i am not a niche market
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Archive for June, 2009
Jun22
Jun18
Ruby Pseudo, London
When I talk about this market, I often call them ‘Oxymoronic Youth’; they are young, but adult; optimistic but wary; pessimistic but bold… They have capabilities beyond that of any other generation we’ve known, yet are living through some of the toughest times we’ve seen for years. They want to be different, but find safety in similarity; they want to grow up, but refuse to relinquish that which makes them young. This discrepancy, however, doesn’t make them difficult to market to; it makes them interesting to market to. Too often brands panic about marketing to this generation, but – as we’ve said before – brands don’t panic about marketing to adults, why panic about marketing to the youth?
Perhaps part of this is that we spend so much time supposedly ‘talking above their heads’ that when we come out of our own comfortable cloud, we’ve forgotten a] that they were already listening and b] how to speak properly to them. Allan, in Beijing, for example, talks about the recession, explaining that ‘for us children, we don’t know much’ but follows it with the words ‘about economic theories’, reinstating himself on a rather adult level. Laureline, as you can read, talks about ‘a capitalist world where profits don’t rhyme with the arts’ [isn’t that beautiful?] and Leia about the toll the recession has put upon her family. When they’re already talking like this amongst themselves, it seems awful foolish for brands to pop up and graffiti font all over their mature ‘chat, chat’; with z’s replacing s’s and numbers replacing words like ‘to’, but however much we bang on about it [and we do, believe me], I still see it happening all the time. If you can’t spell, why should we complain when their resumes turn up in text speak? We shouldn’t be worrying about kids acting their age, but about brands acting their age. Appropriation is a horrible, ugly thing. Putting it simply: just don’t do it.
Leia’s piece is a perfect example of ‘never wasting a good recession’. Economic downturns force us to innovate, to improve upon that which we already do and to ensure we get the bloody basics right and get the job done. In essence, it’s a time to ‘innovate or die’, a time to keep calm and carry on, but to do so in the best way you possibly can. Exercising manners in these moments is also crucial. It’s not the time to lull kids in to buying ‘Your Best New Product EVER’ only to bring out ‘An Even Better One Than That’ one week later. Products they can buy and build upon - like the iPhone - work because their money then attains a sense of longevity; they get more pennies for their pound, more dimes for their dollars. Whatever you’re asking them to buy now, as obvious as it sounds, has got to work. If you waste their time, energy and money at this point in time, they’re not likely to forget when we finally force our away out of this messy money quagmire. This is a time for brands to aid, not abet, to facilitate their fancies and to promote their polemics. And brands need to make them smile too, if you are an entertainment brand, help them escape. Laureline didn’t need the recession to rear up in her episode of Desperate Housewives, just as Leia doesn’t need the topic to turn trendy. What they do want is for brands to help them navigate through this next episode, for brands to talk to them properly, to be honest and to work hard and well. If they’re giving up their holidays left right and saddening centre, the least you can do is what you promise. Don’t let your panic, pessimism, budgets and boardrooms affect them… You’re the adult after all here… aren’t you?
Jun18
Leia, 16, New York
It’s weird how much the recession has actually effected me. My father lost his job at the end of last year (he worked for a bank, go figure) and it’s been a lot harder to sell our house with the whole housing market bubble bursting. My family and I have been trying to save money as much as we possibly can, especially since I plan on moving and going to college in the fall which is pretty expensive… It worries me a little bit, honestly. I’ve always been pretty well off so it’s a really new thing to get used to. Sometimes I feel like the stress is going to tear my family apart and other times it’s the complete opposite. I hate to see people struggle, let alone my own family. The recession has really put a toll on all of us. My dad especially, he has all this time now and has been working around the house a ridiculous amount!
I think about it constantly! How can’t I when there are “Recession Specials” all over the place? Sort of weird how it’s almost trendy… And it comes up a lot in conversation… I don’t notice it as much anymore because I feel like it’s become a normal thing to talk about now. ..It’s not so shocking as it was when we first started to go into it (obviously). These days we’re not talking about it as if it were the next Swine Flu, we’re discussing the effects and really taking the time to understand it and learn to cope with it since it’s affecting everyone everywhere.
I hate to pass by closed down shops…especially Mom & Pop shops. It’s going to be weird when the giant Virgin Mega Store is no longer going to consume half of Union Square. It’ll just be this vacant, oddly shaped building with nothing in it. Although it worries me, I think we’ll get out of it and hopefully soon… I’m still optimistic about the future though; we’ve gotten out of recessions before…so why not now? Things can’t go badly forever… Of course, I’m more careful now. Even if it’s 3 am and I am exhausted because I’ve been standing all day I’ll either walk home or take the subway. No more cabs for me. Looking at the rest of the year, and holidays and stuff, college is going to put quite a damper on my family’s bank account. My tuition is pretty expensive, even with the scholarship I got. We didn’t apply for financial aid (my dad’s own fault) so we’re stuck with what we’ve got. Luckily my parents saved up A LOT of money for college for me so I should be good for a while. I really want to go abroad this winter to Paris again but I’m making my own money to do it…. Oh, and I don’t compulsively shop anymore… I’m obsessed with sample sales more than ever before instead…
For my friend’s birthdays I’m sticking to making them things because I don’t have that much money. Same goes for family! I think, if you consider what the recession could mean for creativity, that there will be an overwhelming amount of new, amazing things being created. I think the telephone and other stuff like that was invented during times of economic problems right? Either way…I guess it’s “inspiring.” I’m excited to see what comes out of it. I reckon we’ll become creative. You need to rethink the way you live your life and change your perception around a lot to get through things like this… Whether it’s good or bad for society though, that’s hard to say… Stores and businesses will close…some people will be left dry. Despite all the awful things that come with recession, things do get better eventually (then they get worse…but then they get better again!). The way we all learn to spend, create, manage our time, social lives, art, etc will completely change. I don’t know in which way but it’s growing up. We’ll be tough, we’ll know what to do. As bad as it is, something good IS coming from it and that’s learning to cope and survive.
