The power of tweens Essay Example for Free

The power of tweens Essay Like no other time in history, the purchasing power of children ages nine to fourteen has increased to become a force to be reckoned with.   With celebrity tweens like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen paving the way into the massive tween audience, today it is the likes of Miley Cyrus who is well on her way to becoming a billionaire off the incredible spending power of the tween population.   While music and movie stars benefit largely from the new purchasing power of tweens, many other industries benefit as well, including the electronics industry, the clothing industry, and the food industry. As tweens spend their allowance money, as well as their parents’ money on items often marketed directly to them, there also remains differences in the purchases of male and female tweens that influences not only how companies market their products, but how tweens spend their money.   And, while tweens’ spending power continues to increase at a rate previously unseen in society, they still lack the spending freedom afforded to their older teenage counterparts as well as adults. To truly take advantage of the tween market, it is necessary to create a credit card designed especially for tweens that will allow them to purchase as they like, while simultaneously being overseen by their parents.   Through this creation, tweens could learn how to become more experienced in spending money, and parents could be more involved in the consumer life of their children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The power of tweens in the marketplace can no longer be ignored by industries, who are now making a greater effort than ever to reach the profitable demographic.   In just a decade, the influence of tweens on marketing has become significant, as not only do they possess purchasing power of their own, but they also influence the purchasing decisions of their parents.   Between the years of 1990 and 2000, industry spending on advertising to tweens exploded during the decade, increasing from a mere $100 million to more than $2 billion (â€Å"How Marketers Target Kids†).   This huge increase in spending on advertising to tweens speaks better than anything else in showing how powerful a market they have become.    In the essay, â€Å"The Selling of Rebellion† it is demonstrated how the marketing world has attempted to sell the ideas of breaking loose of boundaries through consumerism to young tweens.   â€Å"Breaking the rules† has become desirable, after decades of advertisers suggesting those that break the rules transcend the boundaries of the common world.   This tactic is especially useful on young consumers like tweens.   In his essay, John Leo points out how Madison Avenue targets the youthful desire for freedom and individuality, and coopts its rhetoric for purposes that are uniquely conformist (Leo).   This marketing strategy manages to sell the illusion of freedom, while encouraging â€Å"transgression† on the part of tween consumers.    To Leo, transgression allows tweens to break the boundaries while staying within the greater circle of conformity, to rebel and while conforming.   To a tween, both of these concepts are extremely important and have led to significant spending in recent years on products that appeal to both needs.   The total income that tweens had to spend in 2003 was reported to be upwards of $42.3 billion dollars, with marketing analysts predicting increases of around 2 percent a year in both the United States and Europe (â€Å"Tween Teen Trends†).    While the total income tweens spend on items reflects some of their purchasing power, the true extent of their purchases is far greater and tween spending worldwide is higher than ever at an estimated $170 billion (â€Å"Tweens Empowered and with Money to Burn†).   With such obvious purchasing power, the massive tween market has become a priority of advertisers that spend increasing amounts of money to reach them, often with very profitable results. The unique age of tweens has many of them considering themselves no longer children, and advertisers capitalize on this fact.   Industry analysts have found that children eleven and older no longer consider themselves children, and the Toy Manufacturers of America have changed their target market from birth to fourteen years old to birth to ten years old (â€Å"The ‘Tween Market’†).   This shows that tweens’ tastes have grown more sophisticated in just a few decades, due in no small part to the efforts of advertisers and market research groups.    A 2000 report from the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. revealed how Hollywood routinely recruits tweens to evaluate its story concepts, commercials, theatrical trailers and rough cuts for R-rated movies, which has gone a long way in instilling a sense of adulthood in the young children, and helping to instill a greater sense of independence and separation from their parents, especially in the way they spend their money (â€Å"The ‘Tween’ Market†). While many adults and parents question the motives of industries that target their children, as well as the methods used, it has become an irremovable fact of society that tweens are being treated more as adults than children, especially when it comes to taking full advantage of their purchasing power.   However, despite the fact that their purchasing power is treated with the same level of respect as adults, the products that tweens continue to purchase reflect their young age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some of the most popular products that tweens spend their money on continue to be the same things children have always spent money on.   It is estimated that spending on food accounts for roughly 17.0% of tweens’ disposable income in 2008, which includes things like candy, fast food, and soft drinks; in the U.S. alone there will be a reported 1.1 billion extra tween snacking occasions in 2008 relative to 2003, which means tweens will be spending more money than ever on candy and junk food (â€Å"Tween Teen Trends†).    Even though tween spending has grown more sophisticated in recent years, the overwhelming total of tween pocket money goes to confectionery goods and snacks, with an estimated $18.2 billion in tween money spent on confectionery in 2004, with a further $8.9 billion and $5 billion spent on soft drinks and sweet or savory snacks (â€Å"Tweens Empowered and with Money to Burn†).   These numbers reflect the common purchases of both male and female tweens, both of which spend indiscriminately on candies and sodas often marketed straight to them.   However, there have been more efforts made in recent years to target to the specific genders of tweens, and the purchases they make have reflected specific preferences by each group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Females have long been known to mature faster than males, and the tween age is a representation of this.   Female tweens spend far more money on certain items that are not necessarily toys or candies, but rather things that help reflect their move into adulthood.   Fashion and cosmetics are extremely important to tween girls, and according to recent research of a three-month period in 2003, 90 percent of tweens and parents of tweens reported spending money on clothing items, averaging roughly $100 per purchase in most cases; shoes and sneakers also ranked considerably high on the list, reflecting the importance tweens place on fashion and staying trendy (Clack). Even more so than their male counterparts, female tweens use their purchasing power to develop their unique sense of identity and attempt to cultivate an older self-image.   