In recent weeks, I've been doing some casual and targeted research on the behavior of the youth market. I've got to say that it's been an eye opener for me. I'll admit that I'm not the target youth market, and for a while, my mind has not been there. I've been in the corporate world, in a corporate mindset, where being older, wiser, and uptight and conservative is the norm, or the accepted.
I learned that teens drive retail sales. This is real. Corporate types who don't understand this are comfortable where they are and don't need to change, but to move ahead and create new markets, they need to go to the stores themselves, not hear it from their daughters and sons or think they know what teens will buy. Those companies fail. On March 11 05, Bear Stearns bought a stake in the hottest maker of premium jeans (7 for All Mankind). Every female under 30 knows this brand and probably has a pair or two or five. But some old executive at Bear Stearns noticed it because his daughter told him about how huge it is in the youth market and was smart enough to offer to purchase it, even though it had not been for sale.
My wife is very aware of the youth market and does research on trends in the fashion industry. She's been trying to get me to see the trends towards "younger" and more casual-classy clothing. I've always resisted being the uptight corporate guy. I've been going to the malls to observe the trends myself, and I am surprised.
What is selling is the youth oriented experiential stores. These are the Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Ruehl, Izod, Coach! These are stores where you walk in and feel like you're in a different world. Some are like exclusive clubs, dark, attractive people, plasma screens, focused lighting. Others are fresh, light, and new. For example, I've never really liked A&F, but when I tried to notice the demographic and buying patterns there, it was buzzing. People go there to hang out with friends, check out their favorite t-shirts, and the lines are always very long. The old parents look out of place. They complain that it's too dark and the music too loud. Almost always, they're sitting on the couches or wait outside the store. But the experience draws the younger crowd inside...and they drive purchases and the trends. Revenue and share prices have gone up compared with others in the retail industry.
Take Coach, the luggage and bag store. Have you been there recently? I remember Coach having dark wood panelled walls, with all tan leathered luggage and bags...conservative, sturdy, business-like. I went in and the store experience is completely different. They're all white, recessed lighting that focuses on premium merchandise, and not one tan bag anywhere. Colorful bags, younger styles, and the people...all young girls with their moms begging them to buy them the latest style. It's an amazing transformation. Sales and share prices have skyrocketed in recent years...I know, my wife is a shareholder and she knew this all along. Same with Loui Vuitton.
teens are very savvy; drivers of new media
Teens know the "cool" stores. They know the marketing tricks. And they know what they like. And they tell their friends about it. It's also about personalization. There's a lot of buzz recently about the "personal media revolution". It's a new term and not too main stream yet. (for example Ourmedia.org). This organization provides a free medium where anyone can get recognized for their creativity, their voice heard, and share ideas with friends, and anyone on the web. If there was a cable channel that allowed teens to share their views, it has the potential to hit it big. We're going in the direction where "personal media" as I like to call it is ubiquitous and accessible for free. Viral marketing and sharing of information, in the form of p2p photo sharing, podcasting, blogs, and moblogs are driven by free thinkers and the younger crowd. These are new to you and I, but teens, who were born between 1986 and 1997 only know this as a normal part of life. They have to have the newest most stylish cell phone or Sidekick (with all the gems on it a la Paris Hilton) (Wired article) to stay in touch with friends. I know of 7 year olds in Manhattan who have cell phones. Sixteen is the age now where kids have credit cards, i.e. start buying online, even if it's microtransactions, and drive their cars to go to the mall. And speaking of cars, Toyota's Scion brand is a successful venture where they target a younger market and is an experiential brand where the Scion dealers are more like walking into an experience rather than a typical auto dealer where you walk around a lot or showroom full of cars under bright artificial lighting.
The market is shifting. Stores that don't get it will fade away or get acquired (Sears/KMart, Circuit City, JCPenney) by buyout firms like Eddie Lampert's ESL Investments. I know the current stores in big malls that don't get it. They're easy to spot. I walk in and look at the demographic, style, and lack of customers. It's important though to sense and respond to the market and not being set on one idea. I think a few companies get it, but the ones that don't will turn into another Sears, Kmart, or JCPenney.
With all the 
I love green tea. It's my drug. haha...
