Saturday, April 9, 2011

Emergence: Teens and Tweens

Alloy.com seems to have found a niche in capitalizing on the tween/teen consumer market. According to Mazzarella, editor of Girl Wide Web 2.0, Alloy.com is the most visited website among kids ages 13-17. It started as a media platform in 1996 to target hard-to-reach young consumers. Tweens (8-14) spend $51 billion per year while the teens spend $175 billion per year. Alloy decided to become the major marketer for these groups by not just selling products but by investing in the idea of becoming a brand that could reach girls between the ages of 12-24. Alloy Media and Marketing (AM&M) exploits the young girls’ market by creating virtual spaces which include entertainment, advice, friendship, community, and shopping. The traditional parks and other outdoor activities that young girls use to visit for recreation are becoming a thing of the past. The actual physical space has disappeared and is being replaced by virtual space. It is sad to learn that young people are now growing up with less time for physical activities. The school system would not be in a position to help either because of budget cuts. The core classes of reading, writing, math, and science take a priority over physical education.

I am not against AM&M but sometimes I think they are over indulging in the nature of their advertisement. If they are claiming to be the leader of providing products and services to young girls, they should ensure that what they offer is age appropriate. They claim that they position themselves as friends or big sisters who understand what tween/teen girls are undergoing in the transition from girlhood to womanhood, so they provide social space and trendy products. However, many “teens now aspire to dress as if they were women in their twenties” (p.267). Tweens are confused as they are caught “betwixt and be tween” girl child (p. 267).

Large retail sites like AM&M who masquerade as online companies do have a social responsibility. They must not allow success and profits to blind their vision of producing goods and services that are more age appropriate.

1 comment:

  1. I agree that the corporation has a responsibility to advertise age appropriate products. 2.0 talked about the wa the show how Beyonce and other older celebrities act in their dating life, making thse tweens who are not even in high school yet, think they should act that way in their dating life. They also want to dress like them, which is usually in a more sexual way. I have heard many people talk about how they think today's youth is becoming more and more sexual. I am not blaming all of this on the AM&M Corporation, but I do believe that this form of advertising has an affect on young girls and could have an effect on the newly "sexualized" tweens.

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