How can brands successfully reach teen consumers?

Our latest research, featured in The Drum, looks at how brands can successfully reach teen consumers in a digitally fragmented world.

Growing influence at home

It is no secret that kids of all ages now play a bigger role in family purchasing decisions than ever before. We believe this is a result of the redefinition of the family dynamic, on which Covid-19 and national lockdowns had a huge impact.

Over the last twelve months, the amount of influence teens in the UK have over their parents has increased across every product category we cover, specifically tech devices and TV subscriptions, which have seen 75% and 52% growth respectively in the last six months. With 12.2 million kids in the UK, there is a clear opportunity for brands to reach the family home by engaging a younger audience.

Where teens spend their time

The top five media types used by kids aged 13 to 18 in the UK are YouTube, gaming sites, apps, streaming platforms and broadcast TV.

Looking more closely at platforms, Netflix takes the lead, with two in three teenagers saying they have had the service at home in the last 12 months. Amazon Prime Video is the next most popular streaming platform among this group, ranking as the fourth most used site.

Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat lead on social, all competing for teen attention with new features, reels and ways for kids to connect with each other. Even though YouTube is the number one media type, the top media platform used is Netflix, which shows how widely kids are spread across the media landscape.

A fragmented digital ecosystem

With this level of engagement, the digital space is a strong medium for reaching young consumers. Beyond broadcast TV, adverts on social platforms and in video games are likely to generate interest in new products and trends. Over one in three teenagers say they spend more than four hours a day on their mobile phones, whereas just one in ten spend that long watching TV.

Clothing brands have entered the gaming world, with Balenciaga collaborating with Fortnite and Nike promoting new releases in Roblox, while food brands have found success on social, as seen with Cadbury’s #justanaussie Instagram trend. The success of these campaigns reveals the opportunity in innovative digital advertising that gets teens excited about the brand.

As kids occupy an increasingly fragmented digital ecosystem, though, it is less clear where brands should position their campaigns. The number of potential touchpoints highlights the importance of developing compelling content. If teens are not drawn to the message of an advert, they will not click it, share it, talk about it or ultimately buy from it.

Top advertising locations

When asked about the location of their favourite advert, two in five UK teenagers named broadcast TV, ranking it the number one preferred advertising platform. After TV, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are closely tied, which emphasises the importance of social presence. The number one effect of adverts on this group is awareness, with two thirds of teens stating that advertising campaigns increase their interest in a product or brand.

Despite the number of advertising locations, however, 27% of UK teens say their favourite advert has no influence over their purchase decisions, an increase of 40% over the last six months. This suggests brands lack awareness of how to engage their audience: adverts are reaching teens, but the content is not persuasive enough to drive a purchase. Currently only 18% of UK teens say their favourite advert causes them to ask their parents to buy a product, and even that decreases as kids age up.

Converting adverts into action

To convert exposure into action, kids want to be excited and to feel included. The most important factor influencing purchase decisions among UK teens is that a product makes them feel special, with over three in five agreeing. To communicate that, campaigns should appeal to teen values rather than parental ones, and build a community where young consumers feel represented and seen. Wellbeing and convenience are also key factors, which highlights the importance of placing teens at the centre of product and advert development.

Traditional adverts are no longer the only way of promoting new products. Only 54% of UK teens agree that adverts are a great way of telling them what is new, and trust in adverts has decreased in the last six months. By contrast, the same proportion rely on influencers to share the latest trends, and Instagram is the most popular platform teens use to keep up with their favourite shops. With one in two UK teens agreeing it is important to own the latest products, brands should rethink their approach and use social media to generate excitement.

The size of the kids and family ecosystem, and its breadth across many different platforms, means the key to successful advertising, licensing and marketing is innovative and exciting content. It is more important than ever for brands to understand the values and interests of their target audience and tune into the trends that capture their attention. By engaging teens from a young age, brands secure their future through loyalty as those teens age up and become the main movers in the commercial world.

Key takeaways

The next generation are growing up as digital natives, so there is a clear opportunity to reach a wider audience of young consumers via digital platforms. Given the number of devices, social platforms and streaming services available to teens, brands need to understand where their target audience actually sits in an increasingly fragmented ecosystem. And captivating content is crucial, so brands should innovate their marketing strategies and use newer mediums such as influencers and gaming.

All statistics from Kids Insights, UK, covering the six months to mid-2022.

This article first featured in The Drum.