GenDigital

Don't Blame The Kids, Mom and Dad Can't Let Go

Ugh, this drives me absolutely nuts. A story was put out by the Christian Science Monitor and has been picked up by several mainstream outlets, including USA Today. The story focuses on the growing number of college campuses that feature webcams so Mom and Dad can check-in to see if their "young adult" children are tucking in their shirts and combed their hair. Are you kidding me? So of course, every time Mom clicks on the webcam link on the school's site, she calls her kid's cell phone to see if they are near the camera. You wonder why Gen Yers get a bad rap sometimes for being over reliant on their parents. We've been saying this for a while: it's a two way street and this example is clearly all about the parents of Gen Yers, not the kids themselves. I can't believe so many campuses caved-in to what was clearly a initiative driven by parents, not the students.

Today's Tweens Are Teens

There was a nice article released on the AP wires over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It was written by their Gen Y expert who covers a variety of youth related topics for the leading news service. The article was titled "Tweens Are Fast Becoming The New Teen." If you've been following this blog or have been a subscriber to the Youth Trends Tween and Teen reports over the past year, this is probably not groundbreaking news, although, I have to say, it is nice to see the mainstream media pick up on tween psychographic shifts nearly a year after we first started talking about it...we feel like it is a nice little validation of our work. One interesting thing the writer offers not found in any YT product, is a more direct parent's point of view on the current cultural shift in attitudes...it's definitely worth a quick read to get back into the mindset of the tween audience after the long weekend.

Nearly 40% Of Children Are Born Out of Wedlock

A story hot off the wires (interesting day to choose to release the results, especially as the current federal administration has been pushing "traditional" marriage and strong values since day one and continues to do so, so perhaps, it is not a coincidence that the government chooses the day before Thanksgiving to release this). To tell you the truth I figured the number of children born (this study is based on births last year) out of wedlock would be somewhere between 15 to 20 percent, certainly not 36% percent, that is a really high number, and I am going to tell you right now, have huge implications for the long term personal make-up of the next generation of young people with regards to just about everything in their lives. So, on a day where most of us aren't really concentrating on work, I am almost tempted to post a more in-depth piece about the potential implications this statistic has. If you take a look at the current American tween population (those between the ages of 8 and 11), approximately 28%, less than one in three, live in single family households, a significantly lower percentage than children born last year. We are already tracking some of the distinct differences between single family tweens compared to the traditional family unit with a tween in the household with respect to some basic lifestyle related habits (shopping, personal time, media consumption, etc.). This is a big story and it definitely won't get the attention is deserves today, so hopefully someone big will pick it up next week.

Halloween...Is It Getting Too Racy? Well, That's What They Want You To Believe

Youth Trends Insights subscribers will be treated to a Halloween-theme later this week when the November report is released. The report contains some interesting data points that really illustrate how popular the Halloween holiday is among young adults, who many believe have "outgrown" the holiday...simply not true. Let's put it this way, without giving away too much of the report's findings, more college kids will be participating in a Halloween event (and purchasing a costume for that event) than those kids who will not be participating, so right away you are talking about a majority. Over the past couple of days, I've noticed a ton of stories highlighting another theme we saw from this month's report and that is the whole notion of Halloween becoming some sort of "over sexed" party, given some of the costume choices many of the young ladies are choosing to adorn. With articles like "Good Girls Go Bad, For A Day," you get the picture pretty quickly. Like many other youth-focused topics covered by the mainstream media, this looks to be another mis-guided effort, because I can tell with a very high confidence level that 90% of the feedback we received from our panelists concerning Halloween, Halloween costumes and Halloween parties, is the polar opposite of what the so called "experts" are being quoted as saying in most of those articles. Too bad, they missed the boat again. In short, for young people today (for many whose dress code would be considered racy on a normal Tuesday morning) Halloween is a "theme" party to dress up and pretend to be something they're not, to get a few laughs out of their friends, and party. There is more to it, and if you're a subscriber you can read about it later this week.

Early Indications of Gen Y "All About Me" Effect

One of the underlying themes that all Gen Y marketers confront as they plan and strategize their media plans is the whole notion of relevance against an increasingly fragmented media landscape. We've been nothing less than relentless in telling our clients to test out mobile marketing now rather than waiting another year and following the rest of the pack. We've also been emphasizing the strategic importance of a peer to peer model. That said, as Gen Y grows up, hopefully graduates college, and heads in to the world of work and marriage, the question we typically receive from clients and the media is whether the so called "social norms" that Gen Y displays (the materialism, the casual factor, the drama, etc.) will stay with them through independent-hood. According to this article today, some marketers aren't wasting anytime testing out the unproven theory. Marketing to moms, especially young moms has quickly become the demographic/psychographic segment du jour along with young people. Check out Conde Nast's Cookie Magazine, a magazine for young moms, and one of the few bright spots in what has been a challenging couple of years for magazine launches. The article goes on to highlight some of the recent efforts of blue chip brand marketers, like Unilever, to leverage some of the social norm equity of Gen Y and put it smack dab in the middle of their marketing to moms strategy. For example, Unilever took its near category leading Suave brand and gave it a makeover with new packaging, new brand messaging speaking specifically to these moms, and best of all for Unilever, a higher price. Is it working? Apparently so, the article says sales are up 3% over the past 12 weeks, which in the heated haircare category is pretty darn good.

