Cnet Smg Youth Study Whitepaper_final

Tapping Into the Super Influencer: What you need to know to engage the elusive youth audience Introduction The youth market is a critical one to understand, but by nature, it has never been an easy audience to figure out. In recent years, their elusive tendencies have intensified dramatically. Marketers have lost them to video games, the iPod, the Internet, and countless other devices, gadgets, and distractions that let them opt out, fast forward, time shift, and manipulate the sight, sound, and motion we call commercial messages. All of the marketing messages our clients so expertly conceive and lovingly craft get built, distributed, and exposed—but often do not get heard. This phenomenon of smarter technology and more savvy consumers has converged to create one of the biggest marketing challenges in the history of selling products. And nowhere is this gap wider than with younger consumers who are the first adopters of new technology, intrepid explorers of alternative media, and eager participants in the made-just-for-me trend toward tailored content. In this evolving media landscape, you can never get complacent; media habits change every day. You have to ask: How do we continue to evolve and adjust to meet youth on their terms and increasingly get invited into their world? To get the answers to many of these questions, we decided to talk to them. We wanted to find out what they thought of today’s marketing and media world.

Heard These Before? I don’t care about brands!

I don’t watch TV. We don’t trust marketing or corporations.

What’s brand loyalty? Are you crazy?

You can’t find me.

I don’t pay attention to advertising!

Technology isolates me.

Entering this project, we had some preconceived notions, as do most youth marketers. Youth don’t like commercials. They reject corporate messages. They are too cool for brand loyalty. In the past few years, the questions have mounted at an increasingly urgent pace as we strive to figure out how to reach this elusive consumer.

The Research Program The program consisted of two phases: an in-depth, ethnographic investigation and a quantitative follow-up. A more complete description of the research methodology can be found in the appendix.

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Key Findings A special breed of influencers We found a group of youth that: • cares about brands but are skeptical about corporations and marketing • are social creatures and use technology to enrich how they interact with friends, family, and the world at large • still watch TV but are ready to consume content in new ways • pay attention to advertising but are engaged with a whole lot more • are potential ’“brand loyalists”’ but haven’t been nurtured to act as such • can be a marketer’s strongest voice in a seemingly fragmented media landscape We call this group Brand Sirens, as they are not only experts in drawing in information about the world around them, but also drive opinions among a large group of followers. Opinion leaders, influencers, early adopters—the individuals who try things first, like it (or not), and spread the word—have always existed. However, in the world of marketing, as technology, product choices, and our global consumer environment have evolved, so have influencers. The Brand Sirens are a group whose impact and numbers are increasing as they affect the growing 13- to 34-year-old youth market—a market estimated to grow over the next four years from 86 million to nearly 90 million consumers. Brand Sirens are defined by their attitudes and behavior in four intersecting areas within the consumer marketplace. Influencers Like any opinion leader, Brand Sirens have large social networks and wield significant influence over their contacts in their choice of products and services. Brands In a general sense, Brand Sirens are not necessarily opinion leaders—individuals whose thoughts or advice one might seek about personal issues, political views, or social or community events. Rather, Brand Sirens are deeply immersed in the consumer marketplace and specifically in the world of brands. They seek out, test, analyze, and share brands. And, they talk about their brand experiences during every step of the process. Passions Brand Sirens have one or more passions around which their brand interests coalesce. These passions can be product related (for example, cars, music, clothes, or technology) or lifestyle related (for example, motherhood and children, traveling, restaurants, or hobbies). Technology This is a key way Brand Sirens are different from the influencers who’ve come before them. Today’s Brand Sirens are empowered by the revolution in communications technology that lets them build bridges unencumbered by space or time, not only to their immediate friends and family, but also to other Brand Sirens in connected networks, who in turn influence their friends and their families.

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It is important to note that the demographics for Brand Sirens are not different but their mindset/psychographics are. To help bring Brand Sirens to life, we introduce you to Jeremiah, one of our 25-year-old Brand Sirens. Jeremiah has three jobs because they cover his passions, and he believes that people should make money off their passions.

