Exclusive: Is the teen culture dead? How to find and revive the teen market

The Simba Dragon Ball Z in the early 2000s gave Millennials a childhood they will never forget (Image supplied)

We often hear this particular group of adults go on about how good they had it growing up - how they’ve had the best clothes, music, TV shows, overall entertainment and games.

Comparing their childhoods, and aspects that made their experiences great, with those of other generations these 90s kids are constantly claiming that the teen market ended with them.

Now the question is: how did brands during this era manage to give this group of kids a childhood they’d never forget?

Simba and Dragon Ball Z

A great example would be a campaign Simba ran in collaboration with Dragon Ball Z in the early 2000s when the brand placed Dragon Ball Z Tazos in every packet of Simba chips in South Africa.

Lucian Van Wyk took his fellow Millennials on a trip down memory lane, reminiscing on how they would constantly use what he described as “measly allowances” to purchase either a packet of NikNaks, Lays, Doritos or Fritos to hunt down various characters to add to their collections for weeks on end.

They traded ones they already had with friends, adding that there were trading games where “if you manage to flip another person’s Tazo on its opposite side with your Tazo, you could keep it”.

While significantly driving product sales, there are quite a few attributes that contributed to the success of this 2000’s campaign.

Gamifying it was one of them.

Tapping into a popular franchise like Dragon Ball Z created instant appeal for this particular generation.

Adding key factors like collectability and scarcity drove the campaign even harder, alongside social exchange and peer engagement.

By creating a promotional campaign that appealed to kids’ passion and sense of fun, Simba ensured this strategy encouraged their snack sales simply through repeat purchases.

Starbucks has attracted the Gen Z market without speaking directly to this demographic but simply utilising tactics from the marketing playbook that attract teens and tweens (image supplied)

Starbucks courts the younger generation

One could argue that appealing to kids then was far easier than connecting with the tween market today, especially given the strict advertising regulations now in place.

It takes more than just a gamified collaboration to attract kids today. Mainstream media and content have expanded and are constantly growing and evolving, with modern kids consuming hyper-focused adult and young adult culture.

It has become increasingly difficult for brands to grab and maintain the attention of the Gen-Z market.

Brands like Starbucks, with a much older target audience, have found ways to combat the challenges many kid-friendly and predominantly adult brands face.

Starbucks has made it abundantly clear that they do not cater to kids, though in many cases they have referenced Gen-Z in their customer base.

Howard Schultz opened his first coffeehouse drawing inspiration from Milan’s espresso bars but is said to have discovered that “catering to the taste of the American masses would require moving further and further away from that quaint concept”.

This led to the brand adapting its approach to what has been referred to as “a concentrated effort to court young people that permeates productive development and marketing in a strategic effort to create lifelong customers”.

Starbucks achieved this without speaking directly to this demographic but simply by utilising tactics from the marketing playbook that attract teens and tweens.

Tailored for Instagram

Schultz’s approach became evident back in 2017 with the brand’s Zombie Frappuccino campaign where the brand released a striking, spooky design with vibrant cream zombie flesh and pink whipped cream brain on top for its Halloween promotion.

Of course, the visually striking design of the drink was tailored for Instagram and Snapchat - which naturally drew customers to share pictures.

Behind the simple limited promotional campaign lies an incredibly complex strategy aimed at outmanoeuvre and navigating strict guidelines and regulations.

Starbucks was at another huge and truly ironic advantage in recruiting younger consumers: parental support. Parents have played a great role in advocating for Starbucks passing down the tradition as well as funding it regularly.

As admirable as Starbucks’ approach is, its efforts in locking young people down remain utterly impressive given how hard it is to engage young people in today’s highly content-filled digital, let alone competitive, landscape.

A shift in marketing

Comparing Simba’s 2003 and Starbucks’ 2017 campaigns leave no doubt that there’s been a shift in marketing and advertising strategies - an evolutionary change that illustrates the brands’ response to changing consumer behaviours and preferences in an increasingly digital market landscape.

In many cases, adults have vocalised their concerns regarding adult content pushing out family-friendly content and overlooking young people.

The biggest criticism is that, as marketers, we should centre our children in our public spaces and content. This can be achieved by creating more space, entertainment and fads that are age-appropriate.

Using vibrant colours, emphasising how they align with youthful exuberance, tapping into pop culture trends and social media appeal, and paying close attention to what young people are talking about, has helped Starbucks evolve into a brand that speaks directly to teenagers and tweens.

Effective ways to engage

Agencies can collaborate with clients to enhance brand appeal and engage with this young demographic in several potentially effective ways.

1. Working with clients to expand their product lines to include options that cater to non-traditional customers would be a start. That will help teens who may not typically engage with the brand perceive them as more appealing.

2. Showcasing how products fit into their daily lives to make them more aspirational and desirable would be a great start, as would identifying key trends and interests, and tailoring messaging to speak directly to those interests.

3. To further create strategies that enhance credibility and appeal, it’s important to help clients build a strong presence on platforms that are popular with teens. For Starbucks in 2017 it may have been Snapchat but in today’s landscape, it would undoubtedly be TikTok.

Ultimately, we can take a page or two from Starbucks’ success with a younger audience to build a strong connection with the Gen-Z and potentially rebuild the tween market.