iMedia Panel: Influencers in the New Digital World
by Brian Reich | 28 Mar 2006, 2:00am
John Geraci from Crux Research presented a session titled: “Influencers in the New Digital World.” Here are my notes:
- There are lots of nicknames for this audience: Millennials, Generation Next, Dot Y, Gen Y. They are hard to understand. Hard to Reach. But everyone wants them. They are the most “Critical” Media Consumers in History (meaning they are the most important, and they hold advertisers and marketers very high standards).
- They are more influential than ever before. Compare 1966 Teen Spending - $12 Billion (avg $4568 per year) to 2005 Teen Spending - $233 Billion (avg $10,420 per year) That’s a 2.3 x increase in spending power. Today, 1 in 3 dollars being spent are either being spent by, or influenced by, teenagers in America.
- “The Net Generation uses digital tools to pass the time, play, learn, communicate and even think in new ways. As a result, they develop new kinds of consumer needs, behaviors, and relationships to brands.” (Don Tapscott - Growing up Digital)
- Poll Results: More than 2/3 of teenagers distrust ad messages they see.
- Poll Results: Teens Trust TV Ads the Most (more than radio, internet, magazines). They love the infinite nature of the internet but they don’t know what to trust.
- Poll Results: Some Media Seem Off-Limits for Ads. Teens say it is appropriate to advertise in magazines, radio, on the TV and the web.
- Poll Results: Teens Admit that Old Media Ads Influence Them. They buy products they see on TV, read in magazines, see in movie theaters before show starts, etc.
- Poll Results: The N-Gen is critical of Word-of-Mouth as well. Only 36% are extremely likely to go buy something their friend suggested. Compare that to what reception professional marketers would have.
- Poll Results: Recent digital ‘hardware’ penetration has been greatest in mobile devices. Teens are buying cell phone with cameras (+35%), web enabled cell phones (+8%) — the ‘on the go’ devices are growing while the ’sit and watch’ devices (TV, computers, even video game consoles) are slowing.
- Fragmentation of media is real: 200+ cable tv networks, 5500 consumer magazine titles, 10,500 radio stations, 30 million + websites, 122, 000 books publicshed, 240 million televisions sets (two million TV sets in the bathroom). But fragmentation doesn’t scare this audience. Teenagers feel empowered by all the media - they value being in control of their media environment.
- Media use has reached a saturation point. Almost all media use is dropping (-4%). Radio (-20%), Newspaper (-20%), TV (-7%), Magazines (-24%). But the Internet (+63%) is growing. New media is taking time away from old media.
- How must marketers adapt? In the ‘old’ Analog world, advertising and engagement was: Media bound, passive, and supportered a “sellers” market. In today’s “new’ digital world: content is unfastened to any medium, interactive, ‘buyers’ market (producer ceding control over content to their customers).
Bold Predictions
1) Advertisers are about to show you the money - spending on new media is about to hit a tipping point.
2) Targeting will be as dominant as the message and creative
3) The Media Planner will soon becomes the Rock Star of the Agency - because targeting is why new media really works (analogy to Moneyball in baseball).
4) Don’t Discount the Importance of Research - sources of consumer information undercount young audiences; if you can’t count the audience, marketing dollars won’t flow to the medium.
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: Conferences/Events Event Coverage Marketing Mobile Research Technology
