Past the pedestal
So Conan O’Brien, Johnny Knoxville and Hugh Hefner walk into a bar…and every young guy in the place stops staring at the Coors Twins and comes over to talk to the three “talented authentics.” Well, at least that’s what The Integer Group of Denver, CO, thinks might happen, according to a proprietary research study the promotions firm ran on males aged 21 to 29.
The firm recently decided it needed a better understanding of target demographics, and chose to focus on this enigmatic group. “Regardless of client or product, there are questions that we come upon regarding young people and promotions,” explains Meg Kinney, VP-research and planning for Integer. “And we wanted to validate our thinking, and find out if what we know to be the truth about promotions is still relevant when marketing to Generation Y.”
While most clients are chasing this demographic, Kinney says, there are certain factors that make this group of consumers resistant to standard marketing efforts. “Generation Y grew up in an entertainment-driven economy and a media-driven marketplace,” she says. “They are by far the most marketing-savvy generation that any brand has ever had to contend with.”
Additionally, the turbulent times that marked their coming of age have also created a generation with a unique world view, according to Kinney. “A 22-year-old today was 16 when Monica Lewinsky happened, 17 when Columbine happened, 18 on Sept. 11, 20 when the Enron and Catholic Church scandals happened, and 21 when we went to war,” she explains (adding that the dates are approximate). “Those are more formative experiences in a five-year period then any generation has experienced. Those events have radically changed the belief system and values of this generation, making them different from people just five years older than them.”
Going on the premise that this generation had a different world view, Integer wanted to see if the tried-and-true tactic of using celebrities when marketing to young adults must now be viewed differently. “We wanted to find out what role a celebrity plays in changing behavior. So we created a ‘celebrity wall,’ with over 80 different headshots — no names — of recognizable famous people, from Monica Lewinksy to Gen. Tommy Franks, with actors, politicians, entrepreneurs, animated characters, reality TV stars, and iconic people from advertising like the Coors Twins or the catfight girls from the Miller Lite commercials,” she explains. “We asked participants to identify three celebrities they would most want to spend three hours with and three they would least want to spend three hours with, and then probed into the reasons behind the answers.”
Dues and don’ts
Generation Y does indeed have a slightly different view of celebrity than their older siblings had, at least based on indications from the Integer research.
“The proliferation of celebrities has fostered a distinction based on the right to fame. Young adults’ first filter of credibility is: Does this person have a right to be famous?” Kinney says. “Secondly, that right to fame was based on a very dimensional idea of respect. Respect, for our research subjects, is an amalgam of the answers to these questions: Have they earned their achievement? Have they worked hard, have they overcome obstacles, do they have real talent? Are they true to themselves, are they true to their passion, are they keeping it real?”
The firm also found that different kinds of celebrities produce varying desired levels of involvement. “Bringing that down to a tactical level, we find that the role a celebrity plays in a promotional mix is often ‘Buy our product and win a chance to meet X superstars,’” Kinney continues. “That was the traditional method of celebrity involvement with promotions. But some kinds of celebrities, while they are significant and can play a role in the promotional mix, are not necessarily involving. They’re nice to look at, but consumers have no desire to meet them; or they respect the celebrities but they don’t connect with them. Or, consumers have so much respect for them — in the case of Lance Armstrong, for example — that we found that young males would prefer to leave him as an object of inspiration and never have any interaction with him at all.”
Perceived value
The biggest change that Kinney found was that young adults wanted a different sort of experience than had previously been offered in promotional efforts. “It’s no longer about participating in the fantasy world of the celebrity,” Kinney says. “The celebrity aspect is only meaningful and behavior-changing when the offer to meet the celebrity actually has perceived value. For example, we found that meeting a big-time hip-hop producer at the Grammys has no value, but having that producer show you how to record in the studio has value. Similarly, meeting a basketball star at the All-Star game has no value, but having that celebrity come to your hometown and play hoops with you and your friends at the local Y has tremendous value.”
Based on these findings, the Integer Group placed celebrities into four different groups:
Lookers: Admired for their talent or looks, young adult males have limited interest in spending time with this group.
Involvers: Admired for their talents, but also for being true to their passions and themselves. Young adult males are interested in seeing how this group “keeps it real.”
Inspirers: Have earned the utmost respect for their accomplishments, but as a result, young adult males view this group as almost out of reach.
Talented Authentics: The complete package, celebrities in this group are viewed as role models.
“Brands currently invest a lot of money in celebrities, but have no paradigm to figure out how much they should be paying a celebrity and what should be included in that. So they end up paying a big fee and use the celebrity across everything, which may not be cost-effective,” Kinney explains. “Now brands can use this model to maximize their investment in celebrity rights. We can now suggest that some celebrities only serve a purpose in stopping power at retail, for P-O-P, while others serve a role only in brand advertising, but at P-O-P that celebrity does not necessarily drive purchase behavior. Conversely, those celebrities deemed ‘talented authentics’ may be ideal as the workhouse in an entire integrated branding and promotional effort.”
Winning Generation Next
When seeking to influence high school kids, the best bet is to hire jocks, says Jim Kaufman, CEO of SchoolSports, a Boston-area marketing firm. Kaufman cites studies by Northbrook, IL-based Teen Research Unlimited reporting that 87% of high schoolers said that sports were the No.1 way to gain prestige at their school, and that elite athletes at the high-school level are the biggest influencers among their peer group.
“We’ve done research with our readership (90% athletes) and learned that they are more influenced by athletes than the average teenager. Quite often, the other aspects of an athlete’s life are not as relevant as his level of achievement, in terms of influence,” says Kaufman, whose SchoolSports magazine is published in 15 different regional editions. The message is clear: If you want to influence the influencers in high school, use a successful jock in your promotion.
