If there’s one thing I’ve come to understand about media communities, it’s that there is always a steady, progressive evolution toward fragmentation to compete as a more targeted vehicle, serving segments of any larger demographic.
From the early days when a handful of mass market, general interest magazines reigned, to the metamorphosis of print media into highly specialized niche magazines — or splinter pubs, as the industry called them — the trend is clear.
Considering that, what seems fascinating is the entrenchment of large, mass scale online communities like Facebook. Why have these new media models managed to exist as mass-market entities? Why have they not seen the benefits of segmentation, embracing the time-tested practice of hooking future customers early by creating and offering segmented tiers of their brand to serve specific age groups?
Many successful publishers applied this model. National Wildlife has Ranger Rick, Vogue has Teen Vogue, and Sports Illustrated has Sports Illustrated for Kids. It was always considered smart business to engage a young reader/member and introduce them to the brand early, migrating them slowly through a pipeline — several tiers of magazines and related services with similar content, adapted accordingly to meet their changing interests and needs.
Facebook was originally launched and positioned for students, and yet most of its growth in the last year or so has come both internationally, and from a demographic that is 40+. So one would have to wonder what the Gen Y and Gen Z users feel about having their parents on the same service. (I can serve as a research subject and declare that neither of my 2 children approve of my account on the community site, both having blocked me, or having denied my “friend” requests.)
As successful as Facebook and other community sites have been, it strikes me as wise to begin creating offshoot sites and services that speak more intimately to younger groups. The presentation of the website, messages, design and related offerings could be custom tailored more specifically, and more effectively to each specific group, be it Gen Z, Gen Y, Gen X, or mature audiences. Where a mature demographic may not care for email alerts and other forms of community interaction, a younger audience would find this feature appealing, most likely. The look and feel of each segmented site could also be designed to fit each audience.
In fact, I believe there is an incredible opportunity for a start up to rally the youth market and carve out a clearly positioned, well-defined social site that resonates better with young teen and 20-something audiences. From the language on the website to the colors, images, and all the things that make up the brand — the name, signature, and even the service offerings — there is a whole market of young customers waiting for a community service that will speak to them. A little attention in the way of “ground-up” buzz marketing, a mention by the right celebrity, some favorable word of mouth among friends . . . trust me, opportunity awaits.
Just ask my son, 13, or my daughter, 17.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 9:05 am and is filed under Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
