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Top Ten TV Shows - Q4 2011

The results are in for the most popular TV shows among teens and college students for the 4th quarter of 2011. Along with some of the usual suspects, there are several surprises. Among the guys, most notably is the performance of "The Walking Dead" which made the list for the first time. Not to be left out is the increasingly popular Daniel Tosh and his digital generation friendly Tosh.0 Of course, if it's the 4th quarter and you're talking about guys, football will have to be a part of that conversation at some point. The only other mild surprise to us was the performance of "Modern Family" which is now firmly entrenched as one of the top comedies alongside "The Office." And speaking of "Modern Family," it's now the top show overall among the young ladies for the first time, eclipsing staples like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Gossip Girl." Who says comedy doesn't work with college females?  Here's a look at the top ten by gender:

Q4 2011 Top Ten TV Shows

(Males)

1. The Office

2. SportsCenter

3. Family Guy

4. Modern Family

5. How I Met Your Mother

6. South Park

7. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

8. Dexter

9. NFL football games

10. The Walking Dead/Tosh.0

(Females)

1. Modern Family

2. Gossip Girl

3. Glee

4. Grey's Anatomy

5. Desperate Housewives

6. How I Met Your Mother

7. New Girl

8. Pretty Little Liars

9. Friends

10. Revenge

2012 Youth Macro Trends, Predictions & Insights

With 2012 on the horizon, we're pleased to present our annual Youth Macro Trends, Predictions & Insights report for the coming year as well as revisit a handful of trends and predictions from last year's report to see how they have played out over the course of this year. Rather than providing an exhaustive list of rather meaningless trends, our main objective is to provide a select number of actionable views that have multiple implications across various industries and product categories. If we did our job correctly, there should be something in here for everyone, and we hope that something results in a conversation starter, a strategy meeting, or if nothing else, a definitive edge on the why behind the what for all things youth-culture related.

2012 Youth Macro Trends, Predictions & Insights

The Gamification of Youth Marketing & Media

Check In & Buy

The Future of m-Commerce

Tablets Everywhere

Moving Towards The Cloud

Twitter As An Exclusive Social Alternative

Digital Entrepreneurialism

Mining Social Influence

Visual Gratification

2011 Recap: Convergence Everywhere

2011 Recap: Fashion Gets Personal & Athletic

2011 Recap: Purpose-Driven Cause Marketing

2011 Recap: Social Shopping: Click, Shop, Talk & Buy

Holiday Shopping Preview

As the mega important holiday shopping season begins in earnest, we're noting a rather subtle yet consistent sense of confidence among college students. Hopefully, this sense of confidence and optimism isn't short lived. Black Friday, which at this point, might as well be considered a one-day holiday, was another huge draw for students this year. Nearly seven in ten panelists (68%) surveyed in this month's Insights Immersion reported hitting the malls and stores on Black Friday compared to about 64% last year. This equates to approximately 5.5 million college students nationally. These days of course, we can't leave out Cyber Monday. About one in five panelists (18%) said they shopped online this past Monday, compared to 15% of panelists last year.

 

It's interesting to note that about a third of panelists who shopped on Black Friday did so without having a particular item in mind they intended to purchase. In some respects, they just wanted to witness all of the excitement. Now, getting back to that whole confidence thing: slightly more than half of all panelists, some 52% said they felt like this holiday season was going to be a good one, in terms of both gifts they expected to receive and the gifts they plan on purchasing for others. Last year, the confidence percentage among participating panelists was 44%, so at least we're moving in a positive direction.

 

When it comes to planned spending though, we're actually expecting a decrease compared to last year, which we found to be a bit counterintuitive at first glance, but after further analysis, the cause of the difference became quite clear.

 

A holiday-related shopping trend of note this year among students is the concept of group gift giving. Given the fact that the majority of students live with at least two other roommates, the art of gift giving around the holiday season presents a challenge. Ultimately, there is a desire to purchase something for all close friends and significant others, yet in most cases, their respective checking accounts won't cover the expected costs. Enter group gifting. Instead of purchasing a rather nominal $15 to $20 gift for upwards of 5 close friends, a student instead will contribute between $5 and $10 with a group of five or more students to purchase a single gift for a member of the clique. Think of it as a modified game of Secret Santa where everyone pitches in for one other. This activity is one of the main reasons why total expected spending will be slightly down this year.

