National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

The 2010 National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy is on May 5th.

Teens across the nation will visit StayTeen.org for online activities that will stress teen pregnancy prevention messages. Although the day is meant to prevent teen pregnancy, the activities will also inform teens about other consequences of sex.

National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy will challenge teens to think outside the box. They will be incited to consider how their lives would be affected by sex and the benefits of contraception. The possibility of pregnancy and the hair-pulling, life changing challenges that come with being a parent will also be faced. Forget sexy love scenes in Friday night’s date movie. The media glamour of sex will be stripped away and teens will learn about the realities of being sexually active. Not a moment too soon, if you ask me. Guttmacher Institute’s data says that teen pregnancy is up by 3% since 2006. That is the first rise in teen pregnancy since 1990. National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy will be a mass attempt to lower that percentage, as well as other related statistics.

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Gen Y like customisation

Marketing to Youth

We all know that Gen Y like to customise and, as their buying power grows, it looks like some companies are catching up and changing their offerings. Chocri is a great example and will no doubt appeal to youth on many levels (minus the price).

Firstly, it has a social cause element. Clearly shown on their website is current donations, although reading it I think that Gen Y may demand more.

DIV-Kinder (which stands for Deutsch-Ivorische-Verein and means German-Ivory Association) is a Christian organization that cares for the needs of homeless and orphaned children of the Ivory Coast. Their primary interest is to provide the children with shelter and supervision. The organization’s employees work directly in these countries and make sure that donations and supplies from Germany are transferred to the homes for children.

1% of every chocolate bar purchased goes directly to the children of the Ivory Coast. So far, the first major donation project we financed was very successful and you are welcome to read more about this project and future ones on our blog.

They also tick the boxes on blogging and offering free bars but this is all a bit old hat, right?

Where they really excell is in their customisations, allowing customers to make their own bar. You pick what choclate it is made from, what you put in it, from which the range is huge, and then you get to name it. Now, while on the surface this may not appear huge, to me it shows that we are getting our youth more and more and are willing to make changes.

Pepsi Max Ad gets youth all fired up.

Marketing to Youth- How could Pepsi get it so wrong?

The latest Pepsi Max advert has caused a lot of debate among the youth and has brought up some interesting questions for me.

Is the tide turning when it comes to using sex in adverts?
Has the message of respect for women finally got through?
Are youth demanding a new way of thinking from advertising?

My answer to all these is yes.

This Pepsi Max advert sees a man trick a women into having sex with him by making her think that the world is about to end. As a 40-something-year-old I have to say that I watched the advert, chuckled a bit and thought nothing of it, but it appears that the youth saw it another way, calling it a little bit rapey. Wow, was I so used to seeing this sort of thing on TV and adverts that I did not even bat a eyelid? Or perhaps, my police background knows that this would never stand as a rape charge. Whatever it was, it did not affect me as it did the female youth who were up in arms about it. As I started to think about it, I saw that although I have been conditioned by years and years of mistreatment of women in the media, which intially made me see the funny side, it is not really funny at all. These young females are right; it is unacceptable and it has made me so thankful that the conditioning is finally changing and these topics are been openly discussed. Well done…..

Here are some of the comments of a thread of over 140 about the advert.

I am not lacking a sense of humour. I am not known for political correctness. But hello? If you make a woman think she is about to die in order to have sex with her, that is a bit rapey. Would she have had sex with you otherwise? No – we clearly see her turn the guy down. Was she under extreme emotional duress? Yes – she thinks she and everyone she loves are about to die horribly. Does this make me want to buy Pepsi Max? No, it makes me want to pretend to kidnap the children of the ad execs who came up with this ad in order to get them to do things they wouldn’t otherwise do (like show some semblance of intelligence). Disclaimer: it makes me want to do it, but I wouldn’t, because I am not a jerk, unlike the Pepsi Max-drinking jerk in the ad.

ETA: @mjrobbins on Twitter just pointed out the dance they do at the end, which we have now dubbed the pack hunt Dance of Rape.
Pepsi Max – when you’re too gentlemanly to threaten her with a weapon
Pepsi Max, the drink of men who are you to trick you in to having sex with them. Nice strategy there guys, well done

Also take a look at Pepsi Advert – “A Little Bit Rapey” and Pepsi Max – A Bit Rapey

Or make your own mind up and see the advert for yourself.

TV is catching up with youth

TV and the Gen Y Influence

I recently sat on a panal discussing families and the future of TV. TV has so mnay opportunities to transform and change and I think it is a very exciting time. Here are a few things that show how things are chganging and give a glimpse a the possible future of TV.

Firstly the release of the first ever on-line TV series aimed at teens “I kissed a vampire” cheesy, camp and funny at at the same time kids are devouring it!

While I certainly do not really get this at all, I can see how it will appeal to the younger generation. It shows the struggle that every teen has about fitting in. It is slightly effeminate, which will appeal to most. I have to say that the characters appear to me to hark back to the 80’s, which I am not sure I would wish on anyone! However, I think what they will like most about it is the fact that it is not on mainstream TV and therefore is something they can adopt without the ears and eyes of the adults. Oh, and it’s kinda fun and cheesy which, lets face it, makes us all feel better.

Then Simon Fuller announces  a new reality TV show that follows contestants 24/7 and streams live Fuller’s intention is to become the first reality TV hit driven by social networking

“I am determined to continue pushing the boundaries of mainstream entertainment,” Fuller has said. “The next frontier is the video world of authentic real-time interaction. It is time the public got to see the truth behind what it takes to launch the careers of young artists.”

And then we have chatter a free social television application for the iPhone and iPod touch that presents real time Twitter-fueled commentary about your favorite TV shows.

Looks like TV is finally catching up on the game.

Here are some other posts that make soem very interesting points on the future of TV.

Razorfish Report on The Future of TV

Infographic: Television Viewership By The Numbers

A Youth approach to marketing

Gods, Gays and Girls

Lisa of Fink cards and I have recently taken on some Gen Y Buzz Agents to help us hit the ground running (basically young people who will help us get the message out). We wanted innovative ways to get our products out to the people and figured that we needed youth and energy and that we need to butt out and leave them to it. Obviously, they have some guidelines, but that is it. Now they are not marketers, nor do they have any special powers, they are two amazing young adults who love what we do and have drive and determination. We wanted it like this.

So as Lisa and I talked about adult stuff, namely product development, they excitedly planned their strategy, which did to us seem chaotic but we left them to it and tried so hard not to listen.

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Social Media gives Youth a Voice

The Youth in the UK are rising up and you better start listening!

As the millennials get older and start to use social media in a different way other than to just connect, we have seen a few things happen recently which, for all the skeptics out there, show that social media does have a place and is giving young people a voice they never had before.

15 year old Tess Chapin

Firstly, there was the story of 15-year-old Tess Chapin of Sunnyside, Queens (New York) starting a campaign on Facebook to convince her parents to remove her punishment. Yet again the adults got involved and turned this into a very public and vicious debate. And while you may or may not agree with what she did, you have to admire the ingenuity of it all.

The Independent reports…

And it looks as if it worked, with the examination board saying that they would take their comments into account in the marking. Something which I fear will not quell the masses.

I think this is a taste of things to come and the voice of the youth will get louder and louder; you had better be listening!

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