Marketers working on tactics for reaching youth online via blogs and communities.(Brief Article)

The time and loyalty kids and teens devote to online communities and blogs are forces that most marketers would love to tap into. Two types of online communities are of primary interest to marketers--those such as NeoPets and Habbo Hotel that exist as vehicles for immersive advertising and product placement, and those that aren't obviously marketing-driven or even marketing-friendly.

According to comScore Media Metrix, a majority of the top 15 sites visited by teens age 13-17 in January 2005 were either blogs or online community sites. More than a third of kids and young adults age 8-24 (35%) say they are either part of an online community or plan to join one in the next six months, according to surveys conducted by Sports Illustrated for Kids and Sports Illustrated on Campus for YOUTH MARKETS ALERT.

Paul Kurnit of KidShop says the appeal of online communities and blogs is simple--such sites are the equivalent of the newest toy for kids and teens.

"This medium lets kids go out all over the world and relate to other people who have the same interests," Kurnit says. "It puts them in worlds of their own making."

"Online communities are more engaging than most other things you find online or offline," says Eric Greenwald of NeoPets. "The Internet as a whole is more cognitive and requires thinking."

With blog communities, marketers are faced with the challenge of tapping into this world without inherently altering it and alienating those whom they're trying to reach.

In a survey conducted for YOUTH MARKETS ALERT by Buzz Marketing, a majority of teens age 16-19 (83%) say they don't want to see ads or product placement within community sites. On the other hand, 63% say they wouldn't mind seeing or reading about products touted by other community members.