Teen Marketing example essay topic

Summary Branded, through startling facts taken from leading marketing publications, internal company reports and extensive personal interviews, investigates the practices of brand-name marketers in cashing in on $155 billion spent by teens on 'leisure expenses. ' It is written as an expos'e determined to bring the guerilla methods large corporations such as Nike, Visa, Disney, McDonalds, Coke and Pepsi use in teen marketing to the public's attention. The book describes how marketing to the country's youth involves plastering school gyms with advertising banners and contracting schools to use a certain brand of soft drink vending machines, as well as the recruitment of tens of thousands of teenagers as insider-interns to not only provide the company with current trends, but to advertise merchandise through their use of freebies given away by the company. A few of the more surprising facts: . One hundred and fifty school districts in twenty-nine states have Pepsi and Coke contracts...

A growing number of high schools have corporate sponsorships, from textbooks regularly mentioning Oreo cookies and math problems contain Nike logos, to high school gyms bearing banners and advertisements of sporting goods and soft drinks... Companies such as Disney and McDonald's hold secondary school focus groups for data collection as well as product promotion... 55% of American high-school seniors work more than three hours a day to earn the money needed to buy the things they 'need'. How easy is it to recruit the "teen-insiders?" If you " re a well-known or trendy brand, very easy! Many teens want to be associated with these brands, and to be 'working' for the company gives them the feeling that there opinion matters. What popular teen wouldn't want to be approached by Gucci or Nike to wear their clothing and accessories in exchange for insider info?

Even marketers of the non-trendy brands can find teens to wear their clothing if given away for free, even if just to promote rather than to collect data. Many marketers form "friendships" with young people, recruiting the popular kids to find out what their classmates are wearing, eating, listening to and buying. Along with the 'taking' end of the partnership, the marketers 'give' these trendsetters free merchandise to wear (pants, tops, shoes, sunglasses) and use (Walkmans, purses, accessories, music CD's) in hopes that the less popular students will follow their lead. These 'teen-brand insiders', once affiliated with a certain company, become 'Prada girls or Old Navy chicks or Pac Sun boys,' showing the extent of their identification and devotion. Much of the marketing begins at an early age. For example, by the age of ten children can recognize 200-300 separate brands.

Children brought up on Baby Gap move onto Gap, then possibly Banana Republic or Old Navy (all owned by the same company.) Companies traditionally thought of as "adult" brands such as Prada and Gucci market to teens and "tweens" (those aged 9-14) in hopes to start brand loyalty at an early age. Marketing Concepts Why is this form of marketing so effective? The primary data collected is not only taken from the teenagers whom are the target market for these companies, but collected by their peers. Rather than have an outsider try to extract the data via questionnaires, focus groups, or outside observance of adolescent purchasing behaviors, these companies use 'insiders' who have an in-depth knowledge of their peers, know what's hot, what's hip, and where the trends are heading. The two-fold aspect of this is that the same people collecting this data are advertising the product through personal use. Companies merely need to give their product away to these opinion leaders, whom through use of the free merchandise convey the message that the product - as an extension of the individual - is 'cool' too.

One would think that there is a conflict in having the data collectors being the same people who are pushing the product. But if companies have chosen their trendsetters well, these teen-insiders not only report back what's being used / worn /seen by other students, but in 'advertising' the products they " ve chosen to represent (as a peer reference group), let the companies know what will be trendy a month or so from now. The brand loyalty for these students is apparently fairly high. Many insiders want to be associated with companies such as Nike, Prada, Gucci and Sony, and by show of support for their 'employer' where and use the products daily. If these companies can keep the students happy through freebies and an association with the company, the insiders will continue to promote the product, the 'followers' will continue to use the products that the insiders are using. And what if a sponsoring company falls out of fashion?

The insiders are the first to know, and if the system works correctly, the company will make the necessary adjustments. Delia's, for example, test markets clothing and catalogs with teen-insiders before making them public. If something purely 'isn't cool', the company may drop the product, alter it, or market it differently. The goal is to try to stay in favor with the teens, making adjustments wherever necessary to keep them loyal to the company. Self-concept is, of course, a leading factor companies take into consideration when using teen-insiders.

