The New Global Teen Customer: Well Connected and Tough To Reach

Energy BBDO just released a new GenWorld global teen study (PDF here). It reveals some fascinating insights into the present generation of teens. Here are a few highlights:

These kids are connected to each other and the world. As the report says, “They are hyper-informed. In the developed and developing world, this age group is regularly involved in at least a couple of the following activities: talking on a cell phone, text messaging, going online, using search engines, email and IM.
They engage in regular family communication, but they are also part of larger social networks that are enabled by the activities above. Adults are often unaware of just how broad and deep these networks might be.
Here is a challenge: 69 percent feel there is too much advertising and marketing and only 13 percent are interested in wearing a brand logo. To reach them individually, you must often first affect their peer group. You can’t buy the affinity of this group by overwhelming them with media exposure; it must be built with trust and by creating a connection.

Chip Walker, the main author of the Energy BBDO report, presents a good summary on the Chief Marketer e-newsletter.

The report also highlights some fundamental differences between teens in the U.S. and the rest of the world. It’s a mandatory read if you’re a marketer (or a parent).

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Comments

wrote on Mar 20, 2006 at 03:06 PM

Fascinating insights?

1. Kids use cellphones, pagers and the internet.
2. Kids have friends.
3. Kids are bombarded with advertising.

I’d agree that these are mandatory learnings for some, but anyone who’s actually been awake the last 15 years can probably give them a pass.

wrote on Mar 20, 2006 at 04:41 PM

Agreed. If you’re around this age group you know what is going on (to a certain extent), but it seems like many in the marketing world are not quite getting that message.

Many companies are still attempting to market to these teens in traditional ways even though their media habits are anything but tradtional.

I do think there are “insights” that many adults aren’t aware of:

• How deep and involved some of these social networks go...MySpace, Facebook, etc. the amount of participation in these Web-based social networks is off the radar screen for many adults and parents.

• About teens being hyper-informed. Many adults and marketers assume that teens only care about teen stuff, but the report details a wide awareness by this age group regarding national and global issues.

• Everyone probably thinks there is too much marketing and advertising, so that isn’t much new, but the fact that only 13 percent would wear a brand logo surprised me, and I think it would surprise many other marketers.

Greg