Teen marketing is here to stay. Thanks to the enormous economic might of the teenagers, there is a mad rush among marketers to target this very lucrative and exciting segment. Marketers are harnessing all the resources at their command to fire up the imagination of teenagers and storm their way into their impressionable minds. But this is easier said than done. To peep into the complex psyche of teen consumers, marketers have to ponder over issues related to their personal psyche, social context and the general environment around them. Though this article is partly drawn from the American context, the general observations are universally applicable.

Life used to be pleasantly sim pler for the marketers of yore. Rustle up a product that most of the teenagers want, market it aggressively and see how the power of herd mentality kicks in. Marketers of yesteryears were always assured that this gambit will work like a charm and they will laugh their way to the bank. But not any longer. Reaching out to today's teenagers can be a hair-raising exercise. Today, marketers have to wander through many individual tastes and requirements. Homogeny is passé. Individualism is in vogue.

Today's generation of teenagers are also smart, savvy, hyper-stimulated, data crazy, media hungry, techno-literate and sweetly irreverential. The current crop of teenagers has definitely upped the ante for consumerism. Their focus is palpably different because they typify a generation that wields enormous economic clout unlike their predecessors.

Besides, today's teens are born into an age of radical technological revolution and advanced media evolution, which gives them unfettered and unhindered access to the consumer market. They also have the intelligence, street smartness and astuteness to take best advantage of these markets. No wonder, the choicest of fashionable titles such as Echo Boomers, Digital Generation, Wired Generation, Millennials and Gen-Y are showered upon them. Thanks to their enormous economic might, there is a mad rush among marketers to study the buying habits of today's teens.

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