TEEN MARKETING

INTRODUCTION
Between 1990 and 2000, the number of Teens ages 12 to 19 soared to 32
million, an increase of nearly 4.5 million. Their 17 percent growth rate far
outpaced the growth of the rest of the population. Needless to say, it is facing a
massive population shift. With this large number of Teens on the cusp of
becoming young adults, the behaviors and attitudes they exhibit now are
important to marketers in the present and in the years to come.
The current Teen market represents the most multicultural population. It differs
from previous generations in other distinctive ways as well. While today’s
Teens exhibit a strong need for individuality in their self-expression, they also
display a deep attachment and respect for family. In addition, they marry an
interest in fashions of the moment with a sincere desire to purchase products
from companies that have a social conscience.
Teens are also a robust part of the economy. They have a significant income of
their own to spend and also wield increasing influence on household purchases.
For example, in 2003, nearly half — 47% — of 9- to 17-year-olds were asked
by their parents to go online to find out about products or services compared to
37% in 2001. This Teen Market Profile is designed to help marketers
understand and connect with Teens effectively. It includes a Teen market
overview, an examination of the media habits of Teens, and evidence about how
magazines reach, connect, and influence Teens and their purchase decisions.
Market Definition
Thirty-two million strong, the Teen market is a force to be reckoned with. Teens
are active consumers in terms of the money they spend, as well as in the
influence they wield in their families and on societal trends. Despite be ing
raised in a period of rapid change, they display a remarkable self-confidence in
their judgment. Teens do their research prior to making large purchases because
they want to make informed decisions and are particular about what they buy.
With eight out of ten Teens reading magazines, this medium is one Teens
depend upon to become informed. And the numbers show Teens reading a
wide variety of magazines. In addition, Teens trust advertising in magazines
the most — more than television, radio, or the Internet — and Teens tend to
multitask less when they read magazines than they do with other media.
Teens are a diverse, vibrant, growing, and crucial market in the world today.
Their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors will affect the marketplace for many
years to come. With their considerable trustworthiness, reach, and effectiveness,
magazines remain a powerful way to connect to this valuable market.

The current Gen Y teenagers are the hottest demographic segment in the world
worth many billions. Teens have become the targets of the marketers due to

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rosy revenues that can be generated from them as they are the adult consumers
of the future, as they build the brand loyalty and lend recognition to the
products they use and prefer to have. But marketing to them is not as easy, as
the teen consumers are unique in terms of attitude, communication and
purchasing power. It requires special tricks to be in connection with them and to
market their products/services. The success of teen marketing campaigns lies
solely on two components – the delivery mechanism and the messenger. A
teen’s consumer behavior is very much influenced by the heavy advertisements
done by the company marketers and the promotion buzz of their reference
groups. Television advertisements plays a major role in introducing the new
products/services and in reinforcing the sale of existing products offered to this
target segment, which in turn influences their shopping decisions and helps
them make a better choice while buying the products. A company can be
successful if one is willing to capitalize on the linkage between teen marketing
and increased profits.

Marketers adopt various marketing strategies to reach and market their

products to the teenagers. Lot of marketing and promotions are being done at
places where they are more generally seen or hang out – schools, colleges,
streets, malls, restaurants, dance floors and coffee shops. The product
information can be made to reach this highly sought-after target market not only
through TV ads but also through various other ways as they are the ardent users
of latest technologies and equipments like mobiles, the Internet, and the use of
web2.0 technologies like – Blogs, social networking sites, podcast and vodcast.
Being brought up in a digitized age, they have all the information at their
fingertips as they are well connected with rest of the world via Internet. Such
being the nature of this teen customer segment, targeting them requires
knowledge of various tricks or ways. The prevailing trends and benefits, led to
revolutionizing the marketing arena for the marketers and made many big and
small companies use the Internet for marketing to teenagers and influence their
buying patterns through improved accessibility on 24x7 bases at less cost.

On the flipside, some of the marketers are using advertising that is adult-like in
content. The TV commercials aimed at teenagers by the tobacco and liquor
industries to promote their products, has become the hot discussion of families

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that form the target market towards which the marketing companies need to be
morally conscious. If the marketers are ethically strong in their practices and
sincere in their effort to build a good relationship based on trust with teens, it
will certainly lead to long term business success and increase the ROI as teens
are exceptional practitioners of “viral marketing” and are future brand loyalists.

“Advertisements and Adolescence: The Impact of Advertisements on

Teenagers” is an invited article written by M S Sivakumar. It highlights how
television and advertising together have become an integral part of modern
society and a most convenient route to reach the teenage consumer. It details
how adolescents are being manipulated by promises made in advertisements
and how it impacts upon the buying patterns of the teenagers. The article details
the factors that influence their purchase of different items and their preference
to buy a product.

The next article “How Good a Shopper Am I? Conceptualizing Teenage Girls’

Perceived Shopping Competence” penned by Lynnea Mallalieu and Kay M
Palan and sourced from www.amsreview.org examines how teens define a
competent shopper and how they perceive themselves as shoppers within their
own normative framework of shopping competence. It helps to understand the
shopping behaviors the teens exhibit, the purchase decisions they make and the
limitations they feel they must overcome in order to become fully competent
shoppers.

