Many categories seem to be force-fitting the very young in their ads
NEW DELHI: Brands are falling into the trap of using youth or youthfulness to state a brand’s contemporary image
Society’s obsession with youth is dubbed ‘iPodification’
There is a sudden explosion of youthfulness on our screens. While TV channels are churning out youth-centric content, such as Sony’s Bigg Boss and MTV Roadies, ads too are becoming increasingly fixated with the youth or their situation. Sure there are lifestyle brands, clothes, watches, that will use young people as they are the natural consumers for such categories. That is predictable. But using young boys in car ads, when they cannot afford buying cars, or expensive cellphones, makes one wonder why use young boys and girls when there are young men and women who have the money to buy these fancy toys?
Take for instance Hyundai’s Getz commercial. A young boy, probably a college going boy, spends agonising hours working on the seating arrangement so that he gets the chance to sit next to Sania Mirza’s young cousin, Kareena. Who, he later discovers much to his disappointment, is just a little kid. The ad uses a common situation from the lives of young boys and girls, where a boy wants to impress a girl, while both the marketer and the advertiser know that young people cannot afford the car.
Vivek Srivastava, executive director, Innocean, says the idea behind using a typical boy-girl situation is to connect with the young executives. “Getz is not an entry level car; it’s a premium hatchback with a youthful character.”
We’re youngest nation
And why should the use of a young boy in a big ticket item such as a car surprise, asks Dhunji S. Wadia, senior vice-president and general manager, JWT, Bangalore. Wadia’s argument is “India is the world’s youngest nation with over 54 per cent below the age of 25 years.”
Take the Motorola commercial. The father and mother keep wondering how their son has managed to get a cellphone… Could he have resorted to unlawful means to acquire a cellphone? Again such problems are common with the youth and perpetually harried middle class parents never tire of questioning their children who are yearn to own such objects of desire.
Fancy stuff like cellphones, iPods, bikes, cars, lifestyle products are now within the reach of the young. It is the statistics that tell marketers to chase the young boys and girls. “The youth today have the high disposable income. “The BPO generation is a testimony to that. Double income families also contribute to the kitty dramatically. For the youth today, life is about the 3Ms - Money, Malls and Multiplexes,” says Wadia of JWT.
Another reason for using young people in ads is that marketers want to catch them young. This is the right age, explains Srivastava since they are brand conscious and hence the opportunity of establishing a lasting relationship with the young. Moreover, their way of assessing brand value is also slightly different. The advantage of the offering is seen from the point of view of the peer group. “The advantage it gives them in their social circle,” says Srivastava.
But in the chase, marketers don’t want to look old and staid but young like the youth. “No marketer wants his brand to be perceived as old and fuddy-duddy. Therefore, the need to project a youthful image for their brand,” says Wadia.
In the Kinetic Blaze Scooty ad, a group of girls are seen going crazy over Rohit Verma. (Suspiciously, similar sounding as Digen Verma, the youth icon in the Frooti ads that never made a public appearance). A guy seeing the crowd of girls asks a nearby shopkeeper if Abhishek or John was around. The shopkeeper says that is our guy Rohit... Again the situation gives a youthful image to the brand. Sunsilk ‘Gang of Girls’ blog is another good example of taking the brand proposition forward and connecting with the lives of young girls. In effect, creating a youth community on the net.
Obsession with youth
Naresh Gupta, national head, account planning, Grey Cells, says “the brief in this country is make brands look younger”. And the way to make brands look younger is by getting young people in ads or situations pertaining to their lives. Ashutosh Khanna, chief operating officer, Grey Worldwide, tries to give a physiological explanation to this obsession with the youth or youthfulness. “In our mind’s eye we are still young. Look at me, I had never considered myself old, it is only now that I have turned 40 that I have suddenly realized that I am old.”
