Hawai'i At Work
Publisher of Hawai'i teen 'zine puts message above profit

By Glenn Scott
Advertiser Staff Writer

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A snapshot of the teen market The U.S. population includes 31.6 million people ages 12 to 19. Teens spent $155 billion last year, $2 billion more than the previous year. The average young consumer spent $84 a week. Some $57 of that was their own money; the remaining was from their parents. Teen boys and girls spent roughly the same amount. More than two-thirds have savings accounts, 22 percent have checking accounts, 18 percent own stocks or bonds, and 8 percent have mutual funds. 30 percent of teens are interested in getting a credit card. 42 percent ages 18 and 19 already have a credit card in their own name. 11 percent say they have access to a parent's credit card. Source: Teenage Research Unlimited

Last fall, after concluding that the Islands lacked meaningful publications aimed at teens, Arii enlisted editors Norise and Marvin Jastillana to launch a glossy, bi-monthly magazine, Hawai'i Teens on the Go! that savors the achievements and addresses the anxieties of Island life for teens.

As an owner of Fisher & Pioneer Printing Co., Arii had the resources to publish the magazine. But realizing the difficulties of tapping the teen market, he embarked on a realistic strategy.

He prints 25,000 copies of each issue, delivering most free at every high school on O'ahu in hopes of promoting role models and giving young readers ideas to stir positive interests.

Arii won't make a quick killing but says that's not the point. Despite its cool, commercial style and clever graphics, the magazine is intended as a community service.

"It was never designed," he says, "to be a profit maker."

Other business people trying to reach the expanding but ever-shifting teen market should be so lucky. On the Islands and elsewhere, most chart a course that, experts say, will be both riskier but potentially more financially rewarding.

Teens as a consumer category, it seems, have rarely enjoyed so much access of all sorts.

They have access to money: Last year, the 31 million U.S. teens aged 12 to 19 spent $155 billion, according to Teenage Research Unlimited of Northbrook, Ill. Older teens spent an average of $84 a week, and $57 of that was their own money. The other $27 came from parents.

Thanks to the Internet and other forms of digital communication, teens today also count on unprecedented access to ideas and to messages tailored strictly to them, often by them. Maturing in an information society, they expect — more so than their predecessors — to make their own decisions as consumers.

"They can't imagine a world that isn't filled with instantaneous communication," says Helen Varner, dean of communication at Hawaii Pacific University. "They can't comprehend that, so it has no meaning."

As parents will testify, teens also can't understand why anyone would listen to music they don't like.

"After all, they're the trendsetters," says Kid Leo, program director and disc jockey at Da Bomb, 102.7 FM radio. "They don't look to old people like us to tell them what's good."

The DJ was among the speakers who assembled in Honolulu last week at a gathering sponsored by the International Association of Business Communicators to grapple with the characteristics of the teen market.

He said nothing drives young consumers like discovery.

"Teens love new things," he said. "They like to be the ones who tell their friends that they found something new."

But the speakers also said today's teens, members of the Y Generation, share another trait: an astonishing brand loyalty. Though hard to reach, they stay with brands they embrace, said Kendall Char, sales manager for Oceanic Cable.

But how do producers and retailers tap into that loyalty?

Char said the key is to respect teen's considerable abilities and to demonstrate relevance. The stresses and exposure brought on by the Information Age, he noted, have prompted teens to make fast decisions and to filter out messages they find frivolous or insincere.

Teens today are spiritual, cautiously optimistic, at ease with cultural diversity and ultimately seeking substance, he said.

And because trends and ideas spread as fast as a discussion on MTV, they identify instantly with contemporaries all over the world.

"You have to demonstrate relevance," Char advised. "It's how you fit into their world, not how they fit into yours or your brand's."

All that is the challenge for Arii and the Jastillanas as they refine their magazine, line up youthful contributors and court advertisers with data on teen spending and reminders of brand loyalty.

Most teens today, says Norise Jastillana, consider frequent reading to be a sign of intelligence and a component of the all-important need for instant access.

"It's cool to be smart," she says.

As for the business side, Arii admits it would be cool to keep publishing what he sees as a support system for teens (and parents) — and still break even.

He figures he can boost readership, increase subscriptions and reach the Neighbor Islands in another year or two.

With or without a profit motive, the magazine represents another big risk in a market known for unlikely turns. But for those who court teens, says Varner, nothing is predictable.

"Do you not try?" she asks. "Wow, you'd better try. It's a huge, lucrative market."

Glenn Scott can be reached by phone at 525-8064, or by e-mail at gscott@honoluluadvertiser.com.