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Leveraging Social Media to
Drive Results
Introducing Youthography
A Very Brief Primer
What We Do
Our capabilities are split across two distinct groups within the agency:
• Youthography Research & Strategy
– Full-service custom qualitative and quantitative research and
strategic planning
• Youthography Marketing & Creative
– Advertising and creative for TV, web, print, out of home and any
other place you can think of
– Event planning, property creation and promotion development
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
• And we’re immature
The Basics
Demographics and Psychographics
The 4 x 5 Factor
The 10-29 group divides into four equal five-year cohorts…
Age Male / Female Male / Female
(number) (% of pop)
10-14 2,104,800 6.6
15-19 2,145,800 6.6
20-24 2,243,300 7.0
25-29 2,194,300 6.8
TOTAL 10-29 8,688,200 27
They Play Teenager, Not Grownup
8 years 16 years
Lipsmackers Lipstick / Foundation / Blush
Firefly Mobile phone
Wear a cause bracelet Walk for the Cure
Get tutored Get tutored
And Share Trends
13 years 29 years
All Video Games Networked Video Games
DIY – Scrapbooking DIY – Vintage Clothing
Tim Horton’s Double-Double Brewing specialty coffee
Board Brands for Boarders Board Brands for Skiers
Home Is Changing
• 80% of them come from families with only 1-2 children at home
– A greater reliance on friends, external focus
• Families aren't traditional anymore
– 12% blended, 14% common-law, 16% single-parent
• Over 18% of Canadians were born elsewhere
– Young people see colour less because they’ve never known a
world without diversity
Home Is Changing
• 60% of women work out of home
– Coupled with single-parent households, it means that “3:30 to
5:30 is my chill time…it’s the time for me alone at home.”
• 44% of 20-29-year-olds live at home
– They are staying at home longer…meaning they have more
money to spend on culture
Getting Into Adulthood Earlier
• Average age of educational enrollment: <4
• Average age of 1st menstruation: 8-10 (vs. 12)
• Average age of 1st cigarette: 13
• Average age of “school-type” decision: 14
• Average age of 1st intercourse: 16 (vs. 18)
But Fully Entering Adulthood Much Later
• Median age at graduation: 23 (vs. 22)
• Average age at graduation: 25 (vs. 23)
• Average age of 1st marriage: 28 (vs. 25)
• Average age of 1st childbirth: 29 (vs. 26)
Prolonged Pre-Adult Lifestage
Mainstream Borrows From Youth Culture
Plan B Questionable Skateboard Gap
Video > Beastie Boys Check Your “Khakis Swing”
Head Music Video TV Ad
1992 1998
And Now It Happens (Way) Faster
The Strokes The Village Voice Gap
2004 “Skinny jeans are “Skinny Jeans”
in” 2006
2005
And Dies (Way) Faster
We’re Now Forever Young
• And it’s not just about acting younger—but looking younger
• Women as young as 30 are taking the plastic surgery plunge—Botox
and Restylane injections are by far the most popular procedure with
chemical peels and microdermabrasions don’t fall far behind
• Since 2000, the number of Botox users in the U.S. has risen almost
400%…and this number continues to rise across North America
And We Aspire Down
• Halo 3 didn’t become the largest entertainment property of all time
with only a teenage audience
• With more than $300 million USD in its first week of sales, Halo 3
proved that gamers consist of a wide demographic group, and what
was traditionally a “teenage” thing to do, video games have now
become just a popular thing to do
• But that doesn’t mean that if you’re a 30-something year-old guy that
you don’t call your 18 year old nephew when you need help on the
game…
And We Aspire Down
…we’re simply “aspiring younger” as a culture for the first time
in modern history
• Kids and parents now have more in common—you’ll go to a movie
or shopping with Mom and play video games with Dad—your
parents might actually be cool…
• …New York Magazine coined the term “Grups” to identify people in
their 30s and 40s who behave like teens or young adults (the term
was taken from a Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk lands on a
planet ruled by children)
And We Aspire Down
New York
Magazine’s “Grups”
(or “Yupsters”)
Age lifestyle lines are
blurred on The Real
Wives of OC
Youth Values Are Becoming Cultural Values
• Relationships
• Communication
• Information
• Diversity
• Empowerment
• And what sews it all together…Technology
“We already knew that kids learned computer technology more easily
than adults. What we’re seeing now is that they don’t even need to
be taught. It’s as if children were waiting all these centuries for
someone to invent their native language.”
– Jaron Lanier (Computer Scientist / Techno-Cultural Theorist)
Media in Transition
Culture in Transition
The Burning Question
• What marketers want to know: “How do we get our messages to young
people?”