The outcome of various brand relationship studies has been that a remarkable
part of consumers stay loyal to their childhood brands, so brand marketers are
understandably motivated to influence future consumer as early as possible.
The author Samil A Aledin in the article “The Meaning of Brands at Early
Teenage: Brands “in Private” and in Social Interaction” sourced from
www.cbs.dk reveals that teenagers prefer rational, price- and quality-
conscious consumption, to more spontaneous and emotional “gotta have it”
approach. The article highlights brand relationships, characteristics of Finnish
teenage consumption, youth brands, and throws light on teenage consumers,

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their self identity and social identity. It explains the marketing environment to
teens like the promotional action, advertising and distribution of a brand.

The objectives of the marketer are to make the youth enlightened

consumers of the society and turn them into ‘aware adults’. The last article
in this section “Children and Business: Ethics of Marketers” authored by
Debdatta Gupta and sourced from Icfai Press highlights the urgent need for the
marketing industry to lay the foundation of a code of ethics as the adolescents
have become the target of the malpractices by the marketers. It talks about the
role of the marketers and their decision-making responsibility and the
organizational ethics of a company. The article concludes that parents and
teachers should take proper steps to make their children aware of the
advertisements and their impacts.

The first article in section II “What’s With These Kids Today?” is written by
Jay Thomas and sourced from www.pmq.com. It highlights the necessity of the
retail and restaurant markets to take this teen’s demographic segment seriously.
It points out the fact that price is an important factor for the teenagers and they
want to get the most for the cheapest price. With the help of examples the
article discusses some successful strategies for teen marketing.

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A Teen Marketing Hedge Fund Disclaimer

by Jeffrey K. Rohrs and Morgan Stewart, Thursday, July 8, 2010

While watching television the other night, I wandered into an ad for some
financial services firm seeking to get me to put my hard-earned cash in some
sort of investment. What caught my attention was the lightning-fast disclaimer
rattled off at the end -- something we've all heard a million times before in
similar commercials.

Past performance is not an indication or guarantee of future performance.

It's such a beautifully simple disclaimer that I find it hard to believe a lawyer
wrote it. In fact, it must have been written by a marketer -- probably a
marketing researcher who once had the formidable task of trying to extrapolate
long-term marketing technology trends from the behavior of teens.

I imagine that this marketer went about his task with incredible diligence. To
really know teens and the impact they would have on society, he probably
conducted countless surveys, observed their use of technology first-hand, and
crunched data until the wee hours of the morning. At the end of this quest for
truth, he also probably prepared an impressive tome filled with findings about
the attitudes of teens from his era and how their free-wheeling use of
technology would radically change the world as we know it.

And then, the teens got older. Some went to college while others entered the
work force. Still others married and had kids. And all of them gained new
responsibilities -- fiscal, social, and personal -- that dramatically altered the
behaviors and attitudes they displayed mere years before when they were
carefree teenagers. They still used technology, but now the social and
entertainment aspects were shaped more by work and family and bills.

Rather than panic, the marketing researcher continued to observe until one day,
he returned to his office and wrote that profound statement that inspired a
million financial services disclaimers:

The past behavior and attitudes of teens are not indicators or guarantees of their
future behavior as adults.

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"the next big thing," we run the risk of losing sight of the biggest influence on
consumption -- life stage.

Pundits continue to make proclamations about the future of media based on the
habits of teenagers, all the while forgetting this important fact: Teens are in the
midst of a life stage distinct in its absence of adult responsibilities and
abundance of energy devoted to friends and entertainment.

Move ahead just a few years to the twenty-somethings, and you find a vastly
different landscape. There's less time for games, friends, and play. These
pastimes are replaced with real world responsibilities such as work, family, and
bills. And these responsibilities require different modes of communication. It's
not generational, it's relational -- and marketers who fail to understand the
difference run the risk of betting their portfolio on past performance rather than
future realities.

Two weeks ago, just after Facebook's COO proclaimed that "email is probably
going away" based on her observations of teens, I sat next to a young woman
who had just graduated high school. In the midst of a two-hour conversation I
learned that in an average month she sent and received over 20,000 text
messages. When I asked if she ever used email, she informed me that she "was
learning" -- while she never really needed it in the past, she knew that she
would need to use it as she moved away from home and entered college.

Are there generational differences that impact marketing? Sure. Do teens

require a different touch from marketers? Absolutely. Marketers need to be
especially creative when talking to teens -- the audience has its priority on
building personal relationships, not building up loyalty club points or looking
for discounts.

However, just because teens communicate primarily through texting and social
networking sites does not mean these embody the entire future of one-to-one

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marketing. At least no more so than the fact my generation talked incessantly on

the phone meant the future was in telemarketing.

To be successful marketers we must not get so caught up with youth fad-finding

and trend-spotting that we abandon the one thing that shapes generation after
generation -- the responsibilities we gain from life stage to life stage.

Mobile Marketing : May 12, 2010

Survey: Teens talk text

When it comes to conversation, teens are as likely to text to communicate as the

actually speak. That, according to a recent survey by teen marketing hub
ChaCha. The platform polled teens to determine how they prefer to
communicate. With so many noting a preference for text it then makes sense for
marketers to utilize the medium.

by Kristina Knight

Researchers polled about 1500 teens and young adult consumers. They found
that nearly 68% prefer to communicate via mobile text. Mobile calls/voice
ranked second with about 10% of the vote. Nearly 9% of the youth market
prefer to communicate via Facebook, but only about 3% communicate via
instant message.

