Simulated Client:Targetting teens

From my research I can state that the most effective target audience is 10-25years old. This is a large range in a lot of ways, but you don't have to do much research to know that people in this age group are statisticaly more likely to be downloading illegally. All the websites and advertising I have come across concerning anti-piracy and copyright combat the younger market with competitions, social networking, giveaways and quizzes. These are all interactive element that involve the user with the intention to encourage legal downloading.

I think it would be interesting to create a website that doesn't nag or point the finger at the potenial illegal downloader, but one that asks questions and involves the user to discuss their experiences. As Buckminster Fuller said:"You never change things by fighting the existing reality". I could possibly incorporate an element of social interativity for my interactive element. Although I need to consider the how much time that would take to produce over something like a flash element.

"How do marketers do it? They know how to capitalize on important teenage issues and anxieties, like body image, peer acceptance, coolness, and a need for power. They use these themes repeatedly in advertising geared towards children and teenagers. Marketers also often hone in on themes and attitudes that parents might find inappropriate or offensive, like sex or alcohol and drug use, further escalating the “coolness factor” of the product."Read more...

"The Internet is an extremely desirable medium for marketers wanting to target children:


• It's part of youth culture. This generation of young people is growing up with the Internet as a daily and routine part of their lives.


• Parents generally do not understand the extent to which kids are being marketed to online.


• Kids are often online alone, without parental supervision.


• Unlike broadcasting media, which have codes regarding advertising to kids, the Internet is unregulated.


• Sophisticated technologies make it easy to collect information from young people for marketing research, and to target individual children with personalized advertising.


• By creating engaging, interactive environments based on products and brand names, companies can build brand loyalties from an early age."Read more...