Ready for Generation Z?

Today’s MediaPost features an article in their Engage: Teens column that admittedly I found a little disturbing. Three Predictions about Generation Z purports that this up-and-coming group of teens are like a super-powered version of their Generation Y predecessors (I can’t help think of the scene in Eclipse with the “newborn” vampires are coming out of the water, stronger and feistier than their elder vampire counterparts).

Anyway. These forthcoming uber teens (who are younger than preteens, the offspring of the X Generation, ages 5 and under) are apparently 1. More technologically savvy than any other generation, 2. Adverse to criticism, and therefore likely to sabotage a brand or a marketing campaign and 3. Will continue to find loopholes so that they can access information more quickly. Numbers one and three I’m totally fine with; it’s just number 2 (excuse the pun) that stopped me in my tracks. These kids are barely potty trained! It's quite the stretch to predict that with "one slip of the tongue, they're likely to stomp on your foot, leave the room, and start an empire quicker than you can say Facebook." Yeah, maybe that's because most of these Generation Zers are still in preschool and therefore tantrums are not uncommon.

When it comes to generational trends, I prefer Penelope Trunk's Generation Z summary of predictions. She gives us some historical perspective but doesn't make any big claims. And really, as youth marketers, do we really need to start focusing on Generation Z now? Unless you've got an early learning program, children's book series or family-friendly movie coming out soon, I think not.

For YA novelist, plagiarism is the new promotion

Today’s New York Times article “Author, 17, Says It’s ‘Mixing,’ Not Plagiarism,” tells the perhaps not-so-surprising story of Helene Hegemann a 17 year-old German author who’s debut novel “Axolotl Roadkill,” shot to bestseller status in the span of just a few weeks. The Times states that German newspapers and magazines “heralded the novel far and wide as a tremendous debut, particularly for such a young author.” So hey, it must be a good read.

The interesting thing about it is that Hegemann admits to lifting material from a lesser-known novel, “Strobo,” by an author writing under the nom de plume Arien.

Ah, the plot thickens. Says the Times:

Ms. Hegemann finds herself in the middle of a collision — if not road kill exactly — between the staid, literary establishment in a country that venerates writers from Goethe to Mann to Grass, and the Berlin youth culture of D.J.’s and artists that sample freely and thereby breathe creativity into old forms. Or as one character, Edmond, puts it in the book, “Berlin is here to mix everything with everything.”
A powerful statement, but the line originally was written by Airen, on his blog. The plot thickens, however, and shows that perhaps more than simple cribbing is at work. When another character asks Edmond if he came up with that line himself, he replies, “I help myself everywhere I find inspiration.”

In a final “gotcha,” the controversy does not at all seem to be hurting book sales – for either Hegemann’s “Axolotl Roadkill,” or Arien’s “Strobo.”

So here’s my question. In the era of “mixing everything,” of re-tweets and re-purposing content and blogging about bloggers and multichannel marketing and content aggregate sites and yours truly lifting a paragraph from the New York Times about plagiarism in order to make a point about plagiarism… is there any originality anymore? Perhaps not. A trendsetter for sure and perhaps wise beyond her years, Hegemann says “There’s no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity,” in a statement released by her publisher after the scandal broke.

Retailers txt teens

When I received my Ypulse post alerting me to yesterday's Tampa Bay article Retailers know texting is the totally best way to reach teens, I saw that Anastasia had commented "this seems like a no duh one to me...as long as it's opt in and not sneaky at all." Ah, but I disagree. You'd think that major retailers and other large companies who have some sort of teen initiative would rally behind mobile marketing efforts. Because, of course, that's where the teens are, right? If only it were that simple. Yes, teens are glued to their phones. Yes, they text incessently. But does this mean that they want to receive mobile marketing messages from their favorite retailers? The article reports that Beall's department stores gained 5,000 opt-in subscribers since March. Let me repeat that. 5,000 subscribers. Since March. Just about any print, e-mail or online advertising campaign would far exceed those results. Couldn't those marketing dollars be put to better use?

The article does point out that while text messaging is not a great way to attract new customers, it can serve as a new channel to communicate to existing shoppers. Still, though: "Stores walk a fine line between relevant content and being labeled lame by picky teens." Isn't that the truth.

My advice to retailers or anyone else jumping on the mobile marketing bandwagon: Outline your goals and intiatives. What do you hope to gain from your mobile marketing efforts? Craft your messages around some sort of campaign that's relevant to teens. Know your audience. Or hire someone who does.

Back to School Retail Report

Youth Trends just released their 2008 Back to School Retail & Shopping Report. No real big surprises here... gas prices are up and the economy is down and therefore retailers such as WalMart and Target can expect to do well, while higher-end retailers won't. But wait - the summary goes on to explain how "the new iPhone 3G is without a doubt the most coveted mobile phone followed by LG's enV, the BlackBerry Curve and the BlackBerry Pearl. Based on the current growth rate, we expect that 32% to 35% of all teens and college students will own a smartphone or multimedia phone by year's end." Wow. At least teens and college students can still afford nice phones. And apparently, fashion as well: "The preppie retailer du jour is J. Crew, which over the past year and half has made a strong comeback with the college audience in particular and we now expect them to do well with teen consumers as well. If Mom and Dad are throwing down the plastic, female shoppers would snap up as many pairs of Tory Burch flats as they can."

Since when did J. Crew and Tory Burch start targeting teens? Never mind. My 15 year-old babysitter currently has 3 Coach bags, wears a lot of Juicy Couture accessories and sends me texts from her Razr. I'm just the one paying to fill up the tank so I can drive her to the mall.

Getting started

It's taken awhile, but I've finally decided to start a blogging. My hesitancy hasn't been so much about what to say, but how to focus. I'm not interested in blogging about my kids, although they do fuel my business on many levels and are a constant source of entertainment. I'm not going to be a news service on what's going on in the kids industry at any given second; I have better things to do with my time. I won't write product reviews or book reviews although I may mention them as part of a larger trend I see in the industry. I'll blast the companies and ad agencies that are harming kids with obnoxious campaigns and inappropriate messages but I'll be kinder to those who miss the mark in targeting kids but whose underlying mission is well-intentioned. So here's what I will do: I'll compile, I'll focus on what's creative and cool, and I'll be critical every step of the way.