What does this mean for marketers? The potential to reach into the youth
marketplace for clothing/apparel brands, tech brands or even mobile companies
is quite strong. In the past research has shown that teens and early-twenty-
somethings are rarely without their mobile devices and most are open to ad
messaging for brands or products in which they are interested.

A recent comScore report found that there are 234 million teens and young
adults who are mobile subscribers with nearly 64% reporting that text options
are the most important/most used features on their phones. Nearly one-third
(30%) are also using the mobile browser or downloading apps (28%).

"Teens rely on their mobile devices as their primary medium, and they ask
ChaCha over a million questions each day providing insights on their brand
attitudes and actions," said Scott Jones, CEO of ChaCha. "For example, traffic
patterns can be analyzed to determine the impact of a particular ad campaign,

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ascertain the popularity of different TV shows among the youth segment, and
even to determine regional interest levels for a particular product."

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Gender, Behavior Influence Teen Buying

Sept 22, 2009

- Stacy Straczynski

Marketers may want to fine-tune their advertising to target “jockettes” and

“young metrosexuals.” These are the two largest teen segments, according to
new behavioral segmentation created by Euro RSCG Discovery.

Euro RSCG Discovery teamed with American Student List, a youth and teen
marketing data provider, to develop "Teen Segments." The behavioral
marketing segmentation identifies 11 key teen markets based on
demographic and psychographic characteristics, which are meant to help
marketers better target direct marketing communications to teens, according to
Euro RSCG Discovery. The segmentation is comprised of six male and five
female groups.

When it comes to teen males, the behavioral segmentation findings show that
"young metrosexuals," those classified as individuals who focus on their
outward appearance, make up more than 25 percent. The other male
segments include "big man on campus," "technosapiens," "red-blooded
boys," "tuned inward" and "under construction."

"Jockettes," young women who embody active lifestyles and participate in

sports, are the most common female segment that makes up over 25 percent.
Girls are also categorized as "in-style socialites," "most likely to succeed,"
"style meets thrift" and "traditionalists."

“Brand marketers that target teens have so many variables to consider,

including their interests, brand loyalties, shopping behaviors and Internet
usage,” said Don Damore, CEO of ASL, in a statement. “This segmentation
breaks down not only what teens are interested in, but where and how they
shop, and how they respond to direct mail, digital advertising and in-store
marketing. It also shows how teens use different forms of traditional and new
media.”

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The segmentation data found that gender influences teen buying habits.
Fourteen percent of both male and female teens shop online, but are more
likely to make in-store purchases. Despite increases in teen Internet usage, most
still rate traditional media—TV, radio and magazines—as their most trusted
sources of information; however, online sources did dominate some male
segments.

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Advertising to Teens
Why and How Marketers Target Teens and Kids

Feb 23, 2007 Susan Carney

Confession: I Love Magazines - Astrid Hagen

Kids and teens are a valuable market to advertisers. Helping them become
more critical of marketing messages can help protect them from exploitation.

Why do marketers love teens? A number of reasons. They have money to

burn, and the items they buy are largely “luxury” items, like clothing,
electronics, and music. They make many, if not most, of their purchasing
decisions independently. And they have significant influence on family
purchases. Perhaps most importantly, companies know that once they have
“branded” a child, he or she is likely to be a customer for life, or from “cradle to
grave.”

How do they reach kids? Everywhere. Advertising is in magazines, movies, TV

shows, and on the internet. Licensed products, in the form of clothing, toys, and
accessories, abound. Schools make deals with soda companies and sell naming
rights to their gyms to the highest bidder. Companies glean important
demographic info about kids spending habits from seemingly innocuous internet
“quizzes” and “surveys”. Marketing comes at kids from all directions, twenty-
four seven.

How do marketers do it? They know how to capitalize on important teenage

issues and anxieties, like body image, peer acceptance, coolness, and a need for
power. They use these themes repeatedly in advertising geared towards children
and teenagers. Marketers also often hone in on themes and attitudes that parents
might find inappropriate or offensive, like sex or alcohol and drug use, further
escalating the “coolness factor” of the product.

Why is advertising so effective? Advertising works best when it creates

insecurity about something, such as appearance. A successful ad convinces the
viewer that they have a problem that needs fixing, and then proposes to offer the
solution, which just happens to be the product they are selling. The message is
that teens aren’t good enough the way they are. Many kids unwittingly buy into
that message, and as a result, end up being hypercritical of themselves because
we don’t fit a certain “image” that they believe is necessary for their happiness.

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Marketing To Kids and Teens

Diversifying for Long-Term PPC Search Marketing Effectiveness

Developing Copy for Pay-per-Click Advertisements

This generation of kids is growing up in what is perhaps the most materialistic

society we have ever had. They are surrounded by images of excess and the idea
that buying “things” will bring them satisfaction. They are given things easily
and rarely have to delay gratification. Worst of all, many of the things that are
advertised to teens do not promote healthy development.

How can you help? Teens need to become more critical viewers of advertising.
Help them recognize what’s behind the hard sell. Ask them to identify the
themes the advertiser is using to try to connect with them. Ask them to point out
what “need” is being projected that the product can supposedly “fill”. Is the
product really going to have the impact that the ad implies?

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A survey released by virtual world Habbo has revealed that over half
of teens say that brands do not influence their purchasing decision –
but familiarity with brands is key.

According to a report from Revolution magazine, The Global Habbo Youth

Survey (GHYS) Brand Update 2009 found teens have complex and often
contradictory relationships with brands.

