Posted in Youth Culture Research on January 15th, 2009
Filed Under: Analysis, Demographics, Facebook, Gen Y, Generation Y, iStrategyLabs, Millenials, MySpace, social networkign, Youth Culture Research, Youth demographics, Youth Marketing, youth trends
As you’ve surely heard, social networking’s reigning goliath, Facebook, grew larger and more goliath-like in 2008. It officially surpassed Myspace as the world’s most popular social networking tool in April 2008. Interestingly, much of it’s virus-like growth has taken place abroad. According to Google, Facebook was the single most popular search term in Belgium, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Switzerland — and it was among the top ten most popular searches within every other country Google tracks. Which is, you know, basically the whole world.
As the number of active Facebook users quickly approaches the size of a country of its own, the blogosphere has been overflowing with good demographic data that might be of interest to you all. Our ever-sage friends at iStrategyLabs have an excellent summary here. Forrester Research’s Jeremiah Owyang has a wider social networking survey here. Carolyn Phillips at Millenial Marketing has an analysis worth reading as well.
The quick-and-dirty analysis is simple: Facebook is growing in every conceivable direction. At nearly 60 million active users world wide, we’re all running out of big-sounding adjectives to describe it. With that said, the most rapid expansion is taking place not among Millenials — who are by and large already there — but the parents of Millenials. As more than a few people have noted, Facebook is getting older and grayer by the day.
Although there is much hand-wringing across the blogosphere about the likely reaction from the audience we all watch so carefully — those somewhere along the high school and college continuum — we at YMC are unequivocally confident that, at least for the next few years, Facebook will remain a force in the youth marketing world. (For those who needed a reminder, Burger King reminded us of Facebook’s power just the other day.) For the near future, no doubt, Facebook will continue to be an important arrow in YMC’s quiver — and for all others interested in holistic youth marketing. Of course it’s just as important to remember, however, that social networking is just one of many tools. A good campaign is a holistic one — a campaign that touches young people across a number of platforms, creating true peer-driven brand experiences as it goes. It’s our good fortunes as marketers to live in a world where this can be accomplished in so many different ways.
Posted in Spring Break Marketing, Youth Culture Research on December 9th, 2008
Filed Under: Brand Experiences, Experiential Marketing, spring break, Spring Break demographics, Youth demographics, Youth Marketing, Youth Marketing Data
While it can be hard to conjure up images of sun-baked beaches and sky-blue waters when it’s a balmy 20 degrees in Boston, December is when the planning for Spring Break marketing campaigns really kicks into high gear. All this month, as we’ve been putting together campaigns and plotting this year’s Spring Break brand experiences, we’ve been getting a lot of questions about just what the average spring breaker looks like. Everyone seems to have a general picture of the prototypical Spring Break reveler — college-aged, sun-tanned, beach-bound — but through the years, we’ve collected a wealth of data that speaks to the real, live youth behind these generalities. Because we’re always interested in sharing, here’s a quick-and-dirty data-driven look at the youth that clog our nation’s beaches each year.
The first thing to remember is that there are a lot of them: approximately 40 percent of college students report traveling to a destination for spring break. In 2004, that meant that roughly 2.14 million students ventured out in search of fun and sun, according to Student Monitor, LLC. They’re also spending a lot of money while they’re there: the last survey conducted by MCC&TSI found that more than $1 billion was spent between Texas and Florida by Spring Break partyers during the celebration season.
While a growing percentage of spring breakers are heading to Mexico (approximately 17 percent), the majority are getting sun-burned in the good ol’ US of A. The top four destinations are all in-country hot-spots, and you’re like familiar with all of them: (1) Panama City Beach, Florida; (2) Daytona Beach, Florida; (3) South Padre Island, Texas (4) Lake Havasu, Arizona. While most may be partying in the States, it’s important to remember that this generation of spring breakers are a more world-wise, international group. Almost 50 percent report holding a passport, and nearly 30 percent have traveled outside the country in the last year. What is true of Generation Y in general is true of spring breakers: thanks to constant websurfing and early exposure to the wider world, today’s spring breakers are a sophisticated group that seeks equally sophisticated brand experiences. (Which is why Youth Marketing will be doing so much work in Cancun and Acapulco this season!)
Of course, the most important part of marketing to this generation — whether during Spring Break or otherwise — is authenticity and relevance. In a world inundated with marketing of all stripes, the messages that get through are those that allow students to connect with brands through genuine experiences. Campaigns that succeed are those that allow students to experience a brand, not those that shout selling points at them. It’s all of our good fortune that Spring Break happens to be one of the single best venues to create those very tangible, lasting experiences.
