What are some of the latest trends or developments in marketing to youth for 2010 and beyond? Are there any new technologies or strategies that the Mashup will be covering this year?
Over the past year, “social media” has become the buzzword in youth marketing. The internet has always had a “social” and viral aspect to it from the days of old school message boards and chat. What’s different is that marketers have discovered the power of friend collections and how social networking sites make it much easier to get your message/brand/app out to friends, friends of friends, and so on. I know our speakers will touch on the “new” technologies or companies people are talking about right now – Foursquare, iPad apps, etc. (though Loopt has been doing versions of Foursquare without the badges/game elements for the past few years), I think the takeaway will be that it’s the authenticity of the content and the conversation that are always more important than the tools and technology. One of our keynotes, Dr. Genevieve Bell, will actually touch on youth around the world who are not plugged in as well.
