"Youth" vs." The Uninformed"

[TheBigA]

I could be wrong but I'm not buying the stereotype that all young people fit into the categories of uninformed and gullible.

When you build logic on an assumption, as you did, then the conclusion obviously doesn't necessarily follow. We have no real evidence that advertisers think as you say.

The real story is not that young people are more gullible, but that older people tend to be more set in their ways, thus less likely to change their buying habits because of advertising. That's more the driving force here.

 

[Avid Listener]

Let me put it this way: It's really hard to sell something to a person after they've slammed the door in your face or hung up on you. The whole process is about preventing that from happening, so you can GET to the real reason you're speaking to them. An early book on the subject was "Getting To Yes." And yes, many more have been written. But at the end of the day, you can't sell ice to an eskimo, and you can't sell pimple cream to an 85 year old man. It's not really that complicated. It's really just common sense.

I suspect the problem is that you are using selling as a model, as in one-to-one transactions, while advertising on the radio is all about marketing, which is a different thing.

 

[Avid Listener]

I was totally with you until you made the above statement. I believe you missed the point of my original post.

What I suggested is that it's NOT as simple as the conventional wisdom that advertisers are obsessed with "youth." Age demographics are only ONE element of deciding who to target. My theory is that what radio advertisers really want is listeners who will accept pretty much anything as gospel. You can see it in the dumbing down of programming which I believe is actually helping to deliver that audience. You can also see it in commercials that tout "lifestyles" instead of features and benefits. But it's all done in the guise of targeting "younger" (read, less informed) listeners.

I could be wrong but I'm not buying the stereotype that all young people fit into the categories of uninformed and gullible.

I suspect we're in closer agreement than you think. I agree that advertisers would rather reach gullible consumers than skeptical consumers. I also agree that stereotyping young people as uniformed and gullible is wrong. The only thing I'd add, which neither agrees nor disagrees with anything you've said so far, is that uninformed and gullible are two different, and often unrelated things. I know far too many well-informed people who are still incredibly gullible, and too many close-minded, super-skeptical people who are also pretty much clueless.

 

[TheBigA]

I suspect the problem is that you are using selling as a model, as in one-to-one transactions, while advertising on the radio is all about marketing, which is a different thing.

Selling and marketing are basically the same things, except in terms of scale and creativity. Anybody can sell. It helps to have an advanced degree to be a marketing exec. But the goal is the same: Getting some poor slob to part with his money. Sticking your hand in his pockets without him knowing. Until you're gone.

I know far too many well-informed people who are still incredibly gullible, and too many close-minded, super-skeptical people who are also pretty much clueless.

I agree. The real hard thing for a person to do as they get older is keep an open mind, and stay aware of what's going on around them.

 

[wadio]

... uninformed and gullible are two different, and often unrelated things. I know far too many well-informed people who are still incredibly gullible, and too many close-minded, super-skeptical people who are also pretty much clueless.

I agree as well. That's why I think it's treading on thin ice to ascribe certain behavioral patterns to race, gender ... and age. As you say, it's far more complicated than that. Which is why I say I'm not convinced the advertising community is simply targeting "youth." It's just a theory. Yes, an assumption on my part.

 

[Avid Listener]

I agree as well. That's why I think it's treading on thin ice to ascribe certain behavioral patterns to race, gender ... and age. As you say, it's far more complicated than that. Which is why I say I'm not convinced the advertising community is simply targeting "youth." It's just a theory. Yes, an assumption on my part.

I suspect that they might use the term "youth" to actually mean "young-thinking in terms of openness to new advertising messages". As I keep saying, it's really very complicated, far too complicated to address with accuracy and nuance in discussion forum posts.

The other thing is that marketing differs from sales in that it's based on broad, sweeping generalities. To use a metaphor, sales is trying to catch a fish using a baited hook on a line. Marketing is trying to catch big schools of fish in a net. There's room in the world of angling for both methods. Buying airtime to get people to buy your products is like fishing with a net. That works best if your target is lots of tuna or herring. If you want to reach customers who act more like trout, big nets don't work very well. Fly casting rods do.

No metaphor is ever 100% accurate. I'm positive people can shoot holes in the metaphor I used to illustrate the principle. But even though the metaphor is only a rough approximation to illustrate the principle, I believe that the principle itself is sound. Radio is a mass-market medium, best suited to marketing products best sold through quick little soundbites and slogans. Products like investment portfolio products, that are best sold through detailed explanation of benefits and features, aren't as well suited to quick little soundbites like radio commercials.

 

[wadio]

Radio is best at creating brand identity, but that doesn't necessarily mean avoiding specifics.

Subaru did very will over the years by pounding away with the slogan about transferring traction, "From the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip." It was catchy and offered listeners a real benefit. Today they say, "We'd like to think we're building great stories as well as great cars." Of course they're not -- they're presenting an ad copy writer's contrived idea of a great story. But, OK, they think today's listeners are too stupid to understand anything that isn't touchy feely.

Geico gets it. "15 minutes can save you 15% or more on car insurance." That message is everywhere -- on stations with young and old demos.

 

[Avid Listener]

Radio is best at creating brand identity, but that doesn't necessarily mean avoiding specifics.

Subaru did very will over the years by pounding away with the slogan about transferring traction, "From the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip." It was catchy and offered listeners a real benefit. Today they say, "We'd like to think we're building great stories as well as great cars." Of course they're not -- they're presenting an ad copy writer's contrived idea of a great story. But, OK, they think today's listeners are too stupid to understand anything that isn't touchy feely.

Geico gets it. "15 minutes can save you 15% or more on car insurance." That message is everywhere -- on stations with young and old demos.

By George, you've got it! (I've always wanted to be able to use that phrase in a post.)

It's too bad there isn't a forum in here to discuss the creative component of radio advertising. In all format forums, there are discussions of what audience demographics to go after, and how to capture which segment. But I think that the content of radio spots is at least as important as the audience segment that's targeted. I know that most of radio spots are done by professional ad agencies, but there are still a lot of local spots produced in-house by the stations themselves. I wish there was a venue for discussing that topic.

 

[wadio]

I wish there was a venue for discussing that topic.

Me too. In fact I suggested it on the AskRadioDiscussions forum a few months ago. After all advertising is the business of radio!

 

[wadio]

If I may: http://radioinsight.com/community/board/general/advertising-production/