In Label Networks’ new Digital Lifestyle Youth Profile Report 2008 released today, fresh and provocative new insights among 13-25-year-olds across North America are revealed as they pertain to many aspects of youth culture that live in a technology-based world. Yet while it’s common knowledge that this generation has expectations to be able to download what they want and when they want it, and create their own entertainment, there are market opportunities not only for reaching young people (and getting them to spread the word), but also for making money.
The Report outlines results from chapters covering digital lifestyle traits and communication patterns, new media preferences and patterns, online shopping habits, and an entire series of questions and results measuring digital entertainment, music, and the future characteristics of not only preferences and systems, but DIY methods that may just replace how entertainment is perceived in the future.
For example, miniDV cameras are not only among the new tools of self-expression, but the very act of creating personal videos with friends and creating events and key themes to film, have become key aspects of entertainment in and of itself. This notion was also highlighted just last weekend during the international Bicycle Film Festival when the founder noted at the screening in Hollywood how most “films” included in the festival in the last 3 years were no longer actually “films’ but rather videos. Ditto for much of Sundance (which now also includes a category for cell phone creations.) In addition, the concept of the traditional half-hour TV show will also change based on this generation’s preferences in entertainment as indicated by the growing preferences for a variety of programming options—from 2-minute “shorts” to 40 minute “movies;” from self-generated and tagged top news from entities such as Current.TV; to interactive on-going “mini-sodes” mixing gaming, music, and documentaries that see no real ending.
E3 Expo last week also pointed out expanding options of what were once primarily video gaming devices whereby people can now use gaming systems for other types of options (i.e., Netflix and Xbox 360; Rock Band 2 and usage of musical instruments). To this generation, playing music via your cell phone, and movies and TV shows via your iPod are a given. Emailing is considered by many too old-school, whereas texting is outpacing cell phone calls. These things also go hand-in-hand with changes in online shopping patterns, top website preferences, communication and blogging patterns, and new habits for using social networks—not to mention the tremendous changes in preferred social networks and profile page usages in general. These things are changing the paradigm of how the businesses of entertainment, communication, retail, marketing, advertising, and branding have been done in the past.
Unfortunately, as more companies pour money into expanding their new media marketing components, as many people have discovered, the Field of Dreams theory (“if we build it, they will come”) certainly doesn’t apply when it comes to reaching savvy youth today. Popping up a site (or social network for that matter) no matter how cool it is means nothing if you can’t reach the market it’s intended for. As a preview, in this story we concentrate on this all-important aspect based on the question, “How do you typically find out about new websites?” The results tell the story, using in-depth charts and graphs, and analysis depicting the differences based on gender and age groups (13-14, 15-17, 18-20, 21-25) that reflect not only revealing traits by target markets, but also the growing generation gap that’s occurring even within this generation.
This story is free to Premium subscribers only. For more information on the Digital Lifestyle Youth Culture Profile Report 2008, or to subscribe to the Report directly, go to: www.labelnetworks.com.
