ROaR Research Results

At a conference yesterday ROaR presented its research results on youth culture. ROaR (Right Of Admission Reserved) is a media coalition made up of Cinema Media, M & A, BMP, Kiss FM, The Guardian, The Observer, Channel 4 and EMAP. All of these members have a vested interest in the youth market.

The research is claimed to be the largest qualitative and quantitative study of 15-24 year olds: a six-figure sum was invested in the survey of over 1,400 people in 23 locations nation-wide.

Barbara Patterson, of EMAP Youth Magazines, spoke about the general outlook and attitudes of today’s youth. She said that 90% want to do well in their careers, 45% say that their future is brighter than their parents’, 84% think it is important to travel whilst young, 40% think that no main political party cares for young people, 15% say they have no interest in current affairs and 19% say they are European rather than British. In terms of lifestyle, 86% go to clubs, 61% do not take hard drugs and 52% think soft drugs should be legalised.

Ms Patterson then went on to explain that the young cannot be treated as a single group and divided them into seven ‘clusters’: the Newmodernist (creative, well-educated, trend setter, watches Channel 4 and uses the Internet most); Corporate Clubber (mainstream, fashionable, mostly female); Blairites (politically correct, ambitious, materialistic); Bill & Ted (only interested in music, not fashion conscious and influenced by bands); Moral Fibres (boffins, career-minded, confident); Conservative Careerists (less liberal, work hard, anti-drugs, high disposable income); and Adolescent Angst (now in 20s but still having problems with girls and parents).

Andy Williams of Cinema Media gave some average youth statistics: 74% go to the pub at least once a week; 34% go to clubs at least once a week; 80% read a newspaper every day and the same amount regularly read a magazine. The average young person listens to 2 hours of radio per day and watches 3 hours of TV per day.

Charlie Norton, of Kiss FM, spoke about the power of music in advertising. He said that music controls messages and creates a mood synonymous with the product. The youth of today are extremely ad literate and know that they are the target of marketing techniques: they know how to ‘play the ad game’. Music sales overall are rising and 73% of young people say that ‘music is a passion’.

John Wilkins, of BMP, also pointed out the strength of the consumer vs advertiser: unlike the 1980’s the consumer is now firmly in control. Some ads have achieved cult status and it is these brands which are doing best in the youth market. Many advertisers now have the dilemma of whether to go mainstream or not, but they should always reinforce discovery and creativity in their campaigns.

One of the most credible forms of communication regarding a product is word of mouth, followed by star endorsements of a product. In terms of the most effective media for communicating ads, youngsters believe that TV comes first, followed by radio, magazines, newspapers, cinema and then posters in that order.