While commercials are all well and good, they are no longer enough to really make an impact on the purchasing public, at least the teen public. Advertisers have to go the extra mile. Even the number one cola company, Coca Cola has to work at it, through a broader marketing plan that includes direct marketing. This involves giving away free samples of product on school campuses. Shoe companies, like Nike and Adidas give out free samples of their shoes hoping to start a trend. By giving free stuff, companies establish a good feeling with the consumer, and that helps to develop brand loyalty at an early age. Everyone loves free samples, especially marketers because they create an incentive to buy a product that otherwise might have gone unnoticed.
Clearly, marketing plans are not what they used to be. On top of the usual television commercial or radio spot there are newer means of reaching out to a bigger audience. Direct marketing with sampling, flyers and email, grass roots advertising with teen events, on-line promotions, etc. are just some of the new avenues that are being discovered as wonderful advertising resources.
Some ways in which teen buying habits are discovered, however, can be exploitive to young teens. "There should be a limit of at least 15 years of age to get teen’s reactions to a given product," Ms. Petrecca told TeenSpeak. "Agencies have to be careful about how and where they get their information," she added. Some advertisers see dollar signs and don't respect or consider a teen's privacy or age. Mailing lists made public are just one of the ways in which advertisers can mishandle their professionalism, especially if the product under consideration is not age appropriate for the audience they are targeting.
With teens wanting to be older than their age, advertisers have to use caution when creating an ad strategy. The once popular, now "extinguished" Joe Camel commercials, for example, made smoking appealing to a younger crowd. Although the phrase, "Whassup" came from Budweiser commercials, let's hope that the younger teen set is only interested in the cool phrase.