The survey, which questioned 112,000 teens online from over 30 countries,
found 61 percent prefer brands targeted specifically at them, but half said
they do not want to buy the same brands as their friends.

According to the survey, close to two-thirds of teenagers said they always

buy their favourite brand, but half said brands do not influence their
purchasing decisions. The survey also confirmed familiarity is important to
teenagers when making purchasing decisions.

Teens in the US and UK see brands as a way of defining individuality and

standing out from the crowd, whereas teens in other markets use brands to show
membership of a certain group.

The Habbo online survey found that teens favour the following brands:

Website
Girls - Boys
YouTube - YouTube
Facebook - Facebook
MySpace - Google
Google - Runescape
Bebo - Minijuegos

Clothing
Girls - Boys
H&M - Nike
Zara - Adidas
Roxy - Lacoste
D&G - Billabong
Billabong - DC

Shoes
Girls - Boys
Converse - Nike
Nike - Converse

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Adidas - Adidas
Puma - Puma
Vans - Vans

Sportswear
Girls - Boys
Nike - Nike
Adidas - Adidas
Puma - Puma
Hummel - Umbro
Converse - Under Armour

Personal hygiene
Girls - Boys
Nivea - Axe
L'Oreal - Nivea
Avon - Gatsby
Dove - GarnierHabbo — an international online virtual world for teenagers with
(according to their own numbers) 135 million registered viewers — recently
released its Global Habbo Youth Survey Update 2009. The survey incorporates
data from 112,000 teenagers across thirty different countries (ages 11-19) about
their favorite brands. Following is a list of these brands for your viewing
enlightenment, but first, let’s take a look at the buying power of teenagers in the
US to underscore the relevance.

According to a 2004 article entitled "Driving teen egos--and buying--through

branding," teens influence 600 billion dollars worth of spending every year in
the US, and a 2008 study by the market research firm Harris Interactive
cal"Youth Pulse" posits that teens have a literal purchasing power of 132 billion
dollars annually—that "the influence they exert on their families’ purchase
decisions is enormous." (Which is not necessarily news to many reading this.)

Wow. To think that today’s teens with their hyper-solvency could have single-
handedly bailed out AIG.
Here’s the list:

Electronics
Sony
Apple
Nintendo
Samsung
Hewlett Packard

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Websites
Girls | Boys
YouTube | YouTube
Facebook | Facebook

Clothing
Girls | Boys
H&M | Nike
Zara | Adidas

Shoes
Girls | Boys
Converse | Nike
Nike | Converse

Sportswear
Girls | Boys
Nike | Nike
Adidas | Adidas

Personal hygiene
Girls | Boys
Nivea | Axe
L'Oreal | Nivea

It’s interesting to note that according to CNET News Sony started to develop its
marketing strategies specifically for capturing the online hive mind of the teen
market as far back as pre-2K. Looks like it's paid off for them.

And by the way, don’t worry if your brand isn’t on today's top teen fave list" —
in today's hyper-faddish, jump-cut culture, it'll probably change again by
tomorrow.

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SNAPSHOT OF THE TEEN MARKET

Why Focus on Teens?
Beyond the growth in the Teen population, marketers cannot afford to ignore
Teens for numerous other reasons. This growing powerbase of spenders and
influencers are important because they:
¡ Have significant discretionary income
¡ Spend family money as well as influence their parents’ spending on both
large and small household purchases
¡ Establish and affect fashion, lifestyle, and overall trends
¡ Provide a “window” into our society — a view of how it is now, and what it
is likely to become
Lifestyle, Attitudes, Behaviors
Today’s Teens live in a time of sweeping technological advances, relative
affluence, and a flattening divorce rate. Consequently, their attitudes and
cultural awareness exhibit a number of distinguishing characteristics. For
example, they:
¡ Are realistic and optimistic with a strong sense of individualism, but not with
the fierce independence of the previous generation
¡ Like to be in control and are “hip to hype,” but not to the point of cynicism
¡ Want and expect to have control over their media experiences
¡ Have access to evolving and new technologies — such as DVRs, instant
messaging, and wireless phones
Many Teens feel that “most grownups are really stressed out,” and they don’t
want to follow this example. “Being really good at your job” and having
“control in your life” are important components of Teens’ definition of
success. But, they also value relationships — family is very important to
them, and a good marriage is a sign of success.

Teens today understand the need to be able to turn on a dime because they live
with short-term change and volatility on a day-to-day basis. Unlike previous
eras, Teens also live with paradox, realizing that their choices are filled with a
mix of good and bad. Even so, they have a strong sense of empowerment and
believe that they can conquer any challenge, actively seeking out causes to
support. They are self-assured, with three-quarters or more of them agreeing
with the statements “I trust my own judgment a lot” and “I have a very clear
idea of my objectives and goals in life.”
Sources: Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU), October 2003; Yankelovich
Youth Monitor as cited in MediaPost’s MediaDailyNews
“Echo Effect: A New Generation of Media Users, Ad Distrusters” 2/17/04

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About Themselves
86% People should be free to look, dress and live the way they want whether
others like it or not
80% I have a very clear idea of my objectives and goals in life
75% I trust my own judgment a lot
70% On things very important to me, I always tell the truth
68% I often buy a different brand just to see what it is like
67% Most grownups are really stressed out
62% I’m smarter than most kids my age

Teens and Education

Today’s youth may well end up being the most educated generation to date.
Nearly nine out of ten 17- year-olds plan to attend college — and these are the
Teens whose advanced education decisions are on the immediate horizon.
Younger Teens plan to attend college at even higher rates. Only 26% of the 75-
yearold and older crowd attended college for any amount of time as compared
to 59% of 25- to 35-year-olds.

