3 Things We Learned From Youth Marketing Strategy LDN...

At Wilderness Agency we have worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment at both a campaign and retainer level creating content that energises groups of fans online and builds communities of engaged and passionate users. Over the years we’ve taken this grounding and expertise in engaging entertainment audiences and applied that thinking to everything from booze brands to sports retailers.?

We think of it as an entertainment mindset - by which we mean thinking, talking and listening like a fan. For this year’s YMS we assembled a panel of industry experts to elaborate on this idea and offer advice to anyone interested in how to harness The Power of Entertainment to Engage a Youth Audience.

Below I will outline three of the key learnings from our conversation - if you would like to learn more about how Wilderness can help your brand to create and maintain relevance with your audience please check out the site HERE.

1. What is the 'entertainment mindset:

• It is about getting under the skin of the brand in order to speak about it in an authentic voice.
• Whether it’s a TV show or a Dog Grooming Business - you need to be able to find the things that make the brand valuable or worth talking about (and worth loving) and speak directly to that - with passion.
• No matter how niche - showing the people that follow you that you ‘get it’ and they feel seen is hugely valuable.

2. Why talking like a fan on social is important:

• This is the starting point for a strong social strategy. Doing the research, understanding the drivers for conversation or potential triggers for engagement and framing your content pillars, objectives and tone of voice around this.
• A key consideration is WHERE your fans are - it’s sometimes the difficult choice to say ‘we don’t have a place to speak on this platform or to this group and so we’ll walk away’.
• Equally as important as TALKING like a fan is LISTENING like a fan - creating a feedback loop with your audience in a way that inspires meaningful engagement is key.

3. What are the most effective ways/places to leverage fandoms on social:

• TikTok has proven to be a really strong place for broad reach and really engaged conversations around content. Reddit is also a great place to join, lead or simply take in the thoughts and feelings of fan groups on any number of topics.
• For a youth-specific conversation Youtube - although not really acting like a pure social platform - is where we can learn a lot about the habits and interests of the young audience.
• Gaming is a huge part of what make the young audience tick and communities like Roblox are a great place to engage with them directly. Brands like Gucci are on the platform and while this is not a direct avenue for high-end fashion sales it’s getting the name in front of the future fashionistas of the world in a way that is engaged and shows an understanding of where they (literally) play.

On the panel:

Cara Sterio: Social Media Manager, Kids & Pluto TV - Paramount

Currently Cara manages the social media channels for Paramount’s free streaming service Pluto TV as well as the Nickelodeon and Nick Jnr channels. Previously at Paramount Cara managed campaigns and brand and show social channels for MTV - speaking Geordie, Catfish and Team Mum fluently.

Jonathan Kluger: VP, EMEA Franchise - NBCUniversal

Jon works across some of the biggest brands in the world from Jurassic World to Minions, Gabby’s Dollhouse to Fast & Furious. His role encompasses film, TV, theme parks, consumer products and digital platforms amongst other things.?

Tom Lea: Youth Trends & Insights Specialist

Tom is a youth trends and insights consultant having previously headed up the Youth Trend Spotting department at KidsKnowBest. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Tom’s years of experience mean that he is perfectly suited to be the voice of the young audience in any room.

Mollie Lyons: Head of Social - Wilderness Agency

In her role as Head of Social, Mollie is the driving force behind our agency Central Team. The team’s aim is to power up the work that the agency does for its clients supporting the team and the agency at large to produce better work and impactful results across a diverse range of clients from BBC to Sky Mobile to Southern Comfort.