Just Watch a Teenager

Yesterday's posting about You Tube was all about media usage.  If you make your living marketing to consumers, this is something you need to be constantly studying.  How is media consumed today?  How will that change tomorrow? 

And if you are curious as to how tomorrow's consumer will take his media, simply watch a teenager today.

My son is 20 years old.  He's a consumer.  My bank account can assure you of that.  

And he's a consumer of media, the likes of which needs to be seen to be believed... and understood.

He knows who the latest, hottest bands are, but he prefers the lesser-known, more artist acts.  He listens to new, cutting edge music yet he never listens to the radio, probably can't recall a single local station, and never visits a music store.  His mp3 player is over-flowing.

He has some television shows that he never misses.  But he rarely watches them on a television set or at the time that they are broadcast.  He never picks up a newspaper or a magazine and yet he knows what's going on in the world, as well as what's going on in his much smaller world of personal interests.

And he knows exactly which brands he wants to buy, where he can find them, and how much they will cost.  He knows all of this without the benefit of a lot of traditional advertising.

He is not an anomaly.  His friends are all just like him.

To understand all this, you need to watch him as he sits at his computer.  He will sit there and watch an episode of the BBC hit series "Top Gear" while conducting several different conversations with several different friends simultaneously through Facebook, while flipping over to another internet tab to research the car he wants to buy.  And he's doing all this while he's doing his homework on yet another window on his computer screen. (The kid can multi-task.  His grades are just fine.)

Sometimes he will replace the video portion of this picture with some very loud, esoteric pop music, typically in the form of a music video.  Sometimes he will blow off his homework and sit there with his guitar in his lap, teaching himself how to play the song he's listening to by pulling up the song's tablature from a website.

And while he's doing all this, he's also picking up ideas on which clothing lines are cool, what food, which drinks, pretty much anything that he wants to buy.   He's hearing all about it.

Believe me.  He ALWAYS knows exactly what he wants to buy.  He doesn't need any suggestions from me or my wife.

And let me say again...  He is not an anomaly.  His friends are all just like him.

That's a portrait of the consumer marketers will likely be targeting more and more heavily in the years to come.  How are you going to do that?

That's why I am always researching and studying the new breakthroughs in digital and emerging media.  How are you preparing?

— Pete Nikiel combines 20 years of marketing experience with clear, forward thinking.  He is available to help out companies and agencies in a number of different ways.  Think of him as your utility player on call.  If you need any sort of help in marketing, branding and advertising contact Pete.  Freelance.  Project work.  Part time.  Full time.