digital cult to digital culture
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TRANSCRIPT
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the new normal of marketing and communications
Culture in Transition
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Background
• Youthography was launched in 2001 by three like-minded principals who had a vision to focus on the youth and young adult demographic exclusively
• Youthography has its roots in contemporary cultural research and consumer insight and is now North America’s leading strategic full-service youth insight and marketing agency
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Background
• Our ongoing and immersive proximity to today’s hugely influential set of young demographics allows Youthography to provide the highest level of strategic advice, partnership and execution
• We eat, sleep and breathe contemporary youth culture
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we’re also immature
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Our Chops
• In any given year, Youthography designs, executes and analyzes hundreds of qualitative sessions with a plethora of diverse audiences
• In any given year, Youthography recruits, manages and analyzes the thoughts of thousands of custom panel participants
• In any given year, Youthography surveys the opinions, proclivities and attitudes of well over one hundred thousand young North Americans
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cool
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65.8%
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This is the percentage of 14-34 year olds in North America surveyed recently who provided top box agreement (giving a “4” or “5” on a scale of 1-5) to the statement “people place too much importance on brands”.
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So what’s up with the notion of brands(writ large) with younger North Americans?
• Well, for starters, the idea of “brands” has always been a moving target with any consumer.
• The public’s interest in, and support of, brands waxes and wanes based on a variety of variables including overall consumer confidence, faith in corporate structure, sense of self as both a consumer and citizen and so on.
• Given their ever-increasing control of media, culture and, in turn, brands, younger North Americans, indeed, young citizen-consumers everywhere, are increasingly interested in, and involved with, what brands do and how brands act
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Unprecedented.
• Incredible media saturation• Remarkable media literacy• Always known a multi channel
universe• Had the ‘Net’ as long as it’s
mattered• More advertising than ever
before• More sources of communication
than ever• And….much more control than
ever before
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Who invented..
…google?…facebook?…myspace?…youTube?
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• All created by young North Americans when aged 25 and under
• They ARE today’s new media “barons”
• And these youth-crafted tools for expanded self publication, self promotion and socializing are quickly becoming ubiquitous
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In Control of Technology
In Control of the Culture
In Control of Their Lives and Communication
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update
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Feelings about technology.
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Average hours spent with various media
Total9-13
Total14-18
Total19-24
Total25-29
Total30-34
Listening to the radio 3.8 5.5 3.1 7.1 8.3
Listening to a radio station with an online broadcast
0.8 0.9 1.0 1.4 1.7
Listening to a online-generated radio station
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6
Listening to satellite radio 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.6 1.3
Reading a daily newspaper
0.5 1.3 1.9 2.0 1.9
Reading a local weekly newspaper
0.4 0.8 0.8 0.9 1.0
Reading a magazine 1.9 1.6 1.2 1.3 1.3
Riding public transit 0.7 3.1 4.8 1.9 1.4
Using the Internet for news and entertainment
4.8 7.8 9.1 8.4 8.8
Using the Internet for work or studies
2.9 7.1 10.4 8.6 8.2
Using the Internet to communicate including social networking
4.4 10.9 10.6 7.1 7.2
Using the Internet to blog 0.7 1.6 1.1 0.7 0.7
Watching television 11.7 9.3 8.2 12.3 14.7
n=2,204 Canadian Youth 9-34, Ping National Study, Summer 2008
Online dominates.• Canadians aged 30 to 34 clock up
the most TV hours watched: 15 hours per week
• Most age groups spend more time online than they do watching TV
• All the way from ages 9 to 34, online activity of all types permeates young people’s media consumption
• Young Canadians consume massive amounts of media on a daily basis, much of that in an online environment
• All aspects of their lives come, and most information they receive or search is, through the Internet
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• It’s a good thing that technology is changing at the speed of light because 40% of 14-34 year olds either agree or strongly agree that they get really excited when they hear about a new tech gadget. This is driven more by males (49%) than females (32%).
• Only 21% of this group feel that technology is moving too fast for them to catch up.
• Not surprisingly, there is an inverse relationship between both as people age
Q23. “Please tell us how much you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding technology, with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree.” Base: N = 2357, 14-34 year olds, Ping National Study, Spring 2009
Feelings about technology – Top 2 Box
16%
23% 23% 24%
49%
43%
36%33%
14 to 18 19 to 24 25 to 29 30 to 34
Technology ismoving too fast
I get excited abouta new gadget
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• The popularity of portable entertainment continues to drive increased ownership of mobile phones, ipods, digital cameras, and video game consoles
• There is a desire to own technology that has the ability to multi-task. 9-34 year olds either own or prefer to own mobile devices that have more than one function
• The DVD player and high speed internet have become the TV of our times, with both saturating Canadian homes
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Need it. Want it. Gotta’ have it.