 

When all is said and done, average holiday-related spending among panelists, which is inclusive of gifts for parents, siblings, significant others, friends and gifts for themselves is $531, which is representative of a 7% decrease compared to last year.

It's Halloween Time On Campus...And It's Big!

Thought Halloween was just a holiday for younger children and tweens? Think again. In relatively short order, Halloween has fast become one of the events of the year for the college crowd complete with costume parties and socials, contests, and even fundraising drives. Ultimately, it’s a well-timed mid-semester break for students to step out of their respective shells and test the boundaries of acceptable attire.  Without question, there will be plenty of costumes worn by students this weekend that will most definitely cross the line from being perceived as humorous to at least somewhat offensive by some.

Perhaps the most impactful part of Halloween among college students is the actual duration of associated activities. Although technically Halloween is just a one-day holiday for the masses, an increasing number of college students are turning the holiday into a multi-day affair. From our perspective, it’s akin to the Spring Break period whereby students have what they perceive to be a solid excuse to have a really good time for a prolonged period.

There are several different ways marketers can tap into and leverage the Halloween spirit among college students, be it a sponsored costume party or a cause-related effort. If nothing else, it’s certainly an interesting time of year to engage the audience.

When all is said and done, nearly eight in ten panelists said they plan on dressing up for Halloween this year, compared to about three in four last year. The most popular costume ideas mentioned by students this year include: pop stars Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj, the new royal power couple of Prince William and Kate, a ballet star inspired by the movie “Black Swan,” a character from the super popular Angry Birds game franchise and any character from the reality TV series hit “Jersey Shore.”

Overall, students say they will spend an average of $71 on costumes, make-up, decorations and candy for Halloween this year. Beyond dressing up, a record number of college students plan to participate in variety of Halloween-related activities throughout the weekend:

- 83% plan to attend at least one Halloween theme party

- 78% plan to be in costume for at least one Halloween-related event or party

- 55% plan to attend a Halloween theme party hosted by a local club or bar

- 45% plan to participate in a Halloween costume contest

- 44% plan to attend multiple Halloween theme parties 

- 39% say Halloween is their favorite holiday of the year

- 36% plan to attend a Halloween theme party hosted by a fraternity or sorority

Popular Looks & Styles For Back To School 2011

So what will be the popular looks and styles on campuses later this summer and into the fall season? For the ladies, it willbe a somewhat casual look topped off with a lot of accessories. The super college preppie look will be in vogue for the guys. Here is look at some of the more popular fashion trends among students as well as the stores they plan on shopping at the most for back to school:

Female Fashion Trends:

- Clothing: super skinny jeans, bleached jeans, "boyfriend" jeans, cropped jeans, neon colored pants and leggings, yoga pants, tribal printed camis and tanks, floral printed camis and tanks, chiffon skirts and dresses and leather jackets 

Top mentioned clothing brands and retailers: Forever 21, Nordstrom, H&M, American Eagle Outfitters, 7 For All Mankind, Urban Outfitters, Marc Jacobs and Victoria's Secret

 

- Accessories: layered necklaces, large/chunky rings, vintage hair pieces and clips, printed scarves, beanie caps and floral totes and bags

 

Top mentioned accessory brands and retailers: Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Forever 21, Vera Bradley, Coach and Marc Jacobs

 

- Footwear: customized flip flops, moccasins, animal printed flats and ballet slippers and full-length leather boots

 

Top mentioned footwear brands and retailers: Havaianas, Forever 21, TOMS, Steve Madden, Lucky Brand, Rainbow and Minnetonka  

Back To School 2011 Highlights

If we had to use just one word to describe the climate surrounding this year's back to school shopping season, we would use the word restraint. This is not to say that all of the air is out of the balloon, but it wouldn't hurt if it was propped up a bit. It's restraint, mainly in the form of moderation that's the big story for back to school this year. This year, students and their parents plan to spend an average of $608 on back to school-related purchases, representative of a 10% decrease compared to last year. Incoming freshmen lead the way in terms of planned spending, which can be expected to a certain extent, while an increasing number of returning students intend to make do with several items they already own.

 

For the most part, the decrease in planned spending is a direct result of the high level of uncertainty related to the broader economy.  In fact, more than seven in ten respondents who participated in this year's back to school shopping insights immersion said the economy will impact their shopping and spending plans. Consequently, an increasing number of students will be out in the marketplace looking to buy more for less. The onus will fall back to the key youth-facing retailers to be extremely creative with their promotions in order to seize the attention of students whether they're shopping in a mall or in front of a computer.

