A Resounding Echo In five years, some 25 million U.S. teenagers will be roaming malls, downtowns, and Web sites. According to Teenage Research Unlimited, teens now spend an average of $100
a week, and last year they spent a total of $153 billion -- a number that's been growing at 6% a year.
Last week we presented a Brief describing some basic demographic characteristics of four
generations of consumers. One of our readers suggested the "echo boom" subset had been given short shrift, so here it is (with a slightly different slant on the teen background recently reported).
David H. Freedman, a contributing writer to Inc., wrote an article reported recently by zdnet.com in which he recognized that how to market to teens is a growing issue so he asked teen idols
Blink-182, among others.
If the average teenager seems mysterious and somewhat aloof, and we have trouble figuring out how to reliably connect with teenagers, what chance do businesses have? The
teen idol’s Blink-182 suggested some “marketing rules” regarding one of the greatest questions facing the business world today: What do teens want?
Rule #1: Teens don't like what they sense
they're supposed to like. They have an exquisitely sensitive allergy to the hype and manipulation. Teenagers put a lot more time and effort than the rest of us into knowing what's real. Teens want to
buy from corporations that remind them of themselves. Randomly sticking actors wearing nose rings in a chewing-gum ad won't do the trick.
Rule #2: Teens are fickle. Everyone wants
something different from what they had before. The pace of change is even faster for Web sites aimed at teens. Keep it fresh without being overwhelming or losing the instant recognition of who you
are.
Rule #3: Listen. The problem is often that parents don't listen, but what excuse do businesses have for not paying attention to what teens are asking for? Generation Y can get whatever
it wants at the snap of a finger.
Rule #4: Adults really can influence teens. Teens are quick to idolize people who are older than they are and who embody their own aspirations. Everything
they buy is associated with someone they think is cool.
Rule #5: Think subculture. Kids are constantly attaching themselves to some look or scene in an effort to search out their identity.
The compromise that teens typically strike, he says, is to end up fitting into some community that offers homogeneity within the group but that allows them to stand out from teens in other groups.
Rule #6: Lighten up. Teenagers relate to humor, silliness, and irreverence more easily than to any other styles.
These insights are expanded more fully in the complete article.
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