¡ Teens are a growing market. The Teen population will expand from 32.4
million in 2000 to 33.5 million in 2010.

¡ Teens have money to spend. As Teens age, their yearly discretionary

income increases from nearly $1,500 at age 12 to 13 to nearly $4,500 by age 16
to 17. As a group, Teens of all ages spent a projected $112.5 billion dollars in
2003.

¡ Teens influence household spending. Parents consult the computer and

market-savvy Teens in their households for large and small purchases.
Market Challenges

¡ Teens have more choices than ever. How will advertisers get — and keep
— Teens’ attention in the face of so many products vying for their attention?

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Teen Marketing? Fo’ Shizzle Dizzle

by Mitch McCasland
February 10, 2004

In the days before format radio, I listened to KLIF-AM in Dallas. KLIF played an
amazing array of music not found on commercial radio stations today.

I particularly liked the R&B program hosted by Cousin Lenny. He began his
broadcast at 10:00 p.m.—about the time I was supposed to be in bed sleeping.
I’d pull out my blue Panasonic Toot-A-Loop radio and lie there listening to
Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, The Stylistics and other R&B legends.

That was about the time I started taking drum lessons. Much to my parents’
regret, I actually stuck with it. During the decade to follow, I studied and
performed classical, jazz and rock. But still I loved R&B.

Over the years, I have cultivated an appreciation for R&B and its offspring,
including hip-hop, house, rap and urban, in general. A benefit of my musical
upbringing and interest has been a greater ability to understand youth culture
in a manner that is decidedly non-adult-like.

In the research I conduct for Fortune 500 brands, this has been particularly
helpful.

Why? Because in recent years not only has urban style become a part of
mainstream music, fashion and culture, but also urban values have become
drivers of trends in America. Many teenage consumers are in the sweet spot of
this important segment.

Simply put, teens are the consumers of today and of the future. When a brand
connects with a teen, it could tap into a lifetime of loyalty. On average, US
teenagers have more than $90 per week in disposable income. This astonishes
uninformed marketers who believe that teens have no purchasing power. In
reality, teens have more than $190 billion annually in primary purchasing
power and influence.

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A skeptical client once remarked, “Yeah, but teens purchase only video games
and pizza… they don’t really buy expensive items.”

That depends on whether your definition of expensive would include a $160

pair of Nike Shoe or a $300 MP3 player.

Like most consumers, teens will spend disproportionately larger dollars in

those categories in which they have a high degree of interest or involvement.
Those categories include footwear, clothing, music, mobile phones, home
electronics and entertainment.
In the beverage category, Sprite learned the strategic importance of teen
marketing more than a decade ago when it tapped into America’s youth with
its “Obey Your Thirst” campaign. As a basis for its strategy, Sprite relied on
consumer research that revealed vital insights:

Brand preference patterns are formed during preteen and teen years. As
young consumers grow older, they have greater access to money. Increasingly,
they are able to make their own decisions about brands. Preferences and
habits are formed that extend into their adult lives.

Young consumers recognize when they are being courted by marketers. They
are often skeptical and very aware of what they see in advertising.

These insights led Sprite into a long-term brand strategy and advertising
campaign in which sports celebrities spoofed traditional product
endorsements. Beneath the blatant and humorous advertising was the real
message to young consumers: “Marketing is nothing—Taste is everything.
Don’t believe the hype—Obey your thirst.”

This message bucked the marketing system and led Sprite into market share
leadership.

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Teen Marketing Tips

Apr 22, 2010 Brian Theriot

Teens Are Hip, Fast, and Aloof - Brian Theriot

Attracting and understanding teen consumers starts with the marketing

premise that teens want immediate satisfaction in a high tech world.

Whether you are Nike, Adidas, Red Bull, or face being saddled with the
mundane task of attracting teens to enroll in your college or university, the
teen audience is a tough crowd to capture.

Marketing professionals focused on the teen consumer must have an

understanding of social media, online sites, virtual worlds, YouTube, twitter,
facebook, MySpace, and text messaging, the latter being the number one
vehicle of teen communication.

Teens Are Fast In Life

Teens are fast moving multitaskers. Capturing their attention for any long
period of time is a thing of the past. Kids from age 8 to teens up to age 19 are
experts in virtual communication. Knowing this fact can help you establish teen
marketing success.

Teens want to be a part of the action. Look at YouTube, millions of teens are
searching for attention and posting grabby little videos touting their lifestyle,
wants, needs, and emotions. It is important to engage the immediate audience
with interactive contests, voting challenges, and to empower the teen
audience with the opportunity to help a company with new ideas,
commercials, and brand names. There is a marketing reason behind the
interactive voting model showcased by television’s number one show
American Idol.

Engage The Teen Consumer

Many companies are creating teen board of directors both nationally and
internationally with perks to each member. Companies now have a little teen
think tank interacting from all parts of the world with marketing specifics
relevant to their market.

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Engage the teen audience and make them a part of product development,
advertising, or product launch solutions packages. The only fear a company can
have is its own fear of having to interact with real live teen consumers.