This is reflected in the advertising by the fashion industry geared towards tweens, which often uses provocative marketing campaigns that feature very young models and sell a very adult concept of sexuality to the young tweens (â€Å"The ‘Tween Market’†).   With role models like Britney Spears and the Miley Cyrus, the adult sexuality portrayed by such stars also goes a long way in influencing tween girls to emulate such behavior. This has led to makeup becoming another major growth area in the tween girl market, though instead of the expensive adult cosmetics, tween girls prefer to purchase products such as shimmer, eye shadow, and lip gloss (Clack).   The emphasis on fashion is not to say that tween girls do not make some similar purchases to boys, as both genders spend a great deal of money on entertainment such as CDs and movies, but when it comes to technology, tween boys far outpace the girls in their spending habits. While cellphones, PDAs, and Ipods have become standard purchases of both tween boys and girls, one of the most significant burgeoning markets in the past decade has been the videogame market.   Due largely to the male tween population, the video game industry became the most profitable entertainment industry in the United States, outpacing both music and movies.   U.S. annual shipments more than doubled from 69 million in 1996 to 159 million in 1998, and during this time, U.S. sales increased from 3.6 billion dollars to 6.2 billion dollars; in 1996 video games represented 2% of toy shipments and 15% of sales dollars, and by 1998 it grew to 4% of toy shipments and 22% of sales dollars. Today, total video game sales grew 43 percent in 2007, up from $12.53 billion in 2006, and in December, historically the industrys strongest month, Americans spent $4.82 billion on video games, up 28 percent from a year earlier and up 83 percent from $2.63 billion in November, helped by the success of handheld units like Nintendo DS and the latest generation of home consoles (Ortutay). The tween demand for sophisticated toys, as well as the constant introduction of new games consoles, has been good news for the video games industry, as research shows that tweens spent $4.3 billion on video games, which accounted for over 13% of total videogames sales, where tweens’ spending on traditional toys and games dwindled to only 6% of total sales (â€Å"Tweens: Empowered with Money to Burn†).   The popularity of video games and the purchasing power of tweens have combined to create a situation in which male tweens spend far more money on technological items than ever before, especially in the form of videogames. Despite the hefty price tags, new video game systems bring tweens and adults alike together in front of the television to partake in the videogame fun, proving that videogames remain an aspect of popular culture that brings all ages together like few others can.   The shared interest and purchases that tweens have with adults, often their own parents, seems to suggest that a greater effort should be made to educate and control their purchasing power. Credit cards are used more than ever, and their popularity is reflected in the massive credit card debt that has been racked up in the United States over the past few decades.   It is estimated that at the end of 2002, Americans carried over $750.9 billion in outstanding credit card debt (Weston).   While some consumers are successfully managing to pay off their debt, many are in trouble and forced to make changes in their spending.   For tweens, having a highly regulated credit card could possibly lead to preventing many of the credit pitfalls experienced by the older consumers.   By introducing a credit card aimed directly at tweens and controlled by their parents, tweens would be able to continue their purchasing habits while under the guidance of their parents. While the common tween may feel this to be restricting their newfound purchasing power, as it is, few tweens have their own source of income to begin with and get the majority of their money from their parents.   It only makes sense that this also reflects in the fact that the vast majority of tween purchases, around 72 percent, are made with decisions made jointly by both the parent and the tween; a smaller margin of purchases, around 19 percent, are made solely by the parent on behalf of the tween, while only 8 percent of tween purchases are made by the tween alone (Clack).   By presenting tweens with a credit card that was controlled by the parents, they could be made more independent and make more purchases on their own. This way, tweens would be given the benefits of having to learn the value of money and parents could better regulate and discover what their children are purchasing from the invoices.   They could even place limits on their child’s spending on the card, which would prevent the tweens from making any costly spending mistakes.   Instead of relying on a profit-motivated bank that makes money on interest rates and penalty fees, tweens could instead rely on their parents to help educate them to such things, proving a considerably more cost effective means of learning the system of credit cards rather than the way that many adults often do, which is to fall into a massive hole of debt. The new purchasing power of the tween market cannot be denied, but it is in the best interests of their parents to make sure it can be controlled.   The fact that the majority of tween purchases are made jointly by tweens and their parents, a tween credit card regulated by their parents could be an ideal way of ensuring that their children avoid spending too much money on things they do not really need, and also avoid falling into the trap of overwhelming credit card debt.   A tween credit card could teach them the value of money at an early age, as well as make them feel more independent and grownup.    Feeling more independent and grownup is very important to tweens, and if parents fail to do the job, hungry marketers are more than happy to do it for them, gearing complex marketing campaigns towards tweens with disposable income.   If anything, a credit card designed for tweens and controlled by their parents will allow them to each take the power back from marketers that target the tweens youthful ignorance and the parents’ ignorance to their children’s purchases.   In the end, the purchasing power of tweens may be a global phenomenon, but they are still children and the responsibility for their actions should continue to remain with their parents, which a tween credit card could most assuredly do. Works Cited: Clack, Erin E. â€Å"What a Tween Wants Now: Market Research Experts Reveal Whats New With This Important Demographic.† Reach Advisors. 1 Apr 2004. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.reachadvisors.com/childrensbusinessarticle2.html. â€Å"How Marketers Target Kids.† Media Awareness Network. 2008. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/ marketing/issues_teens_marketing.cfm. Leo, John. â€Å"The Selling of Rebellion.† Exploring Language, 10th Ed. Longman: 2003. Ortutay, Barbara. â€Å"Nintendo tops video game sales in 2007.† MSNBC. 17 Jan 2008. 29 Apr http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22718374/. â€Å"Tween Teen Trends.† Datamonitor. 19 Jan 2005. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=1094144g=1. â€Å"Tweens: empowered and with money to burn.† Euromonitor International. 10 Mar 2006. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.euromonitor.com/ Tweens_empowered_and_with_money_to_burn.     Ã¢â‚¬Å"The ‘Tween Market’.† Media Awareness Network. 2008. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/marketing/marketers_target_kids.cfm. Weston, Liz Pulliam. â€Å"The Truth About Credit Card Debt.† MSNBC. 2008. 29 Apr 2008. http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P74808.asp.

