Not Getting It Department
Drudge teased this NYT story for half a day before finally delivering the link. Read:
Experts say the biggest problem in the newspaper industry is capturing readers between 18 and 34 years old, and now The Associated Press is looking to tackle that problem head on.
On Monday, the 157-year-old wire service is to start its “younger audience service,” offering articles and “experiences” in multimedia formats, with audio, video, blogs and wireless text aimed at reaching readers between 18 and 34 years old. The service, one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by The A.P., is called asap, pronounced letter by letter, meant to evoke the wire service’s legendary speed.
The pilot project for asap was approved by The A.P.’s board of directors in April. Tom Curley, president of the wire service, said at the time, “As the audience turns to new platforms and adopts new habits, the news must follow.”
Only someone well over and above the 18-34 demo could think the AP’s cute little “asap” service is a good idea.
Look. By the time someone has reached the age of 18, studies show they’ve been exposed to an average of 18 kazillion minutes of advertising. By the time they’re 34, they have TiVo and don’t see any ads at all. The 18-34 demographic is just as immune to “hip” ads as a Norwegian is to sickle-cell anemia.
I’ll go on record right now and say that the AP’s attempt at hipness will prove just as misguided and sadly humorous as that long ago summer I spent wearing my blue jeans pegged. 18-34 year-olds define what’s hip, and their immunity to advertisements
Now, now, Stephen. I’m sure it will be at least as successful as Al Gore’s TV network… what was that called again?
On Monday, the 157-year-old wire service is to start its “younger audience service,” offering articles and “experiences” in multimedia formats, with audio, video, blogs and wireless text aimed at reaching readers between 18 and 34 years old.
I’m in that demographic.
I don’t want ‘experiences in multimedia formats’.
I want information without spin, slant, and partisan bullshit, from people who do research that involves more effort than looking in the in-tray of their fax machine.
I’m willing to pay for it…
When the AP tries to be hip, it’s like Richie Cunningham stealing the Fonz’s leather jacket. And I know unhip when I see it
Dey don’t understand that demographic are intrinsically different from usographic.
I thought that this demographic received all of it’s news from the Daily Show…
Reminds me of institutions trying to be “relevant”. Here’s a game plan – deliver the news, factually accurate, trying to keep the spin out of it.
A good product might sell. Hey, I know, a crazy idea, but still!
I’m with mikey.
Of course, I’d be more inclined to subscribe if they’d stop filling my U.S. Mail mailbox with newspaper-sized ad flyers that prop the lid open and cause my legitimate mail to get soaked any time it rains a few drops.
You’d think the hometown paper in a city of rowhouses would understand that.
Little O/T but hey indulge me. Nobody else is listening at the Sun.
Ricky is right, to a degree. Many in my age group get their “news” from the Daily Show, but there are also quite a few who have grown up, so to speak, with Fox News, which is probably self-leveling. The other thing I’ve noticed is the complete lack of interest in celebrity pontificating. We may enjoy watching Sean Penn play a character with mental disabilities, but the real thing is not as palatable.
Still, I don’t know where you get the idea those kids aren’t lemmings. They buy what others their age are buying, which is why so many high-end retailers and designers try to determine who are the trend-setters and how to market to them.
ASAP sounds like a half-baked idea if there ever was one, but I disagree strongly that there is some age slice that cannot be marketed to because they set the trends. Trend-setters are a miniscule subset of that slice.
I’ll tell you what’s hip! That redo of the old classic Coke “I Want to Teach the World to Sing” commercial, with the scientifically diverse group of kids sitting up on the roof and jamming away as they enjoy some Coca-Cola. And changing the main lyric to “I want to teach the world to chill” makes the song entirely relevant to today’s youth!
Coca-Cola must be selling like crazy right now.
Ooh, shiny! Wth bright colors and flashing lights. How can the youth resist?
I’m pretty sure this is not a new or generational thing…condescention has _always_ been uncool.
What sort of ‘news’ will they offer up that won’t already be in Spin, Slate, Jet…?
I’m guessing it wil lbe the same old shit about Brittney, J-Ho, Snoop50diddy or who-the-hell-ever is on MTV this week.