Jeremiah – Age 25 – Brand Siren • Works three jobs – all passion related • Plans three or four large parties every year • Is a networker • Gives buying advice to friends • Knows about “new hotness” before it’s out • Gets a new phone every three or four months • Sleeps with his cell phone, gets calls at 3 a.m. • Competes in off-roading events and drives a fully customized Jeep

• Combs the Internet, reads magazines, talks to buddies, and attends auto shows

Those jobs include his day job of managing a team of guys that put utility pipes into new construction sites, installing car-stereo systems for a large consumer-electronics retailer, and working for a local auto shop customizing sports cars. Jeremiah also loves competing in off-roading events and drives a fully customized Jeep. He combs the Internet, reads magazines, talks to buddies, and attends auto shows, picking up tips and ideas for his next project along the way. Jeremiah is a networker. His most recent score was getting a shop to apply a Rhino Skin to the hood of his Jeep for free in exchange for telling everyone who asks where they can get the same cool Skin. His online profiles all showcase his Jeep. Jeremiah’s influence doesn’t stop at off-roading. He has made personal friends with the guys at his local cell-phone dealer, so he knows before anyone else what “new hotness” in the cell-phone market is about to hit the street. He gets a new phone every three to four months and uses that phone to receive and send hundreds of phone calls every day to stay in touch with his network. He sleeps with his cell phone, receives calls at 3:00 a.m., collects colognes, lives alone in an apartment with a new BBQ grill and big-screen TV, and enjoys every minute of it. As you can imagine, all of this adds up to very little sleep, but Jeremiah is busy being a Brand Siren.

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How Does the Brand Siren Operate? Let’s break down how Jeremiah and other Brand Sirens operate. First, on the left side of the graphic, there’s “Information In” (for example, Internet, clubs, friends, and TV). The left side of the equation shown in the chart is pretty standard. Numerous messages from many sources are being delivered that our audience has to filter to get at what is important to him or her. One difference with Brand Sirens is that they are not only good at filtering out information, but also thirsty for more; thus, they seek out additional information about How Does the Brand Siren Operate? brands and products they’re interested in with or without prompting from the likes of us. Then comes the processing stage. Brand Sirens are able to piece together information from multiple sources and very quickly form their own single-minded opinions. This seems to even extend to teens. In one discussion with 15- to 18-yearolds, a Brand Siren among them declared that he watched all three cable news networks— Fox, CNN, and MSNBC—to make sure he heard all points of view before making up his mind about a particular news story. Now, observe the right side of the graphic, the “Information Out” side. This is where we believe marketers need to pay more attention. We’re pretty good at creating messages we think will resonate with our consumers, but we’re not so good at giving them the right information, assets, and tools needed to help them spread the word and create conversations about brands. Think about the potential that exists if they are texting, blogging, and instant messaging information and opinions about your brands. And unlike traditional influencers who spread the word to family, friends, and peers, a Brand Siren’s inclination of using today’s technology gives him or her the power to reach exponentially more like-minded people.

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Youth Are Talking About Brands—Brand Sirens Even More So While youth in general talk about brands, Brand Sirens talk about them more. From sharing information about brands to posting reviews and providing feedback about any given brand’s performance, they score on average almost 20 percentage points higher on attributes that focus on spreading the word about brands. Brand Sirens

Youth Ages 13-34

My friends and I often talk about brands

82%

55%

I enjoy sharing information about brands/products with friends and others

87%

67%

I will tell friends/family right away about a new product I like

69%

53%

If a brand does not live up to its promises, I won’t buy/choose it again and will actively persuade others not to

90%

65%

Post reviews/feedback

77%

61%

Read reviews/feedback

90%

80%

Profile Point

Brand Sirens Are More Likely to Be Talking About Brands and Products When we looked at how youth today are communicating on a personal level, we didn’t see much difference between our Brand Sirens and youth at large. But when we look at how youth spread the word about brands and products, our Brand Sirens perform leaps and bounds ahead of the rest. So we know that technology is already playing a large role in how Brand Sirens are influencing purchase decisions for products and services. Brand Sirens Ways Sharing In Person E-mail Text Message Instant Message (IM) Send Picture Send Video Call Them

Product/Service 70% 70% 34% 42% 37% 24% 60%

Youth Ages 13-34 Types of Information Personal Product/Service Personal 66% 59% 65% 66% 57% 70% 50% 23% 50% 54% 29% 54% 51% 34% 67%

27% 19% 46%

51% 36% 67%

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Brand Siren’s Social Connections and Passion for Brands Lead to a Powerful, Multiplicative Impact Based on data from TalkTrack, a new word-of-mouth tracking service from Keller Fay Research, we estimate that our Brand Sirens have nearly four times the amount of influence on brandconversation impact than other youth. This is calculated based upon the fact that: • 70 percent more product-related conversations happen between Brand Sirens • 84 percent more brands are mentioned in these conversations • These conversations occur between multiple partners rather than one-on-one And this does not take into account the ripple effect, enhanced by technology, of additional conversations happening down the line after Brand Sirens are finished sharing their message. We cannot afford to either send them the wrong message or ignore them.

