The ‘Marketing and Communicating with Today’s Youth‘ event in Sydney on 26 and 27 October is expected to be a highlight of the marketing calendar, particularly for those marketing professionals working within the youth market. Representatives from some of the world’s hottest youth brands will be on-hand to divulge their secrets, demonstrating how they manage to please parents and appeal to youth at the same time, how to take responsibility for ethical issues, and how to understand the customer.
Attendees will hear from some of the largest players within the youth market, from The Wiggles and the AFL, through to Nickelodeon.
Today we have Amy Cockerell, Marketing Coordinator at the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) to provide some insights into marketing and communications within the youth market. Amy will be presenting at the ‘Marketing and Communicating with Today’s Youth’ event on a newly launched TAC program called the Green Man Grants.
- Tell us a little about yourself, where you work, and what you do.
I have working for the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) since April 2006 in the area of Marketing. I manage the strategic development of a portfolio of marketing projects that incorporates traditional and social media, sponsorship, advertising and research. My work at the TAC has focused on parental communications, youth, enforcement and vehicle safety projects.
I studied communications at Griffith University focussing on media communications.
- How do you / TAC weave a children’s layer into your marketing campaigns?
The TAC has campaigns specifically for kids to start the road safety conversation from a young age. ThingleToodle talks to kids about holding hands when crossing the road, wearing a seatbelt and a helmet on their bikes and also talks about role modelling for parents. It’s a reminder that your kids are watching what you are doing from a young age.
- Do you find it difficult to both please parents and appeal to youth? How do you / TAC balance these two competing objectives?
The TAC has campaigns that talk to parents about youth and youth campaigns that speak directly to youth. I think the key is to understand that thee same messages are relevant to both and help create discussion between parents and their children, sometimes they just need to be communicated in a different way. Parents are the biggest influencers in their children’s lives so if they understand the importance of the message they will talk to their kids.
- What do you think is most important when trying to gain an understanding of the youth audience?
To me I think the most important thing to remember is not all young people are the same. Different interests/causes will motivate different youth and one of the best ways to communicate with them is to empower them to talk to their generation about road safety and the important role they play in reducing road trauma.
- Can you tell us about a campaign you’ve implemented that targeted youth, and what made it so successful?
The first one that comes to mind is the TAC’s Vanessa program. The program began as an old decommissioned booze bus that attended music festivals to provide breath testing services to a fleet of three vehicles with a large social media presence. The program has always been positioned as the generation’s ‘older sister’ – she is at the festivals to look out of youth and provide advice about road safety and making the right choices.
- What will you be talking about at ‘Marketing and Communicating with Today’s Youth’?
The TAC developed a new youth communications fund that launched in September. I’ll be presenting on the strategy and development of this program called the Green Man Grants – www.greenmangrant.com.au
It calls on young people to address one of three briefs developed from the TAC towards zero approach to road safety which highlights that we don’t accept that anyone should die or be seriously hurt on our roads. The grants program empowers young people to take responsibility for the important role they play in reducing road trauma and encourages them to be a road safety role model among their peers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDGdt2DTQPU.
Marketing.com.au is proud to support this event and we appreciate the support of Ark Group Australia in return. For more information or to book tickets, visit: Marketing and Communicating with Today’s Youth
Sally Wood
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