Millennial Target: Hot PINK

Victoria's Secret's PINK brand is hot. With sales approaching $1 Billion, it is growing faster than VS overall according to Ad Age (7/7/08). PINK's Facebook Group boasts 509,478 fans, one of the largest on the site. This fall, PINK started directly targeting the collegiate crowd with a COMPREHENSIVE approach that leaves no stone unturned, with apps for your facebook page, style guides, videos of favorite bands, logowear from 33 universities, video personality profiles, events (PINKAPOLOOZA) text messaging sign up, free customizable goodies for your myspace page or computer, insider blogs, a maglog, cause marketing, a $5 planner promotional offer -- even horoscopes. Nothing was left out. And the overall sense is that they won't stop here, there's lots more to come. (I was interested to note that Notre Dame is not one of the participating schools, you can see a list click here; be sure to click Roll Call to hear the charming Behati from Namibia read the school names to you, definitely worth watching).

Overall, the site feels more like a social network than a comercial site, and that apparently is the intent and its appeal. I admit I found 30 minutes of total entertainment. It makes college look so COOL! Who wouldn't want to be part of this scene? Cool is apparently is the goal, according to Sara Tervo, PR Director:

With fickle teens jumping from one fashion brand to another, it's a balancing art to stay relevant and "cool" in the eyes of this consumer group. "What VS Pink does is it listens to the customer, pays attention to the fashion trends, and stays true to the brand," says Tervo. (PR Week, 2/11)

Brands who want to approach the college market would do well to look at VSPINK.

Millennial Media: What Are They Watching?

According to Alloy Media, 24% of teens are on the Internet 15 or more hours a week, and the average time spent is 11.5 hours. They also watch a lot less TV than the rest of us. According to MRI's Mediamark Reporter, the top TV Quintile of 18-24 year olds are indexes just 66 vs. Total Adults. So what, in fact, are they watching, online and ontv?

MRI Medimark Reporter (Fall 2007) shows MySpace and MTV are the most highly penetrated channels with over 40% of 18-24 year olds watching (see table)with VH1 and YouTube are right behind. The surprise for me was the high popularity of [Adult Swim]. With 21% penetration and an index of 368, its penetration rivals that of Facebook.

For those of you over 30 who may not be familiar with [Adult Swim], it's what runs between 11PM and 6PM Eastern, 7 nights a week, on the Cartoon Network, the HBO of animation. While it began as a spinoff, today it is a channel in its own right. Adultswim.com carries a variety of streamed video, games and social media opportunities. Here's what that most knowledgeable of sources, Wikipedia, has to say about it:

Adult Swim, (usually stylized [adult swim] with its signature square brackets), is an adult-oriented television network sharing channel space with Cartoon Network in the United States.[1] The programming features animated shows, including original programming, syndicated shows, and Japanese anime, generally with minimal or no editing for content. The shows are geared toward a 16+ audience, in contrast to the child and pre-teen daytime programming on Cartoon Network. The shows and commercial breaks are usually interrupted by "bumps", or moments where short jokes or internet fan feedback (which they sometimes respond to in a sarcastic manner when it is negative) are broadcast in simple white letters over a black screen. The network is programmed by Williams Street Studios, who have created Toonami and Miguzi; they play American animated series and shorts geared towards adults, and in the past have played a wide variety of Japanese anime series, OVAs, and movies. Promotions for Adult Swim are targeted towards the college age and 20something/30something group, constituting the majority of their viewers. According to a September 1, 2004 article in Promo magazine, representatives travel to 30 universities across the U.S. to promote the Adult Swim lineup, including handing out posters for students' dorm rooms.

David Carson reports in today's Ad Age that online video has a bigger audience than cable TV. Sites like YouTube.com, MTV.com, and Adultswim.com are making the idea of one channel, three screens seem more like a reality all the time. Reaching Millennials may be a matter of allowing them to direct the content they want to the screen -- TV, computer or mobile phone -- they want.

Millennial Target: Hamlet 2

To see or not to see Hamlet 2? If you are interested in Millennials, the answer is definitely 'see'. The humor and pacing are wildly uneven, the outcome is telegraphed from the outset and the vulgar language is not at all what you would find in Disney's High School Musical. But the insight about what will appeal to Millennials was on target from beginning to end, proving the real Hamlet correct in saying, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

While the story appears to be about a failed actor, failed high school drama teacher and failed husband, the real story, as Millennials will no doubt discern immediately, is about the students. The movie first presents this hapless bunch as disrespectful, illiterate, racially and class-divided, drug using, losers. But this is just a cover. They choose to present themselves this way, of course. In fact, they have amazing talents -- for singing, stage production, choreography, musical composition, technology, organization, persuasion, and more -- which only needed to be given a chance and an inspiration to thrive. They don't need good material, a competent teacher or even much knowledge of the real Hamlet. With the students' help, the truly hapless teacher's laughably uninspired and ridiculous script is transformed and transplanted to yes, Broadway. (Sorry to give it away for those of you who have not seen the movie, but you would have guessed anyway).

Steve Coogan, as the Boomer drama 'teacher', is pitied and loved, but not respected. He is harmless, but ineffective. He doesn't even wear underwear. He succeeds because of the students, despite his lack of talent and self-destructive qualities.

It is also significant to note that none of the young wunderkinds stands out as the 'star'. They work, and succeed, as a team. Everyone is included -- including the nerdy, sexually confused teacher's pet and the bad girl 'wanna-be'. It is the students' pooled gifts, and ability to pull together, that make them successful, a true Millennial value.

I have written before of Millennial personas, archetypes and 'secretly gifted' fantasies. Hamlet 2 wraps them all into one package.

