Studies show that teen males are consuming far less TV than they used to. To adapt, two TV networks that target the elusive demographic are using a mix of the Internet, wireless devices, and family-oriented offline events to get their attention.
For instance, cable network Fuel, which programs extreme sports, is teaming up with music download Website Artists Direct to help promote “The Daily Habit,” a in-studio talk show that will feature extreme-sports athletes. Guests will talk about their favorite music, and the show will tap into www.ArtistsDirect.com to highlight recent releases before eliciting opinions from viewers. “Music has a lot of relevance to our audience. There’s a lot of crossover,” says C.J. Olivares, Fuse’s senior vice president.
Fuel is also aggressively using video on cell phones to encourage teens to send in short extreme-activity clips the network may use on air. This keeps the teens actively engaged with the network.
In fact, Robert Weiss, general manager of music network Fuse, says that empowerment is key to his audience: “Things that require some kind of input from them, where they get to decide something.” For example, on Fuse’s “F-List,” viewers get to decide each week’s countdown order via the Web or cell phones. “Young men seem to be drawn to the ability to decide what’s going to be on TV,” Weiss says.
Weiss has noticed differences in how teen males and teen females use phones at media devices. “Guys are using mobile phones to get extra information, to be in the know, to be smarter than their friends, to be smarter than someone else at school, at work – and to express their opinions,” he says. “Guys like to have themselves heard. Women use [mobile phones] to communicate. They are text-messaging more. There is chatter there that is not there among guys.”
Even in this techno-centric age, sometimes the best way to engage teens is at live events. Event-related marketing, Olivares says, is also necessary to involve parents, who play critical roles in their kids’ decision-making and buying patterns. To that end, Fuel is cosponsoring Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam tour, a 28-city cross-country exhibition of extreme-sports athleticism.
Fuel created a 53-foot custom-renovated trailer that lets parents and kids engage in simulated action sports activities such as skateboarding. The network also signs up people onsite for a sweepstakes to win “The Ultimate Hook-up,” a home-theater aficionado’s nirvana of video, gaming, and music.
So how does Fuel’s audience react to on-air commercials?
“They’re skeptical but intelligent,” Olivares says. “They understand that TV requires advertising and things need to be sponsored. They are willing to be accepting but just don’t want to be beaten over the head with it. They want to see advertising that makes sense, that has a connection with the entertainment. They want to see the logic; they want it to be organic, that it all fits together. They don’t want to see Geritol ads.”
