I recently set about getting some new bloggers to the network and set those interested several briefs they could write around. Those who got chosen [and we're still reading through them now] will become a fully paid up Ruby Writer... Martin, a 19 year old living in Bury in the UK, is the first up... "Being a teenager and a student people, throw advertising in my face on a daily basis, whether it be a flyer for the SU bar or some big organization trying to sell me their latest creation, whatever it is - I don’t like it; it either goes straight in the bin or I just keep walking. I believe when marketing to the young you must speak to our interests and think a little outside the box.
One brand that does this fantastically is Adidas. It gets the four P’s of the marketing mix almost perfectly right. It’s pricing may not be the cheapest, however, I know you get what you pay for and most youths would pay that little bit more for Adidas quality. It’s easily accessible for the youth market, being placed in its own stores around city centers and also branches like JJB etc and the product itself is often a lot more stylish than its competitors, which a big factor when I purchase anything. As for the promotion their guerilla marketing is some of the most innovative I’ve ever seen; for example their graffiti campaign across Manchester brought the brand right down to street level and seriously engaged with urban youth culture. Likewise their giant Adidas shoebox placed in Leidse Square, Amsterdam, created a buzz, teenagers where seen climbing and sitting on it. It’s this kind of unconventional advertising that leaves a lasting impression.
Another brand I think is successful at targeting the youth market is Orange, they’re very good at playing to our interests! For example, their Orange Wednesday promotion was a very clever ploy, I personally love going to the cinema and I know an awful lot of people that use that service; a couple of friends have even changed networks just so they could take advantage of the offer. The events they sponsor are also exactly what the demographic care about, for example sports, music and film. Orange have sponsored The Rugby World Cup, The BAFTAs and Glastonbury are all events either friends or myself have watched.
Coca-Cola being the huge organization it is, obviously is very good at its marketing, however, I think it targets the youth market particularly well for a few reasons. Much like Orange, it taps into the medium of cinema, but in a different way, through product placement we’ve seen it in many top films, Borat, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Kill Bill are to name but a few. They have also tapped into the obsession young people have with the idea of celebrity, their endorsement list features some of the biggest names in show business 50 Cent, Missy Elliot, Kate Beckinsale and Christina Aguilera have all endorsed Coca-Cola products, For many this leads to the mentality that if it’s good enough for my favorite celebrity then it’s good enough for me. I also have first hand experience of Coca-Cola’s more localized way of marketing. They invited my college to their plant where we received talks on brand history, site tour and even free product samples, I think it was a good way to get young people really interacting with the brand. Maybe it was subliminal brainwashing but I really did come away with a better opinion of Coca-Cola...
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