Back to School

A re we all just creatures of habit? Every time I buy a Coke I look under the cap to see what I have won. It doesn't really matter if a sweepstakes is advertised on the label or if there is any indication that I actually might win something; I do it out of habit. It's a habit I picked up as a kid, when I became aware that Coca-Cola and many other beverage companies were wooing consumers with chances to win such items as a zippy Corvette, a check for a million dollars—or at least a free soda.

It just so happens that on this particular occasion, I did have a chance to win. But in this age of interactive promotions, what I found on my bottle cap was a code. Slightly confused, I read the label more carefully. I had to log on to a Web site to redeem my prize, which I did as soon as I was within reach of an Internet connection.

I was met with a not-exactly-edgy interface that appeared to be crafted from torn brown paper bags, concrete and some cute little cartoon people dressed in the latest urban "cool kid" gear like skull caps, wide-legged pants and halter tops. The best part? After I registered, I could create my own "me" out of a basic body, a variety of hair-dos and outfits, skin colors and shoe selections. And, by golly, the result did sort of look like me—only better. I got to put my blonde hair in pigtails and wear big shoes, though I was pretty conservative with the clothes. I could also participate in online chat rooms through the site, create my own music mixes and even do some performing in front of a virtual audience. I had inadvertently stumbled onto an entire virtual music community Narnia-style through my bottle cap, and that was pretty cool. But I was still a little bit confused—did I win anything? It wasn't immediately clear to me.

"That's probably because it was aimed at teenagers," says Matt Britton, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Mr. Youth, L.L.C., a marketing firm with offices in Boston, New York and soon Los Angeles that helps its clients tap into the world of the teen consumer. And this is a very big world.

Money Magnitude

According to Northbrook, Illinois-based Teen Research Unlimited (TRU), a marketing firm that has helped design strategies for such companies as Nike, Nintendo and Nokia, as well as helping to craft effective messages for anti-drug and anti-tobacco campaigns, teen spending has grown dramatically in the past five years.

In the year 2000, expenditures by teens weighed in at about $155 billion, according to TRU. Their buying power peaked in 2001, as teens ploughed more than $172 billion into the U.S. marketplace. And despite the slumping economy, teens nearly matched that number in 2002, with teen expenditures topping out at $170 billion. That's not bad for a recession-time budget.

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