YPulse Multicultural Mashup

I had the pleasure of moderating a panel at the YPulse conference last week titled "Identity Politics - Marketing to Youth in the Age of Obama: In an era where youth identity is being influenced by online & mobile interactions, is Urban and Multicultural marketing dead?"

Heavy title… I know.  First time I read it, I had a Black Rob moment… like whoa!!  I digress.  Here’s a quick summary of what I heard from the panelists.  I’ll talk tomorrow about what I learned.

 

Neela Banerjee, Editor 
at YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia

It's CRUCIAL for young people to see themselves in the world, so in that sense urban and multicultural marketing is important.

 

Roland Brown, Chief Cultivator at Parallel MVMT

Talk with, not to youth. This generation can speak for itself, and respects a two-way dialogue.  Being genuine, and growing organically is vital - being a part of the community you market to is important, and/or get people involved who really are.

 

Kevin Walker, Managing Partner at Culture Lab Creative

The agency system ill equipped to effectively market to this generation.  Agencies and clients still want to segment by race, i.e. Hispanic, African American, and Asian.  When in reality the younger generation is more segmented by lifestyle, interest, and what "tribe" they identify with.  Identity for young people in this day and age is more 
complicated than just their ethnic identity. 

Comments

[Unorthodoks]

Kevin Walker's point is dead on. Much more accurate to define by interests, music genres, etc.