Equality of the sexes is, arguably, a more meaningful concept in northern, rather than in eastern or even parts of southern Europe. Although a more traditional approach to gender may exist among the older generation, the new generation everywhere has a very open outlook. With growing confidence among women in society across the continent, the role of the male is slowly being doubted, leaving men anxious and looking for behavioral indication. It is best illustrated in recent years of male magazines in the UK. This has big suggestions for male identity brands, such as magazines, or grooming products like TIGI, L’Oreal, Axe and Gillette, to offer a modern sense of identity to young males.
Another area of differing experience for Euro–teens relates to working hours. With the longest working hours in Europe, young working Brits are cash-rich but time-poor with a decreasing pool of leisure time at their disposal. Contrastingly, continental European youth regularly seek more balance in terms of quality in life. This has big implication for premium or status brands targeting the youth market, such as clothing or morale brands like Martell Cognac.
E-Commerce - The tendency to shop online increases with age and access to credit cards, but one in five young people age 8 to 24 did purchase something using the Internet last year, according to the Zandl Group. Most shoppers still stick to product categories like entertainment software, books, and tickets that do not require trial or personal inspection. E-tailers (such as Amazon, Alloy.com) included the list, so did retailer such as Gap.com. Most online marketers found it hard to compete with sites devoted to music, television, video games, sports, and pornography. "Online marketers need to remember that most young people go online for entertainment," Zandl said. "And they'll leave your site in a second if it isn't entertaining and easy to navigate."
Boys seem more comfortable with the concept of e-commerce. While the rate of Internet penetration varies widely from country to country, Data monitor found Spain has the lowest levels of Internet penetration among youths; Sweden, Britain and the United States all have a high proportion of online youths. By 2005, 74 percent of the youth population in Western Europe will have regular access to the Internet.
Between 1999 and 2001, pocket money in France increased by 21 percent over inflation and GDP, in Germany by 35 percent. If this trend continues, disposable income of online youths is expected to rise. Several challenges await marketers looking to reach the online youth market. To attract and retain this demanding audience, web sites must be designed around the specific characteristics of their target audience: boys seek novelty and entertainment, while girls enjoy fulfilling goals.
When you are talking youth you are talking technology. There is an increasing number of Euro-youth using the internet. Jupiter MMXI found that teenagers represent 12 percent of the European online population, and in June 2001 Europeans ages 12 to 17 spent nearly 8 hours online - an increase of 2 hours in Britain and France and 3 hours in Germany since January of 2001.
Cosmetics, Toiletries and Fashion: Youth are not only crazy about the internet but also they are huge ‘fashion maniac’. Especially teens and busters spend lavishly on costemetics, toiletries and clothes. Even tweenagers are very fashion aware and what is currently ‘hip’ at the moment. Parents spoil there children by buying them higher value products due to greater number of hours worked, more working women and the increasing divorce rates having made them cash rich, but time poor. These trends are strongest in UK, France and Germany. Manufacturers have taken use of this by offering products that are specifically aimed at the youth e.g. Neutrogena’s Body Clear Body Wash for acne prone teenagers and J17 cosmetics. Crucially, cosmetics products that can offer more age specific benefits can command higher prices. For young girls of age 8 and upward, products that have achieved this have proved popular for e.g. Claire’s cosmetics and accessories in UK.
Across Western Europe and North America, there has been increase in the clothing market. In order to grow, manufacturers have segmented their product audiences in terms of sex, lifestyle, ethnicity and age and made products that are suited to the needs of a more strictly defined set of consumers. For e.g. Tammy solely aims at tweenagers mostly considering the pop scene, Top Shop and New Look in the UK aim at teenagers while M&S and Debenhams aim at the busters. The countries of the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain have experienced overall growth of 3.2% per annum from 1994 to 1998 in the sales of this industry. The spending of young consumers of age 0 to 19 is set to grow on average by 5.4% per annum over the next four years.
There are also significant differences between product categories. The hair care sector has to led the way in targeting young consumers, with products such as L’Oreal Kids. Large manufactures, most notably L'Oreal and Colgate-Palmolive, with its child focused oral hygiene products such as Wild Flosses dental floss, have led the way in targeting the youngest consumer groups. However, there is considerable room for more New Product Development (NPD) and hence smaller, lesser-known brands can explore this market opportunity.
