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!

Connecting Millenials to Causes Using Social Media

Social Causes and Generation Y

I love this post from Carol Phillips, one of my fave writers on all things Gen-Y and beyond.

Gen-Y are the generation geared towards social change (look what they did for Obama) and I love Carol’s tips on how to connect them with social media.

Here are my top four; for the full ten read the blog post

1. Invite them to join the Team.
Millennials relate to heroes and young people with ideas. (Think 911, NBC’s Heroes, Harry Potter). DO: Show them how they can get involved and contribute in ways other than money. Like other segments, Millennials are more likely to give when they have a personal connection. Feature team members who are having an impact.

2. Give them a Voice.
Generation Y wants to be heard so help them tell their story. Make it easy to join the conversation. DO: Use blogs to encourage two-way conversation. Blogs are usually less formal and more dynamic than a regular websites. Good blogs invite comments and discussion and repeat visits. DON’T FILTER: Allow the negative and positive comments to remain.

3. Make It Personal.
Millennials use social media to connect to people, not institutions. DO: Feature real people. Be authentic. DON’T: Be afraid to be transparent and have a little fun.

4. Market with them, not to them.
Think of your efforts as multiplying and activating advocates. Do: Work for ‘retweets’ – Encourage donors and fundraisers to publicize their support and progress to their friends. Find ways to give them ‘social currency’ to spend with their friends. Don’t: Wait until you have it all figured out. Put your advocates to work on your behalf. They are in the best position to know how to talk to their peers.

The Teen’s Speech

Teens of the UK speak out

On Christmas Day this year, teenage Britain delivered its own message to the nation. Broadcast just after the Queens Speech on myspace it gives a powerful message to adults and a great insight into youth of today.

Listening to it here are the messages I took out.

Most young people find it difficult to identify or communicate with their families this is cited by the youth as been a reason some join gangs.

If you are exposed to violence it becomes the norm and expected.

Most youth are very distrustful of the government and politics and believe the voting age should be lowered.

They have very dim views of the education system saying it does not prepare them for life and teachers are to focused on the trouble makers.

Youth want to learn and engage from adults but most will not approach them.

I think these are strong messages and show us that the youth of the UK do want to reach out if we are willing to accept them.

I love things like this but my only fear as with all good ideas is that no one does anything with the information and nothing changes.

What do you think?

Youthtopia

MTV research young people’s ideal and perfect world.

Yesterday I spent the morning with the great people at MTV and their pr peeps talking on radio about some new research they have uncovered.

MTV with over 7000 young people have re-written the Ten Commandments and Deadly Sins.

Here are the teen modern day equivalent. I think they are are a very accurate portrayal of our youth today. What do you think?

The most popular modern day commandments for British teenagers** (in order of importance) are:

1. Thou shalt get a job with good prospects
2. Thou shalt not rack up huge debts
3. Thou shalt not eat junk food
4. Thou shalt respect the planet
5. Thou shalt get good qualifications
6. Thou shalt settle down with a man/woman of your dreams
7. Thou shalt travel and experience other cultures
8. Thou shalt always offer a seat to elderly people on a bus/train
9. Thou shalt work hard to buy a big house
10. Thou shalt not litter the streets

The 21st Century Deadly Sins** of being young in the UK show just what teenagers won’t tolerate in their peers. While the traditional sins of pride, lust and greed don’t make the list, new additions include anti-social behaviour, obesity and debt.

The new Seven Deadly Sins revealed in the Youthtopia research are (in order or importance)

1. Anti-social behaviour
2. Addiction
3. Bulllying
4. Racism
5. Obesity
6. Debt
7. Laziness

Key stats from the Youthtopia* research show when it comes to British teenagers they are a bunch of “young fogeys”. They show:

* 91% want to find the right someone and settle down
* 90% are interested in current events and what happens in the rest of the world
* 82% feel that a successful career is very important – 18% didn’t care about what they did as long as they made lots of money
* 62% want to work hard for a nice big house
* 39% want to learn because it broadens their horizons

TV Show

Sarah has appeared in many TV Shows in the U.K. and has been watched by 1 in 4 of the of the U.K. population.  She has hosted her own eight part TV series and was one of the first coaches to appear on a UK mainstream TV channel. Sarah has appeared on BBC 1 & 3, ITV 1 & 2 and Channel 5 to name but a few.

Passionate about the power of on-line media and mobilising people through the visual form Sarah will be launching several on-line TV shows in the coming six months.  She has several very exciting projects in the making.

In the meantime please watch one of Sarah’s other productions with Fink.

Sexting- Teen Talk with Sarah & Lisa at Fink TV

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