SINGAPORE: Some 400 businessmen and marketing professionals learnt what makes Singaporean youths tick at MediaCorp's inaugural Youth Shout Day.
The findings of a survey of more than 1,000 youths between the ages of 12 and 29 were presented.
The survey was commissioned by MediaCorp and conducted by TNS, a market insights and consultancy firm.
39 per cent of those surveyed said they conform to societal norms.
Many in this group aspire to own a property and car and get a good job that pays well.
Another
28 per cent surveyed say they believe in the freedom of expression,
rights of others and are open to learning about and working with other
cultures and races.
The majority of youths surveyed are frequent
users of online media, with 81 per cent of them saying they feel that
they are always connected to the internet.
Participants also
heard from students from polytechnics and junior colleges, who shared
their views on topics close to their hearts, such as volunteerism and
online gaming.
"We want to be deeply engaged with the youths, to
understand them better, to give them a forum to express their views, and
ultimately) we want to create content that's relevant to the youths
today," said Moses Lye, the head of youth engagement in MediaCorp.
"In
the near future, MediaCorp (will be) developing digital initiatives,
that would create content in the digital space, around the areas of
music, games and social engagement."
One of the participants,
Canon Singapore's director of marketing, Mr Edwin Teoh, 43, felt that
the event took a "dramatic and different approach" to reach out to
youths.
He said: "I think for the youths of today, they are a
bit more sophisticated. From a marketing perspective, it is no longer
good for us to just push our advertising messages to them, but we need
to engage them in a more subtle way. It's really about the brand
experience that they have with us. I think that's how we will look at
crafting our messages for them in future."
- CNA/xq