Leisure and Entertainment- Moving on from the world of E-commerce and fashion industry, the youth look for some kind of leisure time activities. One of the popular activities among them is sport. The youth are very much interested in sports not only because they like it but also cause they can keep fit. Their attitudes towards sport are governed by two major factors: an attachment to the present and feeling of liberty/ refusal of rules.
Example: Values associated with snowboarding
Source: Carat Sport TMO 1999 - 3 waves of 1000 studies in France (Jun-July 99).
They are aware that sport and sponsors are interdependent. They demand a close proximity with sponsors and look for openness. Sponsoring is particularly efficient on the youth target.
Source: TGI Europe 1999 - Based on Pop Europe 15-29 (Ge/Fr/UK/Sp): 44,761,000 ind. Total adults 15+: 190,568,000 individuals
Such issues provide good opportunities for the sports marketers. Also the youth are very much interested in watching sports on television and channels like ESPN ( NBA shows), Star Sports etc are always finding more grounds to target them.
Unlike previous generations, today’s youth want to keep track of every important piece of information. The free flow of information from TV, newspapers, computers, radio and even cellular phones is too irresistible to ignore.
Respondents were 21- to 35-year-olds from Britain, France, Germany and Italy
Source: Time magazine, European edition, April 2, 2001
The most common mode of entertainment for the youth is music and television. Today’s teens are mostly into Pop, R&B, Hip Hop and Rap while most of the generation X people are into Rock, listening to. In case of the tweenagers’ music scene, Nsync, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera dominate. Marketers have to find out how they can reach them in a meaningful way. Sitcoms like ‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Big Brother, and Simpson’s’ are extremely popular among youth. This provides marketers a few opportunities to pick up ideas from these serials and target them at the youth, for e.g. magazines with cover page of actors of the friend’s series or posters etc. The quickest route to millions of teens is via the entertainment and technology expressway. Marketers can target them via media i.e. television, radio, newspapers etc. Marketers of music industry must advertise on MTV as it the most popular channel among the teens. The tweens are captured by channels like Nickelodeon and Disney where the manufacturers of toys and video games advertise and target them. This provides quite a solid opportunity for the marketers of Playstation2, Nintendo Gameboy, and Dreamcast etc, which are used to capture their imagination. Now that the world is more of a ‘one culture place’, most of the youth across Europe speak in English making it cost efficient and easier for marketers to communicate to them their products and services.
Food and Drinks- The youth is very much diet conscious. Being slim and fit is considered hip while being fat is uncool. This affects what the marketer’s produce. There are a whole range of fat free food and drinks available in the super stores. More population is becoming calorie conscious and hence marketers produce low fat products and for those who are eco-friendly, for them they have organic foods etc. Also they have to keep track of working patterns in current times for instance there is an increase in women workers of generation X, part time jobs by teens and busy working schedules giving more push to the production of fast cooking meals and frozen foods.
Brands - When it comes to marketing to the youth, brands play a very important role. Why are brand names so important to teens? Because in an age of information overload, teens want assurance that they are making the right choices that will enhance their identity. USA is seen as having the strongest influence on teen fashion and culture. Pg 9 table. Which are the giant brands most recognized by teens? 1) Coca-cola 2) Sony 3) Adidas 4) tie between Nike and Pepsi 5) Kodak. Teens love brands because they create an identity and are seen as tickets to success. Marketers constantly need to observe and assess the teen trends and ensure advertising to them in the best and appropriate way possible. While to the tweenies brands don’t play a very essential role, all they want is what Britney wore in her lastest video from Tammy and funky/hip Claire accessories. The baby busters are very brand conscious as well. “Busters are terrific communicators about what they like and don’t like about marketing”, said Kathy Bunton, director of marketing communications at Converse. Hence marketers must conduct good research on their views on brands. But how far should brands approach European youth?
