
I sent out some questions to Anastasia to find out what she was up to, what brands she thought got teens and the future of tween media.
1. How is the YPULSE venture going?
Ypulse continues to expand with Ypulse Mashups (face-to-face conferences focusing on youth media and marketing). We just had our first sold out conference in San Francisco and are working on our next event focusing on tweens and technology in NYC. We're also planning a conference focusing on reaching college students this winter in Miami. What makes Ypulse events unique is the mix of people who are all passionate about reaching teens - editors, producers, marketers, account execs, educators, non-profit professionals - and the clear focus on how technology is transforming young people's lives.
I've also taken on a strategic business partner. Modern Media LLC, a company that builds, produces, markets and sells business conferences and media brands is now a minority owner of Youth Pulse, LLC. They are investing capital and taking over the sales and marketing side of my business (along with event production) leaving me to focus on the editorial side and defining the vision for the brand, which is what I'm most passionate about. We also plan to add new blogs (slowly) with the first blog focusing on campus trends and life after college, including Gen Y issues in the workplace. We also want to expand our coverage to ultimately include international youth trends.
2. What brands do you feel get teen culture today and why?
I think Apple gets teen culture because they have created products that facilitate what teens love -- listening to music (still the most important thing to teens ever) and expressing themselves creatively. The fact that teens are saying they want the iPhone even though it's $600 is testimony to this. Teens still love Nike (though they love Adidas more), whether it's sneakerheads or teen athletes or skaters -- Nike does a great job with its ad campaigns by making its star athletes (and their shoes) look incredibly cool. They also love finding bargains -- great style at an affordable price, which is where brands like American Apparel (though I am not a fan of their overly suggestive ads) and H&M do well.
3. Is there any evidence of social network fatigue amongst tweens?
I have definitely heard (anecdotally) teens say things like "I used to be on MySpace all the time, then I just got sick of it" but I think as long as their friends are there and active, they will be, too. MySpace and Facebook still dominate with MyYearbook, Bebo and Tagged also popular with teens. A lot of teens have migrated over to Facebook (but still keep a MySpace profile) because of the desire for more privacy, to get away from the parents and other adults in authority finding their profiles, and because there is less spam. The explosion in Facebook apps and Facebook's focus on rolling out new features helps, too. But Facebook is also attracting hoards of adults so it will be interesting to see if teens ultimately jump again to a lesser known site.
4. The environment is becoming an important issue for adults, do teens care more?
They may say they care more, but so much of youth activism today is wrapped up in consumerism that it's hard to tell. They may have participated in Live Earth, but are they actively trying to minimize their impact? I do think they will favor brands they think are trying to be more earth friendly, and especially those who don't test on animals. But this Jupiter study on "Green Teens" basically buying more stuff left me wondering if being green is more fashionable than a real commitment to leaving less of a footprint.
5. Looking at a list of important teen media in 2015, who will be on the list (feel free to use your imagination)?
You can't write off MTV in the entertainment space. I think they will find ways to reinvent themselves so they are still relevant and important to teenagers. I think teens creating their own media through blogs, videos and podcasts will also be huge -- maybe it will be aggregated by someone and draw a mass audience or maybe it will be huge in a Long Tail sort of way. Teens love to watch what their friends do, they're each other's biggest fans. In 2015 there may only be two major teen magazines left (or none) -- they have to reinvent themselves online to survive. Conde Nast is trying with Flip.com, but they are competing with sites that already have millions of teen eyeballs (and time, which is scarce). Finally, I think YA novels will continue to be popular. Book publishing is finding innovative ways to connect with teen readers like Penguin's partnership with Piczo. You'll notice I haven't named any 2.0 companies -- it's because I'm not sure the same players will be on top in 2015. Someone will be, I just don't know if it will be MySpace and Facebook.
Posted by Ed Cotton
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