The way teens see themselves and how they think others see them is basically what teen marketing is all about. Image plays a larger roll in product selection rather than quality and - beneficially to the company - price. Teens are now subject to movies where even the 'geeks's uch as Jason Biggs in American Pie 2 have washboard stomachs. There are even pro-ana (pro-anorexia) websites that actually accept and embrace the idea of this eating disorder, showing images of nearly skeletal women as "th inspiration". The idea that "image is everything" is stronger than ever among American teens. Conclusion Marketers have found an effective and inexpensive way to get the primary data they need, advertise their product through use of trendsetters, and create brand loyalty early on in teenagers.

One's initial thought might be "Ingenious!" Can this be wrong? It can. Many European countries have already recognized the need to regulate advertising directed towards minors, with Sweden having gone as far as outlawing advertising to kids under twelve. Norwegians have recently made an unsuccessful attempt to outlaw advertising directed towards children, and Great Britain is considering stricter advertising to children under five. France has also issued guidelines for ads directed at minors. The author continues the discussion of how certain types of youth marketing are creating negative influences on teenagers, by conveying the message that if you aren't thin, wealthy, and dressed in the right outfit, you will not be popular, get the guy / girl of your dreams, nor be accepted into the top schools.

Rather than teach acceptance of the 'followers' marketers are teaching rejection from the 'leaders. ' As mentioned above, women are not only obtaining a distorted image of themselves, some (including those in the pro-ana groups) have gone as far as accepting anorexia or bulimia, even embracing it to resemble who they see in ads, on TV and in movies. Teens are working long hours (which should theoretically be spent studying) to earn enough money to buy the things their friends have. Can this type of marketing be done responsibly? It can be, as long as it is done with acceptance, tolerance, and education... Marketers need to focus on getting teens to purchase based on personal choice, not through what their peers are purchasing as a means of social acceptance...

Body image needs to be a non-factor when advertising to teens. Teenagers, and increasingly tweens, are very conscious of body-image, and by advertising clothing draped loosely over skinny, atypical models marketers are setting body-fat standards that most teens cannot meet... Marketers should devise a way to market to peer groups on the same social level, that is, avoid marketing from the top of the social rung downwards. The problem is that if the hard-sell to teens is working, why fix it? Marketers have found an effective way to position themselves within teen social groups, and there's no sign that they will change their ways. Without strong public opposition and government regulation, marketers will be free to target youths without taking responsibility for the negative effects.

On the bright side, there is a growing number of "unaffiliated" kids - those whom are anti-branding. The book states that "if kids feel they have been excessively manipulated, they may turn away from brands". Though this group is small in number, they do have a voice among peers - one that marketers recognize and are eager to learn more about. Overall, the book is well written, reads like an extended magazine article and quite an eye-opener into the extensive yet somewhat underground world of teen marketing.

Though interesting, it might be littered with too many facts without expanding on their implications. Also the tone is fairly one-sided, excluding the positive effects this method of marketing might have on teens, such as possibly creating early work ethics (ironically through arguably unethical means) or skills associated with social data collection. Though not intellectually challenging, it does increase ones knowledge of the intense marketing done by large corporations using the unofficial teen "sales force" and the negative implications such targeting methods create in today's teen. Rather than be a rehash of information that has already been known to the public (though the book No Logo by Naomi Klein has addressed this same issue), it provides rather shocking data that makes one think the marketers have made a smart move through their use of insider-marketing methods. But more so the book focuses on how it negatively affects teens and tweens. Critics, rightfully, have also pointed out that the book "lacks a broad cultural perspective: most interviewees are white, middle class and female".

But I would assume that although not reported in the book, savvy marketers are using the same methods on other target markets based on income, race and gender. I personally recommended book for creating social awareness, bringing to the forefront of one's thoughts how large companies are 'infiltrating' our schools, and the negative social and physical aspects it has on our children. It's surprising that this type of insider-marketing using teenagers is not brought more into public awareness, but this book is an excellent introduction into many facets of teen marketing that can, and need to be, explored further..