Marion Barry :: essays research papers fc

Marion Barry, good mayor but bad man. Marion Barry former Mayor of the United States capital. Most known in America for his "Bitch set me up", video taped, Ramada Inn arrest. Charged with possession of a controlled substance, he was still reelected in 1994. This proving Mayor Barry was respected by many Washington citizens and a good Mayor. Marion Barry was possibly a great man with great intentions but weaknesses to sex, drugs, racism and pressures of the position of taking care of a city. Marion Barry born in Mississippi 1936. Raised in a poor family with a yearly income of $250, Marion grew a hatred for the white ruled society around him. Wanting so much more than what he had Marion always struggled to earn as much money as he could. Marion had many jobs as a teenager and teachers often understood he was a very hardworking individual. Barry always stayed out of crime devoting himself to hard work at school and work. (Agronsky 79-85) Upon graduating from high school the same year of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas Supreme Court case, Marion would be the first Barry to attend college (Agronsky 87). Growing up in the desegregation period of America shaped the racially focused person Marion Barry became. Marion Barry attended LeMoyne College in South-Memphis were he majored in Chemistry. Teachers and Students alike agree he studied Chemistry to be different from the rest of black students attending LeMoyne (Agronsky 87). Marion claims to have had very different values than others brought up in the same area as he and he was always an individual (Agronsky 88). Unlike many black students in the fifties Marion was very driven by a struggle for civil rights and racial equality. When LeMoyne trustee Walter Chandler made several anti-integration statements Marion took his first action against racism. He wrote a letter to the school newspaper demanding Chandler's resignation. The letter was eventuall y reprinted in several Memphis newspapers. Upon reading the letter the NAACP executive Roy Akins stepped in and Prendergast 2 heralded Marion as "one of the most righteous young men in Memphis!" (Agronsky 91). Even though the college was not very happy about Barry's remarks, the students and people of Memphis regarded him as a hero and a hope in the new civil rights movement "sweeping the south" (Agronsky 93). (Agronsky 90-93) While getting his Master's Degree in Chemistry at Fisk University in Nashville, Marion Barry would continue the struggle for integration.