Teens have no patience and want content, product, services, clothes, and
personal items on demand. Look at the craze over Ebay and the ability to buy
now and buy fast. Teens pre-buy movie tickets. Reserve tickets for many
events online. Teens don’t want to wait in line. The corporate message to
teens across all fronts: “There is no wait…get it now…you are first in line”.

The teen quest for immediate satisfaction applies to personal entertainment.

Look at the success of the wildly interactive Halo video game within the online
gaming world or Call of Duty, both are online killing games, where teens can
blast away with guns, bombs, and stealth versus live game players across the
world. Emotion and satisfaction is sold in the gaming world by the same
marketing message of “get the feeling and satisfaction now”.

Twitter, the instant messaging craze is another example of get the feeling now
and converse now. Twitter teens do actually want to know what hipster stars
such as Paramore, Panic!at the Disco, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Britney Spears,
Taylor Swift, Cobra Starship, Miley Cyrus, Tokio Hotel, Muse 3oh!3, and Justin
Bieber are all doing each hour of the day. Immediate satisfaction is the luxury
of Twitter.

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Marketing to the Teen Brain

by on 11 September, 2006 - 10:13

by: Roger Dooley

Any parent whose kids have reached teenage years can tell you that teens
think differently than adults. Now, neuroscientists are finding just how
differently the teen brain works.

Of particular interest to those involved in neuromarketing and

neuroeconomics is that the areas of the brain used to make decisions differ
between teens and adults. From Why adolescents put themselves first in New
Scientist:

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, a cognitive neuroscientist from University College

London, UK, has used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan
the brains of 19 adolescents (aged 11 to 17) and 11 adults (aged 21 to 37)
whilst they were asked questions relating to decision-making. Questions such
as: “You’re going to the cinema, where do you look for film times?”

Blakemore found that teenagers rely on the rear part of the mentalising
network to make their decisions, an area of the brain called the superior
temporal sulcus. In contrast, adults use the front part, called the prefrontal
cortex.

The superior temporal sulcus is involved in processing very basic behavioural

actions, whereas the prefrontal cortex is involved in more complex functions
such as processing how decisions affect others. So the research implies that
“teenagers are less able to understand the consequences of their actions”,
says Blakemore.

Other tests showed that teens were slower to respond to questions about the
feelings of other people than adults were, implying that the adults were more
readily able to put themselves in the position of others.

What’s the marketer to draw from this preliminary work? I’d say the key
takeaways are that teens tend to be more self-centered in their decision
making and that they employ fewer cognitive processes in their decision-

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making. (Feel free to exclaim, “Well, duhhhhhh!”) These conclusions won’t be

a surprise either to parents or to marketers already selling to teens, but it’s
interesting to get a better understanding of the underlying neuroscience. The
work suggests that marketing pitches based on comparative data or other
information that requires cognitive processing are less likely to work with
teens even if they test well with adults.

I’d be a bit cautious about applying the conclusion that teens are less likely to
be concerned about the feelings of others. While it’s probable that their
altruistic inclinations and overall emotional intelligence are indeed less
developed on average than those of adults, that doesn’t mean that teens are
oblivious to how others react to them. A parent who has tried to convince a
teen that a non-iPod MP3 player is better than a more costly Apple product
with fewer features, or that a well-made pair of unbranded jeans will serve just
as well as the pair with the trendy designer label that costs three times as
much, knows that teens are excruciatingly aware of how their social peers will
react. In the complex social networks formed by teens, individuals are very
concerned about how others will respond to their clothes, their behavior, etc.
and will indeed make buying decisions based on these concerns rather than
logic.

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MARKET SEGMENTATION
When it comes to ethnicity and race, Teens are the most diverse market
segment. They are not, however, overly concerned with ethnic designators.
According to market research firm Cheskin, theynare “intra-cultural”— they do
not identify themselves as solely African American/Black, Hispanic/ Latino,
Asian American, or Caucasian. Teens blur the lines between ethnic and racial
identities.
One out of every three Teens age 12 to 19 belongs to a minority racial or ethnic
group, according to Interep Research, as compared to one out of five in the Pre-
Boomer generation. Some 15% of the 12- to 19-year-old population is African
American/Black, 15% are Hispanic/Latino, and 4% are Asian American. The
remaining two-thirds are Caucasian.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: population projections 2002. Teens 12–19. Baby
Boomers: 39–57.
Pre-Boomers 58+; Demographics; Youth

Did You Know?

¡ Today, the Hispanic/Latino Teen market is 4.6 million strong. By 2020, it
will balloon to a size 62% larger than today — growing six times faster than the
rest of the Teen market.

TEEN BUYING BEHAVIOR

Source: NOPWorld 2003
Top 10 Items Teens Plan to
Buy with Their Own Money By Percent (%)
Overall Teen Rank Males Females
1 Clothes 24 48
2 Shoes 19 21
3 CDs or Recorded Music 19 18
4 Video Games 21 6
5 Jewelry 7 16
6 Food 10 10
7 Soda or Soft Drinks 7 9
7 Car or Car Parts 10 6
8 Candy 6 6
9 Lunch 4 7
10 Magazines 6 3.

