YMME AND KMME PRESENT: Create NEXT NOW

Future forward practices for connecting deeply with the Modern Family Unit by translating needs and trends into new business opportunities
May 10-12, 2010
Chicago, IL

The Institute for International Research is excited to announce that production of the YMME AND KMME PRESENT: Create NEXT NOW conference s underway. We will be reviewing presentation submissions until September 21st – space is limited so please submit your ideas TODAY! This three-day event is the destination for those looking to reach all segments of the modern, young family – moms, dads, kids, tweens and teens. Showcasing what’s next in these markets in terms of shopper behavior, interests, and the latest in market research, marketing, trends and innovation, the conference will bring together corporate best practices and gurus to facilitate understanding and connecting with these focused segments.

Your Opportunity
We are currently recruiting corporate practitioners to share unique ideas, perspectives and case studies related to future trends. Got a good story to tell? Have a provocative perspective that needs to be shared? I’m interested in hearing from you.

Session topics include but are not limited to:
• Youths and Parents: Shopping Habits and Behaviors
• Trends in the Future of Social Media
• Integrating New Trends into Traditional Products to Grow Your Brand
• How is the Family Dynamic Changing?
• What’s New in Green?
• Parent to Friend: The Changing Parent/Millennial Relationship
• Cutting Edge Trends: What’s Next?

Submission Guidelines & Deadline
For consideration, please e-mail Amy Kritzer at akritzer@iirusa.com with the following information by Monday, September 21st:
• Proposed speaker name(s), job title(s), and company name(s)
• Contact information including address, telephone and fax numbers and e-mail
• Title of presentation
• Brief overview of the presentation (1 paragraph plus 3 – 5 key audience “takeaways): Please write this with the knowledge that if your proposal is selected, this description will be printed in the brochure
• Previous conference presentations and/or brief speaker biography

Due to the high volume of responses, we are unable to respond to each submission. All those selected to participate as speakers will be notified shortly after the deadline.

Thank you for your interest in Create NEXT NOW!

All the best,
Amy Kritzer
Senior Conference Producer
Marketing and Business Strategy Division
Institute for International Research
akritzer@iirusa.com

This blog post on the NY Times highlights research conducted by comScore which shows that only 11 percent of Twitter users are between the ages of 12 to17. The success of Twitter has instead been driven by a more elder group. Another example that the use of social media has grown within an older age group is Forrester’s latest report which shows that social networking by people aged 35 to 54 grew 60 percent in the last year.

This goes to show you that teens are using these technologies, but they are more fickle and don’t tend to stick to one type of network. Just like how they helped grow MySpace and Friendster, but then soon moved over to Facebook. Marketers will have to understand this concept fully before trying to reach teens on Twitter.

With the much anticipated release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince next Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal recently took a look at how the franchise is being challenged for young adults attention by the most recent series of books to be made into movies: Twilight.  The Harry Potter franchise is facing competition for their market for the first time in their series.  The Wall Street Journal states that they’ve had to alter some of the marketing campaigns and that they could have also been impacted when they moved the release date from November 2008 to Mid-Summer 2009.  Has the challenge changed the way Potter is being presented?  Warners Brothers states that it hasn’t changed any marketing campaigns on account of Twilight, and is still reaching their loyal audience it’s been building since the first movie was released in 2001.

Warner Bros. says the “Potter” movies have become more grown-up in order to follow the narrative of the books and to appeal to an audience that’s getting older. Nearly a decade has elapsed since the “Potter” producers cast an 11-year-old Daniel Radcliffe in the pivotal role of Harry. “As the characters and storylines of the Harry Potter films have matured, our marketing materials have followed suit,” says a studio representative. (A 2006 survey found that the average age kids started reading the series was 9 and that nearly 60% of kids aged 9 to 11 had read it.)

Read the full article here.

After only a few years, FOX has decided to shut down its youth focused film unit, Atomic Films.

According to Reuters,

During its brief history, Atomic had modest success with pictures such as “28 Weeks Later,” which grossed $45 million domestically, and “The Hills Have Eyes 2.” But it fell short with such recent films as “The Rocker,” “Miss March” and “12 Rounds.”

Is more bad news for the youth movie industry to come? Could marketing differently saved this unit?