Youth Care About Brands and Want to Be Loyal to Them It is important to understand how youth feel about brands and where this has them sitting today. Three out of four youth agree that there are brands they love (all Brand Sirens feel this way, which was an element of their definition); that they see the discreet differences between brands; and that they want to be loyal to brands but often find themselves torn. And because there is no deep loyalty to brands, they’ll switch brands because of the hottest and newest feature. Brand Sirens

Youth Ages 13-34

I care about the brands I use

81%

64%

There are important differences between brands

83%

63%

Brands one uses say a lot about a person

66%

39%

I’m committed to my favorite brand

74%

53%

I wish I could find brands that I could stick with

54%

43%

I would switch brands, even where I’ve used one exclusively, if another brand came out that seemed better

53%

40%

Profile Point

This is even more important with a Brand Siren because if they are enticed to switch, you can be sure they will tell others to switch, as well. Ensuring deep loyalty and an emotional bond with this group is key, given the ripple impact on all their networks.

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Why is switching easy? When it comes right down to it, youth are saying that features trump the brand when they get out their wallets. But what happened to all that talk about caring about brands? Weren’t these folks saying that brands are important? When we put what they are saying into the context of how we as marketers are conditioning them, it starts to make some sense. Importance in Purchase Decision (average of pair wise comparisons) Brand Sirens Features Recommendations Brands

63% 55% 26%

Youth Ages 13-34 66% 57% 24%

There is a lot of advertising out there that focuses on features; some of it gets in some brand messaging, but a lot of it doesn’t. But there are marketers that do a good job at creating that emotional connection with youth and are courageous enough to let the audience seek out more.

Try and Try Again—Provisional Loyalty Driven by Creation of Endless Trial Period When we focus too much on features, we create a situation where we condition consumers to care about those features to a point that they feel OK switching brands when another brand comes along with a better or newer feature set. In Apple’s case with the iPod, it put the brand first, creating a bond with the youth market that is pretty darn hard to break. That’s not to say that it doesn’t provide folks with more details, because it does…look in stores, on its Web site, and in reviews. We found kids that loved their iPods so much that while they swore that they were going to buy the next generation, at the same time they complained that there were some flaws with the features. That’s brand loyalty trumping feature set at its best.

Try and Try Again - Provisional Loyalty driven by creation of endless trial period

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Youth Tuning Into Television Youth Tuning Into Television TV is still incredibly important to youth. Three out of four tune in to TV every day, and at least 85 percent watch each week. More importantly, however, many still use TV as a vehicle to get information about their passions—whether it’s sports, music, film, home decorating, food, or fashion. Brand Sirens, in particular, list TV very high in the list of favorite interests.

Profile Point

BRAND SIRENS

Youth Age 13-34

Watched real-time TV within last day

78%

73%

Watched real-time TV within last week

91%

85%

Turn to TV Advertising to get more information about their interests

46%

39%

77% of Youth list TV as a favorite interest behind listening to music and watching movies on DVD For Brand Sirens, 81% list TV behind movies on DVD and music and tie it with going online

Touchpoints Are Morphing It’s critical in a world of control and fragmentation to understand touchpoint preferences. We asked our youngest group, 13- to 17-year-olds, how they would like to be communicated to today. We found that TV is the top communication preference, followed by more of the experiential contacts of trials, coupons, word of mouth, and in-store product displays. Touchpoints are Morphing

Touchpoints are Morphing

Teens looking to new touchpoints

Teens looking to new touchpoints: Internet-based, Cause-related

Good Ways to Reach Me Today

Good Ways to Reach Me Five Years in the Future

• TV ads • Trial-size sam ple / Free trial

• TV ads (-2) • Trial-size sam ple / Free trial

period

• Recomm endation from a friend • Product display in a store • Coupon in a magazine

• Ads show n before movie trailers

• M agazine ads • A message than can be shared easily w ith others

• Product package • Coupon inserted in the Sunday new spaper

period (+1 change in rank)

• Recomm endation from a friend

• Online coupons (+18) • Billboard advertising (+2) • Text message received from a

brand

via cell phone or PDA (+25)

(none) • Brand sponsorship of a charity or a cause (+10)

• Brand-sponsored Web-based

• Internet search sites (+18)

• Ads on the Internet (+7)

entertainment that you can opt-in to receive (+22)

Interestingly, when we asked about what they thought would be important in five years, we saw a different picture evolving from that of today. Whereas TV’s ranking slipped a little, sampling and recommendations saw no real status change. Significant changes occurred within Internet touchpoints, both in search and brand sponsorships of causes and entertainment. It’s interesting to see the brands that are already using cause-related marketing as a successful strategy to reach the youngest respondents.

