Today’s tweens can’t grow up quickly enough.
Though the group historically has wanted some of the freedom and things enjoyed by teenagers, it’s a desire that is gaining momentum among today’s 8- to 12-year-olds, who, for the most part, are more sophisticated than their predecessors were as recently as 10 years ago.
That pattern was revealed in Zandl Group’s new Hot Sheets, comparing trends now with those in 1996, as well as in the findings of generation experts and marketing agencies. Greater exposure to marketing at an ever-earlier age, including ads in schools; the influence of older siblings in a family-oriented Millennial generation, and parents dishing out the bucks to provide kids with more grown-up products and experiences are all feeding the mind-set, noted Irma Zandl, founder and president of The Zandl Group, a youth trend forecaster.
Increasing interaction with nonpeer groups, a phenomenon described by sociologist Juliet B. Schor as a “desegregation of social worlds,” is resulting, she said, in the exposure of more tweens to sex, sickness and death earlier in life — a life with fewer restrictions than were seen previously. “Kids are more comfortable with adults mingled in with all aspects of their worlds,” observed generation expert Neil Howe. “We also see this on TV shows — that’s very new. Even on something as racy and popular as ‘The O.C.’ you have kids’ and adults’ stories interwoven, compared with ‘90210′ or ‘Melrose Place,’ where teens’ and adults’ worlds were very separate.”
These dynamics are playing out in the entertainment, consumer electronics and fashion choices of tweens, among other aspects of their personal lives. In compiling the September Hot Sheet, Zandl Group found more tweens opting for brands that are “premium, sophisticated and/or edgy” — names that in the past would have held more appeal for teens and young adults. They include Abercrombie & Fitch, Coach (purses), Puma, iPods, T-Mobile Sidekick, MySpace.com, the video game “Grand Theft Auto,” Mudd, Skechers, Axe, Victoria’s Secret, Mountain Dew, Olive Garden and T.G.I. Friday’s.
“There’s an emerging trend of [younger] Millennials dressing like their Gen-X parents,” Howe said. “If you have younger people dressing like people who are older, and older people who are dressing younger, you remove the need for peer separation [from others], particularly in the worlds of fashion, values and culture.”
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At the same time, tweens are turning into individualists about the brands they want and trends they follow at a much earlier stage. “Traditionally, a huge number of tweens would be into a popular trend,” Zandl said of a group that includes 9.7 million girls ages 8 to 12. “Now they’re moving in different ways earlier. Technology is part of it — they’re exposed to more things earlier than before.”
As the trends and brands embraced by tweens are becoming more diverse, there are still a handful of common themes: the rise of technology, a decline in sports participation and the staying power of the Nike brand, despite the absence of an iconic endorser of Michael Jordan’s magnitude. “The decline in sports is massive,” Zandl said. “Budget cutbacks limit availability, rising competitiveness rules out average kids getting involved, and parents are afraid to let their kids out [unsupervised],” she related. “Obesity is rising, there’s an increase in sports scandals, and a growing sense it’s easier to excel in video games.”
Since they can barely remember a time without wireless devices, it’s likely today’s tweens will opt for the next generation of apparel and accessories that incorporate technology or provide places to store or use it in creative ways, projected Samantha Skey, senior vice president of strategic marketing at Alloy Media and Marketing. “Eight-year-olds have grown up in a portable world, with an on-the-go mind-set,” Skey noted. “Nike’s doing some things like building pockets and hooks [into apparel] for iPods and Sidekicks. I’d expect demand [from tweens] to meet this product innovation.”
It’s not unusual for a third- or fourth-grader to have an iPod, a cell phone or a backpack with compartments designed to hold those items, Schor said, a phenomenon being leveraged by marketers who not long ago would have aimed such efforts at an older crowd, notably teens and young adults.
About half of the 2,213 tweens surveyed in July by Harris Interactive Youth said talking online with their friends makes them feel cool and like they’re always able to be connected.
In part through their use of technologies like the Internet and cell phones, tweens are learning more about things until recently considered the province of older individuals, the Hot Sheets show. Talks with their families, exposure to mature themes in movies and on TV and warnings at home and school about threats like kidnappers and online predators are also figuring in. “As a result,” the Hot Sheets state, “[tweens] are attuned to edgier and older-skewing marketing and entertainment, with favorites including 50 Cent, Eminem, Pussycat Dolls, MTV, Dave Chappelle and GTA Vice City.”
Nonetheless, Zandl raised a warning flag for tween marketers, advising them to be “sensitive,” as parents have become more aware of this phenomenon. “Parents are becoming increasingly concerned about what is coming at their children,” she said. “They’re really frustrated in their efforts to control that. Pussycat Dolls is a prime example.
“Because a lot of people in the fashion world aren’t parents and aren’t in the heartland, it’s something people ought to be particularly cautious about,” Zandl advised.
Kids themselves also tend to pull back at some point. “Tweens have greater access to edgier things, but there’s still a cognitive catch-up that has to occur,” Skey said. “If they’re told ‘Grand Theft Auto’ is bad, they’re generally inclined to listen.”
What’s Next?
- As tweens are exposed to more options, their tastes for brands will increasingly
- A growing number of sophisticated, premium products and stores will start aiming their marketing and offerings at tweens.
- With continuing warnings about various dangers in the world, tweens will become savvier, and more mature entertainment and products will seem relevant to them.
- More portable electronics, such as Treo and Bluetooth, will be marketed to kids.
Source: The Zandl Group, September 2006