While we at YMC most often focus on engaging with the high school to post-college set — those often called Generation Y — we’re always looking for insights about the generation behind them, the so-called Gen-Z-ers. According to demographers (and the legions of youth culture bloggers), Gen Z covers those born between roughly 1992 and 2010. If you want a (very brief) but insightful look into what this up-and-coming generation of consumers think about television, check out this video from Dave Knox at Hard Knox Life. In about 45 seconds it demonstrates that TV’s pop-culture reign may not be indefinite…
Roughly a month ago, according to the fine folks at AdverBlog who keep track of these things, Comcast unleashed a veritable torrent of new advertising. The cross-platform campaign, which includes at least ten 30-second TV spots and a robust interactive website called “Comcast Town,” was dreamed up by San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein and Partners (who have previously produced media-worth-watching for HP, Doritos, and Denny’s). The commercials, which you’ve likely seen by now, combine live-action footage and progressive animation to create a surreal, transfixing effect. It’s like some kind of visual cotton candy — you’re not sure it’s good for you, but you can’t stopping watching (or giggling happily). (Click here to see all of the ads, which AdFreak has helpfully aggregated.)
The commercials have a decidedly Gen-Y tone — they’re filled with dead-pan irony, semi-absurd humor (like the guitar-playing squirrels) and music that sounds like a chord-for-chord knock off of the Juno theme. The tone of the advertising is also inherently Gen-Y — it’s optimistic and aspirational (they depict a better, brighter, cuter world) while being totally unsentimental. These commercials feel like the very best of the internet brought to life — they’re fast and colorful, densely layered and attractively weird.
“Comcast Town,” their recently launched interactive website, is a visual marvel as well. From the moment the page loads, you’re more or less overwhelmed with beautiful, seamless, Flash-based animations. Objects fly on and off screen, the illustrations are painstakingly hand-rendered, and color is everywhere. Comcast Town is designed to be like a very small SimCity or Second Life — the “point” is to “build” a virtual livingroom by selecting furniture and adornments from the “Company Store.” Once you’ve personalized your room with objects from the store — including HDTVs, minimalist couches, wallpaper, fish tanks, modern art sculptures, sports equipment, pets, gramophones, etc. — you’re invited to submit your creation. The winning submission will be given a real-life entertainment center worth an estimated $30,000 (according to the fine print).
Now, if Comcast had told me that they planned to create an interactive website that would allow you to fill a virtual livingroom with pixel-based furniture, and that they were expecting web surfers to participate in droves, without paying them, I wouldn’t have been optimistic about its success. But I have to take my hat off to the fine creatives at Goodby, Silverstein — the site is so smooth, and the visuals are so captivating, that it really works. The sound effects, the hand-drawn icons, the adorable graphics, all of it combine to make a site that you just want to click around on. This is a concept that lives or dies by the “cool factor” of the design — and it passes the test with flying colors.
Comcast Town also wisely employs Facebook Connect, which allows a first-time visitor to create a username and join “the town” with minimal hassle (though you are still forced to give your email address). Importantly, the use of Facebook Connect means that many users will end up advertising the fact that they signed up on their Facebook wall — thus, greatly growing the sites reach.
One frequently overlooked factor in creating an interactive campaign is the challenge of getting the word out. So, you’ve spent all this money on a fancy-looking site — but what’s your plan for actually driving traffic to the site? One approach that Comcast took was to sponsor BoingBoing, a very popular blog with the digital set, and to have BoingBoing serve as a judge for selecting the winning room design. (BoingBoing was also invited to create icons that you can use to personalize your virtual room; BoingBoing made a carnivorous plant, a steam-punk computer, and a Flying Spaghetti Monster statue, which should give you some sense of BoingBoing’s sensibilities). On the one hand, this is sound move: BoingBoing is the kind of blog that influences other influential blogs. What BoingBoing writes about is essentially guaranteed to spark conversation and a few zillion links. But there’s an element of risk here: BoingBoing’s readership is unabashedly pro net-neutrality, and virulently anti-Comcast. And BoingBoing’s relationship with Comcast has caused a pretty fierce debate among its regular readers. It will be interesting to see how this develops across the next few weeks.
Overall, I would say that this whole campaign has been money well spent for Comcast. Comcast has had its PR problems in the past, but I think this campaign takes important strides towards softening the perception of Comcast in the eyes of the public. This is a fresher, brighter and cooler Comcast than we’ve seen before — I, for one, am impressed.
What do you all think?
Merry Thursday,
Paul
P.S.: I’ve been adding a post-script to my last few posts about my recent arrival on Twitter. If you’re one of the Twittering Millions, check me out at www.twitter.com/paul_himmelfarb.
Before we begin in earnest, a brief apology to you, dear YMC reader: You’ve probably noticed that as the Spring Break marketing season has ramped up, the number of blog posts has dropped — precipitously. This is a consequence of being (a) ridiculously busy and (b) having a job that involves weekly trips to Cancun and Panama City Beach. Take it from me: it’s almost impossible to blog with a margarita in one hand. But with another Spring Break season coming to a close (click here for a summary of the brands we created campaigns for this season), I promise to redouble my blogging efforts. Hold on to your hats, YMC readership — things are about to get sassy in the blogosphere.
Now, on to the business at hand: this past week, the ever-awesome YPulse published a survey that examined the top 12 ways “young people” around the world relieve stress. There weren’t really any shockers here, but it’s certainly worth taking a look at. As you might imagine, music — which is involved in some fashion in just about every moment of a Gen-Y-ers life — is front and center. The study is most interesting when it notes the stress-relieving habits of Gen-Y-ers around the world; if you were ever curious about how the youth in Sweden respond to stress, this post is for you. Check out the top three stress releavers below, and click here to read the rest of the post at YPulse.