• Young people the world over are leading the charge in how we create,
consume and manage culture, whether we—or they—realize it or
not…
• …and this is having a massive impact on anyone trying to connect to
them.
Media In Transition
• There has never been such a huge shift in media habits as over the
past decade
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
Media and Culture
• First off, we need to look at media, culture, communication and
advertising in aggregate; that’s how youth look at it.
• And culture and communications have been totally transformed
Culture: The 3 Cs
1. Change: Constant pace of rampant technological change
2. Charge: Young people are in charge of when and how they
communicate and interact with culture
3. Challenge: They challenge traditional models of the way culture
and communication work
1. Change
• Then:
– CDs, VHS, 30 Channels, home phone: little change
– Stores, broadcast and adult-controlled one-to-one
communications
• Then to Now:
– MP3, DVD, Game Consoles, Mobile all-in-ones, Chat
– Complete, ongoing change in culture distribution
• Now:
– Huge speed of change is regular
– Big organizations (like, say, a government) aren’t necessarily
best positioned to keep up with that change
And They Adopt It Quickly
• Entertainment & Technology:
– The $399 Desktop PC
– The $49 DVD Player
– Video on your cell phone
– TV with a hard drive (DVR/PVR)
– Video on your PC
– Video on your iPod
– Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and PS3
– And more…
2002 2004 2005 2005 2006 2006
2001
2007
2. Charge
• Then:
– TV, Movies, Music, Friendships, Communication involve little
personal control, choice
– Someone else’s schedule, delivery devices, tech: You have to watch ads,
be home, call the radio station, go to a store, etc.
• Then to Now:
– Internet and digital culture changes everything
– Culture-on-demand! Communication-on-demand!
• Now:
– “Infinite” choice of what to consume, how to connect
– Control shift: creators to consumers, adults to youth
And They Adopt It Quickly
• Cultural/Communication Control:
– Napster to Kazaa to iTunes
– Messenger (MSN, Google,
Facebook)
– The PVR
– Pay-As-You Go / discount
wireless
– Downloading TV and Movies
– DVDs of TV series
– Social networking puts you in
charge of your friendships
3. Challenge
• Then:
– Everything is top-down
– Corporate machine creates culture; youth absorb it
• Then to Now:
– What’s on “The Street” starts to drive and dictate trends
– The Internet enables anyone to create culture
• Now:
– Young people either directly create culture…
– …or set trends that the corporate world replicates
– And even invent or distribute some of the most significant changes
in youth culture—or all culture!
And They Adopt It Quickly
• Cultural creation:
– Who invented Google? Napster?
MySpace? Facebook?
– YouTube
– GarageBand
– Indie movies
– Homemade TV and movies
– Blogging
– Wikipedia
3. Challenge
• Most importantly, 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, brands, the
traditional workplace, traditional education, government, the
family, and more, are all being challenged…
– This touches so much of what you do.
3. Challenge
Changing culture as we speak…
Top Box
Results
Getting formally married 57.9%
-vs-
Having a lifelong partner 74.8%
Going to Church, Synagogue or Mosque 23.8%
-vs-
Finding your own religion/defining your spirituality 37.4%
n = 1252, “Ping” Quarterly National Study, Summer 2007, 13-29 year old
So what does this mean to us?
Implications: The 3 Cs
1. Control: in control of their lives from an earlier age than ever
before
2. Convergence: everything comes together in the same place now
3. Choice: with more choice it’s harder to connect to them—but they
have the choice to connect to everything (work, school, friends,
culture) whenever they want to
1. Control
In Control of Technology
In Control of the Culture
In Control of Their Lives and
Communication
1. Control
• Institutions (including you!) are all brands and have to stop thinking
that they control 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
1. Control
The Consumer created Youth consumers Unilever gets ‘Wig Out’
SuperBowl ad for Doritos backlash against in the pop
was embraced by popular brands that are too consciousness of
youth culture. tightly controlled. young consumers.
1. Control
The Wendy’s square AdAge declares “The Facebook gives
isn’t just an advertising Consumer” Agency of cosumers control and
platform, he’s your the Year and advises unites brand loyalists
friend on MySpace. marketers to take notice. (and detractors).
1. Control
• And now Control is being realized in an even greater way and is
driving new business models…
• …introducing Consumer Sourcing.
