This week on Inside Insights, 18 year old Singapore youth Winifred tells us how important it is to have a ‘relevant’ product and not just those hype-up shout-abouts advertising campaigns.
We don’t have much money…
Most youths in Singapore are students, and thus it would be good to bear in mind the budget constraints of students. As students are not financially independent, their spending power is severely restricted as compared to the working adult who has no children, and what they can spend is what they get as pocket money. Brands could appeal to students greatly if they have reasonable student deals or student discounts. Brands that are too high-end for the average student would be ‘an interesting find but impractical at the moment’. Thus, brands can appeal more to youths by selling their products at reasonable prices such that the average student would be inclined to buy.
… but we don’t want ‘cheap’ either!
However, this is not to say that brands should go all out in marketing themselves as ‘affordable’ and ‘catered for students’ or ‘reasonably priced’. Youths are in a transition phase between child and adult, and it is at this point in their lives that they encounter identity crisis. It is also the phase in which idealism is at its peak (think ‘Save the trees!’ or ‘I want to be somebody… someday’). Thus, youths want to buy things that set them apart from the rest, things that make them unique in a loud way. Also, youths want to show their peers that they possess sophisticated things, and the last thing they want to be is to be labelled as ‘cheap’. They want to be labelled as ‘adult’ and ‘mature’, not ‘juvenile’ and ‘childish’. Therefore catering to youths is not as effective.
It’s not so much of the advertising…
Advertising helps to promote the brand reputation itself, but is not the deciding factor in our eventual purchase. Not-so-successful advertisements would merely remind people of the brand when people see it. Successful advertisements would get people talking. However, advertisements play a minimal role in our decision to buy it. So, brands should stop trying to cater adverts to youths, because usually it doesn’t work. We’ll think you are trying too hard. Also, the point of advertising is to cater to as large an audience as possible, so by catering to a specific group, it would not be worthwhile spending so much money to connect with a group what does not appreciate it. Finally, (if I haven’t emphasized this point enough) we do not decide to buy based on the advertisements, so it is little point in getting famous artistes to promote products. I highly doubt that S.H.E fans would buy uKimonos or Avril lovers would buy DSLR cameras just because their favourite stars advertised for these products.
…it’s the product itself
Products from Apple like the iPhone and iPod have become almost ubiquitious, which is hardly surprising. Although these products are not cheap, they have a sophisticated interface, are useful to students (long MRT and bus rides can get a little boring) and it also helps that Apple has a reliable brand reputation. Apple didn’t cater to students intentionally, neither did they tweak their advertisements to cater to students. The only ‘student’ thing about Apple is the occasional student offer for their products that I know about because I subscribe to their newsletter.
I love my Nalgene. However, I didn’t hear about this brand from adverts, but through word-of-mouth. My friends were going on about these durable bottles that could withstand a drop from several storeys, so I decided to buy it, and I’ve been buying and recommending Nalgene bottles ever since. If the product is good, there’s no need for advertising!
Ultimately, the deciding factor is the product itself, because even if a brand has a good reputation, if the products are of no use to us, there is no reason why we should buy them. But some brands have tweaked their products to cater to more people. Think Deuter. They sell durable bags for ourdoor activities, but they have also introduced a line of more fashionable backpacks that cater to the non-trekkers.
I hope this helps brands to connect with youths like myself 
This piece of thoughts is by Winifred Wong, an 18 year old student in ACJC. Winning entry no.4 for the Marketing WITH Youth conference coming up in 20 & 21 May 2010 in Singapore.
