Alloy Media + Marketing Challenges Brands to Realize Their Social Net Worth
02 Luglio 2007 - 2:50PM
Business Wire
Alloy Media + Marketing (Nasdaq:ALOY) today released findings from
a white paper, commissioned from a recent national study conducted
by Grunwald Associates, that delves into tween and teen behaviors
and attitudes about advertising within the social networking
environment. The white paper examines youth as well as parental
perceptions about advertising across social media and presents
advertisers with solutions to facilitate effective campaigns. The
study validates that social networking is now an embedded component
in the lifestyles of online teens and tweens. 81% of online 9-17
year olds say that they have visited a social networking website
within the past 3 months. 71% of online 9-17 year olds visit these
sites at least weekly. In a broader context, 96% of online
teens/tweens report ever having used any type of social networking
technology including IM/chat, text messaging and email. With social
networking�s increasing status, the white paper provides
advertisers crucial insights to successfully navigate a world in
which youth command increasing control and provides guidance to
help brands enhance youth perception, avoid being alienated by
their young �friends� and benefit from this revolutionary
opportunity to redefine their relationship with these consumers and
to make a positive impact on their online social experience.
Samantha Skey, EVP, Strategic Marketing, Alloy Media + Marketing
states, �As the social networking population has grown, so has the
sophistication and intensity of users� engagement and activities
across the space. The swift pace at which new applications
infiltrate and enhance user experience are challenging brands, and
offering them an opportunity to regain relevance. Kids want more
freebies, more connection and more production utilities, and brands
have the opportunity to jump in and facilitate.� The report reveals
that teens and tweens are using the SN forum for a wide range of
activities from music and video sharing, blogging and member
surfing to more sophisticated authoring activities such as site
building and content creation with increasingly high frequency.
Further, with the significant growth of online activity, findings
prove social networking use is approaching near parity with TV time
among online 9-17 year olds that use SN. In fact, the majority of
teens are spending more time with new media than traditional media
and when asked where their mindshare goes while they multitask
between TV and online, the proportion who say they focus mainly
online exceeds those who say they focus mainly on television by
more than 4:1. User experience with advertising offers additional
insights into the role marketers play in the online space. Nearly
half (47%) of 9-17 year olds, including more than half (55%) of
teens, report participation in one or more advertiser branded
activity types in the last month. While consumers tend to say they
prefer most of their online experiences be void of too many
commercial messages, the study found that kids, as well as their
parents, will welcome brands that provide them with a distinct
value proposition that enhances their identity and overall online
experience. Both kids and their parents agree that social
networking offers a platform ripe with opportunity to be educated,
entertained and engaged and that marketers can effectively
co-exist, and be fully embraced, if they�re helping youth to
achieve their online goals. I�M NOT JUST A KID - I�M A PRODUCER,
PUBLISHER AND PROMOTER One of the unique attributes of social
networking sites is that users not only help to edit and contribute
to content, but users, through their personal profiles, have also
become content. As tools become more developed and accessible,
there�s been an explosion in more advanced forms of engagement in
both popularity and intensity of use. With such increased utility
and sophistication of tools available, it�s no surprise that kids
today have emerged as an influential media platform, with a
powerful voice. Impressively, teens are vigorously creating and
maintaining their online personal spaces with a significant 60%
having created profiles or personal sites and almost 20% updating
their sites or profiles at least once a day. Online tweens and
teens are voraciously leveraging social networking tools to become
copious and sophisticated online publishers. 64% of teens are
uploading photos and 42% of teens are creating characters, avatars,
such as Meez, or anime to express themselves across their personal
profiles. YOUR BRAND HERE The report offers advertisers significant
data on the types of information young people say they�d like to
receive within the social networking environment and further
reinforces that this group welcomes the interaction from brands so
long as they are incorporating their message appropriately. More
than 90% of tweens and teens say they�d like to hear about one or
more types of entertainment products in SN sites and close to half
(45%) state they�d like to hear about enthusiast or special
interest products, such as technology, sports, and automotive. Four
in ten, including more than two-thirds of girls (68%), say they�d
like to hear about apparel and personal care products on SN sites
and one-quarter want to hear about food and beverage products. 31%
also report that they want to hear about more serious offerings
such as college information or products that can help them with
school. Overall, 20% of teens report adding branded content to
their own websites in the last month - encouraging news for
marketers aiming to secure a spot across users personal spaces.
�Social networking sites not only offer an amenable forum for
brands to share information with their �friends�, it offers them
tremendous opportunity for that message to be shared with the
users� wide network of like minded peers,� said Skey.
�Communicating with friends holds top priority with the youth
audience across the social media space and marketers who can
attract them with the right content and services will be rewarded
with favorable and valuable peer propagation of their brand�s
message.� TELLING MOM & DAD The study highlights the
significance of the role of parents in their children�s online
behaviors and the findings advocate that advertisers seeking to
connect with tween and teen audiences should acknowledge parents�
unique influence over their children�s online behavior. The data
reveals the considerable weight mom and dad carry across the online
environment. 50% of online tweens and teens reports finding out
about new websites (not confined to social networking sites) from
their parents vs. 44% that use web searches to find new sites.