Social Media: Not Just Facebook and MySpace

On the occasion of my 50th post about Millennials (wow, can hardly believe it myself), I did some digging on the social media phenomenon. While many believe it is values that define Millennials. Millennials themselves believe it is their use of the Internet, nothing defines Millennials on the Internet more than their use of social media. In March 08, McCann released Wave 3 of its Social Media Tracking Report based on a survey of 17,000 Internet users in 29 countries. Here are a few findings worth noting:

1. Social media is much broader than social networking. McCann defines social media as “Online applications, platforms and media which aim to facilitate interaction, collaboration and the sharing of content”. That includes blogs, photo and video sharing, podcasts, microblogs (Twitter), widgets, chat rooms and message boards, and more.

2. Social media's reach is surprisingly high.. 83% of active Internet users watch videos, 73% read blogs. 39% have started their own blog (I am sure the number is even higher for Millennials, especially young women who are more into blogging than similarly aged guys, who favor gaming. In fact, McCann believes blogging rivals traditional media with a 70% weekly reach. 33% have a favorite blog they read regularly. "As a collective, the blogosphere rivals any mass media in terms of reach, time spent and wider cultural, social and political impact."

3. Social Networks have evolved into platforms to organise users’ internet experience. 74% use them to message friends. Social networks are becoming a 'one stop shop' for all internet needs: messaging friends, posting photos and videos, and unique applications. Consequently, they are becoming one of the most powerful ways to disseminate information.

The blurring of media and creators is nearly complete, as the popularity of Engadget with trendsetting Millennials makes clear. The 'citizen' journalist has become a reality and bloggers are becoming mainstream personalities. Need evidence? The NYT and Entertainment Weekly had this to say about www.pinkisthenewblog.com/home/:

“Pink is the new Blog: Must Star Hazer — Why This: Trent Vanegas may run the uproarious gossip roundup from his home outside Detroit, but he doesn’t need proximity to make riotous observations about celebs — often typed directly onto scary paparazzi photos.” — Entertainment Weekly “Anyone looking for a case study in the convergence of homespun blog culture and market-driven mainstream media need look no further than pinkisthenewblog.com and its creator, Trent Vanegas … It’s Not Just a Blog, It’s a Brand”. — The New York Times

Finally, we have prospect of 'Facebook: The Movie'. The New York Times reports today that West Wing creator, Aaron Sorkin, and Columbia Pictures producer Scott Rudin, are collaborating on a film about the creation of Facebook. They have set up a place on Facebook to participate. (Talk about media coming 'full circle'!) Where did I read about it first? A blog of course!

Get to Know Millennials: Watch YouTube

Enter "Millennials" in the YouTube search window and you will get an hour's worth of entertainment. (That is both a promise and a warning). Millennials are speaking out about their generation in their own special medium: video. I especially like the way this one captures both the spirit and the facts of Millennials in just 1:30 seconds. Enjoy!

Millennial Target: Samsung Instinct

Ordinarily I would have no room for sympathy for Sprint. Last spring I had to pay $800 to switch to an iPhone before my 4-line Sprint contract was complete. However, I do pity them for having to compete with the most Millennial of all brands/products/services rolled into one: the Apple iPhone. According to twenty-something, Sarah Ewing, (recent MBA grad, former Google employee, self-proclaimed Millennial) all may not be lost. Sprint may have a chance of breaking through to Millennials, after all. Here's what Sara had to say about the "Movie Trailer" campaign that has been running on behalf of Instinct since early last summer:

CP: What campaigns have you seen lately that really stand out?

SE: Samsung Instinct, the greatest product placement movie of all time! What is there not to love about this brand campaign? I know it might be hard to believe, but Millennials are on to marketers' product placement game. Since we are on to it, why not publicly call a spade a spade in an entertaining way? It humorously acknowledges the target's intelligence.

CP: What is so engaging about this spot? Can you be more specific?

SE: Instinct's cinema quality film production enables the brand to penetrate at a low level of frequency. The action film characteristics initially attract the audience, who expect a film preview, engaging them with the ad. Once engaged, it is difficult for to tune out. The featured selling points are treated like film stars. I.e. "featuring turn by turn GPS navigation." As one contribution to film attendance is stars, people pay specific attention to the 'features,' thus remembering the selling points.

CP: Is there anything you don't like about it?

SE: The only critique is that I can remember 'Instinct,' but cannot recall if it is Sprint or Samsung. The partnership branding was not consistently communicated, reducing brand equity. But provided one can remember one or the other, one should be able to find the phone.

I suspect one reason the "Movie Trailer" approach is successful for Instinct, is that its attitude is anti-marketing: it pokes fun at 'serious' marketers at the same time as it gets its points across. This approach, dubbed 'murketing' by Rob Walker, NYT journalist , and author of "Buying In", seems to be particularly effective with Millennials. Millennials are acutely aware that they are a target. Acknowledging their 'intelligence', as Sarah indicates, with an insider's wink, is a smart move on Sprint's (or was it Samsung's?) part.

How Gen Y Sees Itself

Very interesting new poll data by Harris Interactive provides insights on what Gen Y thinks of itself and other generations. The results show Gen Y may the most self-critical: they tend to rate themselves lowest on the positive attributes (most admired, most generous) and highest on the negative attributes (most greedy, most self-indulgent). While they admire their parents and grandparents most overall, they reserve their highest ratings for Gen X who they see as the 'most productive', 'most socially conscious', 'most innovative' and having the 'most positive effect overall on society'. This insight is consistent with our research findings: while Millennials respect Boomers, they prefer to work for Gen X, who they perceive as having more to offer them in the way of learning.

What to make of the self-criticism? Look to see this change as they mature. Some of the low marks may simply be due to higher respect for their elders, rather than low opinions of themselves.