I own this It’s in my home I want this
DVD Player 39% 53% 4%
High-Speed Internet (DSL) 28% 61% 6%
Desktop Computer 33% 43% 7%
Digital Camera 51% 34% 10%
Video Game Console 45% 31% 9%
Portable MP3 Player or iPod 43% 17% 18%
Laptop Computer 29% 25% 24%
Digital Cable 15% 37% 16%
Satellite Television 7% 24% 20%
Personal video recorder (i.e. PVR, DVR, TiVo) 11% 21% 34%
Plasma TV or LCD TV 14% 32% 34%
HDTV 10% 26% 34%
PDA or smart phone (i.e. Blackberry, Treo) 11% 12% 34%
VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) 5% 8% 14%
Q2. “There are many sources you can turn to when researching for technology. Please select the three you trust the most?” Base: N = 2357, 14-34 year olds, Ping National Study, Spring 2009
Technology items most wanted by 9-34 year olds include smartphones, PVRs, laptops, and high end TVs.
The trend towards preferring laptops over desktop computers remains solid.
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Plasma or LCD TVs
MP3 Players
LaptopsVideo Consoles
GPS
Digital Cameras
Mobile Devices
Q4. “Please tell us which brand comes first to mind when you think of…?” Base: N = 2693, 9-34 year olds, Ping National Study, Spring 2009
48%29% 34%
71%
30%
16% 13% 12% 12%
43%24% 22%
Client logo hereMobile phones.
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• Overall 56% of the Ping sample own a mobile phone- the highest percentage of ownership among all the technologies surveyed.
• Almost 1/3 (29%) of 9 to 13 year olds even own a mobile phone!
• Surprisingly, even with the popularity of smartphones (blackberry, iphone), more respondents own a traditional mobile phone – although the desire to own a smartphone is quite high (34% overall) with those under 18 driving this.
Mobile phone ownership
36%
75% 77%65% 63%
22%
60%70%
57% 54%
9 to 13 14 to 18 19 to 24 25 to 29 30 to 34
Female
Male
Smartphone vs. Cell ownership
2% 12% 15% 15% 13%29%
68% 73%61% 58%
9 to 13 14 to18
19 to24
25 to29
30 to34
smartphone
cell
Q1. “We are interested in finding out what kinds of technologies you own or use. ” Base: N = 2693, 9-34 year olds, Ping National Study, Spring 2009
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• “Smartphones” are still aspirational but what they offer now, as our studies continue to show, is destined to become minimum standard soon
• The transfer to mobile devices, rightly heralded by telcos, cell phone manufacturers and app developers as the "next frontier" of content, is also showing strong corroborative evidence, with a quarter of teen and young adult cell phone users including "browsing" and "playing downloadable games" as features they employ on their roving squawk boxes.
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• Still, this mobile transfer is not as developed as one might think. When asked what cell phone feature is used "most," it is still texting that wins the day with only a tiny fraction saying "browsing" or "downloadable games" (at 1% and 2% respectively).
• Hear that? That's the sound of younger mobile users cautiously considering expanded access.
• Mobile content is becoming a pillar of mass communication, but how quickly it's happening is still up in the air.
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• Of all the features available on their mobile phones, Canadian youth (14-34 years) mostly use texting (73%) and the built-in camera (7%).
• Ringtones (62%) and games (46%) were dl’ed the most frequently, with females dl’ing ringtones more and males dl’ing games more often.
DL to Mobile Female Male
Ring tones 70% 55%
Games 43% 49%
Music 34% 37%
Pictures 33% 32%
Apps 19% 24%
Videos 7% 10%
Trailers 4% 10%
Software 3% 14%
Books 3% 12%
TV shows 3% 4%
Movies 3% 9%
Commercials 1% 3%
Essays 1% 3%
Q13. “Please let us know what items you download regularly to your mobile device. Select all that apply.”Q15. “What features do you use on your mobile phone? Please select all that apply.” Base: N = 2357, 14-34 year olds, Ping National Study, Spring 2009
Client logo hereComputer usage.
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• Canadian youth use their computers like a centralized hub to access the outside world.