LOM Assignment

â€Å"Lung conditions caused by 9/11† Write about the different types of lung conditions being found as a result of 9/11. We all remember the effects of this horrible day on September 11, 2001; but what we don’t know is the effects it still had on so many after the tragedy ended. When the towers of the World Trade Center collapsed it produced a dense could of smoke and vaporized concrete and drywall. New York City Fire Department rescue workers were exposed to polluted air- as well as dust and diesel exhaust that accompanied the rescues effort, this had reduced there lung function in weeks and months following the attack.Now a new study in the â€Å"New England Journal of Medicine† report that the lung impairment they observed in the rescue workers appears to be lasting. Firefighters, Emergency Medical personnel continued to have decreased lung function up to seven years after 9/11. They found most of this group suffered from â€Å"Chronic Bronchitis, Asthma, Lu ng Cancer, Mesothelioma, Tuberculosis, and Sarcoidosis† (especially prevalent among recovery and clean-up workers); 9/11 also exposed some people to having GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disorder) they addressed these declines with regular monitoring and aggressive treatment.In 2001 and 2002 the lung function of more than 12,000 fire fighters, rescue workers who were at Ground Zero had there lung functions measured, comparing the results to lung function tests given to the same group before 9/11 as a part as their department physicals. On average the lung function of the workers declined by an amount equivalent to twelve years of natural aging. In new studies, researchers continued to follow these fire fighters and medical personnel for an average of six years measuring there lung function every twelve to eighteen months to see if the initial decline persisted.They were surprised to find â€Å"little or no† improvement in average lung function, according to the study. Th e persistent decline in lung function has potential short-term consequences, it places them at higher risk for shortness of breath, cough, wheeze and impairments in their ability to exercise and perform physically demanding jobs. A lot of these heroes are now unable to work because of these long term conditions of this horrible tragedy.

My Interview On My Personality - 1401 Words

. This diagram tells exactly how is my personality. At work I am very conscientious employee. I like to finish the task I begin and I do it in an organized way. When I have issues at work I am always positive that we need to find a way to solve the problem. Another personality that describes me is Openness. My boss mentioned that to me in my last review. I like to start new projects and I am very creative adding new ideas. Sometimes I can be a little insecure of myself when I am in the middle of a difficult task; however, I try to do my best. 3. A new concept I discovered in Chapter 8 was the Big Five dimensions of personality. Before reading this chapter I did not think about how personalities affect the work place. When employees arrive†¦show more content†¦These kind of employees often do better in work environments or positions in which they have limited contact with customers or coworkers. 4. a. Indra K. Nooyi was born in Madras, India, in 1955, and was a bit of a rule breaker in her conservative, middle-class world as she grew up. In an era in India where it was considered unseemly for young women to exert themselves, she joined an all-girls cricket team. She even played guitar in an all-female rock band while studying at Madras Christian College. After earning her undergraduate degree in chemistry, physics, and math, she went on to enroll in the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta. At the time, it was one of just two schools in the country that offered a master s in business administration degree, or M.B.A. Nooyi s first job after earning her degree was with Tootal, a British textile company. It had had been founded in Manchester, England, in 1799, but had extensive holdings in India. After that, Nooyi was hired as a brand manager at the Bombay offices of Johnson Johnson, the personal-care products maker. She was given the Stayfree account, which might have proved a major challenge for even an experienced marketing executive. Nooyi began to feel that perhaps she was underprepared for the business world. Determined to study in the United States, she applied to and was accepted by Yale University s Graduate School of Management in New Haven,