Young people "are adapting best"

There was a packed house at today's Young People seminar, celebrating the launch of the IAB's Young People handbook, the first in the IAB's demographics series.

Thursday, 28 May 2009


Today's event featured presentations from Habbo, i-level’s social media unit Jam and Microsoft Advertising in an effort to make sense of the online behaviour of 15-24 year olds, exploring how this group uses social media, how their media consumption differs from previous generations and what this means for marketers.

One of the fastest growing areas

Hussain Chowdhury, European ad sales director at Habbo, kicked off proceedings arguing that virtual worlds are a key tool for engaging a young audience. As evidence of this, Chowdhury offered a statistic from Gartner Research which argued that 80% of internet users will have a virtual version of themselves within four years. "We predict it will be much more than this," said Hussain.

Another crucial shift in behaviour outlined by Chowdhury is the fact that the majority of youth web users are more than comfortable with the idea of having online only friends. Indeed, research conducted by Habbo showed that the majority of their users have between 50 and 100 online only friends who they don't know in the real world.

For Hussain this growth in virtual worlds – and the accompanying change in online behaviour – offers huge opportunities for marketers keen to interact with young consumers. The COI’s Frank campaign which sought to educate young people about the dangers of recreational drug use is one campaign that has successfully entered the Habbo universe for example. Another, less likely, participant is ING Direct, a brand keen to engage with the youth audience.

Social media is different - do advertisers belong there?

Next up, Alex Miller, head of Jam, i-level’s social media unit, argued that "it's becoming increasingly difficult to get young people to engage with display ads." As a result, advertisers are looking at other options - one of which is social media. However this is no easy matter. "Social media is different," said Miller. "Do advertisers belong there?"

Miller argued that in order for advertisers to be relevant, it is essential for them to understand the new and growing audience of social networkers. To this end he outlined some key findings from a quantitative survey of 1,000 16-35 year old social network users in Britain carried out in association with MySpace.

This research found that 20% of users make friends with a brand because of the ‘free stuff’ that the brand offers. A good example of this was E4's Skins whose first episode was exclusively premiered on MySpace. Another key finding was that 26% of respondents feel bombarded by excessive advertising messaging. As a result, users claimed they would only consider making an advertiser a friend if the company showed or offered something original and unique.

As part of the research Jam also asked participants what criteria they thought was most necessary for a business to succeed. Most important to this audience was being trustworthy and honest followed by being interactive and allowing others to engage – an important message for all brands to take note of.

The first wave of digital youth is here

Finishing off the day, Phil Bird, research manager at Microsoft Advertising, outlined the latest Microsoft research into the behaviour of a group he referred to as “the first wave of digital youth”.

Bird was keen to point out that this group does not necessarily follow the behavioural patterns outlined by the mainstream press. He argued that Microsoft research showed the media portrayals of an anti-social, disaffected and lazy youth, unable or unwilling to communicate with each other is incorrect. Instead, according to Bird, young people are more likely to read a book than visit a social networking site; few drink to get drunk; hardly any take cocaine or ecstasy; only a minority know anyone who’s smoked marijuana; and 58% play sport or take exercise regularly.

Bird went on to quote Klaus Hurrelmann, a German Professor of Social Sciences, who argues that this age group has a lot in common with their grandparent's generation. “Security means a material security for the 18-24s - a calculable education and career,” says Hurrelmann. “This is a reaction against the worrying situation in the job market. Their orientation is more similar to their grandparents in the post-war period than to their own parents”

According to Bird, this generation is “complex, conservative and a hugely open to brand engagement”. As a result, around a quarter frequently upload ads and marketing clips to YouTube and social networking sites; just under half have uploaded branded content to their IM or SMS; 47% have clicked on display or banner ads; over a third regularly watch product reviews and advertising clips online; over a quarter have commented on a brand in a forum; and they are hugely confident in their ability to influence others through their opinions on brands.

Media consumption is changing fast too. According to Bird, PC and web connections are emerging as the centre of young adults’ media world with 65% streaming or downloading TV content every week. PCs are now the device young adults can’t live without (supplanting the mobile and demolishing the traditional TV set). Although three hours per weekday on average is spent watching TV, one in seven now watch no live TV at all. While radio still important, magazines’ influence is disappearing.

“The whole world is changing - youth is adapting best,” concluded Bird. “Youth are sharing and socialising in a way that hasn’t been seen before.”

A brilliant start

Commenting on today’s event, Kieron Matthews, the IAB’s marketing director, said: “At the IAB we recognize that intelligence in audience behaviour is paramount when trying to engage with them. This young people session was a brilliant start in understanding how to reach an increasingly resistant demographic. Watch out for our upcoming sessions on reaching women, men, the over 55s and affluents. If today’s event is anything to go by, it would be remiss not to turn up.”

The IAB's Young People handbook published in association with Habbo will be available to download from the IAB website next week.

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