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.

Millennials: Clued in or Clueless?†

Failing Grade: The 10 Things College Students Don't Know About Marketing

Advertising Age, November 19, 2007 — Marketers are fascinated by Gen Y's youngest cohort, the Millennials — and with good reason: They are an important market today and will become even more important as they graduate, start jobs, marry and establish households.

Survey: To Reach College Students, Brands Need to Use Internet

Marketing Charts, August 27, 2007 — As college students prepare to invade campuses, marketers can best reach and build relationships with this demo of up-and-coming consumers via the internet, which students prefer to both TV and radio, according to a recent Burst Media study of college students