To reach young people with an advertising message, marketers must adopt an appropriate perspective in their activities. The mechanisms that have worked out well before don’t always pass the grade when it comes to teenagers. In fact, they fail most of the time. If I were to suggest what marketing gains from this, two things come to mind. Firstly, the opportunity to learn and thereby achieve greater flexibility and openness to new solutions. Secondly, a large audience with some income or at least some influence over the spending of their household’s income.

The fight to attract attention

For marketers this means changing the way we communicate and selecting appropriate media, which should be considered as part of the marketing mix. The next challenge is the constant struggle for teenagers’ attention, which is due on the one hand to the fact that young people have difficulty maintaining concentration for long on a single issue, and on the other hand to the fact that they are easily bored by the content presented. 

Young people care about themselves as a brand

For example, the fact that someone likes a given brand or "follows" it on Twitter does not mean that particular brand is important to that person. It only shows that the person identifies with a certain concept or image, with the values or emotions. The key is to understand that young people don’t care about the brand as such, they care about themselves as a brand. If the brand personifies a style, a value with which they identify, which makes them unique in some way, then they will become a "fan". To sum up, young people don’t care about a particular brand until they have reason to identify with it and use it to create their own brand.

Converse, don’t deliver a monologue

It opens up far greater possibilities, including the potential for direct – and above all, personalised – communication, through channels such as social media. Content which is engaging and tailored to a specific audience is key. This can be done through advertising, but we have a better chance of reaching a teenager with a specific message by communicating "with” them, not "at” them.

Bloggers are opinion leaders

The blogosphere is a great example, showing both the potential and the restrictions and risks. This is perhaps best illustrated by fashion and cosmetics blogs. Certain bloggers, such as Maffashion, who is well known to most internet users, have attained celebrity status through persistent work. Their potential from a marketing point of view is largely associated with the fact that the best bloggers know how to create interesting content and how to attract followers. Their very presence and commitment to a project generates interest. Moreover, by simply involving them in marketing campaigns or product placement, we are guaranteed greater audience engagement than any advertisement could provide. Additionally, we reach a specific target group. The risk involved is basically a reversal of what I mentioned earlier. If we choose the wrong blogger, our return on the investment will be very poor.