• Top ways they use their computer include: surfing the net (97%), listening to music (81%), im’ing (71%), editing photos (62%), and using office software (62%)
Do you have wifi?47%
33%
20%
Yes No I don't know
Q19. “Is your home a wifi network?”Base: N = 1215, 14-34 year olds, Ping National Study, Spring 2009
Client logo hereDownloading and streaming.
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• Canadian youth download an average of 13 songs a week, with 14 to 18 year old males driving this finding
• TV shows are downloaded less than songs (average of 2.7 episodes a month), and 19 to 24 year old males dl more than females (6.2 vs. 2.7)
• Entire movies are dl’ed least, with an average of 1.5 movies per month
Where do you download?
28%
54%
17%
Free, from legalsources
Free, from non-legal
Paid sites
Q19. “What percentage of songs that you download is:”Base: N = ####, 14-34 year olds who download, Ping National Study, Spring 2009
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• As with our last Ping Technology Report, respondents either strongly agreed or agreed that they do not care how they view their content, just as long as they like it.
• Interestingly, the overwhelming majority (90%) still watch TV the traditional way (cable, non-cable, digital, satelite) even though a good portion of respondents (37%) strongly agreed or agreed that the future of TV is with broadband/ internet networks
Top 2 Box Female Male
It doesn't matter whether I watch it on TV, at the movie theatre, on my computer or on my mobile phone it just matters that I like the content
46% 52%
I'm more likely to download or stream a television program than watch a program through video-on-demand (VOD)
33% 42%
The future of television and video content is through broadband / internet networks 31% 43%
I really don't mind seeing more product placement in television programming if it means being able watch shows over the internet for free
31% 38%
Television networks are behind the times in terms of keeping up with how young Canadians watch television
25% 38%
I am more likely to watch a user-generated video (like something uploaded on Youtube) than a programmed show that can be
21% 29%
Assuming they are both of the same quality, I would rather watch a television program streamed on the computer than on my television set
18% 23%
I regularly watch programs that air only over the internet 8% 15%
I watch content streamed to my mobile device. 4% 10%
Q5. “In the last week, which ways did you watch TV programs?”Q6. “Please tell us how much you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about streaming video”Base: N = 2357, 14-34 year olds, Ping National Study, Spring 2009
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Best Places to Advertise to People Your Age
Total14-18
Total19-24
Total25-29
Total30-34
On television 76% 82% 74% 73%On popular web sites or portals 61% 69% 64% 58%
In stores and other venues where younger-oriented oriented products are sold 57% 66% 61% 51%
In your school or on your campus 56% 70% 69% 46%In popular magazines 55% 64% 53% 54%
Before movies at a cinema 50% 61% 51% 44%
On public transit 50% 53% 59% 42%
On the radio 46% 44% 40% 49%
In your local free daily newspaper (i.e. Metro) 38% 30% 38% 42%
Outside (billboards, on garbage and recycling containers) 37% 40% 37% 32%
In your local free entertainment weeklies (i.e. NOW Magazine in Toronto, See Magazine in Edmonton or Georgia Straight in Vancouver)
34% 27% 34% 38%
On television 76% 82% 74% 73%On popular web sites or portals 61% 69% 64% 58%
n=1,762 Canadian Youth 14-34, Ping National Study, Summer 2008
Now. Where to reach them.
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• Ladies and gentlemen, effective immediately and for the foreseeable future, please banish any and all lingering assertions that video-gaming or, as the good folks at E3 call it, “electronic entertainment”, is still some sort of bastion for a “certain type of young person”.
• To the contrary, it is about as bonafide a mainstream diversion, pursuit or passion as can be found in contemporary society.
Only 7% of Canadian tweens (9-13) “do not play video games”. Basic engagement levels for 9-34 year olds in Canada stands at 75%.
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• And, yet, this potential horn ‘o’ plenty for those of us striving to consistently weave communications goals into a given modern lifestyle and pop cultural landscape is still being treated as some kind of weird and foreign place by many of our kin, clients and colleagues alike.
• What is up with that?
• Casual gamers = 61% (9-34)
• Female gaming = 66% (9-34)
• Huge psychographic diversity
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• Whatever the reason, I think the answer lies most in a still-persistent general misunderstanding of the genre writ large
• This attitude is surely going to change as the lines continue to blur between the consumer and the creator, the imagined worlds of Hollywood and the imagined worlds of gaming and, of course, between the “virtual” and the “real”
• Those who now start to integrate the gaming world more into their list of potential media and lifestyle vectors stand better equipped for the inevitable future. Boot up and enjoy.