According to MediaPost.com, Drug Free America is now going mobile with their marketing towards teens. According to MediaPost’s article, But the partnership relies on pro bono contributions from agencies and media partners to get its work done, Baris says. In this case, the media partner is Ringleader Digital and the agency contributor is Contagious. “We have a lot of stars aligning at the right time to bring this to life.”The pro bono effort uses banner ads from two ongoing interactive efforts — the teen-oriented “Check Yourself” and the parent-aimed, “Time to Talk” — reformatted to work on mobile platforms. Once at the mobile WAP sites, parents can sign up to receive their first “talk tip” via text message, and teens can use the Check Yourself site to examine their relationship with drugs and alcohol and share the site with friends via text messaging. Will parlaying the Drug Free effort to mobile phones prove beneficial for the non-profit leader? We’d like to hear your thoughts.

This year the Youth Marketing Mega Event is please to welcome keynote speaker, Jane Buckingham. Jane is President and Founder of The Intelligence Group/Youth Intelligence established in 1996. Jane is also the author of The Modern Girls Guide to Life. Building upon quantitative and qualitative analysis, the company provides marketing consulting, trend forecasting and market research to determine today’s concerns and tomorrow’s trends. Clients of the firm include leading fortune 500 companies and entertainment companies including Levis, Microsoft, Nike, NBC, Fox and Paramount pictures. The Intelligence Group/Youth Intelligence publishes the leading trend forecasting product, The Cassandra Report™ and also created trendcentral™ which includes a daily e-mail and comprehensive Internet trend site about 12-35 year olds, covering fashion, beauty, lifestyle, technology, and entertainment.Buckingham is a regular contributor to Good Morning America, a contributing editor at Cosmopolitan Magazine, and a columnist for the New York Times Syndicate, for which she writes a weekly column on trends.

According to ‘Net Buzz Examiner, Alloy Media + Marketing, the producers of Gossip Girl, have introduced TEEN.com “TV,” a new youth-focused digital entertainment network offering teen-targeted original web programming. According to Alloy Media + Marketing’s statement, debut programs developed exclusively for TEEN.com “TV” include original scripted programming such as Haute and Bothered, developed through its content partnership with United Talent Agency, and Private, based on the New York Times best-selling book series, created and produced by Alloy Entertainment; the series will feature exclusive content such as behind the scenes footage and interviews from Alloy’s Gossip Girl, Samurai Girl, The Clique, and red carpet events.

What do you think of the match up? Has the success of Twilight, Gossip Girl and dare we say the Jonas Brothers brought a renewed interest in teen centered television? We’d like to hear your thoughts.

A new study has come out that says those 15-24 years old spend only 9 minutes a day reading.  We’ve heard much hype over this generations fascination with book series such as Harry Potter and Twilight.  This article at IPS believes that the generation is taking in books and reading in different forms.  As they’ve grown up with digital media, so have their reading habits.  Marketing for these books has changed as well, and has grown to encompass movies, websites and blogs that cover fiction for the generation.

Could this generations reading habits be switching mediums? The article states that many readers have turn to social networks and fan fiction relating to their favorite books online.

What does this mean for marketers?  The two series mentioned above clearly have kids reading, but also have movies and huge internet followings.  What does this say about marketing to the younger generations?  Will not only marketing for the publishing industry have to change?

This latest post on Ypulse highlights how many girls who are still lucky enough to receive an allowance that are aged 8 to 15 have seen a significant increase in saving habits. Even though some parents are not discussing messy financial situations kids are still very much aware. And because of this, kids are more inclined to help out around the house and are asking for much less.

Meredith from Ypulse goes on to discuss how the “spoiled brats” label of Gen-Y may soon be gone altogether from the next generation. What are your thoughts?

According to AdAge.com, those nifty apps are a perfect way for marketers to get their product in the hands (literally) of their target audience. Though this is great for marketers is very bad for social skills. Lenore Skenazy says, if you’re a parent wondering what happened to your child who was just about to burst into the world, but got sucked into a smartphone instead, this may be the time to invent a killer app of your own: the unpaid phone bill. She claims that the apps are a great way for kids to waste time and dollars instead of playing with their friends or engaging in other activities–i.e., homework.

Are you seeing apps as a way to market to your target audience?