I read a good article titled “For youth, knowledge is currency”. The article caught my eye for two reasons: 1. Despite the fact that I am no longer considered youth, I am as the Daydreamer would say…young at heart and 2. Dion Appel penned it; I really like the feel and concept of Lifelounge, so I said why not?

Dion looks into the concept of urban capital and what it consists of. He states:

“For young people, urban capital comprises knowledge, experience, skills and social connection, that when combined in the right way influence social position.”

Fair point, but wouldn’t this apply to most people? Dion provides some very good insights and examples albeit through the same old quasi-social lens. Being in the marketing / culture / communications type industry, I can’t help but think Dion is just performing yet another exercise in flattery disguised as sociology. After all, being the chief executive and co-founder of Lifelounge, a media and communications company that specialises in the youth demographic, there is good reason for it.

How many articles have you read about Gen X, Gen Y, Gen C, the demise of Baby Boomers etc. etc. Giving this some thought, I am starting to believe that the marketers and media boffins involved in this type of promotion are in fact doing some very intelligent and sneaky marketing.

The idea of flattering a group of people born within a certain period and blatantly identifying that their collective consciousness and intelligence has segmented them to a point where they are beyond the advertising and marketing pitch is in my opinion the ultimate of pitches!!!

This is a very good way to create a market for otherwise unremarkable products (this is by no means a dig at life lounge, it’s very unique), but It really is quite simple: Conduct some market studies, produce a report, make sure this report identifies all the usual good points of the target like their media savvy, their indie perspective and yearning for customisation, create a catchy label that distinguishes them from the fuddy old generation before (who of course were not complex enough to escape the advertiser’s net) and wait for the media to spread the virus. Soon even the music, entertainment and fashion industries are in on it.

Even though the concept begins as an attempt to build a niche market, media efforts take it mainstream and VOILA…The target identifies with the catchy tag and responds favourably to Brand X who seem to “get it” because they produced an ad with some odd looking 20-something suggesting to the targets “we know you’re not stupid!”

Long story short; even though Brand X runs with a funked up ad campaign that is essentially patronising their target, the skill and quality of the spin is so good, no-one picks up on it. Eventually, Brand X sells a whole heap more shit – The essence of Hip perhaps???

Obvious you say? The question, then, is why do writers persist in serving it up in this sociological manner? It’s consumerism feeding itself, it’s marketing plain and simple.