This state of mind is a reflection of the state of mind of society. “Go to a discothèque and see how people in their 30s are dressed up. They are dressed no different from those who are in their 20s,” says Khanna. With young men and women becoming more self-conscious about themselves, they all want to look young. This obsession with youth Srivastava calls ‘iPodification’. “Youth is like an aphrodisiac for them.”
Samit Sinha, managing partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, agrees: “When you are 16 you want to be 25 and when you are 40, you want to be 25. That age is a magical age.” Both for the young as well as the old, youthfulness is an aspiration. And therefore to have youth-like situations in ads for mature consumers makes perfect sense. “The youth’s language can be decoded universally,” says Wadia.
However, would that mean that throwing a good measure of young faces and youth-specific situations will successfully convey the contemporariness of the brand? Then in that matter, how does one explain the famous SBI old couple ad, where while the product offering was for young people, old people were used to put across the message. “In my personal opinion,” says Gupta of Grey, “old people seem to do a better job than the young people to convey the brand’s commitment.” According to Gupta, using youth to impart youthfulness to the ad does not do much to the brand value. “Whatever little contribution it makes is cosmetic.”
Where are the youth icons?
Gupta finds this youth-obsession ironic in a county without any real enduring youth icons in India. “With the exception of the tennis player Sania Mirza, most of the youth icons in India are above 40 years!” says Gupta. Sachin Tendulkar is still not 40 though. But Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan or Amitabh Bachchan, are old yet popular with the Indian youth.
While Emmanuel Upputuru, senior creative director, O&M Delhi agrees that client’s understanding of a youthful brand is limited to pretty boys and girls, using young people can never be the starting point for a creative person. Marketers more often than not, use young people because it is safe to use them. “You can’t do wrong there,” Upputuru says.
However at the same time Srivastava says that it’s better not to get carried away and lose the bearings of the brand. As one can see, now that brands are falling into the trap of using youth or youthfulness to state the brand’s contemporary image. “At times the tone and manner needs to be changed to give weight to communication of big ticket items such as cars and consumer durables.”
The youth, an aphrodisiac can turn into poison for a brand.
source : DNA
NEW DELHI: Brands are falling into the trap of using youth or youthfulness to state a brand’s contemporary image
Society’s obsession with youth is dubbed ‘iPodification’
There is a sudden explosion of youthfulness on our screens. While TV channels are churning out youth-centric content, such as Sony’s Bigg Boss and MTV Roadies, ads too are becoming increasingly fixated with the youth or their situation. Sure there are lifestyle brands, clothes, watches, that will use young people as they are the natural consumers for such categories. That is predictable. But using young boys in car ads, when they cannot afford buying cars, or expensive cellphones, makes one wonder why use young boys and girls when there are young men and women who have the money to buy these fancy toys?
Take for instance Hyundai’s Getz commercial. A young boy, probably a college going boy, spends agonising hours working on the seating arrangement so that he gets the chance to sit next to Sania Mirza’s young cousin, Kareena. Who, he later discovers much to his disappointment, is just a little kid. The ad uses a common situation from the lives of young boys and girls, where a boy wants to impress a girl, while both the marketer and the advertiser know that young people cannot afford the car.
Vivek Srivastava, executive director, Innocean, says the idea behind using a typical boy-girl situation is to connect with the young executives. “Getz is not an entry level car; it’s a premium hatchback with a youthful character.”
We’re youngest nation
And why should the use of a young boy in a big ticket item such as a car surprise, asks Dhunji S. Wadia, senior vice-president and general manager, JWT, Bangalore. Wadia’s argument is “India is the world’s youngest nation with over 54 per cent below the age of 25 years.”
Take the Motorola commercial. The father and mother keep wondering how their son has managed to get a cellphone… Could he have resorted to unlawful means to acquire a cellphone? Again such problems are common with the youth and perpetually harried middle class parents never tire of questioning their children who are yearn to own such objects of desire.
