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Live from New York
August 13, 2007

I'm at the New York International Gift Fair this week and hope to share some images later this week of some of the great products I've seen. We'll also have a wrapup in our September issue.

Today I attended a seminar, Planet Teen, where Joanna Saltz, executive editor of Seventeen and Susan Schulz, editor-in-chief of CosmoGirl shared their insights on tweens and teens. 

They had a list of 10 things you didn't know about teens that was quite interesting.

Here's the list (they all pertain to girls given the magazines' readerships)
1. She wants to be older and younger at the same time. These girls watch Grey's Anatomy and Hannah Montana. They lead stressful lives and look back to the "good old days" of being 11 and 12 year olds.

2. She wants to be in the know. From fashion and entertainment to health and style, these girls want to know what's hot.

3. She wants to create her own personal style. 

4. She believes she'll be famous. Given the plethora of reality TV shows, kids are growing up thinking it doesn't really take all that much to be famous, even if only for 15 minutes.

5. She wants to change the world for the better. Although these girls all still in the "it's all about me phase" they don't want to feel guilty about it and they embrace brands and products that have a cause.

6. She's obsessed with fashion. Saltz said in one of Seventeen's polls, 31% said they think about changing their room decor once a week and 43% said their rooms reflect their personal style. This group typically looks to refresh their rooms totally once a year, in September, the back-to-school month.

7. She wants every moment and every; aspect of her life to be FUN! (Don't  we all?)

8. She gets inspiration from everything. 

9. She wants to be organized.

10. She wants to make decisions on her own, but wants Mom and Dad standing by just in case. In Seventeen's poll, 88% said they shop for their own room decor and 60% said it's important to spend their money wisely.

It's an interesting list, even if some of the ideas are no brainers, but the polls show the most insight.

Both editors said their readers range in age from 12-21 with the average age being 16, and while these shoppers spend a lot of time online, they are not really shopping that much online. Mainly because they don't typically have credit cards, but also because they are still social shoppers and see it as a way to connect with their friends.

Posted by Lisa Casinger on August 13, 2007 | Comments (1)