GfK NOP’s Roper Youth Report on teens shows that they have a influencial voice in purchasing decisions surrounding technology.
The study also examines the increasing individualism in teens and the flow on affect for marketeers.
The presentation highlights :-
Kids and technology seems to go hand-in-hand.
Kids are early adopters of technology and are fast to adapt to changes and updates.
Kids’ fascination with the latest trends and cool gadgets, is helping parents stay informed and it actually influencers their purchasing decisions.
Kids are happy to share information on technology, communications and entertainment.
With more and more kids sharing information online, news and opinions travel faster than ever before.
Individualism and need for identify in teens is important.
New technologies are providing ways for teens to express themselves (e.g. Myspace.com)
Mobile phone choice, ring tone, wallpaper, music playlists are all helping teens differentiate themselves and as such there are more and more niche groups emerging such as Christian Punk Rock.
So the message for marketeers is to not be frightened of innovation when communicating to teens, and to ensure that any messages are used to help fulfill teens identity. Niche groups such as Reggae Pop and Christian Punk Rock are emerging and this may provide opportunities for developing niche messages rather than using the one size fits all method. i.e. you communication should fulfill the identity of teens, remembering that not all teens are the same. Whilst this is more difficult, and potentially requires more thought, many of the communication channels (podcasts, web sites, etc) are less expensive than tv!.
Watch the 30 min presentation here
Perhaps you should rethink your teens communication strategy?
