Teenage Kicks

Rebecca Weeks of iMedia Summits has been kind enough to share the knowledge from the second annual "WHAT TEENS WANT: Marketing to Teens Using Music, Movies and the Media" – so we didn’t have to lush-it-up at the two-day event held this week in Beverly Hills, California.

The five major changes that face the millennial generation, she reports the conference predicted are:

* Unprecedented financial risk is a powerful force. This generation is $10 trillion dollars in debt!
* The most effective role models exist within the family.
* Interpersonal communications trump media.
* Everybody is somebody’s leader. Teens look to certain knowledgeable teens for influence in a specific category.
* Teens create their own worlds. Brand advertising should engage teens in linear and entertaining stories.

The keynote wrapped up with a description of the five teen segments in the current marketplace:

* A-listers. Teens who stand out by fitting in and doing well.
* American dreamers. Squeaky clean kids that dream but follow others.
* Independent thinkers. Kids are at odds with the world.
* The J&Bs. Partiers who only want to have fun, interested in instant gratification.
* Outsiders. Miserable so and sos (our words, not Rebecca’s).

Rebecca Weeks Teen Conference Notes