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.

Though the price of an average mobile phone call keeps dropping, as does the number of land lines, the phone industry has seen no shortage of income thanks to the purchasing ferocity of their youngest market segment .  A recent study released showed that by the age of 17 at least 91 percent of girls and 78 percent of boys own a mobile phone, the majority of which use it for more than just making and receiving phone calls.  Mobile providers are embracing teenagers in every possible way, through youth centric promotions, applications and model designs.   Like any brand, the goal is to win consumers early, and create an affinity that will continue on, even after their parents stop paying the bill.  They have done this by constantly adding or offering more to each device and mobile plan, placing a higher importance on features over functionality, quickly phasing out the traditional cell phone and cell user in the process.

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