Client logo hereSocial media.
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• 89% of respondents stated that they belonged to facebook, followed by myspace at 29%
• For the 9 to 13 year old crowd, the biggest competition for facebook is Disney’s Club Penguin – they are a member of both in equal amounts, but still spend most of their time on facebook. Boys are more likely to be members than girls (33% vs 24%)
• Overall, Canadian youth spend an average of 33 minutes a day on social networking sites/communities
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• This particular Ping Technology survey was fielded just as Twitter exploded on the social networking scene. Since then, we’ve seen celebs, CEOs, and corporations join the ranks of membership along with many, many youth in our community.
• With major national telcos allowing working deals with Twitter to allow updates via SMS (among countless other corporate and public initiatives) it will be very interesting to see official Twitter numbers next year
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• ₁
₁ From The Oprah Winfrey Show Oprah Twitters with Ashton Kutcher
"This is a commentary on the state of media. I believe that we're at a place now with social media where one person's voice can be as powerful as a media network. That is the power of the social Web."
"You can create your content through a collaborative effort, you can edit your content and you can consume your content all in one place. I thought it was almost like an uprising of the Internet.“
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• Though it’s nowhere near a major trend (for now) it’s important to consider that our studies in 2008 and 2009 have witnessed an unprecedented amount of comment from millennials related to “social networking burnout”
• There’s a developing sense that updating all the myriad tools out there is becoming more drudgery and less fun
• Are we going back to pen and paper? Probably not. But it begs a discussion.
Point to ponder.
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the big picture
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• The smartphones, TiVos and iPods they hold in their hands are perfect metaphors for their expectations – “what I want”, “when I want”, “how I want”
• Increased cultural presence and power is now more in the hands of modern citizen-consumers than ever before
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Control = Challenge
• This natural and shared shift towards more control of content and culture means:
– They challenge ALL top down models not born from their own culture
– Organized religion, traditional corporate culture, the traditional workplace, traditional education, government, the family, and brands are all being challenged.
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n = 1693
“Ping” Quarterly National Study
Summer 2008 – 14-34 year olds
Topbox Results
Getting formally married 57.9%
VS.Having a lifelong partner 74.8%
Going to Church, Synagogue or Mosque 22.4%
VS.Finding your own religion/defining your spirituality 35.3%
Control = Challenge
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• Brands, though still carrying no small amount of weight as an important consumer cue, are certainly not the ziggurats they used to be.
• As with the recent demystification of celebrity – brands too are now much more openly understood, particularly by teen and young adults, as often illusory and definitely fabricated things.
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• “Who’s she here for?”• “How much did they pay
her?”• “Wonder what her day-rate
is?”• “Is she giving away anything
for free?”
Demystification
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• “What are they really trying to sell me?”
• “Is what they sell and how they make it in line with my ethics and ideals?”
• “What about the obesity epidemic?”
• “Are they doing anything here in my community?”
• “Do they really understand me and my lifestyle?”
Demystification
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so what does this mean for brands?
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plenty
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New ways they look at brands…
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New ways they look at brands…
topbox totals
People place too much importance on brands 65.8%I will purchase a brand if it stands for something that I believe in 57.2%I am loyal to my favorite brands 57%Brands help me make decisions on product purchases 40.5%I would choose a small / local brand over a large well-known brand (assuming similar price)
38%
I consider what other people think of me when I wear / use certain brands of clothing or products
24.8%
A celebrity s endorsement of a brand may influence my opinion of that brand
12.5%
n = 1693 Canadian youth 14-34, Ping national survey, Spring 2008
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New factors joining the decision making matrix…
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New factors joining the decision making matrix…
topbox totalsConsider buying environmentally friendly products (contain no pollutants and no pollutants in manufacturing process)
47.1%
Consider buying locally-sourced and/or produced products when possible 41.4%Consider buying products that are made of, or packaged with, RECYCLABLE materials
41.1%
Consider buying products made from, or packaged in, RECYCLED materials 40.4%Consider if the company is Canadian 40.3%Consider products with reduced packaging 38.2%Consider buying in bulk to cut down on packaging 37.4%Consider the general values of the company you get involved with or buy from 30.3%Consider buying organic-produced products when possible 30.1%Consider if an item was ethically manufactured 29%
n = 1693 Canadian youth 14-34, Ping national survey, Spring 2008
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The New Normal of Brands
• All organizations are brands – and have to stop thinking that they are exclusively in control of their brands
• Good brands share themselves with their consumers – or control is taken away
• If they don’t like your message they will just invent their own
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Control
• And now Control is being realized in an even greater way and is driving new (old) business models…
• …introducing Consumer Sourcing, or “Crowd Sourcing” (AKA “Wikinomics”)…
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The New Normal of Brands
• And this, most assuredly, is not just playing out in the private sphere…
• “Democratic Renewal”, long simply a buzzword, is gaining new meaning as governments start to look for ways to connect with our younger generation
• Why? Because this new generation demands it
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The New Normal of Brands
• This is also greatly affecting planning and research…public or private
• The Youthography mantra, since our inception, is about getting your new citizen-consumers directly involved with whatever it is you are doing at the earliest possible juncture
• This is now mainstream brand-building gospel
• Ongoing access and ongoing insight
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• Just being a brand doesn’t cut it anymore with younger consumers – a brand has to live its message in all that it does; this is the “stand for something I believe in” part.
