By Gene Del Vecchio
Author, Creating Blockbusters!

I’ve spent a career investigating and dissecting what youth audiences want. While they gravitate toward the timely and contemporary, they still find great comfort in the timeless and true. It’s the blend that makes for blockbusters, along with a good dose of what I term marketable artistry.

In a nationwide study that I conducted for my new book, Creating Blockbusters!, fielded by C+R Research, I asked four hundred people ages 8 to 55 what they like, dislike, and expect of today’s entertainment. Here’s a glimpse of what the 8 to 19 youth segment wants, as outlined in Creating Blockbusters!

Like all of us, youth audiences want a deeply emotional story. They want protagonists to face life and death struggles and to muster the bravery to achieve their full potential. These were among the top themes of over 20 tested.  But to break through, the story must be served up in a dramatic, unique way.  The Hunger Games comes to mind with its female protagonist and her selfless sacrifice to take her younger sister’s place in a futuristic battle to the death.

Youth audiences also love narratives that tickle their fears. Children age 8 to 12 want heroes to feel the terror of making big mistakes at school (37%) and being publicly humiliated (36%). The desire for these types of characters fueled interest in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Children this age also greatly fear spiders and snakes (35%) which undoubtedly provided a great platform for the original toy called Creepy Crawlers of the 1960’s as well as kids’ interest in recent reality shows such as Fear Factor. These fears are even more top of mind than the fear of death (29%). Being rejected by friends/peers is an important teen fear (36%). This provided a great foundation for many teen angst stories such as The Breakfast Club and is a more prominent issue among teens than the fear of terrorism (21%).

Youth audiences expect franchises to stay continually fresh. The Simpsons does so by addressing cultural issues related to race, religion, politics, sex, and celebrity, just as the TV show Glee uses revolving pop music artists.

While youth audiences appear to want things that are entirely new, they actually lean toward timeless products dressed up in new clothing.  The recent film Avatar with its environmental message and romance between two people from different worlds is very similar to Disney’s Pocahontas.  Beware of being too new and different.

A key to gaining a broad youth audience (along with adults) is to take a child-like idea from the depths of kid culture and make it edgy and/or sophisticated enough for older tastes. That’s what led to the broad appeal of Transformers, Harry Potter, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and even ABC’s new hit, Once Upon a Time.

Youth audiences fall in love with characters that have personas they admire. The persona might be coolness (e.g., James Bond), sweetness and innocence (e.g., Cinderella), mischievousness (e.g., Hans Solo), empowerment (e.g., Mulan), and even grumpiness (e.g., Shrek).  Kids want to reflect those same personalities on their T-shirts, posters, video games, and toys. Great character attitudes travel across business categories.

Youth audiences seek franchises that display marketable artistry. That is, products invented in ways that enhance their marketability.  It might arise from our politics (e.g., Barbie as Presidential candidate during election periods), from an advancement in technology (e.g., James Cameron created news by advancing the performance capture technique for Avatar), from a great name that communicates (e.g., Finding Nemo), to a great tagline that comes from the essence of the story (e.g., “May the Force Be With You”), to promotional events that get consumers closer to the franchise (e.g., Power Rangers national tours).

Youth audiences listen when you use their mediums. This occurred spectacularly when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park was announced to only seven popular Harry Potter bloggers during a secret Webcast. Excited by the news, the bloggers sent the message to thousands of followers which was then relayed by news outlets to 350 million people worldwide in just days.

Most blockbusters don’t happen by accident. They are carefully conceived, developed and marketed using sound principles. The more you know about what youth audiences want, as set forth in Creating Blockbusters!, the more likely your offering will be the next Youth-buster, capturing not only kids but the kids that live in all of us.

—Gene Del Vecchio is an entertainment researcher, consultant and the author of the new book, Creating Blockbusters! genedv@aol.com http://creatingblockbusters.com/

By Robert Relihan, Senior Vice President

Since my blog post on becoming better storytellers, I have been thinking quite a bit about metaphors. Having the ability to think metaphorically is crucial to our understanding consumers and brands. We ask consumers to talk about their experiences in metaphors because it enables them to give voice to feelings that might otherwise remain hidden. As marketers, metaphors enable us to encapsulate the many facets of a brand in a single image.

But I am not always certain that we understand metaphors and their power. Or, perhaps, what may be more the case is that we fear that power because it cannot always be controlled. So, it’s important for us to understand that power.

We all know that a metaphor is a comparison. In its traditional definition, a metaphor does not use like or as — that’s a simile. It’s also important to know that metaphors are figurative, not literal. We feel a metaphor; we sense the connection. It isn’t telegraphed to us.

A way to understanding metaphors is to consider two ways in which they are misused or underused.

