Target Audience

One of my initial thoughts was that of the target audience, as they will be the influencing factor in to how the brief is developed.

'The core bottled water market is 18 – 40 year olds, with a female bias. The target audience for this campaign is 18 – 24 year olds. These are also the people who have the opportunity to have a real voice and make a significant impact. They are enthusiastic, receptive and should be the driving force behind accelerating Thirsty Planet’s growth.' Extract taken from the thirsty planet YCN brief. 

From this some research was conducted into the demographic, in order to promote an informed design. 

Freshers and the university experience

For any marketing professional looking to engage and influence students, new students are considered a priority and Freshers' Week is a significant event in the calendar. Most youth-focussed organisations invest a big slice of their budget to capture the interest of freshers as well as returning students.

Research from our recent Freshers Marketing Report reveals that 87% of 18-24s want brands to entertain, inform and inspire them. When asked which brands they remembered seeing at Freshers' last year (at a Freshers' Fair, online or in advertising around campus), Domino’s, Nando’s, Pizza Hut, Lucozade, Endsleigh and Asda were some of the names that came out on top. With free slices of pizza, the pizza companies are obviously a big hit, while both Nando’s and Lucozade coincidently engaged students with a Wheel of Fortune style game which delivered guaranteed prizes.

The right platform and the right message

Our research found that students spend more time online than they do watching TV and socialising with friends. Thirty three per cent of students say they spend more than 20 hours a week online while at university. Convenience, novelty and a love of online shopping were key reasons why students said they loved our recent campaign freshersfields.com for The National Online Freshers’ Fair, and over 90 brands including GBK, HP, Ocado, The Guardian, Sky, Nando’s, Papa Johns are involved this year.

This generation expects services "on demand" and they want choice - they are beginning a new journey as independent consumers and are defining themselves through the brands they choose and online gives them a great platform to do this.

Gen Y = 20-26 years old (31 million people in U.S.)


1. Connection

Gen Y kids are more optimistic and more socially conscious, craving constant communication and connection with their peers – hence the proliferation and enduring success of social media.



2. Values

Unlike their predecessors, Gen Ys exhibit a higher tolerance for diversity, probably due to the variety of global viewpoints they’re exposed to in day-to-day life, whether online or in their increasingly multicultural peer groups. They tend also to be much more confidentand socially aware, valuing equality and social responsibility over the quick wins and thoughtless consumerism that typified the 1980’s of the Boomers.



3. Personality

This generation values individuality, as long as they’re still considered part of the group. Unlike some of their Baby Boomer parents, they’re particularly unwilling to trade in their values for their image, and being seen as ‘fake’ is generally much worse than being considered uncool



4. Lifestyle

Contrary to popular belief, research suggests that Gen Ys tend to lead a relatively quiet life hanging out with friends, listening to music, and yes, even watching the so-called dying medium of TV They also value convenience, as exemplified by the popularity of sites such as Amazon and eBay that make shopping as easy as the click of a button.



5. (Dis)Trust

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this group are generally very distrustful of mainstream media, and cautious of their personal safety - which may explain why earned media such as word-of-mouth, peer reviews and testimonials, play such a large role in their purchasing process.