1. Music Rules. The number one way young people cope with stress is to listen to music — 65% of all youth globally do this.
2. The Sun Always Shines On TV. In at number two, 48% of kids watch TV to relieve stress. 60% of youth globally lie down to watch TV. But….don’t watch CNN. MTV’s research proves the more news kids watch, the more stressed they become.
3. Talk To Me. Third is talking to friends (not face to face). The explosion in the new tools available to connect to friends has seemingly come at just the right time for a generation seeking moral support. That said, it is existing friends that provide the most support, rather than strangers, the only nation likely to turn to help from online strangers in significant numbers are the Chinese.
And, yes, I’m finally on Twitter: YPulse also recently published a list of Youth Marketers you need to be following on Twitter. Now, seriously, I’ve been meaning to dive into the world of Twitter for quite a while now. I’ve been chomping at the bit, I swear, to get in there and just tweet like there’s no tomorrow. Thus far, however, I’ve left Twitter and its minute-by-minute, 140-character updates to our younger employees who seem to be unable to go for more than a few minutes without touching a keyboard of some kind. But after being told for the 12,000th time that I should be on Twitter, and after checking out the legitimately fascinating conversations taking place on Twitter regarding marketing, it became obvious that I could be a hold out no longer. So, without further delay, make your way to www.twitter.com/paul_himmelfarb and “follow” me quickly! I need some friends so that I don’t look like such a newb.
(Also check out our good friend @carol_phillips who writes the always-worth-reading Millennial Marketing. She was mentioned in YPulse’s best-of-Twitter list and definitely deserves it!)
Those of you that don’t already subscribe are going to want to sprint to your nearest retailer of fine periodicals and purchase the latest copy of Event Marketer Magazine. In addition to its regular mix of cogent analysis, industry news and silky-smooth photography, there’s an outstanding profile of three of our Spring Break campaigns (which are rolling out as we speak).
That’s right, we’re kind of a big deal. The press can’t get enough of us.
The article, entitled “Playing It Safe,” highlights three of our largest Spring Break brands — MTV, Rockstar and Fuze — and notes that those brands see experiential marketing in tried-and-true Spring Break hotspots as the surest way to connect with Gen-Y. Especially when marketing budgets are lean. The moral of the story is simple: for youth-targeted brands, Spring Break is a nearly unmatched opportunity. Not only does it provide a chance to market to millions — literally millions — of college students, but those that travel to Spring Break destinations tend to be influencers on campus. You’re not just reaching college students — you’re reaching the college students that set the tone for youth culture in general.
To read the article in it’s entirety, either swing by your local newsstand, or go to Event Marketer Magazine online to get the details on our campaigns for Rockstar and Fuze. To whet your appetite, here’s an excerpt:
Branching out from its niche on the West Coast, ROCKSTAR now has college brand ambassadors in 75 schools nationwide. The ambassadors are actual students (keeping the peer-to-peer buzz authentic) that ROCKSTAR, via Youth Marketing Connection’s brand ambassador program, selects to spread the word about the brand on campus. ROCKSTAR brand ambassadors in key colleges and universities receive 20 cases of the product each month as well as premiums to distribute to fellow students at parties, study breaks and other campus activities.
Brand ambassadors post ROCKSTAR content and photos on a Facebook page to get the word out virally. When spring break comes around, ROCKSTAR makes sure its top performing brand ambassadors get the rock star treatment in time-tested locales like Cancun and Acapulco.
“You have to look at spring break as one aspect for a brand in terms of collegiate marketing,” says Frank Guernesey, vp-marketing at ROCKSTAR. “It’s generally a highlight for most students in the course of their year, and it seems to me that the numbers really aren’t that far off than they have been in the past, making Cancun and Acapulco still relevant.”
Part of the rock star experience includes express check-in at the hotel and VIP express entrance to the best bars and clubs for the brand ambassador plus one guest. (At spring break, where lines are long to get into coveted clubs, this perk is priceless.) The brand ambassador and their guests are directed to a ROCKSTAR VIP area with private waiter service. They also have special access to A-list performers. ROCKSTAR culminates its VIP treatment with an exclusive dinner.
During the day, ROCKSTAR hangs out at the pool and beach with the crowds. It has a branded stage on which it runs contests daily and sends out waiters to give out the product chilled in branded mini coolers. The goal is to have its brand ambassadors and their guests get back to campus and tell their network of friends all about ROCKSTAR. Last year, the brand distributed 250,000 cans of product on campuses and at Spring Break, and gained 40,000 Facebook friends.
It’s a gray, drizzly, and uneventful Thursday here in Washington, DC, which makes it an ideal day to engage in our country’s most celebrated pastime. No, no, I don’t mean baseball. I’m referring to the one true spectator sport, the ultimate diversion, the full-time hobby that has captivated Americans for the last half century: Television. If your weather is anything like ours, today is precisely the kind of day for which this magnificent time-vampire was invented.
But it’s not just the weather (or your empty social calendar) that should drive you to the tube this evening — there’s actually something worth watching! The Travel Channel is unveiling an hour-long special on this year’s Spring Break experience, and it promises to be be genuinely, genuinely awesome. How can we be so sure? As it happens, the fine folks at The Travel Channel spent a lot of time in two Spring Break haunts that we at YMC know extremely well: Cancun and Panama City Beach. If you watch carefully tonight, you just might catch a glimpse of us — or at the very least, you’ll likely spot Rockstar, T-Mobile or one of our other Spring Break brands.
So, gather ’round the TV at 11 pm EST, fire up The Travel Channel, and bask in the warm blue glow of Ultimate Spring Break. (If you’re — somehow — still not convinced, here’s a little teaser, just for you guys, to give you a taste of what The Travel Channel has to offer.) Tonight should be a good night.