• We, as researchers, often ask participants in focus groups to express their feelings about a brand or activity in terms of something else — to create a metaphor. We believe that this activity will force them to take a fresh perspective and unlock perceptions they had not considered. But that is not what happens. We ask a classic qualitative question: “If Brand X were a dog, what breed of dog would it be?” Here is where things begin to go wrong. The respondent thinks, “Well, I like Brand X, and it makes me feel good. Golden Retrievers are friendly and make me feel good. Therefore, a Golden Retriever feels like Brand X.” Rather than expand her vision of the brand, the respondent has simply expressed a single dimension in different words. There is no expansion of meaning. But here is also where we go wrong. In the press of time, we let that pat answer stand. What we need to do is engage the respondent in an extended discussion about Golden Retrievers. There may be a meaningful metaphor there after all. What were the individual’s first memories of Golden Retrievers? What is it like to walk with a Golden Retriever? To sit with one? All of these answers enrich the respondent’s vision of a Golden Retriever and, through the logic of the metaphor, enrich our understanding of the brand.

• As marketers, we often make the same mistake as we think about our brands. We want metaphors that capture the essence of a brand in a single, memorable image. That metaphor can energize and give focus to the brand team. So, after much research and brainstorming, we decide that our brand of ketchup or soup — or whatever — is a ‘hero.’ It rescues consumers from humdrum meals. It helps them conquer the adversity of routine meals. We use the metaphor in a limited, self-congratulatory way. It becomes static, but a metaphor is always active. Every time we return to it, it should enrich our understanding of the brand. This is possible only if the metaphor is specific. If our brand is a hero, is it Odysseus? Robin Hood? Jack Bauer? If we reflect on any one of these heroes, we might discover different qualities in our brand. That is the power of a metaphor. It does not express what we know; it illuminates what we do not.

That’s how to use metaphors. A good metaphor reveals insights, and it does so repeatedly. At C+R we are committed to helping you discover the metaphors that give life to the essence of your brands.

By Robert Relihan, Senior Vice President

About a year ago, I described how smartphone apps could change the face of grocery shopping.  I had been converted by Grocery Gadgets.  It organized my planning and list making; it guided my trip through the store.  I was focused.  The experience was great.  I was a more efficient shopper.

Well, I have been using Grocery Gadgets for about a year.  I finally came up for air and looked at my fellow shoppers.  During all of that time, I have yet to see a single individual using a smartphone while grocery shopping.  Not a one.  What’s going on?  Where is the predicted mobile commerce revolution in the grocery store?

One answer, is that there are people out there going up and down the supermarket aisles guided by their smartphones and I just haven’t noticed them.  It is also possible that the transition will take a bit more time.  But, the mobile commerce experience, at least in the grocery store, still may be a work in process.

• Grocery Gadgets is a very elaborate shopping list.  So are other grocery shopping apps.  Even apps from the stores themselves are shopping lists connected to an electronic version of the weekly circular.  Simply moving material from one medium to another is rarely successful.  Something from the original medium is lost.  What is simpler than a list on the back of an envelope stuck to the refrigerator door?  And, it fails to take advantage of the strengths of the new medium.  Reading the local newspaper on my smartphone was never very satisfying, but reading stories related to topics in which I am interested aggregated by Google News is fantastic.
• There is no feedback.  The communication is all one way.  I create a list, I select the items, and I check them off.  Increasingly, consumers expect a sense of community in their mobile shopping experience.  If I create a list of grocery items for my trip to the store, I should be able to see my friends who like the same things, and the store should tell me which of those items are on sale.  Or, it should suggest alternatives that are on sale.
• Think about your grocery shopping.  When you are in the store, what are the questions you have?  Where is an item…or an aisle?  What’s on sale?  What flavor does my family really like?  Which cut looks better?  Which melon seems fresher?  Is a 20 oz. bottle at $1.50 a better deal than a 12 oz. one at a $1?  My grocery app cannot answer any of these questions.  So, it is disconnected from my real in-store experience.  To respond to my real needs in the moment, the store will need to be aware of me and my smartphone.  And, if it can, I am likely to accept its tracking me.
• You do see people in the grocery store using their phone.  They are calling spouses and asking them to clarify something on a list or asking what they can get instead something they can’t find. They ask children what they might like.  In other words, real people use their phones in the store to be flexible.  My grocery shopping app isn’t.
• Some shoppers insist that going to the grocery store is drudgery.  But, I have talked to just as many who say a trip to the grocery store allows them to indulge themselves or their family.  They may not be able to splurge on jewelry at David Yurman, but they can treat themselves to some fancy chocolate or gourmet cheese at the grocery for just a few dollars.  Grocery Gadgets and its’ ilk make shopping more efficient.  They also need to inject some fun into the process.

I am sure there are many more ways that the mobile commerce in the grocery store can become more engaging.  Making me a more efficient shopper was great, but I want more.   I want my smartphone to create a reciprocal relationship with the store that makes it a new experience every time I enter.  At C+R, we are excited to explore what that means for you and your customers.