Bring a Stake to the Game

Desire to create a "cool" product leads many marketers to "urban youth," where they hope to capture the loyalty of this trend-setting audience. Looking over recent successes and failures in marketing to urban youth in the U.K., James Curtis of BrandRepublic notes that marketers need to accept the diversity and frequent poverty of this market's members and meet them on their own terms. You can't join a poker game without a stake, and you can't play in this sophisticated market unless you contribute.

Sprite U.K. has experienced some success in this market by sponsoring Urban Games and inviting grafitti artists to contribute artwork for cans, which are then sold at the regular price, but as limited editions.

...According to Glen O'Connell, sports and lifestyle marketing manager for video-game company Electronic Arts (EA), this kind of two-way interaction is essential. 'We very much see this audience as one that wishes to interact with the product and brand, and experience it the way they see fit,' he says. 'But they will only do this if the mindset is right. The approach should not be "I know what you like best", but rather "Tell me what you like and I'll tell you how my product can excite you".'...

from BrandRepublic: Youth marketing: What's under the hood? 2006-Oct-18 by James Curtis