Through the always informative threebillion.com I found this article on a programme called ‘Frontline’ made by the US TV station PBS all the way back in 2001. The particular episode was titled, ‘The Merchants of Cool’. You can watch the 6 part episode here.
Over the 40 minute programme it goes on to discuss how corporate America go about finding “cool” and how they pay big bucks in order to find it. The fact that 5 companies pretty much run the distribution of “cool” in the US is somewhat scary. And although it’s not a surprise how corporate America go after finding “cool”, it’s still endlessly entertaining to watch the “suits” trying to do some street talk to the kids and how a seemingly average kid ends up shaping “cool.” I promise that is the last time I will use that word in this blog.
Potentially the most amusing part of the show comes within the first 2 minutes when a focus group facilitator asks, “so…what’s hot right now? Just shout it out.” There’s no warm up for the teenage lads in attendance or prompts or anything, just an unashamed desperation to find out what makes teenagers tick. He could have at least touched knuckles with them all first. I will let you discover what the reaction of 5 teenage boys, each getting paid $125 for their time was. I also suggest you read this article from the Ruby Pseudo blog on “Things you’ll never hear us say in a focus group.”
Many of the trends are still valid for today and you wonder whether advertising and brands have really moved on that much in the last 10 years? Or another way of posing that question, have brands become lazy in being creative and genuinely original in how they communicate and interact with this generation (insert latest letter with which the youth of today are being titled)? Or, has “cool” (Sorry, I broke a promise, I do apologise) not become that much “cooler”? Is it easier to find “cool” these days thanks to the super internet highway? Perhaps “cool” has become more democratic, rather than being reserved for the minority?
The answer to all these questions I do not know. What I do know though, is that I was a teenager in 2001. I bought the Limp Bizkit album. I drooled over Britney. I most definitely did watch MTV. And I did used to think that if my parents decided to move to America I would be able to dominate at football and be the coolest kid in the class. Alas, that didn’t happen and I am no longer a teenager, but the affect the ‘Coolhunters’ of corporate America had on my life is probably greater than I would like to give them credit.
I have hope that the teenagers of today are somewhat wiser than me and my friends, challenging brands to work harder and be more creative in order to be a part of their lives in constantly surprising, interesting and relevant ways. It’ll certainly keep our jobs more entertaining.
Tags: advertising, brand, cool, coolhunting, corporate, linkedin, teenagers, trends