How do young people judge and relate to brands, advertising and the media?

Working in partnership with EMAP we pioneered a major innovative UK study to explore the relationship brands, advertising and the media have with the ever-challenging ‘youth’ market. We identified the criteria on which all brands, media and advertising are judged across the 12-22 age group. Core values were found which directly affected identity and image, perceived value for money and decisions to buy.

From rich discussions and creative tasks over 10 000 beliefs on brands, advertising and media were collected, coded and analysed. It was possible to show how expectations and needs shift across different product sectors (such as retail, cosmetics, food and fashion), across age groups and across gender. The relative strengths of different media formats were assessed.

The use of values and success criteria made it possible to demonstrate how a product becomes a brand and how a brand's values can be supported by effective media and advertising communications. Over 20 major brands were assessed within this project.