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Implications: Inserting Your Brand Into Their Conversations So the $600 billion question (yes, youth today impact more than $600 billion in consumer spending), is how do we start to insert our brands into their conversation? The following are new rules to accomplish this goal. nth

1. WoM = Conversations about brands have greater impact than ever before Communication that happens with technology today happens in more places on multiple platforms with greater numbers of people than ever before, and today’s youth can’t get enough of it. As time has passed, these young consumers now expect (just as we expected there would be a dial tone when we picked up the telephone) to be able to communicate with lots of people simultaneously. They are having conversations about the products they buy with like-minded friends, family, and a multitude of people they have never met. As marketers, we should never forget that a single posting made by a Brand Siren can have an immediate positive or negative impact on our brands. We also have to keep in mind that these conversation starters don’t necessarily look like those we have traditionally portrayed in marketing before. Technology has flattened the hip hierarchy, where a person’s appearance is no longer the critical component in how well you are liked. Those who are experts with honest opinions are looked to for advice about brands more than any other group. Profile Point

Brand Sirens

Youth Ages 13-34

Belong to an online or offline interest group or club

65%

54%

Share product information in person

70%

59%

Share product information via e-mail

70%

57%

Post messages on my social-networking page

37%

26%

Post messages on their social-networking page

33%

25%

2. Pitch the niche: Fragmentation can be your friend Communities of interest are an ideal place to start brand-relevant conversations. Look to areas where like-minded groups gather both online and offline. You can use traditional advertising means, but make sure you peel the layers by approaching people on their own terms. Tried-and-true channels can work—favorite magazines, catalogs, circulars, TV, and radio—but make sure to lead them online to information-rich company Web sites, review sites, user-generated information sites, and more. Advertising should fit their tastes. Get to know the complex ecology of interests associated with different niches. Are fashionistas

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also rock climbers? Are outdoor lovers also into online poker? Are world travelers tapping into blog sites rather than consulting travel guides? Are gamers sandwich junkies? On GameSpot, a video game Web site and CNET Networks property, there is an entire forum dedicated to Subway sandwiches. Perhaps Subway’s sandwiches are ideal for a game controller in one hand and a roast beef sub in the other! Most importantly, let them maintain their unique identity. Your brand can contribute to who they are, but it shouldn’t overshadow them. 3. Morphing: Sight, sound, and motion leads to conversation As noted earlier, the youth market isn’t turning away from TV, but we do know that they are more apt to move from one platform to another. On-demand music, movies, games, and other forms of entertainment have altered youths’ expectations of content, and this can be an opportunity for marketers to plan around franchises rather than format. So when you are thinking about media choices, think about the content that resonates with the audience and follow the show, the characters, and the plot, where you can facilitate conversations about the content they love. The popular TV show Lost is now available in many formats, and the loyal “viewer, reader, collector” follows it wherever it goes. You could air a 30-second spot, but it may be a missed opportunity if your brand isn’t the one facilitating conversations about last night’s episode on TV fan sites, sponsoring chat sessions during the show, and bringing never-seen footage to their MP3 players. 4. Give them control (of the message and the experience) Losing control of your brand to the masses is a common theme in marketing circles today, and it’s not unwarranted. When you have a vocal audience with a strong opinion of your brand, you better hope that they are on your side. A majority of Brand Sirens believe they know more about the brands they use than the companies themselves know. If you begin to give them some control, they can help spread the word about your brand in the right direction. Profile Point

Brand Sirens

Directly influenced friend/family member purchase

70%

CNET Networks Brand Sirens 74%

Youth Ages 13-34

Posted a user review of product/service

32%

41%

21%

I know the pros and cons of most brands I use better than the companies themselves I enjoy sharing information about brands/products