Fancy stuff like cellphones, iPods, bikes, cars, lifestyle products are now within the reach of the young. It is the statistics that tell marketers to chase the young boys and girls. “The youth today have the high disposable income. “The BPO generation is a testimony to that. Double income families also contribute to the kitty dramatically. For the youth today, life is about the 3Ms - Money, Malls and Multiplexes,” says Wadia of JWT.
Another reason for using young people in ads is that marketers want to catch them young. This is the right age, explains Srivastava since they are brand conscious and hence the opportunity of establishing a lasting relationship with the young. Moreover, their way of assessing brand value is also slightly different. The advantage of the offering is seen from the point of view of the peer group. “The advantage it gives them in their social circle,” says Srivastava.
But in the chase, marketers don’t want to look old and staid but young like the youth. “No marketer wants his brand to be perceived as old and fuddy-duddy. Therefore, the need to project a youthful image for their brand,” says Wadia.
In the Kinetic Blaze Scooty ad, a group of girls are seen going crazy over Rohit Verma. (Suspiciously, similar sounding as Digen Verma, the youth icon in the Frooti ads that never made a public appearance). A guy seeing the crowd of girls asks a nearby shopkeeper if Abhishek or John was around. The shopkeeper says that is our guy Rohit... Again the situation gives a youthful image to the brand. Sunsilk ‘Gang of Girls’ blog is another good example of taking the brand proposition forward and connecting with the lives of young girls. In effect, creating a youth community on the net.
Obsession with youth
Naresh Gupta, national head, account planning, Grey Cells, says “the brief in this country is make brands look younger”. And the way to make brands look younger is by getting young people in ads or situations pertaining to their lives. Ashutosh Khanna, chief operating officer, Grey Worldwide, tries to give a physiological explanation to this obsession with the youth or youthfulness. “In our mind’s eye we are still young. Look at me, I had never considered myself old, it is only now that I have turned 40 that I have suddenly realized that I am old.”
This state of mind is a reflection of the state of mind of society. “Go to a discothèque and see how people in their 30s are dressed up. They are dressed no different from those who are in their 20s,” says Khanna. With young men and women becoming more self-conscious about themselves, they all want to look young. This obsession with youth Srivastava calls ‘iPodification’. “Youth is like an aphrodisiac for them.”
Samit Sinha, managing partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, agrees: “When you are 16 you want to be 25 and when you are 40, you want to be 25. That age is a magical age.” Both for the young as well as the old, youthfulness is an aspiration. And therefore to have youth-like situations in ads for mature consumers makes perfect sense. “The youth’s language can be decoded universally,” says Wadia.
However, would that mean that throwing a good measure of young faces and youth-specific situations will successfully convey the contemporariness of the brand? Then in that matter, how does one explain the famous SBI old couple ad, where while the product offering was for young people, old people were used to put across the message. “In my personal opinion,” says Gupta of Grey, “old people seem to do a better job than the young people to convey the brand’s commitment.” According to Gupta, using youth to impart youthfulness to the ad does not do much to the brand value. “Whatever little contribution it makes is cosmetic.”
Where are the youth icons?
Gupta finds this youth-obsession ironic in a county without any real enduring youth icons in India. “With the exception of the tennis player Sania Mirza, most of the youth icons in India are above 40 years!” says Gupta. Sachin Tendulkar is still not 40 though. But Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan or Amitabh Bachchan, are old yet popular with the Indian youth.
While Emmanuel Upputuru, senior creative director, O&M Delhi agrees that client’s understanding of a youthful brand is limited to pretty boys and girls, using young people can never be the starting point for a creative person. Marketers more often than not, use young people because it is safe to use them. “You can’t do wrong there,” Upputuru says.
However at the same time Srivastava says that it’s better not to get carried away and lose the bearings of the brand. As one can see, now that brands are falling into the trap of using youth or youthfulness to state the brand’s contemporary image. “At times the tone and manner needs to be changed to give weight to communication of big ticket items such as cars and consumer durables.”
The youth, an aphrodisiac can turn into poison for a brand.
source : DNA