Holy shit, you mean we can download stuff from the internet now?
I told a colleague today, this is just an exercise in futility so that the higher-ups can say that they “get it.”
Wasted time, wasted money, and watch them all fall down.
End of story.
Hey this’ll go down in history with that laughable AP fake-blog effort of theirs last year (enyone remember THAT??)
Sean Penn play a character with mental disabilities
I don’t think it was much of a stretch.
As for this “asap” thing: boy is that dumb. I’m 23, I don’t care what the AP says is cool. Give me some news, guys.
I also agree wholeheartedly with the comment up thread about those damnable Coke commercials. I’m a rabid Coca-Cola partisan, but I hate those ads. I’m just barely old enough to remember seeing the “teach the world to sing” ads from the 80s. Also, that cracker is even a worse rapper than I am, and that’s saying something.
We USED to get our news from the Daily Show. You have to be consistently relevant to be funny or interesting.
um, who needs asap when you can have the google deskbar providing news, webclips, and whats hot (rss/technorati/ap feed) along with weather, photos, email, itunes, etc??
any ads we’re going to pay attention to won’t be from Afreaking P. they’ll be from targeted websites/magazines about our interests. AP feed ain’t going to give you the right targeting to get a useful and relevant ad.
i see interesting ads on cable (CNBC, BloombergTV), in the paper (FT, WSJ, Economist), on websites (FT, WSJ, Economist, Insta, Gmail, google, msn messenger, Forbes, Fortune), in magazines (powder, outside, NR, architectural digest, GQ, Forbes, Fortune, Sailing World, Wine Spectator…)
but from AP? what are they going to sell that I’d find useful? IT consulting services for Fortune 100 firms? sports related products? boating/cottage stuff? sailing stuff? furniture/home buying related? suits?
they’ll do some lame ads for fedex, honda, maybe budweiser? sorry but tv has those ads already, they’re useless already, and they’re at least compelling on TV (not that I’ll buy bud light, or anything, but i love beer commercials)
i’m mid 20s, significant disposable income (obvious given my magazines), with position to influence dramatic purchases at a global professional services firm and with fortune 100 clients. but the AP is going to try and sell me bud.
FT is advertising multi k conferences (which I’ve attended), WSJ has triggered significant purchases personally and professionally (damn tiffany’s ads… pick the right gift but damn), and 50+% of the point in reading specialist magazines is for the freaking ads.
I’m the type of newsjunkie they’re supposedly aiming at, but seriously, in this demo, you’re either way overconsuming other news products and are better reachecd through other marketing methods (such as a bloomberg terminal maybe, or the FT website), or you just don’t give a shizzit, and won’t pay attention to the AP no matter how many gewgaws they put on their site.
plus, any asap I’m reading is Forbes’ ASAP!
Think your giving the 18-34 yr olds too much credit. Some might be as you describe them, but most of them are followers and easily led.
They ARE susceptible to advertising and they want just about everything that comes down the pike (if it’s marketed right).
You can see this in jeans, for one. There are frequently new types in the stores and the 18-34s must have them. Eyeglasses would be another.
Most 18-34s would where a lampshade on their head if it were determined (by whoever makes such determinations) that it’s hip.
OTOH, the AP certainly is not hip and will undoubtedly be behind the curve in knowing what is.
We never had labels on the things we bought in the 40s and 50s. Status and solidarity with our young peer friends seems to have ushered in a culture of labels – and so we carry around with us millions of dollars worth of free advertising and think we’re cool!
Yes, the ads do work!
“Why can’t they dig it, man?” – Thanks, I nearly spit coffee on my keyboard. I’m reading “The Great Book Of Amber”, the complete collection of Roger Zelazny’s Amber series. I first read them back through the ’70s and never thought about Zelazny’s use of then-current slang. Now, however, his main protagonist/antagonist uses the terms “I dig it” or “They didn’t dig my…” and I think “Geez, this is dated”.
I guess I’m just not hip.
Hey, i’m 33, but i’m not hip.
I do read a lot of blogs though. And I have ordered exactly zero newspapers because I get all the news I need from the internet.
I’m surprised anyone orders newspapers anymore, or even cares about the AP.