62%

58%

41%

87%

87%

67%

I enjoy making the products I purchase look unique

78%

64%

44%

50%

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5. The funny thing about honesty… In the research, we observed an interesting double-sided need. Youth told us they wanted both honesty in the form of rational informational messages and emotional/entertain me messages. We believe there is a huge creative opportunity and challenge to combine these needs in the creative solution—not necessarily with each execution but through the full package. We believe that in both the communication strategy and media placement, there are contacts that do provide opportunities to reach consumers in places more relevant for both these needs. It’s about putting the right messages in the right places and selecting the mediums that make the most sense. Mass media is an entertainer, and entertaining advertising works there. The detail and connectivity can be delivered in a more personal way—via the Web, communities, and brand spokespeople. The key point is that youth are receptive to brand and marketing messages as long as they are honest, authentic, and true to the brand. 6. Social consciousness on the rise Who knew? Young Americans care about something other than their own worlds. They care about the world that we all live in. In the next five years, teens see brand sponsorship of a charity increasing in relative importance versus other touchpoints, as it rose 10 places in rank. Some companies are doing this now with great success. Ford has created a “Warriors in Pink” campaign that raises money for the Susan Kommen Breast Cancer Foundation. CNET Networks integrated this campaign into an Emmy’s feature on TV.com that brought the TV.com community closer to the Emmy’s than ever before. Another example is Tide, who used the Internet as a platform for a cause-marketing related campaign that communicated the energy-saving benefit of new Tide Coldwater. Consumers who signed up for a promotion appeared on the map, and when a friend signed up, they appeared on the map, too. For every 10 people that signed the Coldwater Challenge, eight more people received a Tide Coldwater message. 7. Control and experience beat the tell: Pull not push Following is a list of top touchpoints, or “good ways to reach me,” broken out for consumer electronics, soft drinks, and snack foods. We wanted to find out how touchpoints would play out for less-considered but still high-image products like soft drinks and snacks. The table shows how they rank and reveals that very few push mediums rank highly versus more pull messages across all categories. The pull media show the desire of the consumer to reach out and seek the information, recommendations, and trial of the brands. As marketers, we need to facilitate this more. Don’t just shout at them. Let them see, feel, and hear the product and then decide for themselves.

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8. Rethink reach and the role of mass TV Traditionally we have used mass media to “reach” consumers with actually very few messages. We’ve tended to treat them as one mass target. What we’ve found out from this research and other work we’ve done is that context combined with the appropriate messages work best. Then you scale to create the broader success that a marketer needs. This is particularly true with youth and the Brand Sirens. The most effective messages these consumers have told us are those that are used to connect with emotion, which in turn drives loyalty. Mass today is about the aggregation of smaller groups of consumers—driven by these super influencers who get brand information early on in the process and seed it in the right places.

9. Rethink reach metrics Measurement is an essential element in the new media landscape, and we need to question if reach and frequency are right measures or if we need a new measure that helps us look at how reaching the right people can drive maximum brand conversations. One direction to consider is the multiplicative effect of Influencers/Brand Sirens reached—conversations generated by them in which a brand is mentioned and the other people who participated in these Brand Siren-led conversations.

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Information Requests

One of the tools we have available at CNET Networks does just that. We can look at user activity through GameSpot Trax to essentially quantify buzz. In this case, we are tracking buzz generated around World of Warcraft, which is an amazingly popular Massively Rethink Reach Metrics The New Reach Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game and Frequency (MMORPG). (Of interest is that more • Audience (influencers/sirens) X Number of conversations generated by them people play World of Warcraft online than • Driving product sales months and even years before they’re released the entire population of Ireland.) In the chart to the right, the red line indicates users actively asking for information about the new release and the green line depicts message-board traffic. As can be seen, the conversations that are driven by these influential users are driving sales months (and sometimes years) before the game is released. Re

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Summary Who is our consumer and how do I reach them keeps many of us awake at night. Youth, a microcosm of the larger population, live in a world defined by choice and control. It’s increasingly difficult for us to deliver messages to people in a manner that engages and motivates them. Studies like this one give us a glimpse into the psyche of our consumers. Armed with these insights, it is up to us to map out connection points and develop tools that let us identify the super influencer and engage him or her in a meaningful dialogue. At Starcom MediaVest Group and CNET Networks, we progressed tremendously on this front and are developing new ways to target and converse with Brand Sirens and look forward to sharing more insight with our clients.