2. Choice
• As well, this more cohesive and convergent group has a much larger
field of cultural choices to play in
• Larger cohesiveness of the group is more than balanced out by the
“The Long Tail” (the seemingly infinite choice that exists right now)…
• …meaning that one cohesive group with easier delivery methods,
cheaper costs and more opportunity demands more than smaller
groups with fewer choices
• This exists everywhere—including advertising and
communications
2. Choice
3. Convergence
• For young people, convergence is natural: one or two
connected devices that manage all your communications
and all your culture
• In fact, they’ll invent this convergence if it doesn't exist
• This represents a massive change from previous
generations
3. convergence
• This means two culture/communications devices
– …both of which offer a two-way experience
– …and means more time spent with everything!
3. Convergence
“my work life”
“my home life”
“my social life”
“my consumer life”
“my school life”
“my media life”
Marketplace
Connect With Friends Make New Friends
Events
Photos
School
Publish Music
Video Workplace Groups
Wall Posts
social networking
What is Social Media?
• In a recent study of 14-29 year olds, a simple question was asked:
“If you had 15 minutes of free time what would you spend it doing?”
Source: TNS Research Study Q1 2007 Base = SN users 14-29; n=2,081
What is Social Media?
• Every marketer today is seeking a Social Media strategy…but let’s
start by taking a step back and looking at what Social Media actually
is, and why it’s a place we need to play
• Social Media connects individuals online, through virtual
“communities” where people who share interests and
activities, or “friends” communicate with one another
• Social networks provide various ways for users to interact with one
another—by chatting, messaging, emailing, sharing content, and
blogging…
What is Social Media?
• …and Canadians love it:
– 77% uses social networking sites (average mambershipis 2.3 sites per
person)
– 78% of Canadians 9-34 are members of Facebook, 36% of MySpace,
36% of MSN Spaces, and 22% of Hi5—only 23% are not a member of
an online social network
– Facebook’s membership in Canada has now exceeded 7 million, the
largest percentage being 18 – 34
– 30 minutes a day is spent on average on social media—more time than
any other online activity (apart from general browsing)
– The Toronto Facebook Network is the second largest in the world
(behind London, UK) with 1.1 million members (19% of the
population)—with even higher penetration rates in other Canadian
cities…
Youthography Ping study in October 2007 of 1800, 9 – 34 year olds
What is Social Media?
Facebook
Facebook – By the Numbers
• No one can deny the current popularity and power of Facebook,
especially within the Canadian market, now 7 million unique users
and still growing rapidly
• 62 million users internationally, with more than half of those using
the site daily…and now it’s the number one photo sharing site in the
world with twice as many photos as the next three sites combined
• The fourth most visited Web site in Canada with more than 15
million unique vistors—only behind Microsoft Sites, Google Sites,
and Yahoo! Sites (and projected to surpass Yahoo! soon)…already
way ahead of eBay, Wikipedia, and all CanCon
Facebook – Shifting Demographics
• It’s no surprise that marketers are seeking ways to use this tool to
reach a large number of youth consumers in Canada, however, it
should be noted that the demographic is changing…
• …projections anticipate that 75% of Facebook users will be outside
of post-secondary school in 2008—professionals, young Moms, are
driving this demographic shift in Canada
Facebook – Library Relevance
Facebook – Library Relevance
Facebook – Friends
• And we know that while on Facebook, there are four main things
that they like to do:
– 71.2% Communicating with friends
– 68% Keeping in touch with friends who are far away
– 65.8% Re-connecting with old friends
– 61.5% Picture sharing
– It’s all about “friends”
Facebook – Pages
• But highly relevant brands can be successful—(RED) for instance
has 42,504 Fans
• There are no restrictions on who can create a page, and thus the
majority of the brand pages currently on Facebook have been
created by consumers, not legitimate brand managers—giving
Pages a lack of consistency (and thus credibility) from a users point
of view
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Facebook – Social Ads
• Facebook Social Ads allow your business or brand to become a part
of people's daily conversations as a single image ad
• Ads can be displayed in the left hand ad space—visible to users as
they browse Facebook to connect with their friends—as well as in
the context of the News Feed
• You can buy ads by click (CPC) or impressions (CPM) and select
target market specifics and News Feed vs. Profile placement
• Cost is $15 - $19 CPM and $0.01 - $0.05 CPC (target dependent)
Best Practices
Best Practices
• Youthography has complied a list of Best Practices which will help
to identify the criteria needed to leverage Social Media—both
strategically and executionally
• Examples are used to illustrate the use of Best Practices in-market
• Keep in mind as we go through this is that all of these best practices
live under one single best practice: Social Media marketing needs