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What Teens Purchase and Plan to Purchase with Their Own Money

Teens spend in a wide variety of categories, from durable products such as

clothing, CDs, video games, and jewelry to nondurables, such as food, soda,
snacks, and ice cream. Some specific observations about Teen behavior and
purchase intent include:
¡ Clothing topped the list of both what Teens planned to buy and what they
actually purchased.
¡ Entertainment items, such as video games, CDs, and magazines, figured
prominently on Teens’ planned purchases and what they actually bought.
¡ Food, candy, and soda were the most common items recently bought.
¡ Magazines were on Teens’ top 10 lists for both items they plan to buy and
what they recently purchased.
Teen males and females’ spending habits vary in a few significant ways, such
as:
¡ Twice as many Teen females bought clothes last time they made a purchase
and projected purchases compared to Teen males.
¡ Three times as many male Teens bought and planned to buy video games
than female Teens.
¡ More females tend to consume food and beverages, including candy, soda,
snacks, lunch, and ice cream.
¡ Twice as many males plan to buy a car or car parts as females.

WHERE TEENS SHOP

With “mall rat” officially part of the American vernacular, it’s not surprising
that shopping malls top the list of where both female and male Teens shop.
Teens also shop in numerous other venues, including discount stores,
convenience stores, grocery stores, and more. As the age goes up, so does the
percentage of Teens who shop in any/all locations measured.
Overall, girls shop more frequently than boys at nearly every shopping venue
studied. After shopping malls, apparel and discount stores are girls’ most
frequented venues. After shopping malls, boys most often shop at electronics
and convenience stores.

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TEENS, MAGAZINES, AND MEDIA

Teen Magazine Readers
Magazines appeal to Teens, with eight out of ten Teens reading magazines. That
translates into 19.3 million readers today who strongly influence fashion and
purchasing trends for the rest of society. In addition, more Teens trust magazine
advertising than advertising in other media, and they do not tend to spend time
with other media when reading magazines.
Prime-Time
Television
270
Magazines
109
Teens Trust Magazines the Most
In an era when skepticism is a common reaction to media messaging, magazine
advertising has been and continues to be the advertising medium that Teens —
like other market segments — trust the most.

Teens and Advertising Trust by Medium

Magazine Ads 29%
Radio Ads 22%
TV Ads 22%
Internet Ads 18%

Top 25 Magazines Outperform Top 25

Prime-Time TV Programs in Reaching Teens
Though the perception may be that Teens are geared toward television, the
reality is that magazines offer high reach to Teens. Initiative recently released a
crossmedia comparison (a report that adds up the ratings of each of the top 25
vehicles in both media) and found that the top 25 magazines lead against the top
25 prime-time TV programs in reaching Teens 12 to 17.
Note: Total GRPs were arrived at by adding the rating of each of the top 25
vehicles for each medium.

Teens Pay Attention to Magazines

Media fragmentation affects Teens, as it does other groups. However,
Teens are least likely to multitask media when reading magazines.

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Teens and multi tasking media

TEEN INFLUENCE ON PURCHASES

The role of Teens in influencing household purchases is growing as parents rely
on Teens’ advanced computer skills to research products online. However,
Teens who read magazines, especially heavy magazine readers, are even more
influential in the household purchases than the average Teen. In addition to
everyday household items such as food and personal care items, these
Teens who are heavy magazine readers have considerable influence on high-end
items such as CD players, computers, and video games when compared with
average Teens.

Did You Know?

¡ Older Teens have more influence than younger Teens on household
purchases of personal computers, cell phones, and deodorant.
¡ Older Teens have about the same influence as younger Teens on purchases
of fast food, soft drinks, toothpaste, chewing gum, potato chips, and sunscreen
products.
¡ Younger Teens have more influence than older Teens on video games, ice
cream, candy, pretzels, and vacation travel.

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TOP MAGAZINE ADVERTISING CATEGORIES AND

TEEN BRAND LOYALTY

Advertisers and Teens

Marketers advertise for the most part in the categories where Teens spend
money, such as clothing, cosmetics, and entertainment. Many of the top
categories advertised to Teens reflect their influence on household purchases,
such as hair products, cosmetics, and sporting goods.

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When compared to all Teens, Teens who are heavy magazine readers are also
more likely to be brand loyal across a variety of product categories. For
example, they are:
¡ 21% more likely to be loyal to their brand of sneakers/athletic shoes
¡ 25% more likely to be loyal to their brand of shampoo
¡ 21% more likely to be loyal to their brand of disposable razors
Of heavy magazine readers, older Teens are more likely to be brand loyal than
younger
Teens to a variety of products, including jeans, eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara,
facial cleanser, body soap, disposable razors, toothpaste, sanitary napkins/pads,
and tampons. Younger Teens are more brand loyal to salty snacks and cookies.

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WHAT TEENS READ

Teens read a wide variety of magazines, especially those or including those that
are targeted to their own particular interests, life stage, and gender.
When examining the titles that Teens read, whether it is by circulation or by
percentage of audience, a few distinctive features emerge, such as:
¡ Teens read a variety of magazine types, ranging from fashion to automotive
to electronic games.
¡ Teens read about their leisure pursuits.
Many of the titles that are popular among
Teens are enthusiast titles.
¡ Gender is a major driver of magazine title selection.

Did You Know?

¡ Teens who read magazines are engaged in more activities, ranging from
sports to music to organized interests, than Teens who do not read magazines.

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THE FUTURE OF THE TEEN MARKET

Although the economic downturn has made teen consumers more price
conscious and caused a dip in their apparel purchases, their spending is already
on the rebound. Compared with consumers in general, teens are more eager to
spend their extra money on clothes. While older consumers may still hesitate to
spend on apparel, teens are reporting plans to buy more apparel in coming
months, including more of their wardrobe staple, denim jeans.