LA Times Says Today's Teens Are Bored

If it is not USA Today, it's somebody else. In this case it is the Los Angeles Times. I can't wait for the next installment of their latest series. The first installment, dubbed "Underwhelmed by It All," highlights "research" conducted by the LA Times poll director. The top finding says that a "large majority" (what the actual percentage really is anyone's guess) are "bored with their entertainment choices some or most of the time." Unfortunately for the the LA Times, their findings, for the most part, are contrary to recent research reports put out by the leading companies in the space, including my company. At best, the questions asked to a panel of 12 to 24 year olds who are part of the Knowledge Networks online panel, are rather flimsy, something I would think would be unacceptable for the paper whose audience are the entertainment taste makers of the world. I only wish there would have been some parallel investigative research conducted with some Gen Y experts to put some context around the findings (and also tweak their questionnaire before it was fielded because it is flawed as well). The takeaway on this, read the piece with a whole bottle of salt, not a just a grain. If college kids are so underwhelmed with their entertainment choices, why are they 20% more likely to go to a movie this year compared to last year? Why is television viewing is up from last year? And why is time spent online up yet again from last year? Guess they all must be anomalies.

Just So You Don't Think I'm Crazy: LA Times Agrees With My Assessment

Over the past month I've been making a series of client presentations featuring our latest Gen Y research findings. In addition to discussing the findings from our most recent study, I have also been giving a re-cap of ten trends we first spotted 12 to 18 months ago and what has transpired since as well as preview of ten trends we're keeping an eye on now. The objective in this is twofold: first, give our clients a macro and micro level view of top lifestyle and media trends as it specifically relates to their business. The second objective is essentially to show how our finger (or whole hand for that matter) is truly on the pulse of the market. Having a panel of 22,000+ tweens, teens and college students and running multiple communications with segments of the panel continuously means at the end of the day, we don't have to guess, toss up a coin, or offer some bullshit prediction on what's really going on in the marketplace. Case in point. For the past year and half we've discussed the social impact the older segment of Gen Y (college students and the most recent college grads) will have in the job marketplace. As I've mentioned several times before, Gen Y is ultra casual, and sometimes this general persona can be perceived as being rude or trite. Along with their casual behavior and attitude, there is a feeling among many that working to live instead of living to work is the way to go. Why not leave at 2:00 on your first week on a new job to catch a ballgame. Why not demand an extra two (not one, but two) weeks of vacation a year? Why not ask for a telecommuting day? Why not change jobs when you feel the good vibes are no longer there, and that could be every six months, yikes. Much to my delight, today's LA Times goes into a lot of same issues you've been hearing from us over the past year. Be prepared, these are your new interns and hires.

The CDC Has Some Good News on Teen Behaviors

The Center For Disease Control released results to a recent study yesterday showing today's teens were less likely to smoke cigarettes, consume alcohol and drugs and have sex compared to their peers some 15 years ago. The study found that 54% of high school teens report smoking cigarettes at least once compared to 70% in 1991. Also, the study said 74% of high school teens consumed alcohol, down from 82% in 1991. Nearly 14,000 public and private high schools participated in the study, which was conducted in 40 states. One thing missing from the study, that I would think would be pretty important, was learning why teen behaviors towards alcohol and tobacco consumption changed. Perhaps the CDC can include that next go around.

Solution To Child Obesity: Cancel School Recess Time

Ahh recess, the best part of the day for most school children, a chance to breath in the fresh air, swing back and forth on the tire swing, take a ride down the slide, but for a growing number of kids, this isn't happening at their school. The AP reports that seven percent of 1st graders growing to thirteen percent by sixth grade don't have any recess time. This troubles a lot of parents and school administrators. Even the Cartoon Network has helped create awareness by teaming up with the national PTA encouraging a huge letter writing campaign among students with a single theme: "Let us play." When it comes to elementary aged children, I believe recess time is just as important as anything the child will learn in the classroom. I am no sociologist, but to me recess for these kids is more than chance to run around, it allows young children to interact socially, learn how to play and share together and most importantly communicate, which unfortunately, so many of their parents and adults in this country in general, lack as a general skill.

Study Shows Drop in Teen Drinking and Smoking, Prescription Drug Use Rises

The Partnership for a Drug Free America released a report earlier today indicating another drop in underage drinking and smoking among teens, but, on the negative side indicated an increase in the use of prescription drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin. Interestingly enough, more than six in ten teens surveyed (62%) said the prescription drugs like Vicodin were "easy to find at home." Perhaps it's Mom and Dad that should be addressing the issue of prescription drug abuse, not the kids.