By Krystle Lange on 2010/06/14
Gone are the days when the younger generation are seen and not heard. Today’s youth are outspoken and not afraid to state their opinions. Communication and engagement has now become that much easier with the interactive nature of Social Media. Young people have taken the proverbial bull by the horns in this regard, and have expressed themselves in more ways than one online. The youth of today is seen as a lucrative market; however, “Generation Y”, is certainly not the easiest nut to crack.
Generation Who?
There are still fundamental similarities between today’s youth, and the youth of yesteryear. Between the ages of 12 and 20, a young person tends to be fighting for their independence and battling against authority, striving to get their voice and opinions heard. There is also a desperate need to belong and fit into one's peer group. This innate belonging filters unknowingly into the youth markets consumer behaviour as well as their behaviour online; namely their online presence. Essentially, it is the fear of not belonging that drives young consumers to behave in certain ways online and in the market place that is so unique to their group’s demographics.
The youth market of today are leaps and bounds ahead of their predecessors with regards to their relationship with the media. In the same breath, however, they are very quick to dismiss an idea if they think that they may be being tricked. They have a short attention span and are cynical when it comes to advertising and marketing promises therefore truth and transparency is a very important aspect to any marketing strategy when attempting to crack this media savvy generation.
Young people are interested in new products and they are willing to experiment with different brands, making them a very lucrative market to target. Because of the fact that they are trendsetters and have a short attention span due to the immediacy of their digital world, if a brand no longer provides them with up-to-date, new and improved products on a regular basis, they will move onto a brand that will. This is the challenge faced by marketers.
Where is the Youth’s Digital Focused?
In Europe approximately 75% of those younger than 18 make use of the Internet, in some countries this percentage is higher, in the Netherlands 93% of young people between the ages of 6 and 18 are online. Favoured past times for the young is social networking.
In the US, it was noted that young people between the ages of 12 and 17 are very active online, with almost three-quarters of them on various social networking sites, less than 20% are regular bloggers and approximately 8% use Twitter.
While people in the US and Europe learn to use the Internet, primarily at school or at home, young South African users predominately learn to use the Internet on their mobile phones, from their peers. The mobile social network, MXit, is central to this process and in 2010, a survey was done on what South African young people value more, MXit came out tops above Facebook.
Mobile phones have been proven to be the accessory of note for the global youth market. South African young people have a mobile phone penetration of 86%, surprisingly not much different from the young market in Europe and the US, who fall between 83% and 87% of mobile penetration.
How to Tap Into the Youth Market
The youth in South Africa, for example, make up approximately 50% of the total population. In 2010 so far, youth between the ages of 8 and 22, have an estimated spending of R95.3 billion, which is a 6.3% increase from 2009. This market will no doubt bring an ROI like no other if penetrated in the right manner.
Essentially, the key to tapping into any target market is to understand what resonates with them, and what would make them move. This is specifically true for youth market as their attention spans are limited, and they tend to be heavily influenced by what their peer group considers to be popular.
Marketing to young consumers is based on the concepts of wants and needs. The market needs to be empowered to give them the confidence to take control, provide them with a sense of belonging and to stand out as a trend setter.
With regards to popular brands, young people from South Africa as well as other countries around the world (including, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), votes Coke, Nike, Billabong, Levi's and Adidas as their top 5 brands. Reputable brands such as Coca-Cola are continuously popular with young adults as they do not compromise their service delivery and remain an affordable and desirable product by the youth. As a result of this, the younger population will tend to be loyal to them, because they remain consistent and trustworthy.
Taking a Hint from a Well-known Brand
Coca-Cola has set a great example with regards to utilising social networks to reach their target market. They have a fan page on Facebook which is driven predominantly by consumer generated content; they’ve taken a risk in adding a wall feed by default. This is something which most brands shy away from due to the potential repercussions that negative content may have on their online reputation. This brave move by the company demonstrates Coca-Cola’s keen interest in getting their fans engaged and involved in their brand.
The original Coca-Cola Facebook fan page was created by two fans who had a love for the product. The company found the page and rather than buying the page or creating an “official” page, they rewarded the fans and decided to work with them so as to continue building the existing page and representing the brand as a result. By empowering their existing fans, Coca-Cola has been able to build a solid rapport on the connections that were initially established with fans on Facebook before they officially arrived.
Coca-Cola has done it right. They gave their users the driver’s seat in engaging with the brand, empowered them and allowed their voices to be heard.
Growing up in the digital era has allowed the youth of today to acquire a tech-savvy way about them that their parents never had. The youth’s perceptions of brands are well developed by the time they reach 8 years old and as a result of this, they already have a huge influence in comparison to their predecessors. They have embraced technology with open arms and make use of these tools to broadcast their opinion on a global platform. Infiltrating the youth market is a tricky process; however if done in a manner which focuses on the youth’s wants and needs, seeing returns will no longer be a thing of the past.
