Teens: Hard to Reach, Harder to Engage

The transition from childhood to adolescence is a big turning point — socially, mentally, physically and emotionally.

Just ask any parent with children between the ages of 8 and 14. This generation is media-wise, sophisticated, technically-savvy, and they’re influential trendsetters who are growing up much quicker than previous generations. I see this every day in my two daughters, ages 12 and 14.

If you’re a parent of a tween, teen or have any in your family, you probably won’t be too surprised by these statistics from eMarketer’s report, Kids and Teens: Communications Revolutionaries:

• While 36% of teens send a text message every day, just 16% send e-mail every day (Pew Internet & American Life Project).
• Between 2006 and 2007, usage of social networks among 10-to-12-year-old Internet users more than doubled, to 22% (Harris Poll).
• 16 million teens—nearly two-thirds of the population—own a mobile phone (MultiMedia Intelligence).
• 46% of tweens have a mobile phone, up from 35% in 2007 (Nielsen Co.).

Over one-quarter of teen mobile phone owners (28%) access the Internet via their phone (Harris Interactive/CTIA-The Wireless Association), compared with 17% of all mobile subscribers (Nielsen Mobile).

Under the Kidfluence

Their world is a different world from mine at this age. For those of us in the 30 to 40-something range, technology used to mean cassette tapes, Atari, push-button phones and electric typewriters (gosh, I feel old). In the ’70s and ‘80s, marketers didn’t see nearly the influence from kids as they do today – the phenomenon known as “kidfluence.”

The March 2009 issue of Deliver says that America’s 21 million tweens spend an average of $2,047 of their own money every year. Their annual “purchasing power” (or in some cases, “pester power”) is an amazing $43 billion. It’s estimated that tweens will spend $8.5 billion on grooming products by 2012. Sometimes I feel like my household will contribute about 10% of that total.

As tweens begin to feel the influence of peers and the media, it’s no wonder the personal care industry zeroes in on these finicky consumers looking to make their hair softer, skin smoother and their faces prettier not only for themselves but those of the opposite gender.

The word-of-mouth recommendations play a huge role in their buying decisions, but amateur videos play a significant role in their consideration set, too. This is particularly true when it comes to personal care products.

Teach Me But Don’t Preach To Me

My girls are big fans of products from Coastal Scents, and e.l.f., two online brands they heard about when watching videos posted by teen makeup aficiandos on YouTube. Now, they’re fans of Lauren Luke, a single mom in her late 20s from Newcastle, Great Britain who rose to YouTube fame by creating a series of how-to videos for applying makeup. Lauren’s YouTube channel has evolved into the most popular in the United Kingdom.  She’s created a fan base as a fairly simple looking woman for northern England (but not quite as simple as Susan Boyle from Britain’s “So You Think You’ve Got Talent”) – a far cry from models and stars who grace every fashion magazine cover.

In fact, New York-based agency Anomaly discovered Lauren while doing research on YouTube.  Now, Luke’s brand graces billboards in Times Square.

Engaging Viewers By Being Real

“What she’s done is connected with people in an amazing way without the use of conventional media,” says Anomaly partner Duncan Bird in an interview with BrandWeek. “She’s done it bedroom to bedroom.”

And since about half of Luke’s viewers are from North America, Anomaly is helping her launch a product line here as well as in Europe.

Marketers and media companies like ours that are looking to reach children and teens are learning that “online,” “offline” and “mobile” are terms that will soon become irrelevant. The children and teens of today and tomorrow will not go “online” to do something. Instead, they will just do it—communicate, get information, shop, buy, be entertained—and revolutionize the process every step of the way.

How they do such things—online, offline, on the mobile phone, with a text message, in writing, in a virtual world—will become less important than the ease of the experience, how seamless it is across devices and whether it can be equally engaging regardless of the venue.  Now, I’m going to go watch Lauren Luke’s videos and see if I can learn a trick or two.

[ photo credit: dana.ocker]