Jun18
Laureline, 18, France
Of course the recession has consequences for me! I’m sick of this economic recession… In ever advert, in every magazine, on every TV show, in every conversation, in every bar, the recession is infiltrating my life! Last week I even saw an episode from the last season of Desperate Housewives [which was pretty exciting] but even then the subject of the global economic recession came up and ruined my pleasure]… This crisis is a boring conversation, another thing that no one understands but, as it’s an ‘historical event’ [according to the economists], a big topic in our actuality, every one feels like they have to talk about it… The effect of my life isn’t an economic one; it’s a boring one! It makes me feel amused, bored and perplexed all at once, it’s a paradox of adjectives! The only adjective I rarely use when the conversation turns to the economy is ‘concerned’… But I can’t sleep since France declared the ‘recession state’… I live only to see an increasing speed of economic growth. I think you get the picture…
Perhaps I’m not being entirely fair… I do think about it more seriously some times… When my work colleagues and I talk about it [about people loosing their jobs when the very company they’re working for is reporting profits and shareholders are taking advantage of situations], then it worries me. Or the fact that we’ll need more and more diplomas to get a job, or that we can’t count on real social advancement within a company anymore; I suppose the recession in itself isn’t such a big deal for me, but the global situation is.
When I was a child, I used to believe in equality, in justice, in a better world where everyone would be nice and beautiful… The more I grow up, the more I’m disappointed. In France, we begin to give up all social advances that have been won in the past centuries. We give up liberty, equality and fraternity in order to be more competitive on the mondial market… I have learnt to close my eyes and not listen to the news or the social fights. I’m not disappointed anymore about the situation, but maybe about myself…
I’m pessimistic about the future, but I also don’t care a lot. I’m an emo kid! An indifferent teen! I guess I will grow up and change some day, perhaps fight for a different world, but when I think of my fatalistic and ‘easy’ view of the future, I’m even more pessimistic. How many are we to think like this? How many of use are thinking ‘our world sucks, it’s going to get worse and worse, I’m going to stare at my navel’… I haven’t even changed my shopping habits, although I’m still pretty careful with money… Money didn’t ‘go up in value’ in my eyes, but maybe that’s because my country hasn’t been as touched as others by the recession… I still won’t have a holiday this year; I just began a job so I will just put the money aside, but I would have done that with or without a recession really…
Creatively? I don’t think the recession will do anything. Some people are living side by side with their society, feeling every event in the world intimately, and sometimes this means they create something through their emotions about it. But other artists might have a mental block caused by the news; an economic recession might stop anything coming out of their hearts, hands and heads indefinitely. And then there are the people who create without being under any influence of the world situation!
I agree that money can help; for example, to organize music events, teach the arts, or push culture forward; money and politics often encourage us to be creative… But creativity isn’t a thing that can be controlled… Creativity hopefully exists even in the worst situations….
Even if we walk towards a capitalist world where profits don’t rhyme with the arts, then creativity is always needed. It depends on the person, and on their personality, but not on the economic situation. Arts exists during wars, it exists in under-developed countries, in poor social backgrounds and under dictatorships. Creativity is often an act of rebellion…
I sometimes believe that the things politics and business wish for will destroy art schools, taking back money from the art ministries, worried that the citizens’ consciousness’ will fall asleep and they will become full time workers, machines which don’t work or create. And then sometimes I think that the new technological tools, like the Internet, phones and everything else that is still to arrive will allow us to be more and more connected, inspired and – therefore – creative. Time will tell.
Jun18
Allan, 16, Beijing
I’ve got to say, the recession doesn’t affect Chinese people as much as it does to the UK, or the USA. Of course, some Chinese industries are suffering from the recession, such as the import and export companies, but overall the economy is sound. I’m not playing down the effect of the recession on China. I’m talking about the social atmosphere. For us children, we don’t know much about economic theories, but we have a sense of what’s going on around us… We just don’t feel a crisis approaching… Maybe it’s because the amount of our money stays the same. Maybe we can’t go on holiday as we pocket used to be, but it doesn’t affect our life so much. Anyway, my friends and I are not big fans of holiday. We can have a good time in Beijing…
I think we are optimistic about the future…. In actual fact, we are more worried about the swine flu than the recession… However, the recession does have an effect on our creativity. We care about the life of people affected by the recession in and outside of China. There is a lot going on our mind. Not all the thinking will have a result, but at least I’m thinking… Sometimes I even think about the marketing of Nike in China… And I also pay attention to what Li-Ning is doing… I’m still interested…
Jun18
Caroline Daniels, iris
There’s talk everywhere about economic doom and gloom - companies going bust, people losing their jobs, homes being repossessed, every high street has empty shops. These unprecedented economic times are putting everyone under pressure.
Does all this effect you? How does it make you feel? Do you think about it? Do you talk about it? Does it worry you? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Have you changed the way you spend your money? Have you changed your shopping habits? What about your holiday(s) this year? Are you going to go abroad or stay at home…or maybe just spend less? What do you think the recession will mean for creativity? Will we become more creative or less creative? What do you think will change? Do you think this is good or bad for society?
