Follow me follow you

As someone new to social media and the terminology of following, liking and sharing not to mention hashtags, re-tweeting and trending it is a new experience to contend with. The marketing press is full of the upside-down digital divide where senior marketers need a young assistant coach to help them up to speed as they seek to make a successful brand transition into the omni-channel world.

For the young, social media in all its forms and using the variety of internet enabled platforms is providing them with considerable power with the ability to both disrupt, re-engineer and create new business models based on less loyalty and new purchasing patterns.

Ofcom statistics published last July highlight the digital advantage of the young:   95% of 16-24 year olds use the internet, 66% of 16-24 year olds and 60% of 25-34 year olds have smart phones, 67% of 16-24 year olds go online via their mobile. 87% of 16-24 year olds use social networks.

But given the buzz, excitement and coverage devoted to the digital world of apps and social media and the range of opportunities it is creating why is unemployment so high among the young?   It is not as if it is the better off young who are the main beneficiaries of the digital revolution.  I have recently undertaken research into the take up of social media in relation to sources of information and advice in financial services, where the majority of people using Facebook and Twitter were under 35, but by profile more C1C2DE than AB. This must represent a big opportunity to engage with a difficult- to- get- at demographic in the clamour for more financial education in and out of schools.

On the subject of education why aren’t more young people teaching adults about the digital world and creating their own jobs or even to volunteer- is this not the way that social media can become a rallying call to get people and communities engaged?  In this age of uncertainty the digital education young people have should give them a better understanding of the power they possess to bring about change.

In the riots two years ago the negative side of the power of social media was displayed by young people. The Occupy Movement has also used social media very effectively.  Today there is a need for bankers and private equity funds to tap into the creative side of how young people can create new sustainable digitally driven businesses. At the same time businesses will need staff that can protect company data and information and add cyber resilience, enabling their customers to transact online in a trusted environment.

Sport is the sector that provides great cross-generational interest with London 2012 the first social media Olympics as Twitter and Facebook became central in the breaking of many stories during the Games and generated enormous traffic. Olympics / Paralympics sponsor EDF measured the nation’s Twitter reaction to London 2012 by turning this sentiment into a unique lightshow on the London Eye during the Games at 9pm daily. 48% of 16-24 year olds expected to follow the Olympics on Facebook and Twitter according to Ofcom.

Sadly sport, that brought people together last summer and converted many non-sporty types, has scored a couple of own goals in 2013. The fall from grace of Lance Armstrong and the widespread fixing of European football matches has meant much negative media coverage. For marketers they have to consider the role sponsorship and advertising have in helping to police the sports and sports personalities they are promoting.

More positively two of Britain’s top sportsmen brought a warmer glow to the public. Andy Murray suggested would be prepared to take a reduction in prize money to help to finance a state-of –the-art anti-doping programme to ensure tennis is free of drugs and David Beckham is to give his PSG salary to a children’s charity.

Another positive sporting note is the surge in volunteers applying to help at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year. The’ Games Makers effect ‘remains a blueprint for improved customer experience and chimes with millions of people who choose to be part of something as a volunteer. Recently the Social Value Act recognised the social value and economic benefits of volunteers that is hoped will improve the quality of public services. The latest estimate by the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (2010/11) is that volunteer hours contributed £23.1 billion to the economy – some 1-2% of GDP.

In the GfK/JGFR Autumn 2012 Olympics Barometer 16% of respondents (some 8 million adults) in the post Games survey indicated they intend to become a volunteer in sporting and community activity as a result of the Olympics / Paralympics. Among the under 30s over a quarter intend to volunteer, reflecting the experiences many young people seek of helping out in sport and helping to ensure the sporting legacy.

Meanwhile on the economic front the strong one-off Olympics spending boost in Q3 GDP (0.9%), meant the quarter on quarter comparison was always going to result in little or negative growth in Q4 despite rising employment.  GfK consumer confidence regained upward traction in January – up 3 points to -26, although it still cannot break out of recession levels, unlike UK stock markets that seem to suggest the worst is over and that a wealth effect may start to kick in as people see their portfolios improving.

One factor in why confidence is low is the relative weakness of sentiment among the young (-17), two points lower than a year ago and down 11 points on January 2010 (-6). Then the gap in confidence with the over 65s was 18 points. Today it is just 9 points and the oldies are the second most confident group (-26) ahead of the 30-44 age group (-27) and the 50-64 year old baby boomers (-30), at the foot of the age confidence league since April 2010.

For marketers the challenge is to make the old feel young again and the young to reach out and engage with the older generation. Follow me follow you.

Read more from John Gilbert.