Power of tweens

You are Club Mahindra. There’s an unbelievable offer you are looking to sell. Target Audience = 35+

If your communication plan is tailor made for this audience alone, it wont work. Let me rephrase that. If you have no communication plan talking to age 8 to 14, it’s a recipe for disaster. Almost 70% of purchasing decisions are taken by elders following advice of their children. This is now become universal.

Parents believe that in this fast paced techno world, their kids keep themselves up-to-date with everything. And they mature much faster too. Makes a lot more sense to take their advice on purchases.

Marketing sense

Here are two very distinct audiences. The communication message must be suited to both audiences. Not only the message, the tools of communication, collaterals and mode needs to be different and customized. Here is a visual depiction of where the tweens exert maximum influence.

Getting people to come into contact with the brand has been a chase. Tweens exert a lot of influence in this phase. They are constantly looking for information. Catching their attention and holding on to it long enough for them to influence the TG is the task. If you are selling computers, tweens can get the TG to your store. Beyond that, it depends on other factors like technical details, product strength, benefits, price to make the sale.

Club Mahindra – A case study

Lets take Club Mahindra as a case study. I have received some fantastic offers from them. These offers are good enough to bind us and let them plan my holidays for the next 10 years. But their communication is cold. It does not reflect the holiday spirit. None of the collaterals reflect fun and vacation in spite of their tag line – fun family forever. Check out their site. The strongest message on the site is “The happiest family holidays.” This is written in plain words but the feel is missing. In fact, even in their stalls at expos and at their office, they do not engage the tweens. A play area is NOT engagement. This age group possesses the power to bring the TG to Club Mahindra’s office and in some cases, even influence the purchase.

What they should do, is change the tone of communication and add some life to it. Get in touch with these tweens at schools and plant the idea of a family vacation. Support with a collateral that talks about different things a tween can do in a holiday. All this should be done in addition to the normal routes. Sales will definitely increase.

The power of tweens is not to be underestimated. Next time, dont forget this lot. They are high-powered, influential and network a lot. 2TZ4JW8MZ2GG