These are issues that are often asked to consider. We have identified five key areas for consideration by brand owners before they embark on such a strategy. Specifically these relate to:
- Family/parenting culture
- Cultural liberalism
- The state of gender equality
- Economic prosperity
- National identity issues
Companies realize importance of targeting the youth
- The Europe-designed Allex, which was launched in January, is a youth-oriented derivative of the new Corolla, the best-selling car in Japan, and the bob is one of five models sharing a platform with the No. 2-ranked Vitz.
- After decades of losing market share, especially among young buyers who seem to crave imported cars, GM is redoubling its efforts to gain the fashionable cache it had during its glory days of the 1950s and 1960s. The company plans to show off a raft of new concept cars at auto shows across the country. The show cars, along with seven other new vehicles set to roll off the assembly line by 2004, are designed to lure younger buyers. The market under 30-years old prefers sporty fun cars, but they're very price-sensitive," says Susan Jacobs, president of automotive marketing research firm Jacobs & Associates in Rutherford, N.J. GM also faces the challenge of unseating tough competitors in the youth markets. Honda and Volkswagen are both tough competitors with strong products that young buyers love. And other carmakers are moving just as quickly. Says Jacobs: "Everyone is going after that market." The bottom line: Looks count. But GM will have to get everything right if it expects to win over younger consumers.
- Coca-Cola wants more Europeans to wear what they drink and drink what they wear. The Atlanta-based beverage giant plans to sell a line of casual wear and sports-inspired clothing in Eastern and Western Europe. At present the line of clothes is sold mainly in the UK, with a sprinkling of sales in the US. Coca-Cola hopes the clothes, which it is licensing to Fashion Box of Italy to distribute, will connect with young consumers and drive future beverage sales in those key markets. Mr. Craig Williams, Coca-Cola's director of merchandise services for Greater Europe, said the company wanted to build "an experience with the brand".
Youth market Vs Older Market-
The youth market may seem more attractive and profitable but the Boomers/Older market (those born between and including 1946 and 1964) are going to offer fantastic potential for the next two or three decades. The number of baby boomers and seniors online grew by 18.4 percent last year, making them the fastest growing Internet population, according to Media Metric. Of all age groups, 45- to 64-year-olds have the most credit cards and the highest usage, as well as the highest percentage of frequent-flier members. They are also more likely to buy a new car rather than lease or buy a used one. What markets are the boomers into? They are rebelling against the aging process. They'll spend big on health food, exercise, cosmetic surgery and preventive medicine. They plan to enjoy their older years. They started with black and white TV's then moved to video games. Now they're surfing the Internet while talking on their cell phones and use palm-tops for e-mail. Though they're a highly educated generation, many boomers are still learning. Boomers are good spenders. As they enter their peak earning years, look for booms in high-end items like cars, homes and technology. Show them the value - they'll spend the money. Many industries like banking already target the over 50 crowd and reap mega profits. They have a very potential and strong market. While the youth purchase lots of music, cosmetics, electronics, affordable cars, are e-commerce customers, telephone users, fast food purchasers, and what not. They represent enormous numbers of marketers of all goods and services as well. Hence they cannot be neglected either. We can conclude that both the market segments have their own strong holds and play an equally important role in the marketing environment. The marketer must know which one of the segments his products must be targeted at and market them using the opportunities each of these segments provide.
Bibliography
- Palmer, A. & Harley, B.L.(1999) The Business Marketing Environment ( third edition), McGraw-Hill.
- O’Malley, L.Patterson, M. & Evans, M. (1999), Exploring Direct Marketing, ITBP.
- Brassington F. & Pettitt. S, Principles of Marketing (second edition), England: Pitam Publishing
- William F. Marketing: contemporary concepts and practices (sixth edition), London: Prentice-Hall International (UK)
- Setting their sites on Generation “Y”; Kipp Cheng; Brandweek, NY;August 9,1999; Vol 40, Iss.31; Pg 38, 2 pgs.
- Technology sells when you are talking teens; Thomas Hoffman; Computer world, Framingham; Apr 12,1999, Vol.Iss 15; Pg50, 1 Pg
- The boom tube; Noreen O’Leary; Brandweek, NY; May18, 1998; vol 39, Iss.20; Pg U44, 9 pgs
