Target the youth

Media and communications teacher discusses the role of youth in branding

Business tends to pick social media, as new platforms -- Facebook and Twitter -- have multifaceted applications. Social media is exploding as a new media channel. It differs from other advertising channels because messages are multi-directional and generated by many parties: marketers, influencers, individuals and consumers.

Social media is not a one-way broadcast of messages to the masses, but a conversation taking place between many individuals. Unlike the real world, the conversation can have many others observing and consuming the content, not just during the conversation, but practically forever into the future. Social media marketing has an easily accessible and long memory.

The practical side of social media is that it can target lifestyles, said Mohammad Masud Chowdhury, a senior lecturer of the media and communications department of Independent University Bangladesh. Chowdhury said social media is integrally linked with our life and offers a range of available products that suit our lifestyles."

He said every person with an internet connection has an account on the social media site Facebook. This site is like a kaleidoscope.

People want to know the impacts of social media in businesses, but they do not want to research the topic. "So we should do an in-depth analysis or research on the impacts of Facebook on our lives and businesses," he said. "This would help us decide what to do next."

Media is an integral part of business now a day, said Chowdhury.

For example, one can get an idea of global finance by analysing Bloomberg reports. Similarly, we should study the impacts of new media so that we can make predictions on the business of the country.

He asks what is needed for the business entity. Businesses need to reach out to the youth of the country because they are the real consumers. They dictate their parents about brands that would be purchased.

A lawyer friend of mine was supposed to purchase an ordinary car. But his adolescent daughter persuaded him to get the Toyota Premio brand,"he said as an example.


This brand is much costlier than one he chose at first. But the choice of the young members in the family become important in buying goods, he explained.

He said businesses should address this segment of society for marketing with the help of new media.

It is very easy to reach out to this young crowd with the help of music too, he added. This segment is also very adventurous.

He said businesses should be more aware of what is happening or changing in society. There will be new pressure groups in the market; they will use high-tech methods. To sustain in the digital market, business people should concentrate on new media.

The concept of brands differs between the parents and children, he added.

Kids basically share their brand concept with their peer groups. What they say really matters. So every campaign should target that group. Using new media in branding or campaigning is still absent in Bangladesh. But the landscape is changing very fast.

Now a day, we see sugar or oil vanishing from the market. But the day is not so far when oligopolies or monopolies will disappear from the market. These are very old business concepts.

The architecture of information is shifting very fast. The paradigm is changing, said Chowdhury.

The senior lecturer said one could get digital solutions if required.

People are even using smart cards in the chicken markets.

The internet has become a part of everyday life, he said. This means that spending behaviours are changing. People don't want to carry cash for security reasons. New media has a lot to do here.

New media has the power to change brand loyalty, said Chowdhury. The perception of a brand can be changed. You may have a tea garden in the Tetulia upazila of Panchagarh district, in the extreme north of Bangladesh. You also have the facility to market the garden as an organic one by using Youtube. You can raise consumer eagerness on organic food. You can even take orders on the net.

On the other hand, Chowdhury talks about digital governance. The products should be authentic, as expressed on websites. Social media has strong catalytic role to run a business.