 

Several leading retailers have moved up the start of their back to school sales and promotional programs in lieu of all this shopper uncertainty. We even saw a few of these programs up and running in early June. From the perspective of the retailers, the concept of front-running is a prudent move that offers up at least the opportunity to secure dollars earmarked for back to school early, with the idea that those funds just may not be readily available come late August or through the month of September.

 

With that said, this year we've seen an increase in the number of students who said they already started purchasing items specifically for their return to campus later this summer. At the same time, more students are telling us they're out in the marketplace looking for a good deal, especially those that are tailored specifically for the college set. Promotions and rewards offers tied to the presentation of a valid student ID is something an increasing number of students have become attuned to. Fewer students are willing to experiment and branch out with purchasing new brands this season. On the other hand, more students say they plan to stick with their original back to school shopping list and refrain from making any additional impulse type purchases.

How About Those Superfans!

Our latest research shows that approximately one in six teens and college students can be classified as "superfans" of at least one TV show. The notion of a superfan is defined as those individuals who not only regularly watch a TV series live, but also re-watch episodes online, on-demand, on their DVRs as well as connect with shows (and their characters) via social media. The implications for advertisers are significant as opportunities to connect and ultimately create a dialogue with this special segment of fans go well beyond on-air messaging. For content producers, TV networks and their distributors, superfans can represent the foundation of an integrated social media strategy. Not surprisingly, these superfans are also among the heaviest consumers of entertainment content across a variety of categories. From the perspective of superfans, it's a validation in some respects as they feel a personal connection to a show or a character in the show coupled with a certain level of enthusiasm to talk with others.

Top 5 Superfan TV Shows:

1. True Blood (HBO)
2. Jersey Shore (MTV)
3. Glee (FOX)
4. The Office (NBC)
5. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)

2011 Youth Macro Trends & Predictions

Out with the old and in the new. With 2011 now in the horizon, we're pleased to present our annual Youth Macro Trends & Predictions report for the coming year as well as revisit a handful of trends and topics from last year's report to see how they've played out over the course of this year. Instead of providing an esoteric and rather exhaustive list of trends, the main objective with Youth Macro Trends & Predictions is to provide actionable views that have multiple implications across various industries and product categories. Ultimately, there should be something in this report for everyone. That something will hopefully result in a conversation starter, a strategy re-visit and an indelible edge on the why behind the what when it comes to all things youth-culture related. You can view the table of contents here

Where Did The Youth Vote Go?

There are lot of juicy words that can be used to describe yesterday's mid-term elections. Candidates spent a record amount of money advertising their messages across the air waves while the cable news networks featured non-stop coverage. Moreover, let us not forget about Facebook and the crucial role it played in the '08 elections. Yet, according to our Youth Trends Instant Feedback survey conducted yesterday with 858 college students between the ages of 18 and 23, only about one in ten (8%) said they planned on voting. This is in stark contrast to the 27% who said they voted in the '08 elections. What the heck happened? In two words: "turn-off." The single largest reason given to us by students who said they were not planning on voting yesterday was that they were essentially turned off either by the candidates, or more generally speaking politics in general. Although about four in ten students said they still support the president, about half said they felt he could be doing "a better job." Hmm, where did all that hope, enthusiasm and excitement go? With an ever growing list of supporting voter assets students can turn to via Facebook, foursquare, campus-specific, etc. planned voting still dropped precipitously. Incoming congressmen and governors take note, based on what we've observed, most college students pretty much think you're lame. 

Back To School '10 Highlights

We're pleased to announce the release of our annual Back To School Retail & Shopping report. You can review an exec summary and full table of contents over at the YT site. The report includes an thematical overview of key shopping trends and behaviors, a series of attitudinal measurements, fashion trends, and hard metrics as it relates to spending (by category) and shopping visits (by store type and retailer).

Here's an excerpt:

While the underlying theme of last year's back to school shopping season was one of frugality, this year we've identified a new shopping theme we're calling "here today, gone tomorrow." Simply put, students and their parents are out in the physical and digital marketplaces seeking out that great deal. And with respect to purchase behaviors, what a difference a year has made. The concepts of group shopping, deal a day offerings, digital and mobile coupons and invite-only channels, all of which could have easily been classified as being quite niche in nature have all in some level or another gone mainstream and gained significant traction. This theme is something we suspect is here to stay with us at least through the upcoming holiday shopping season.