to be integrated into larger brand goals and marketing
plans…just like every other marketing initiative
Best Practices
• Too often, we respond to new media and marketing channels and
work to force our brands into them
• You wouldn’t launch a TV campaign without thinking about how it
works into the total brand strategy—how it connects to other
advertising, customer service, and the retail experience—the same
is for Social Media…
• …it needs to be recognized as just one (very important) tool in the
marketing mix
Best Practices
1. Be Where They Are
2. Be Flexible
3. Be Interactive
4. Be Real
1. Be Where They Are
• As with any form of youth marketing, with Social Media it is
important to Be Where They Are
• Consumers don’t tend to browse Social Media sites so it’s important
that they choose to interact with your brand and that your strategy
works to integrate into the environment
• A low interest brand or category needs to be particularly aware of
this point…as consumers are less likely to choose interaction unless
it is well integrated
• Brand Groups and Fan Groups on Facebook generally perform
poorly for instance…but an integrated application works…
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
1. Be Where They Are
• Recognizing the poor results many
brands were having initially with their
expensive Sponsored Groups, Facebook
has introduced new ways to link brands
directly to consumers through gifts
• For a high profile brand this can be very
effective, however it is still not a solution
for brands in low interest categories (it’s
even questionable from Clinique)
2. Be Flexible
• Given the ever changing landscape of online social networking,
the second rule is to create a flexible identity that can live in
various platforms
• Thinking outside of the confines of a single platform can allow for
more cost effective marketing initiatives, freeing brands from
costly sponsorship fees, but also providing a relevant integration
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
2. Be Flexible
• In total there were 11 consumer generated groups promoting the
Herbal Essences POSE Contest, with a total of 1,076 members—
this was consumers utilizing digital tools to promote a branded
contest to their friends
• This is the right Social Media strategy…look to engage the target
group with relevant content, the right tone and manner, and
encourage them to use their personal networks (incentives don’t
hurt)
3. Be Interactive
• Social Media cannot be treated as advertising or a media buy…it’s
an opportunity for consumer engagement and a two-way
communication—traditional push marketing doesn’t work here
• A marketer needs to give consumers something they want, or need,
and then follow-up with information on the brand…and they must be
prepared for the conversation (that means public feedback, positive
or negative)
• While contests and games are a step in the right direction, they do
not utilize this environment to its full potential…unless the contest is
extremely unique or interactive and the content highly engaging
(otherwise resulting impressions will be low)
3. Be Interactive
• MySpace put a large emphasis on customization—you were able to
change your background and your music…but it was largely
cosmetic
• The growing trend (as seen with Facebook) is towards single
spaces that allow you to do everything: blog, email, chat, share
photos, share music, share video, keep track of birthdays…it
becomes a planner, a photo album, a diary, an invitation, a
marketplace, a news update, and a letter to a friend…all-in-one
• To a youth consumer, online space acts as an extension of their
real life, and they look to their Social Media communities to assist in
their real lives: marketers need think of ways to link to real life, and
to enhance real life…especially in terms of applications
3. Be Interactive
• Facebook added Applications in May 2007 with 65 developers and
85 applications
• In October, Facebook launched Facebook Platform for Mobile, allow
application developers to make their apps work with Facebook
Mobile
• There’s now more than 12,000 applications built on Facebook
Platform with 140 new applications added each day
• 95% of Facebook users use a Facebook Platform application
• But the real value is in a multi-platform brand application…
4. Be Real
• But if you are going to speak to this demographic in their “space”,
it’s critical that your brand is authentic and speaks to in an honest,
transparent manner, and with a relevant tone and language
• Youth and young adult consumers are being targeted by marketers
constantly—this means that they know that you want to reach them,
and they have the power of choice
• Youth and young adult consumers see the real and virtual world as
being one in the same—their online space should compliment their
real life
4. Be Real
• The online spaces that we are discussing here are considered part
of a consumer’s private social network, which, while increasingly
connected to all parts of their lives is still guarded, and they will only
invite brands into that space if they fit
• It is crucial that marketers are realistic about their existing equity
• Wal-Mart has tried Social Media programs with both MySpace and
Facebook…but they continue to get more negative feedback than
positive due to their poor brand equity (But maybe this honest
interaction is a good first step? Or maybe not?)
