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?
