There’s no shortcut to audience insight

Argh, yes I know, I’ve been very lax about blogging over here – indeed anywhere – recently. A combination of lots of work (that’s a good thing!), busy social thingys (get me!), sun, Wimbledon, sun, Wimbledon, has meant that I’ve been neglecting the old blog. But don’t fear, I’m still committed – you wont find me drifting of into the more trendy ‘lifecasting’ (don’t get me started – another post for another time).

But today, an article has been nagging me and I feel compelled to rant comment. I know I really shouldn’t rise to the bait but here goes!

You may have read – in the business press, no less – that Morgan Stanley’s European Media Analysts have today released a ‘report’ revealing the media habits of the teenage generation. So far, so good.

However, the ‘research note’ was written by Matthew Robson – a 15-year-old intern (think work experience for son of a director) at the investment firm. However, this small fact didn’t stop it being labelled by Edward Hill-Wood, head of the research team as “one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen”.

And the traditional media have gone ballistic, with the news even reaching the front page of the FT.

So what does the report/note/homework say?

You can read it in full here (PDF), but it essentially covers the following:

- Matthew UK teenagers don’t listen to the radio
- They don’t buy newspapers (duh)
- They use PCs rather than Macs because it is what they are used to (like most of the population then)
- Facebook is their network of choice. They don’t use Twitter much as they prefer to send SMS direct to friends
- They ignore advertising unless its impressive (think viral)

My problem with all this is that it’s only one kid’s view. I don’t have a problem with that per se, but it’s being touted around as the latest and greatest insight into the youth of today – and that’s just wrong. This from Mr Hill-Wood again: “We’ve had dozens and dozens of fund managers, and several CEOs, e-mailing and calling all day.’ [I only hope Matthew was the one that answered the call]

And part of me is jealous – this is great fantastic PR for Morgan Stanley. It makes them seem ‘down with the kids’. But it’s also lazy. Julien Rossi, also from Morgan Stanley says that it’s the starting point for a ‘debate’. For me there are better starting points out there – both qualitative and quantitative.

So I’m not saying this insight is wrong – we just don’t know that it’s right.

And I’m not just cross that it’s anti-Twitter; it’s widely known that the average Twitter user is about 30 years old. For me, that is not a problem. I don’t really want to chat on Twitter with 15 year-olds and I certainly don’t want to target teenagers for any of my clients!

Insight and knowledge about your target audience (whoever they might be) is vital – it’s the only first step in any ‘effective’ marketing, PR, social media etc. strategy. But it has to be qualitative and quantitative otherwise it’s just a stab in the dark.

Danny Whatmough