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Largest Youth Culture Study Reveals New Opportunities + Driving Trends Effecting Global Youth Markets in Fashion, Technology, Sports, Entertainment
May 17, 02007—According to fresh results released today from Label Networks’ 7th bi-annual North American Youth Culture Study—Spring Report ‘07, young people 13-25-years-old are re-shaping market trends motivated mostly by new technology and communication patterns, resulting in unique preferences and influences for where they spend their money, adopt fashion, and influences from music, sports, entertainment, new media, marketing + advertising, and more. The Study, produced by Label Networks, a leading global marketing intelligence and media company covering global youth culture since 2000, provides fresh consumer insight and analysis that indicates how a new generation has come into their own, where they’re pushing market trends, and the ripple effects this has across Europe, Japan, and China.
“American youth culture still leads many markets across the world in terms of sources of fashion, music, technology, action sports, entertainment, and general attitudes and inspiration,” says Tom Wallace, President of Label Networks. “For this reason, our North American Youth Culture Study—Spring Report is always the most highly anticipated among our global subscribers each year.”
“Particularly, shifts in streetwear trends, sneaker culture, the music industry, technology, environment, and the influences of social online networks have made many traditional marketing and advertising models almost obsolete as grassroots and bottom-up campaigns with cred mark the new age of reaching global youth culture,” continues Wallace. This year, Label Networks has added new information measuring the effectiveness of grassroots sponsorship, marketing, and the digital lifestyle of the marketplace towards providing greater understanding for those trying to reach this savvy and elusive target market.
Overall, the North American Youth Culture Study—Spring Report ‘07 tells a new story about today’s generation and the future which is both incredibly exciting and very telling about where certain opportunities exist and why.
Highlights from the North American Youth Culture Study—Spring Report ’07 include:
- T-shirt Size of Market, Price Points, + Spending Patterns indicate changes in market opportunities, particularly among 13-19-year-olds males
- Footwear shopping online continues to be a leading category of items purchased online, especially among 15-17-year-olds
- Electronic purchase changes indicate cell phone music listening features to be a motivating factor in the marketplace in the near future
- Grassroots Sponsorship--Special reports measuring the Effectiveness of Grassroots Sponsorship, Word-of-Mouth, + New Media give away what works and what fails in attracting youth culture
- Hispanic youth market is more interested in action sports today than any other cultural demographic
- Video gaming preferences for games such as Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution has opened the floodgates to a new marketplace
- New Rap/Hip-Hop artists such as Akon + Timbaland favored by females while males have higher percentages for old-school, indicating new moves in niche directions with new audiences
- Volcom + Dickies among brandsimpacting the significant shifts in denim, along with re-invention of classics Lee + Wrangler as utilitarian, eco, premium, + sports-inspired denim niches expand
- Mad potential of women’s sneaker market quantified with shifts in buying habits, brand preferences, online shopping patterns, + sneaker-freaker female-friendly sites indicating retailers need to step-up
- Stores + TV have dropped the most as the leading source for “finding out about new fashion trends and styles”
- Shootings increase DIY spirit: 68.9% of 13-25-year-olds believe a shooting like Virginia Tech could happen in their schools + that only they themselves can take care of their futures today
- Top Future Concerns: Females now rank Success higher than males with growing passion + motivation to do more than what previous generations accomplished
The North American Youth Culture Study--Spring Report ’07 includes actionable results, regarding fashion, (with special reports on denim, T-shirts, and footwear), spending patterns, technology + electronics, video gaming, music, action sports, individual + team sports, entertainment patterns, marketing + advertising effectiveness, lifestyle traits, Internet patterns + social networks, cell phones, new media, future concerns, attitudes, changing styles, and influences. The subscription package also includes:
- Profile Reports: In-depth quantitative and qualitative reports of leading segments of youth culture market trends, including The Snowboarding Profile Report, Digital Lifestyle Report, Humanitarian Youth Culture Study (green marketing), Hispanic/Latino Profile Report, + The Sponsorship Profile Report
- Weekly Updates from our global field research network to provide greater details about fresh news, reviews of street fashion trends, music, sports, festivals, underground magazines, events, retail hotspots, + emerging subcultures
- The Spring + Fall Report: Covering a wide-range of topics including historical patterns and information, primary data, charts, graphs cross-tabulated by gender, age: 13-14, 15-17, 18-20, 21-25
- Macro Trend Summaries detailing high-level trends written in an easy-to-understand format about the changing landscape of the marketplace within each topic
- Street Photography depicting leading-edge trends in fashion, footwear, sports, accessories, attitudes, tattoos, and style
- Label Networks TV: Video clips with in-depth interviews with up-and-coming designers, retailers, musicians, artists
For thought-leaders looking to maximize their strategies as they pertain to the youth marketplace, the North American Youth Culture Study—Spring Report ‘07 provides authentic street-level information about the demographic profile, economic, and cultural threads of influence of the wealthiest new generation in history. For information about subscribing, or for our Global Subscription Package, including Europe, Japan, China, call (323) 630-4000; info@labelnetworks.com.
Data for the North American Youth Culture Study—Spring Report ‘07 has a Confidence Level of 95% with a Margin of Error of +/- 2.5%.
About Label Networks:
Label Networks, Inc. is a leading global youth culture marketing intelligence + media company authentically measuring the most trendsetting and mainstream subcultures in the world. Label was launched in 2000 to bridge the gap between companies trying to access the youth marketplace and the lack of useful, fast research about the fast-changing landscape. Label created new methods to gain constantly fresh quantitative and qualitative data about the marketplace accurately and quickly with a combination of remote data-acquisition and analysis systems, and a credible network of Global Youth Culture Experts. Together, Label measures, reports, and consults with brands, agencies, and industry leaders about pinpoint consumer preferences gathered from face-to-face interviews from the heart of opinionated youth environments. Global Youth Culture Studies include North America, Europe, Japan, + China, plus Profiles on Snowboarding, Skateboarding, Hispanic/Latino Market Report; Euro Mobile Technology Report, Digital Lifestyle Report; Sponsorship Report; + Humanitarian Study; Clients: Apple Computer, Burton, Adidas, Braun, Motorola, Nokia, Footlocker, Oakley, Spy Optic, Levi Strauss, American Eagle, O’Neill Europe, Playstation, Hasbro, Ford, Dodge, Reebok, K-Swiss, DC Shoes, Creative Artists Agency, Kraft Easy-Mac, AT&T. Contact: Label Networks, Inc., 13101 Washington Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90066; (323) 630-4000; mailto:youthculture@labelnetworks.com; www.labelnetworks.com.
