Serving Youth - Papers explore new ways to segment young adults
by John Heys | Illustration by Ben Garvie
Long coveted as a potential source of new readers, 18-to-34-year-olds largely remain an enigma to the newspaper industry. Prized by many advertisers, marketers and media companies as a demographic gold mine, these elusive young adults continue to read the daily paper at rates lagging behind their elders.
The problem, according to audience development experts, is that many newspaper executives are asking themselves the wrong question. Reaching young adults isn’t only a matter of “how,” they say, but, more importantly, a question of “which.”
“Eighteen to 34 is just way too broad a demographic,” says Barbara G. Cohen, president and founder of Kannon Consulting in Chicago. “Which 18-to-34-year-olds?”
To be sure, the “young adult” group is as diverse as it is attractive, with everyone from high school seniors to young working couples to those starting families falling within the often-cited 18-to-34-year-old mix. As a result, newspapers must employ equal parts art and science in figuring out which groups to target and which media platforms to invest in. [More…]