Time Inc. Launches 'The Stream' Youth Panel

In the UK, publishing group Time Inc. has launched a youth audience panel called 'The Stream' comprising a pool of 18-34 year-olds, some of whom are readers of NME, LOOK and Now magazines.

The launch stems from research conducted by Newcastle and London-based creative, technology and insights specialist d.fferento/ogy on behalf of Time Inc. UK. This study - known as The New Mainstream - will become an ongoing initiative to further industry understanding of the 'diverse personas' within the millennial audience, and help marketers and advertisers better engage with the youth demographic.

The New Mainstream project was carried out via both qualitative and quantitative research; with qual research conducted via two 2.5 hour co-creation labs in Leeds and London with a total of 30 participants and a 50% split of male and female participants; while the quant element of the study surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,000 participants. As part of the initiative, six audience segments and personas have been defined: Responsible Revels; Urban Optimists; Troubled Traditionalists; Sofa Surfers; Hashtag Heroes; and Crowdsourcing Consumers.

Romano Sidoli (pictured), MD of Time Inc. UK's Innovation Group, comments: 'The danger of advertisers not thinking about this audience in the right way is that they are at risk of their campaigns only reaching the very edges of the group, or missing them completely. Millennials are often perceived as one audience instead of the six, individual groups we are seeing and we want to spell the end of that broad brush approach'.

Web sites: www.timeinc.com and www.differentology.co.uk .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.