THE TEEN AGE. They're also a robust part of the economy, wielding increasing
influence on household purchases. For example, in 2003, nearly half -- 47% --
of 9- to 17-year-olds were asked by their parents to go online to find out about
products or services, vs. 37% in 2001. And surveys show that today's teens are
among the biggest consumers of iPods and cell phones.

For many companies, the junior customer is the fastest-growing market. "That
set of young consumers of girls aged 9 to 17 has been one of the fastest-
growing segments in apparel in the past two years," points out Harry Adjmi,
CEO of One Step Up, a New York company that supplies clothing to retailers
Wal-Mart (WMT) and Macy's (FD), as well as specialty stores like Charlotte
Russe and Forever 21. Adjmi has hired 3iYing to develop his own One Step Up
line.

"Once [major retailers] realized how big this customer segment is, figuring out
how to service this consumer has leaped to the forefront," says Stan
Greenstein, chief operating officer of Sara Max, a New York manufacturer of
sleepwear and undergarments for retailers like J.C. Penney (JCP). Greenstein is
working with 3iYing to develop a line of junior sleepwear and lingerie for J.C.
Penney, exploring the dramatic change in the way teenagers view lingerie. One
key insight: Boundaries between bed wear and outdoor wear are falling fast
and hard.

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Case Study-1
Mobile marketing solution gets
Nivea’s teens talking
Case Study, 01.05.08

INTRODUCTION
Nivea launched its online magazine FYI (Fun, Young and Independent) to
engage teenage girls with its Nivea Visage Young brand. An MSN Mobile
marketing solution played a crucial role in capturing email addresses for the
FYI mailing list, delivering a 15 per cent conversion rate and maintaining
crucial momentum for the magazine.
 

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES 
 Engage teenage girls with the FYI magazine
 Capture email addresses for the FYI mailing list
 Provide a channel for regular site news updates
 Develop ongoing dialogue.
 

CREATIVE EXECUTION
Banner ads running across MSN Mobile engaged young phone owners with the
promise of ‘Girly gossip, news and tips’, driving traffic to a specially designed
micro site that mimicked the layout of the FYI site. Visitors filled out a single
field to add their name to the magazine’s mailing list, ensuring that the mobile
marketing solution captured email addresses as efficiently as possible.

RESULTS
 The month-long campaign delivered 119,000 page impressions
 The mobile marketing solution delivered a conversion rate of 15 per cent.

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Questions
Q1) Will nivea be able to do same sale in future?
Q2) Will this mobile marketing be effective for future?

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Case Study-2
Teen Market Boosts Maturing Product for Gillette
The Gillette Company officially entered the teen market last spring when it
reconfigured its Sensor for Women razors for girls. Sensor for Women Brights
also represents the first time the company took an existing product and changed
it for another audience. Gillette credits Brights with a sales boost for Sensor and
is marketing a similar product this year based on Brights' success.

Brights were created as an "in-and-out" product, specifically for the "peak

shaving" season (April-September) for girls 12-18, says Leslie Card,
Gillette's communications manager.

The design was a response to last year's trend toward "bright colors, a return to
`flower power,' mini skirts, hot pink," says Card. Razors came in six colors,
such as Funky Flamingo, Gossipy Grape and Gotta Go Green, with the flower-
power theme promoted on marketing materials. The trend insights came from
talking to market research companies, focus groups and immersion in teens' TV
programs and movies.

Although Gillette hadn't planned to continue Brights beyond the summer, the
razors sold so well that key retail accounts reordered for fall, says Card. "We
shipped over a million razors in the U.S. (a typical shipping for a new
product).”Remember this is not a new product, simply an enhancement of a
product. For a one-time product, that was significant."

In fact, the product sold out, says Lisa Rosenberg, SVP of consumer marketing
practices at Porter Novelli, the PR agency that works with Gillette.
Additionally, Brights produced payback for the master brand, Sensor. Sensor's
market share grew to 65% after the launch of the summertime product in May
'98, a 13.2% increase over May 1997, Rosenberg says.

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CONCLOSION
I can conclude by saying that today’s teenagers (youth) are definitely going to
be the future of tomorrow. When a girl or a boy enters her/his teens they have to
be very carefull. It is this age duration that can spoil one completely or make
one like the best. It is the highly influential stage of that person. By this I mean
one can get influenced for either wrong or right at this age. You could either
rise or fall.
From here we can say that today’s fashion influences the teens most and they
are getting influence mostly by reading magazines and by advertisement.

Marketers adopt various marketing strategies to reach and market their

products to the teenagers. Lot of marketing and promotions are being done at
places where they are more generally seen or hang out – schools, colleges,
streets, malls, restaurants, dance floors and coffee shops. Teens have money to
burn, and the items they buy are largely “luxury” items, like clothing,
electronics, and music. They make many, if not most, of their purchasing
decisions independently. And they have significant influence on family
purchases. Perhaps most importantly, companies know that once they have
“branded” a child, he or she is likely to be a customer for life, or from “cradle to
grave.”

Teens read a wide variety of magazines, especially those or including those that
are targeted to their own particular interests, life stage, and gender.
When examining the titles that Teens read, whether it is by circulation or by
percentage of audience

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

WWW.YAHOO.COM

WWW.GOOGLE.COM

WWW.ANSWER.COM

www.cbs.dk.com

www.pmq.com.

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