4. Be Real
• Victoria’s Secret treated their Facebook Sponsored Group as
nothing more than an ad, however they have succeeded in creating
a fairly popular brand experience due to their existing appeal with a
young adult female demographic…their tactic doesn’t transcend
advertising to fully use the medium
• In addition, Facebook itself is not necessarily the youth marketing
holy grail…recent issues are creating a significant amount of brand
mistrust (privacy is becoming an issue, but just general annoyance
with a brand that is too tightly controlled is creating a significant
number of detractors)
Recommendations
Recommendations – 1. Start Small
• Start with one program, and be effective
• Groups or Pages can work, but put considerable time and
investment in the promotion and content (think of it like an event
strategy with a 3:1 activation:sponsorship investment)
• If budgets allow, multi-platform games or applications can be strong
if the hook, contest and viral incentive is right
• A cause-marketing approach can be relevant but a significant
investment will be required for promotion and content…and
negative response must be expected (and planned for)
Recommendations – 2. Create a Dialogue
• Encourage a dialogue, and listen to feedback
• You can’t delete Wall Posts on Facebook without significant
backlash
• Communicate online in an open and transparent manner, and
encourage a discussion surrounding the brand
• If the organization is too risk-averse for this approach, consider a
different approach (Social Media is not the right space for your
brand)…there are other Web 2.0 tactics that can work
(promotions/contests, YouTube, etc.)
Recommendations – 3. Promote
• Think about your Social Media spend similar to your Advertising
spend—you have costs to create your advertising, and then you
have costs to place your advertising
• In a Social Media environment the Sponsored Group or Page or
Application you create is the ad…once that’s done you’ve only
created the platform and message, you haven’t distributed it yet—a
larger portion of the budget should be placed towards promotion
and dissemination vs. creation
• Most brands fail in Social Media with the “If I build it, they will come”
approach
Recommendations – 4. Integrate
• Create an integrated experience that meets your
communication objectives vs. a flat communications
• Simple games can be effective, addictive (meaning high
impressions) and can communicate the keys messages
behind your message (a SIM program?)
• Helicopter (see next slide) has been played almost 20
million times on the site addictivegames.com
Some really big things to consider today.
And tomorrow.
And tomorrow.
For the love of God, they don’t have to
watch commercials if they don’t want to
– And they’re learning to tune out certain forms of marketing
altogether…
– So we have got to stop making boring communications that hit a
message but are not entertaining and thinking that they make a
difference to our brand or cause or issue
– And we have to think about how we measure success (the new
success measure: consumers put your ad on YouTube and youth
watch them)
Marketing and culture are completely
linked
– The best marketing is culturally relevant on its own
– And all youth marketing must live IN youth culture
– The good news is that they also understand the role of marketing…
MySpace is full of advertising (maybe too much so) but MySpace
bands and brands exist in your friends list just like your real friends
Your competition is...everything
– New Kanye West video? CHECK
– New cap from New Era? CHECK
– Freedom for Tibet? CHECK
– George Strombolopoulis’ latest obsession? CHECK
– They are ALL your competition in this convergent mediascape
– Clutter cutting is absolutely essential
– Risk-taking must occur
GRASS is now equivalent to MASS
– MASS and GRASS must now co-exist
– The rise of previously “niche” or “nice to have” media
(grassroots executions, event sponsorship, viral campaigns,
etc.) is a more important story than the slow demise of
traditional media
GRASS is now equivalent to MASS
– The various traditional media are morphing into other “net-
enabled” versions of themselves (moving images and audio) –
they are in transition but not gone
– The rumours of TV’s death have been exaggerated
– The notion of what is “mass” media, on the other hand, has
changed forever and now includes an ever-increasing array of
new options that you need to integrate
Go deep
– In youth marketing many little executions will win versus one big
bang
– It’s about frequency that builds familiarity and trust: 1+1=3
– Ongoing marketing touch points always
Involve them directly
– They expect engagement, participation and some form of control
– Make them the messengers (as reps, as spokespersons)
– This means stepping back from the limelight
– Allow them to express their interpretations of your message (great
for promotions)
– Get them directly involved in your planning (hello creative advisory
panels!)
Be authentic
– They can smell BS a mile away
– If you talk the talk but don’t walk the walk you will lose relevance
and resonance (you don’t want to be faker)
– What does your message or brand stand for? Make sure all your
tactics are really living this
– It means that even small tactics make, or break, the brand (the “one
of these things is not like the other” effect)
– Be uncompromising on every detail of execution
Live the media
– Broadcast media doesn’t just have to live in broadcast…the idea
has to come to live beyond the advertising
– Do as the myspacers and facebookers do
– Make it essential that your mass message platform must be able to
be experienced in a variety of different formats (including viral, live
events and other visceral experiences)
Have fun, be daring
– We’re talking about youth culture here!
– This means that cheekiness, irreverence, rebellion, harshness and
“in your face-ness” are all par for the course
– Ask yourself, what would Peter Griffin do here?
