Grown Up Thinking

A recent video response by Kristina, a 21-year old student on the topic of communities working with brands, seemed to touch on so much of what Mr Youth has found to define the new consumer. While older generations might question the placement of advertising into personal blogs and You Tube channels, Consumer 2.0 struggles to see how this is any different then attempting to bombard them with a brand’s message via traditional channels. Kristina identifies how much more contextual and relevant marketing via peers and communities is. She explains how off putting “shoving commercials down our throats is” and how brands who take the time to think through ways to engage them and “work with them” have a much better grasp of how to positively communicate with their generation. Marketers could learn a lot from this 21-year old.

I’m always interested in how language is influenced by changes in culture and technology. Trend Central recently published a good, albeit slightly flawed (etymology of pwn is way wrong, real one found here… thanks Matt) list of new slang for 2009.  As this list indicates, two themes are really making an impact on the words we use: the recession & digital media.

It will be interesting to see how the economic downturn continues to shape the ways we communicate and the language we use.  “Recession menus” are popping up all over New York City, and some are under very dubious disguises.  

One thing is clear: whether we’re talking about relationships or macroeconomic instability, the proliferation of micromessaging tools and platforms will continue to augment language and change standards of acceptability.  I’m still not sure I want to use “do not want!” in my business emails yet, but given what we’re seeing I can’t imagine it will be long before such obscure terms and expressions gain mainstream use.

Almost since its inception Pepsi has marketed itself as a youth oriented brand.  The constant “choice of a new generation”, the “other” cola has always been endorsed by the hottest celebrities of the moment and integrated into the lifestyles of young people through sports, music and pop culture.  Yet, the choices made by the “new generation” of 2008 are far different from those of past “new generations” so Pepsi is addressing the issue with a multi-tiered revamping of all beverages in the Pepsi Co. family, most notably streamlining and modernizing the names and logos of some of their most iconic products.   

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A study just released today by Viacom Brand Solutions International reinforced what we at Mr. Youth have been saying for years, that:

“youth” is no longer applicable in today’s society, and marketers should target consumers based upon their engagement and participation in youth culture rather than by chronological age’

As we have been immersed in youth culture over the past 6 years, we have seen this new digitally enabled consumer graduate college and move into the workforce, yet their behavior and interests remains largely the same. As Viacom puts it:

“Even in these financially challenging times, people are trying to stay younger for longer,” said Kevin Razvi, EVP and managing director of VBSI. “ 25-to-34 year-olds are continuing to consume music, gaming and the internet and are enjoying the pursuits of their younger years while benefiting from a greater level of personal and financial freedom. We therefore need to rethink what ’youth’ actually means and how we and our partners can approach this constantly evolving group of people.”

Likewise, we have seen our experience gain increasingly more relevance as marketers struggle to reconnect with their consumers, a consumer many no longer fully grasp due to the rapid changes that have occurred over this time. If you need a quick cheat sheet to this new consumer, check out our white paper Consumer 2.0.