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Best Practice for Brands
Forward-thinking brands and retailers are aligning
themselves with this generation, and finding ways
to collaborate and partner with them.
•
American lifestyle brand Urban Outfitters
sponsored US teen fashion blogger Tavi
Gevinson to undertake a 16-state road
trip around the US in July 2012. Gevinson’s
agenda included promoting her e-zine
Rookie – an intelligent, stylish publication
that spawned a print edition, Yearbook One,
in September 2012. In exchange, Gevinson
broadcasted her adventures and exploits from
the trip on the UO (Urban Outfitters) blog.
On finishing the tour, Gevinson curated a
teen-inspired installation made up of souvenirs
collected during her trip at the brand’s Space
15 Twenty retail space.
•
Other young fashion bloggers are also taking
their seats on the front row. One to watch
is Ophelia Horton – a 13-year-old London-
based blogger who covered the 2013 London
Fashion Week for the UK’s Sunday Times.
•
In April 2013, UK-based fashion brand
Topshop launched its Prom Queen
competition on photo-sharing website
Pinterest, inviting users to curate a board of
inspirational images that represented their
dream prom dress. The winning entrant
was then awarded a custom-designed prom
dress by the Topshop design team. This is
an instructive use of social media – finding
a target audience in a place where they
already hang out, and tapping into
existing behaviours.
•
German sports brand Adidas showcased
teen-styled looks that won a competition on
global fashion shopping community Polyvore.
com at the New York Fashion Week premiere
of its new youth line, Neo.
•
Frank by OCBC is a youth banking brand
in Singapore. Prior to the launch of its first
retail space, young people were invited to test
out a prototype store. All their feedback and
suggestions were then fed into the retail and
service design strategies. Playing on the value
of individuality – important to youth audiences
– Frank also offers customisable debit cards.
•
According to research from US think tank
Frontier Group, the number of young people
applying for driving licenses slumped
5.3% in 2010 in the US, and those that hold
licenses are driving less. Loren Angelo, general
manager for brand marketing at auto brand
Audi of America, told the New York Times:
“The digitisation of our world, mobile phones
and social media have allowed a certain level of
independence. That’s what the automobile used
to provide.”
•
Major car brands are responding to this shift
by carefully marketing to the teen segment.
Japanese carmaker Toyota has teamed up
with Teen Vogue for the first time to launch a
cross-media campaign promoting safe driving
among teens.
Topshop Prom Queen
© Topshop
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Smart Teens
Case Studies/Drivers/Influencers