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On Friday, I did a video interview to promote the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup event at TriplePoint PR in San Francisco. One of the questions/comments that has stuck with me over the weekend is about how to reach boys. We were discussing Disney’s new XD channel and the New York Times piece about the “boy whisperer” or the market researcher helping Disney to crack the tween boy code. It made me think back to the 90s and the days of Sassy magazine when Jane Pratt’s male hipster friends decided to launch Dirt, a teen magazine just for boys. Even Spike Jonze couldn’t make Dirt a success.

Disney XD does appear to be bringing in more boys (and more girls, too, who probably think many of the young male stars are cute). Still, my sense is that while girls respond to more obvious gendered messaging — i.e. websites or magazines that are blatantly for girls, offering a community of girls (think: socializing, support). Boys have always been more interest driven — responding to media that is focused on these specific interests instead of what it means to be a boy. The success of some of the Transworld action sports magazine titles (even in a declining market) speaks to this. I would also guess that you would find lots of teen boys on gaming sites like 1Up, watching ESPN or G4, hanging out on techie sites like Slashdot, car enthusiast sites or manga/anime communities, and of course, even though teen boys aren’t supposed to, X-rated sites. I’m sure there are some boys who might be more “meterosexual,” i.e. mindful of fashion trends who would pick up a Details or GQ as well or boys (heterosexual or gay) who are into what girls are into. All to say, unlike with teen girls, there isn’t a “go to” list of popular web destinations for boys.

I just don’t think media (web. print, tv) that is branded as being a destination for boys or even men is as effective as when it’s branded just for girls or women. Guys will be more drawn into specific interest driven programming no matter where it is or what network it’s on, while girls seem more receptive to identifying collectively as a gender (think: girl power!). I’m sure that there are academics who could link this to historical oppression or other sociological causes, but from a marketing perspective, if you want to go where the boys are, finding out what hobbies or interests are most popular with boys would be a good first step – then find the most popular media for each of those interests.

For more coverage of youth marketing, go to the Ypulse Youth Marketing Channel sponsored by Youth Marketing Connection.

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Categorized under: Youth Marketing

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