Sunday, March 2, 2008

Youth market potential. It is worth it?...

The youth market of today is a booming industry for marketers and brands. To take an objective and critical looks at the body of this market segment, we have to look at the spending power of it.

In initial interpretation this looks to be a fairly insignificant group considered the apparently limited purchasing potential of this group. However, a closer look reveals that the youth market segment has a far greater purchasing capacity than previously thought. Not only does this group posses their limited income from part-time employment/ parental allowance, but they also have the exponential spending power of parents and non-nuclear family members and friends.

An example of this would be a crib mobile. We can classify this as a youth purchase because an adult has no real need for a mobile, other than they have a child or would like to provide it as a gift. Therefore, this example is perfect to illustrate the spending power of children that comes from non-direct sources.

In this manner many brands and marketers have had to create a novel approach to marketing and force the adult to have an emotional response to a product that is intended for a child in order to illicit a purchase. For these instances there is seldom any buyer’s remorse or negative inferences regarding the product because there is always a positive response from the child, parent, or person whom receives the gift on the child’s behalf. The only instance where there may be some issue is if it is a duplicate purchase.

Similarly, brands have made an attempt to coral parents and children through marketing at such young ages. Examples of this are Oshkosh Be Gosh and Fisher Price. Both of these companies are mainstays in the youth market and have longevity through early adulthood (0-17 years of age). In addition to their longevity, these companies have created brand fidelity with consumers from early life. When these individuals have children, they will recall these brands and make them part of their evoked set.

In all, the youth market is a booming market and one that has a vast array of purchasing opportunities. Marketers would be well to place their product with a high visibility in this area and capitalize on the long-term brand relationships that can be developed early on.
Thoughts?

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