January 7, 2002
Secretly, I wonder whether doing away with illusions is an oxymoron for many marketers. And illusions are certainly common when it comes to marketing to youth. Marketers who are hiring companies to help them with such programs should be careful to ensure that those they hire know their stuff.
Over the past few years I've seen some of the worst exploitative youth work from our industry, much of it from new companies or organizations that promote themselves as "experts helping youth, families and educators." Everyone is an instant expert ("I was a kid and/or a parent!"), even though many have not had training in learning, play patterns, marketing and other necessary topics. Usually they talk and move around fast and use clichés like "grassroots marketing is the only way to reach youth." Yet good youth marketers know you can't reach every segment of this market using just one tool.
I don't know if the powerful energy of these so-called experts or their need for acceptance wears their audiences down. I actually saw this happen at a taping last May of CBC Newsworld's counterSpin, where one youth marketing colleague fairly new to the business overcame the skepticism of a youthful audience by the sheer persistence with which he defended his perceptions. Yet the irony is that their skepticism was justified: He really didn't know what he was talking about.
One recent in-school marketer, Toronto-based Classroom Connections, shares the same name as three other educational Canadian organizations or projects (is this due to a lack of research on its part, or is it borrowing profile from these other well-established entities?). It started business by presenting an endorsement letter from The CAP Journal, the magazine of the Canadian Association of Principals, that it had obtained in exchange for buying ad space. It also pitched projects incorporating Young People's Theatre in Toronto (recently renamed the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People), whose staff knew nothing about this organization. And it listed in its sales materials and on its Web site an advisory board of top-level educational experts, many of whom had no idea they were on the list. The Ontario and national teachers' federations wrote letters of notice to Classroom Connections in the fall of 2000 when it abruptly started sending small teachers guides with client-supplied materials into high schools across the country, although this failed to stop the distribution. And the executive director of Classroom Connections has no formal youth learning or educational marketing background, just experience in promotions and sales. Either to create educational work, or edit work from educators who often do not understand how to blend education and business, an educational marketer needs much relevant expertise.
Or what about Kaboose.com, the Toronto-based CD-ROM producer morphed into expert kids Web portal morphed into expert youth Web promotion company and whatever the company is now? In late 1999, Kaboose's vice-president started calling me about buying my company. Six months and many phone calls and meetings later, I hired a business evaluator to satisfy the Kaboose demand for financials. Throughout this process, the company did not handle itself with the professional manner that should be a matter of course in this industry. Ultimately, the VP became incognito, leaving me with the evaluator invoice to pay.
Recently, CCMI, the company I founded in 1989, created one image-improvement project proposal for an industry association with a controversial group of consumer products, and another proposal for a launch by a company in that field of a similar but somewhat healthier product. In both cases, our recommended approach (the usual, successful one!) was thorough research and honest, fun, innovative and self-educational communications. This is exactly what various focus group participants post-Sept. 11 are telling researchers across Canada that they want. To our dismay, the industry association chose another proposal that embraced the indirect "using our products will make you feel better about yourself" approach. We wonder if the association will enjoy the success it deserves.
And that second proposal? I've been told that the client gave our unique outreach concepts (their words, not ours!) to their parent company's favourite promotion agency for a quick sales boost. Again, we wonder if the client will enjoy the success it deserves.
One of those phone calls I've received post-Sept. 11 was from another long-term, responsible youth marketing organization, Toronto-based Big Orbit, which is best-known for Web site development. The key executives tell me they're also tired of the growing illusion in our industry. We have discussed jointly pitching projects to large companies, so these clients can be assured of top-quality, honest, targeted, cost-effective and innovative work.
My company is far from alone in promoting this sort of approach. In fact, several key youth marketing organizations are discussing joining together to share knowledge and expertise, such as on trends from outside Canada that may influence the business here and changing rules on youth marketing in Quebec. If we do form a new association, I'm hopeful it will help advance a cause that should be dear to the heart of any company involved in youth marketing: to develop programs that are responsible and professional as well as effective.
CAROL GREEN is president of CCMI (Children's Creative Marketing Inc.) in Richmond Hill, Ont.
Reproduced with permission from Marketing Magazine (www.marketingmag.ca), Report on Youth Marketing, Jan. 7, 2002.