teens and brands - mobile research study april 2010
TRANSCRIPT
TEEN BRANDS SURVEYApril 2010
A mobile research study investigating how, why and where 10 core brands
impact on teen lives
SAMPLE AND OVERVIEW
465 interviews gathered from 15th - 19th April using a mixed mode
online and mobile web methodology amongst teenagers aged 13-19.
Stage One
• 301 online interviews on brand interaction requesting contact
mobile phone number either for teens or parents.
Stage Two
• 164 mobile phone interviews recorded every time they saw
or heard one of these 10 household brands over the three day
period.
METHODOLOGY
Stage One
Routine online questionnaire to members of FlyResearch’s online and mobile panels (JoinTheQ.com and MyVoice.co.uk).
Stage Two
Used the internet browser on the teens mobile phone.
The questionnaire was delivered via an SMS message that automatically launched the survey on the mobile phone.
The same questions were answered each time a brand was seen by the teenager and the data gathered in real time in order to capture the nature of the brand experience in as fresh a way as possible.
PROBLEMS TO OVERCOME
Problems to overcome in Stage One (Online survey)
• Need for parent permission prior to contacting teenagers.
• Teenager mobile contact details.
• Special care needed when asking for teenager name, age and
phone details
Problems to overcome in Stage Two (Diary)
• Need for teenagers to complete diary on all three days.
• Need to remind them of the brands we’re interested in.
• Reminders sent to teenagers at regular intervals
RESULTS
Teens are pretty positive on the whole.
• What makes people talk about brands in general is either a good or bad
experience, with a ‘good experience’ creating more talk than a ‘bad
experience’.
Good experience – 74% will discuss
Bad experience - 52% will discuss
You don’t HAVE to spend a fortune• Top brand usage among our 10 brands was (81%) who do not
spend heavily on media. That said, they were followed by (77%)
and (75%), so it doesn’t hurt to spend a few million!
• Brand usage of Facebook amongst 16-17 year olds was a remarkable
96%.
• So...you don’t HAVE to spend a fortune (as long as your product
excels!).
It’s hard to break through...• Even with the budgets of these major brands, the average number of the 10
selected brands seen / heard by teenagers over the three days was just 4.7.
• MacDonalds was the most noted brand (showing one benefit of having a
retail network!) .
• Facebook performed well too though and so it shows the importance of
simply having a good product.
Older females have better filters• Brands were more noticed by the younger teens and males. As we get older
we appear to get better at screening out messages!
It is possible to break through though...• Almost one third of teenagers considered seeing a brand had no impact on
them. A further third considered it made them feel better towards the brand
and a quarter considered it made them want to buy the brand.
The Internet is the glue holding it all together but don’t
discount TV – it remains highly influential.
• Teenagers most saw / heard brands on the TV, followed by talking and the
internet. These top 3 channels account for more than 50% of total brands
seen or heard of by teenagers.
LESSONS FOR BRANDS
1. Focus on the product
• There’s no shortcuts – you need a decent product. Don’t worry too much about the communication until you know your product is strong.
• Marketing spend is no substitute for a decent product. If you create a product that delivers teens will find you (and tell their friends).
2. Involve your customers in product design and communication
• They can be useful spokespeople (but teens aspire upwards in age so don’t rely on 15 year old spokespeople if you want to get 18 year olds interested.
• They can advice on product development so ask them and listen and act.
• They can recommend your product – so make it easy to share and send around.
3. Evolve faster and don’t worry about mistakes• Teens can handle change so evolve the product and evolve the
communication• But don’t change your personality or role – be patient and
consistent there.• Teens are receptive to messaging but they can spot a fraud (a
tired corporate brand trying to be cool for 6 months) and you’re better off investing that advertising money in product development.
• No brand can afford enough advertising to fake being competent.
• Teens (like most people) are actually more positive than negative –they are almost twice as likely to mention a positive experience as a negative experience, so don’t worry about the occasional miss. Just keep evolving until you get a hit.
4. Entertain
• The lines are blurring between advertising and media especially online (if you are sent the Cadbury’s Drumming Gorilla TV ad by a friend and watching it on your mobile – is that a TV impression? Word of mouth? Or internet?). Who knows – but it is entertaining.
• Don’t neglect to mention your brand clearly but when you do get to the communication try to entertain to connect.
