, 3D printing has been in the headlines, and many a marketer has wondered how it will fit into our daily lives. So when I heard about 3DEA, a 3D printing pop-up shop, I had to check it out. Talking with the teens I met at 3DEA, it was easy to see they were excited by the myriad possibilities at their fingertips and not remotely daunted by the foreign technology in front of them.» 0 Comments
As the year comes to an end, the prevalence of social media is more important than ever, allowing for a constant dialogue between brand and consumer. Marketers continue to be challenged with determining which communication channel is most effective in engaging their audience. A 2012 study revealed that 91% of teens use social media, with 86% indicating that they are most likely to get information about brands from Facebook.» 1 Comments
The holiday season kicked off strong-both online and in-store-but there's still time to make it onto savvy teen wish lists. While younger children mark those ideas down in crayon, their older teen siblings never stop using smartphones to point out gift ideas and deals to their parents while doing a little self-gifting, too, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, "Holiday Shopping's Great Age Divide."» 0 Comments