Offering more insight into the depth of the parent/kid dynamic, the
study shows that a significant 66% of tweens and teens (including
60% of teens) have �been on the internet together� with their
parents in the past month, with 71% reporting they�ve discussed the
internet with their parents as well. 96% of online 9-17 year olds
(including 94% of teens) report one or more rules or restrictions
over their internet use in the home. Similar to the views of their
offspring, parents too are eager to see advertisers improve the
social networking experience and will recognize and reward sponsors
who they feel offer their children improvements and enhancements
online. Overall, parents generally have a positive view of
advertisers who sponsor services clearly designed to help their
children become successful adults. Advertisers who want to win the
favor of both parents and 9-17 year olds appear to have a clear set
of choices. Sponsorship of educational services and activities and
points and reward programs appear to warrant the stamp of approval
from both parties and receive the strongest net positive response
from all respondents. Sponsoring tools that help kids achieve their
online communication and production goals also score well. When
asked about advertising placements, parents appear more positive
about content that creatively engages their children and asks for
their feedback, such as offers and information included in quizzes
and polls. RAISING YOUR BRAND�S CAPITAL �REALIZING YOUR FULL SOCIAL
NET WORTH Study conclusions provide marketers with key
recommendations to driving a positive and mutually beneficial
relationship with the youth market. Social networking environments
clearly provide fertile ground for the use of innovative, new media
tactics, offering advertisers tremendous opportunity to reach
consumers while integrating their brands and messages into their
audience�s daily lives. �The social media landscape appears to
offer nearly limitless opportunity for brands to deepen and broaden
their relationship with customers, yet out research shows that
today�s young media producers will put a limit on messages that
don�t treat them as partners.�, states Peter Grunwald, President,
Grunwald Associates. �For advertisers vying for the right to
participate in their world, the white paper uncovered key insights
and guidance for making a proper entry.� For marketers to achieve
their full social net worth, following the rules set by their
consumers and their parents offer the most reward: Be Sensitive:
Marketers must respect social network user�s feelings of ownership
and emotional attachment to their profile pages. Marketers and site
owners who maintain a clear separation between their content and
kids� personal content as well as involve kids in the advertising
process, have the best chance to gain acceptance from kids who
don�t want brands infiltrating their spaces without their approval.
Be Useful: Marketers will be welcomed if they help kids reach their
online goals. Through creative site building tools and special
content offerings that enhance their spaces, such as games, video,
and virtual characters, users will recognize your brands value to
their personal pages. Many tweens and teens will gladly place
advertising on their sites in exchange for useful content and
tools. Parents will support brands that are helping their children
with what they feel to be important skill set building and
educational activities. Be Fun: Marketers must appeal to young
social network users need to be entertained. Kids were most
positive about sponsors associated with free access to digital
entertainment such as music, games, and video. Such offerings
enhance their experience and their personal spaces and can also be
invested with educational value, further garnering the approval of
parents. Be Interested: Marketers should treat young people as
their partners. Social networking offers abundant opportunity for
brands to capture important information from this audience and
brand that are engaging them in the creation of their products and
in the process of achieving their advertising goals will be most
successful over time. Be Innovative: Marketers must raise the bar.
Kids are seeking new tools and the latest technology to enhance
their personal spaces and social interactions online. Brands have
significant opportunity to capitalize on tweens and teens creative
and social desires by supplying them with the tools that will make
them stand out amongst their peers and in return, brands will gain
their valuable support. Skey concluded, �Marketers have tremendous
opportunity to solidify authentic connections to these modern
content drivers if they heed to the demands of young consumers and
provide them with the value and the utility they�ve come to expect.
Send the right message and you can attract the right group of loyal
�friends� and brand advocates.� Study Methodology This white paper
draws heavily on findings from Kids� Social Networking a new study
from Grunwald Associates underwritten by Microsoft, News
Corporation, and Verizon. The study is comprised of three parallel
national surveys of children ages 9-17, parents and school district
decision-makers. Carefully constructed nationally representative
samples of 1,277 teens/children, 1,039 parents and 250 school
districts were used. More detailed results and analysis using
demographic and psychographic profiles are available directly from
Grunwald Associates. For information on obtaining this analysis
along with the underlying data from these surveys, please contact
Grunwald Associates (301) 263-9192 or info@grunwald.com For more
information regarding the white paper, please contact: Jodi Smith
jsmith@alloymarketing.com Alloy Media + Marketing 212-329-8359
About Alloy Media + Marketing Alloy Media + Marketing is one of the
country's largest providers of nontraditional media programs
reaching targeted consumer segments. AM+M manages a diverse array
of assets and services in interactive, display, direct mail,
content production and educational programming. AM+M works with
over 1500 companies including half of the Fortune 200. For more
information on AM+M services and investor relations (NASDAQ ALOY),
please visit www.AlloyMarketing.com About Grunwald Associates
Grunwald Associates LLC (www.grunwald.com) is an independent
research and consulting firm that has conducted the industry's most
respected surveys on child, parent and educator media use since
1995. Grunwald surveys helped define the home and school technology
markets, and have been called the "gold standard" in the industry.
The firm also conducts qualitative research and provides analysis
to corporate and education clients. Grunwald research partners and
key clients have included Scholastic, Discovery, PBS, BellSouth,
Kodak, the Educational Testing Service, Sesame Workshop, the George
Lucas Educational Foundation, Apple, and many others.
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