Mattel Hopes Barbie Facelift Will Show Up Younger Rivals†

Wall Street Journal, October 21, 2009 — his was supposed to be the year that Barbie finally regained her tiara as the queen of the toy aisles. After many false starts, Mattel Inc. thought it had found a way to make the iconic fashion doll once more a must-have for girls of all ages — and to boost the company's flagging revenues as well. It is spending millions of dollars to promote its new "Fashionista" Barbies, even hiring a choreographer-to-the-stars to create a dance called "The Barbie" for a video that had its premiere on the "Today Show" and was posted on YouTube.

Brand Appeal Among Young Adults

It’s hip to be square.

eMarketer, May 19, 2009 — If you want your brand to be associated with young people, then image isn’t everything, at least not according to a study by MTV Networks, the long-time arbiter of cool—and what’s hot—among young audiences.

For the study, Internet users ages 12 to 24 in five countries—Germany, India, Japan, the UK and the US—were surveyed.

Retailers 'Sell' to Young Virtually†

Kohl's, Sears Build Brands As Children Clothe Their Avatars Online

Wall Street Journal, August 19, 2008 — Retailer Kohl's Corp. this month launched a new line of apparel, but the plaid skirts and printed T-shirts won't be sold in its 957 stores. Instead, it's selling them on Stardoll.com, a virtual community for teens and tweens where kids can fork over "Stardollars" — purchased online at a nominal sum — to buy apparel for their online characters.

Generation Gab†

Brandweek, July 2, 2008 — For those who think media fragmentation and niche marketing have redefined marketing permanently, here's something to chew on. What if the microscopically splintered youth demo out there right now—recent college grads on down to kids riding the bus to preschool—ends up gelling, melting and solidifying into a uniform power bloc of consumers? And what if, contrary to popular wisdom, they're not self-important, undisciplined individualists riding on digital highs, but a team-playing, risk-averse group that fosters familial bonding? All this would mean that Gen Y actually looks a lot more like, well, AARP. It would mean that the billions of dollars'worth of microtargeted marketing being created right now just could be a . . . waste of time? Then what?

New reloadable debit card from Edo targets teens

DMNews, June 2, 2008 — Edo Interactive has launched the Facecard Prepaid MasterCard, giving teenagers and young adults a new way to spend money and retailers a new way to market to this audience...Funds can be loaded onto the card via reoccurring direct payments from a bank — a parent, for example, could use this option for a child's allowance — or from other debit or credit cards and payroll direct deposit.

Advertisers in touch with teens' cellphones

Youths are signing up to have pitches, photos and links to websites sent to their multifunction mobile devices.

Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2008 — As she readied for last night's prom, Jamie McGraw asked her friends for advice about hairstyles, shoes and a dress. She also turned to her cellphone for a little help. McGraw receives daily text messages from Seventeen magazine about fashion, including tips about what to wear to the prom. She planned to take the magazine's suggestion to wear a brightly colored outfit and be prepared for "dress malfunctions."

Targeting the millennial mindset†

Financial Times, February 19, 2008 — It may have taken 1,000 years to create them but it has taken far less time for marketers to fixate on "millennials", the generation born after 1980 who entered the workforce at the start of this decade. Like baby boomers, generation X or other previous tags used to denote groups identified as sharing both a similar age and outlook, the millennials moniker excites almost as much disagreement as it does recognition.

Gen Y Unravels Global Branding Efforts, But Apple, Nike Triumph

MediaPost Publications, February 12, 2008 — WHILE IT WOULD BE EASY to blame the world's increasingly negative view of America and its brands on politics, a new report from consumer research firm Iconoculture says that Gen Y is also part of the unraveling.

Teens Primed for Mobile Social Networks

After-school trend: MySpace, by phone.

eMarketer, January 3, 2008 — More than six in 10 teens have mobile phones, according to a December 2006 study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project titled "Teens and Social Media."

Pew found that nearly three-quarters of teens have desktop-computer access, making them a tech-savvy demographic.

More Teens Create, Share Online Material as "Multichannel Teen" Emerges

Marketing Charts, December 20, 2007 — Content creation by teenagers continues to grow, with 64% of online teenagers ages 12 to 17 engaging in at least one type of content creation, up from 57% of online teens in 2004, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.