News Update: Marketers Taking Advantage of the Maturing Youth:

Analyzing The Role Marketers Play in the Mind Molding of Young America

They spend their days sifting through reams of market research data. They conduct endless surveys and focus groups. They comb the streets, the schools, and the malls, hot on the trail of the "next big thing" that will snare the attention of their prey--a market segment worth an estimated $150 billion a year. They are the “Merchants of Cool”: creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America. But are they simply reflecting teen desires or have they begun to manufacture those desires in a bid to secure this lucrative market? And have they gone too far in their attempts to reach the hearts--and wallets--of America's youth? (news content copyright ©2001 pbs online and wgbh/frontline)

I recently sat down in front of my “state of the art, every college kid must have top of the line Dell Computer” (or that is what I was told) to watch a video about how marketers are using savvy ways to stay at least parallel with  today’s maturing youth. The main issue being discussed was “if marketers are taking advantage of the maturing youth, by becoming indulged into their culture to find out what they really want?”

Teenagers are the hottest consumer demographic in America. At 33 million strong, they comprise the largest generation of teens America has ever seen--larger, even, than the much-ballyhooed Baby Boom generation. Last year, America's teens spent $100 billion, while influencing their parents' spending to the tune of another $50 billion (news content copyright ©2001 pbs online and wgbh/frontline). It is apparent why marketers are taking their line of work so seriously these days. The type of capital that is involved can produce tremendous return on investments (ROI) if the “correct” marketing scheme is implemented. The world of marketing is a cut throat business; there is extreme competition. With the expansion of entrepreneurship in the 1990’s consumers have a much wider spectrum of businesses to choose from when it comes to buying product x and product y; consumers are no longer faithful. They are driven by cheap prices, shinning lights, and loud whistles. With that understood marketers must raise the status quo to insure customer retention is at an all time high.

The topic of “Merchants of Cool” is very important and relatable to many topics in today’s political world. Primarily it relates to the media and how it operates. They are pretty much the same thing. The media is there everyday in our face scaring us have to death about the United States being in a Code Red Terrorist Alert, just like the “Merchants of Cool” are there in our face bombarding us with propaganda that will increase our penis/breast size-with the help of a natural herb or help us loose 1000 lbs in 24 hours. The media/marketers have a very large jurisdiction to cover with a very small police force watching over them. Yes, there are laws, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but overall the media/marketers will push and push us all until we buy their product. They are the big bad wolf and we are the small little pigs.

With globalization, this modern form of marketing is sure to be spread all across the nation. I know these “Merchants of Cool” are just dying to go over seas and exploit the innocence of a boy who has never been the U.S, but listens to rap music and has access to MTV!

Let’s break down this issue. On one hand you have these “Merchants of Cool” who are large corporations that employ highly skilled marketing and advertising agency’s to do extensive cat scan like research on the average teenager. There are only seven media moguls that control what we see and here: News Corp, Bertelsmann, Viacom, Vivendi Universal, Sony, AOL Time Warner, and Walt Disney. These seven companies just about own every major T.V. channel, radio station, and record label out there. On the other hand you have your everyday high school kid that dresses a certain way and may hold the secret to this Summer’s hottest trend. To sum things up there are smart and intelligent MBA graduates versus naïve and confused high school students who have yet to “find themselves,” I wonder who will win this match? I am sure the winner will be decided in a mud wrestling contest on MTV’S Spring Break, sponsored by Sprite, because they are “hip and down for the cause.”

Besides those two main competitors, there are many different supporting cast members that include concerned parents, the FCC, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and somehow I am sure the and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization are involved in some weird way, because it seems like they are always involved in something that does not have anything to do with them.

The interest of these “poor and innocent” concerned parents only become important to them after they have given their children “guilt money” used to make up for lack of parental love, affection, and guidance. Let’s face it, teenagers flipping burgers do not make that much money, their source of income must come from somewhere. These concerned parents all of a sudden want to get involved and speak out against these huge corporations for taking advantage of their ignorant son or daughter. Give me a break!

The involvement of the ACLU comes into play because they probably feel that these marketers are some how forcing their ideas upon these people and not allowing them to make a clear and conscious decision about what they want, and it ultimately takes away from their natural freedom of the First Amendment.

On one hand, I do think the FCC needs to enforce some laws that will limit the “brain washing” of the ignorant, but on the other hand, that will disrupt the natural flow of business and once bureaucracy takes over, it is all down hill from there.

A huge and pivotal question that needs to be asked in the boardroom meetings of those seven media moguls is the importance of Corporate Sensibility. This ethical dilemma is not so easy to answer in one or two statements.

If I were to side in favor of the “Merchants of Cool” I could agree that marketing to teens isn't as easy as it sounds. Marketers have to find a way to seem real true to the lives and attitudes of teenagers; in short, to become cool themselves (Just as Sprite did when they started to use Hip Hop artists in their commercials). To that end, they search out the next cool thing and have adopted an almost anthropological approach to studying teens and analyzing their every move as if they were animals in the wild. Take MTV. Long considered to be the arbiter of teen cool, the late 1990s saw MTV's ratings on the wane. To counter the slide, MTV embarked on a major teen research campaign, the hallmark of which was its "ethnography study"-- visiting teens' homes to view first hand their lives, interests and ask some quite personal questions? (news content copyright ©2001 pbs online and wgbh/frontline). I do not think there is any thing wrong with that situation. They were facing defeat, so that came up with a plan of action and acted upon it. It may be unfortunate that these kids really do not have the slightest idea as to why they are being interviewed. I know, when I was young and money was hard to come by if  someone offered me a $120 bucks (that is the going rate a teenager could make to be a part of a focus group where they will discuss their likes and dislikes about products and trends) I would take it.

In defense of these poor teens that are being taken advantage of I could also agree with a few of the students that participated in a focus group. Take for instance Laura, who say’s “What worries me is that in the future there will be no companies out there who have earned that position of prominence. Like they showed that band that they just promoted and promoted and they wouldn't necessarily have become famous if they hadn't been promoted. And if all the companies are like that, then there could be a time when none of them are good and it will be impossible to find something else. That's what worries me,” and Adia who stated, “And when you look at the progression of that, that means that when we grow up and want to start a company--let's say I want to start a band, or let's say you want to make shoes when you get older--that means that you're going to be eaten up by a conglomerate, basically. And you're going to have to be a part of that culture. Because that's really what it's leading to. There's really no way out.”

I was reading a book on investing the other day and the author was talking about the importance of knowing the mundane details that go into the process of investing. He was saying that playing the game is not enough any more, if (you) want to be successful (you) must first become a student of the game and learn all of rules. That is all these “Merchants of Cool” are doing. They are trying to learn the rules of the game by indulging themselves into an unfamiliar culture.

I want to say that these big bad conglomerates are not doing a disservice to America’s Youth. It is the parent’s job to ensure child safety and enrichment of the child. But ultimately I may have to agree with Brian Graden, who is MTV’S programming president, when he says, “Even though I work at MTV...I am starting to see the world more like someone who's approaching forty than someone who's twenty… and I can't help but be worried that we are throwing so much at young adults so fast. And that there is no amount of preparation or education or even love that you could give a child to be ready."

Note:

This video was very informative about the topic under consideration. I am not sure if it changed my perception on the issue being discussed. It did however get my gray matter working and it made me think about a few things differently. I think my paper reflects my indecisiveness on the issue.

Sources:

    FRONTLINE: The Merchants of Cool Accessed on 6-7-04 news content http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/

    FRONTLINE: Synopsis: Accessed on 6-9-04. copyright ©2001 pbs online and wgbh/frontline.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/etc/synopsis.html

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