There are 33.5 million teens in the US today. If they were a country, they would be the 38th most populated country in the world – bumping Canada to 39th.
Last year US teens spent a whopping $179 Billion. Add to that amount the great deal of influence they have over what their parents purchase. For example, the average adult with a teen in the home spent $1,752 on consumer electronic products in the last year, more than $500 over the national average .
With teen spending and influence projected to stay strong, marketers are desperately trying to target this elusive population. There are several factors that have made reaching the teen target difficult:
- Growing cynicism to traditional marketing methods. Teens want to be entertained, not marketed to.
- Ability to filter messages aimed at them via electronic devices such as DVRs, PCs and mp3 players.
- Tremendous rise in online activity from watching user-created content to social networking to shopping online.
- Going mobile - having a cell phone is essential for most teens.
Finding Teens
Before marketers can reach today’s teens, they have to find them first. Not surprisingly, more and more teens can be found online. It’s difficult to overstate how the Internet has revolutionized what it means to be a teen. From music downloads to blog postings to social networking sites, the Internet is now as much as a destination as is TV. The Internet continues to build influence in every area, taking over the top spot as “Most Informative” and approaching TV as the medium teens “can’t live without.”
Online Teen Facts
92% of teens go online during an average week
86% of teens have access to a home computer
66% of teens have high speed Internet connections
The question becomes,” where are teens online and what are they doing”? The top 5 sites for teens are:
- My Space
- Yahoo
- YouTube
- Send emails (69%)
- Listen to music clips (58%)
- IM (56%)
- Visit personal homepages or profiles (53%)
- Research for school (50%)
- Play games (45%)
- Surf for interests and hobbies (45%)
- Look for stuff to buy (45%)
- Get daily information (horoscope, weather) (36%)
- Read an ad (36%)
The key to understanding teens’ online activity is not to think of any of their activities as standalone. Rather, these are all part of teens self-expression and are intricately connected, with YouTube links embedded on blogs alongside “check this out” viral endorsements. Many marketers are turning to “influencer” teens to help spread the word about a product using viral endorsements. Others have turned to providing entertaining content to teens that is “sponsored by” the company. The Internet will continue to become stronger with teens as broadband enables teens to upload and stream their content of choice in their Web 2.0 world. Coupling broadband growth with the introduction of online content over wireless networks means that true interconnectivity has really only just begun.
" Last year US teens spent
a whopping $179 billion"
a whopping $179 billion"
The rapid wireless adoption among teens has made marketers turn more toward the third screen as an attractive and easy way to reach them. There has been a rapid expansion of basic “extended” mobile activities like taking pictures and downloading ring tones. Now teens have reached a point where they are ready to jump into more robust activities like music and video.
Wireless Teen Facts
- 66% of teens own a cell phone
- 88% use it to tell time
- 72% send text messages
- 60% take photos, 27% send photos
- 23% shoot videos
- 9% bought something
With more teens wanting to use their cell phones for more vigorous online activities such as search, purchasing and mobile social networking, expect to see a rise in smartphone purchases among teens. However, marketers should be aware that teens are even less tolerant of wireless spam than their parents.
Innovative moves by brands trying to reach teens:
Sprite, the third most consumed regular soft drink among teens is making a push into the world of mobile social networking. Its new initiative, called Sprite Yard, will be a full-fledged branded mobile social networking site featuring all the usual elements like profiles, photo sharing and messaging – along with mobisodes & animated shorts. However, Sprite Yard stands out in the teen market because it will be a mobile social networking site. Users will be connecting using their cell phones rather than their computers.
A brand’s bold move into the world of the teen mobile social networking.
Dunkin' Donuts, the number two coffee chain with teens and college students is launching a new website called MyIcedCoffee that allows users to plan road trips and map out its stores along the way. In addition to offering trip planning capabilities, the site features a sweepstakes and user-generated content.
Today’s teens are more connected than previous generations which means they have more messages flying at them from all directions. Marketers have to be smart about how to reach teens today. Whether its’ content wrapping on the CW network, creating a product profile on Facebook or planning a road trip via Dunkin’ Donuts - marketers are continuously searching for new ways to engage teens and to make that brand connection.
Rules for Marketing to Teens:
- Teens expect to be entertained by advertising, they love to laugh: be engaging!
- Teens won’t work overtime to get the message (they’re really busy and efficient about messages they consume): get to the point!
- Teens love the spotlight and they want to feel the message is being sent directly to them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean using teen speak (which most adults really can’t do credibly): be relevant!
Andrea Gretsky
Account Planning Director
Cheil Communications New Jersey
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