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Contacts For additional information, please contact: Starcom MediaVest Group Kate Sirkin SVP Global Director of Research E-mail: [email protected] Hank Bernstein SVP and Director of Consumer Research E-mail: [email protected] Jill Kelly Director, Corporate Communications E-mail: [email protected] CNET Networks Entertainment Pip Marquez de la Plata Vice President Marketing E-mail: [email protected] Anne Claudio Director, Research & Sales Development E-mail: [email protected]

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Appendix: Research Methodology How We Discovered Brand Sirens CNET Networks Entertainment and Starcom MediaVest Group joined forces to conduct an extensive study on marketing to today’s youth. This two-phase project, which combined both qualitative and quantitative analysis, produced piles and piles of robust, engrossing data that ultimately exposed the existence of the highly coveted Brand Siren. Here’s how we did it:

Mile Deep Versus a Mile Wide Phase One: Ethnographic Qualitative Research Objective We set out to learn as much as possible about today’s youth and knew this would be best accomplished by spending as much one-on-one time with them as possible. So we did. We invaded their bedrooms, plopped ourselves on their couches, and guzzled sodas over in-depth conversations. Together we talked about everything from their experiences, interests, attitudes, and behaviors regarding brand awareness and perception to technology use and mediaconsumption patterns. And let us tell you, we had some pretty interesting discussions. Participant Profile The interviews were conducted in Seattle and Philadelphia among 30 tech-forward individuals representing the following three life-stage groups: • True Youth: 13- to 18-year-old high school students • Transitional Youth: 18- to 24-year-old college students and/or workforce members who either live at home and/or are supported by their parents • Independent Youth: 25- to 34-year-old individuals who work and live independently Our tech-savvy participants were recruited based on the following criteria: • Technology Ownership--for example, the individual must own a computer with Internet access and a cell phone, plus an additional one to two consumer electronic devices • Technology Behavior--for example, the individual must participate in a minimum of four listed activities, such as online PC/console video game playing, instant messaging, PC/digital player music listening, and desktop/laptop movie watching Participant Activities The chosen individuals participated in these activities: • "A Day in the Life" In-Home Interviews--These one-on-one conversations covered multiple topics, including household dynamics; lifestyle; routines; passions; entertainment patterns; technology use and attitudes; brand attitudes and behavior; and response to marketing communications, advertising, and promotions • Online Brand Journals--Each participant was required to record their daily media usage, brand choices and affinities, entertainment consumption, and technology use for one week

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•

Affinity Groups--These intimate groups were held in the homes of selected participants and included four to six of their friends. The sessions allowed for exploration of social networks and peer-group dynamics as they related to trends, interests, values, social concerns, product awareness, and purchasing habits. Group exercises revealed brand perceptions, brand loyalty, trust and distrust issues, and attitudes regarding advertising.

The Scientific Numbers Method Phase Two: Online Quantitative Research Objective We departed the homes of our phase-one buddies with many intriguing hypotheses that we now needed to prove. What better way to support our findings than with stacks of get-out-yourmagnifying-glass spreadsheets of comprehensive data? To verify and quantify our ethnographic research results, we reached out to a larger, nationwide audience to explore: • Youth interests and hobbies • Entertainment habits • Technology usage • Brand attitudes and beliefs • Touchpoint preferences and usage for marketing messages Participant Profile The research was conducted among two audiences: • A representative sample of online US youth, ages 13- to 34-years-old • CNET Networks Web sites users (GameSpot, TV.com, MP3.com, and CNET.com) representing forward-leaning, 13- to 34-year-old consumers Each sample was analyzed by life-stage groups, which were defined slightly differently than the phase-one life-stage groups. • True Youth: 13- to 18-year-old individuals • Transitional Youth: 18- to 34-year-old individuals who either live at home and/or are supported by their parents • Independent Youth: 18- to 34-year-olds who live independently Participant Activities Two extensive national online surveys were conducted: • Technology and Entertainment o Topics included: § Interests—favorite interests, sources of information for interests, and groups related to interests § Online activities—favorite online activities conducted on a regular basis § Web site usage and opinions—time spent with and ratings of various types of sites § Entertainment habits—preference and usage patterns regarding various entertainment forms such as on-demand television, digital video recorders, and online gaming § Classification—tech usage, self descriptors, demographics, and the like

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Survey sample size: § Online US youth: 1,593 § CNET Networks audience: 5,666 Brands and Touchpoints o Topics included: § Brands—attitudes, loyalty, and behavior toward brands § Advertising—effectiveness of various forms of advertising (for example, online versus offline ads), engagement with online postings and reviews, and the like § Touchpoints—receptivity to various marketing message contact points, now and in the future § Classification—tech usage, self descriptors, demographics, and the like o Survey sample size: § Online US youth: 1,519 § CNET Networks audience: 7,439 o

•

Listen, the Fun Never Ends So that’s what we did. And it was fun. And we learned a lot. And we’re excited to share it all with you and to continue digging around inside the brains of today’s youth. Because, man, there’s some good stuff to be found when you take the time to really, truly listen.