According to a survey of college students conducted by the Public Interest Research Group, here are the most popular "free gifts" used to entice college students to sign up for credit cards.
Source: The Consumerist
Outlaw Consulting recently surveyed 100 Generation Y "most forward trendsetter panelists" to learn, among other things, what brands they trusted most. The top 15 brands were:
Apple
Trader Joe's
Jet Blue
In-N-Out Burger
Ben & Jerry's
Whole Foods
Adidas
American Apparel
Target
H & M clothing stores
Levi's
Volkswagen
Converse
Vitamin Water
Red Stripe Jamaican beer
Outlaw Consulting also concluded that these trendsetting 21 - 27 year-olds prefer brands that speak to them in a "straightforward and stripped-down way, use plain packaging, and avoid excess."
Amen to that.
Source: MediaPost's Marketing Daily
The advertising for Axe men's grooming products has done a great job of branding the stuff as the choice of young male hipsters by using over-the-top, sexually charged creative concepts, like this one...
To my surprise, this ad comes from the Arab world where I'd always assumed the advertising was even more conservative than the Puritan-appropriate stuff we have here in the U.S.
This ad is the work of Lowe MENA, United Arab Emirates.
Source: Ads of the World
Social networking site Facebook co-sponsored a conference over the weekend called 'Authentic Communications -- Examining Social Media & The Online Conversation.' The keynote speaker was FaceBook's VP of Corporate Development and Chief Privacy Officer, Chris Kelly.
I don't know for sure what was said at the conference but I'm betting it was something along the lines of... Social networking sites present a marketing innovation that will revolutionize the advertising industry, change the way companies talk to their customers, blah, blah, blah...
Before you start wondering, "What exactly is a paradigm shift, anyway?" take a deep breath.
Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have been made popular largely by the exhibitionist tendencies of the young. These sites do indeed present an exciting, new way to talk to young people. But that hardly means EVERYBODY should start advertising on one of these sites.
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It's become a popular trend to give a brand its own MySpace profile. Which makes sense if your brand is one that young people care about, such as Rocky skateboards, retailer Abercrombie & Fitch or rapper Akon.
But brands like Girl Scout cookies and the Multiple Sclerosis Society now have their own MySpace profiles. Why? Who but a bunch of advertising/marketing geeks will actually go looking for these profiles? Because Facebook and MySpace are websites, my friend. One doesn't accidentally come across a MySpace profile the way one does a magazine ad.
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Remember the dot com crash? Actually, all that crashed were the dumbass ideas that rejected basic marketing principles. Don't forget that the next time someone tries to tell you that your company will be obsolete if you don't slap something up onto Facebook right now.
Addendum (posted 2 April 2007)
The conference, 'Authentic Communications -- Examining Social Media & The Online Conversation,' hasn't happened yet. It will be held on April 24th. Sorry for the misinformation and thanks to Steve for pointing it out!
Source: Wikipedia
Pepsi is doing some interesting branding. They have a website called Pepsi Style where today's Pepsi generation can purchase Pepsi-themed T-shirts, jeans, dresses and fashion accessories.
Prices range from $15.99 - $75 per item.
Pepsi Style is a continuation of a similar and wildly successful promotion called Pepsi Stuff.
Blah blah blah blah Meth Coffee. Blah blah blah blah extra caffeine blah blah. Blah blah blah branding blah blah blah young people blah blah blah. Parents blah blah angry blah blah blah protesting blah blah blah.
Source: Trend Hunter
To make young people more aware that they may be carriers of HIV without even knowing it, volunteers canvassed the streets of Lima discreetly tagging these stickers on unknowing pedestrians.
In the first month of the campaign, there was an 80% increase in phone calls to the clinic; the calls resulted in a 70% increase in HIV tests.
Source: Scary Ideas
Young people stink. And they know it.
Proctor & Gamble's Febreze, for example, is very popular with barhopping young people who come home with smelly clothes they'd rather wear again than have to do laundry.
Teenage girls are an especially big market for air fresheners.
"You can’t have enough scent with teenage girls,” says John Paquin, executive vice president and global account director for Febreze at Grey Worldwide, a WPP Group agency.
In fact, sales of air freshening products have increased 50% in the past three years alone.
That's according to an article in the New York Times that reports on the growing number of young people who are redefining and increasing the market for air fresheners.
