Are you textually active?

Pete likes Jenny. Like in, a lot actually. But she doesn’t know! He spends his nights listening to Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” and “When you’re Gone” through his earphones on his MP3 enabled Samsung D900. He like, thinks of her and stuff.
From her Facebook profile he knows that she loves Avril Lavigne, is into soft teddy bears and thinks Brad Pitt is like, a babe! He knows all of her friends by browsing her Flickr photo albums. He even knows why her previous boyfriend was dumped, all thanks to being in the same Mxit group and picking up on her heartbroken conversations with others willing to listen.
He’s carefully planning his first meeting with her. He’s calculating how much money he’ll require for the first date. He’s carefully rehearsing his pick up lines in his head. He needs to be funny, but not sarcastic. Also not too funny, because that’s just childish and hey, he’s like, 16 already.
He’s not planning on what to wear for the date, how to style his hair and he’s most definitely not practicing his killer smile in the mirror. And his pimply face is the last thing that is depriving him of any sleep. Why is that?
Simply because the entire date will occur via his mobile phone. The money he requires is based on airtime. He’s in charge. Technology has enabled him to present the perfect model of himself to this girl. His best picture is stored on his phone ready to be fired off when things aren’t looking up for him.
Does this sound familiar? I bet it does to the majority of people reading this that are younger than 30. For the rest, parents included, this might be a revelation of what goes on for hours behind his closed bedroom door at night. It also explains his constant plea for airtime.
There are millions of Petes and Jennys out there. Each one of them is representative of a brand. A brand that defines their being, albeit skewed at that early stage of adulthood. Whether it is healthy that Pete’s entire wardrobe is Puma and Billabong oriented and Jenny prefers Sissy Boy jeans, is irrelevant.
The fact is, just like their airtime requirements, their choice in brand affinity is non-negotiable. Parents spend millions on these brands each year. The truth is though, if some of these brands knew how to revisit their own childhood days, mommies and daddies would have to spend even more.
Good news for brands. Bad news for parents. For these kids have little money to spend on these brands. It is also a futile attempt marketing their brand to the parents of these kids. They are all too relieved to know that some of these advertising are missed because Pete is upstairs locked in his room.
Pete and Jenny on the other hand would not mind for a second when a quick video or MMS interrupts their first date with a special offer on an Xbox 360 or the latest Avril Lavigne album.
Think about your product for a second. Think about who your target market is. Kids don’t have money, but they have influence beyond your wildest imagination.
Then think about a vehicle to carry your message to these little manipulators and then execute on it. Parents would be so proud of you!

http://bluespotmedia.ning.com/