• This, if executed skillfully, in an ongoing manner across a variety of relevant media can get you to that “loyal to my favourite brands” part.
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These new perceptions are only going to get stronger as young citizen-consumers mature
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more trends to monitor…
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The Rise of the Creative Citizen Consumer
Direct young Canadian (aged 14-34) participation in various cultural activities across the country aggregates down to approximately 15%
52.9% of Canadians aged 14-34 agree with the statement “graffiti is a form of art”; 22% disagree and 25% are on the fence coming in with “I have no opinion”.
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• Today’s generation is more engaged in the actual creation of culture and media than any previous generation
• Of the roughly one in seven young Canadians directly involved in creating culture we see the likes of photography (28%), playing a musical instrument or DJing (20%), creative writing (17%),running a personal zine or blog beyond the omnipresent facebook or myspace (14%),traditional visual arts and singing (both at 12%), dancing (11%) and poetry (10%)
The Rise of the Creative Citizen Consumer
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• In the end, these cues, and many others, paint a picture of a young citizen consumer who is more engaged in, and more discerning of, cultural output than previous generations ever were and they expect the organizations, brands, icons and anything else that they let in to their lives, to follow suit.
The Rise of the Creative Citizen Consumer
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The Commoditization of Experience
51% of 14-34 year olds “typically save for a vacation or a special occasion”.
On the face of it - a relatively benign statistic.
However, when you consider that vacations and special occasions are, far and away, the number one most typically saved for items amongst this age group and that the next most “typically saved for” items are “technology purchases (i.e. computer, PDA, MP3 or DVD player, etc.)”, at 30.1% and “rent / food and other basics”, at 29.4%, then this figure provides a much more compelling picture of today’s emerging citizen-consumers.
Saving up for a car, incidentally, lags behind significantly at 21%
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Young Canadians today continue to put an unprecedented amount of focus on, and effort towards, the procurement of experiences.
The visceral and the memorable, now diligently documented and transferred to whatever social networking sites one may be a part of, have grown to become truly commoditized products that are quested after in an evolving and ongoing basis in today’s new reality.
The Commoditization of Experience
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The Death of Binary Culture
• The death of right and wrong.
• The death of black and white.
• With a diversity of opinion and information heretofore unimaginable this new generation is increasingly self-reliant and less trusting of “authoritative sources”
• Balance is key – not only in life but in perspective, sources, reporting, policy etc.
• Question everything.
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The Marty McFly Effect
• It continues to be a perplexing enigma that in today's age of rampant technological advances, we see a resurgent interest in old-school marketing techniques and desired experiences
• Getting to know the farmer who made your butter?
• Wanting a real relationship with your salesperson?
• Shaking hands and kissing babies?
43% of Canadians aged 14-34 “like it when a television show has a single sponsor and there are almost no ads, except for the sponsor.”
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The Marty McFly Effect
• It goes to show that as much as things have changed (and boy have they!) in the relatively newborn digital mediascape, some basics of sustainable human relationships will continue on, ad infinitum, into the future
• The further one goes down the rabbit hole of cultural context and contemporary communications insight the more familiar a lot of what we’re talking about here becomes
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Is getting to know your
local farmers really
modern?
You’re telling me at the end of the day a real, live person at the end of a customer service line can still make or break a brand relationship?
Isn’t facebook just an
updated photo album
and public diary
combined?
MEET YOU AT THE BAR.
Isn’t “crowd-sourcing” kind of how all companies are formed?
