Enpocket, the leading mobile marketing solutions provider, has partnered with North Castle Nextstep, a leader in youth advertising and digital marketing solutions for web and wireless, to provide marketers with the first U.S.-based learning tool to help them understand how to interact with mobile youth subscribers through text messaging initiatives. Mobile Youth IQ (MYIQ) brings together Enpocket’s leading mobile marketing technology and North Castle Nextstep’s experience in working with teens to help the marketplace effectively reach this audience.
Each week a group of panelists ages 12-22 offer their opinions on text messaging, via text messaging providing insight into the evolving mobile marketing and behavioral space. From campaign evaluation to insight into mobile usage, MYIQ is an irreplaceable tool for marketers to understand what really drives youth in today’s mobile marketplace.
“Tapping the youth market requires real experience – tapping the youth market through wireless campaigns requires even more learning given the newness of the media,” said Zdenek Kratky, Brand Manager at Norelco. “We see MYIQ as a safety net…a tool to triple-check our primary market research and a great way to bring new youth learning to our initiatives.”
According to research firm Cahners In-Stat, in 2003 one-third of teens between the ages of 11 to 17 owned a mobile phone. That number is expected to rise to half by the end of this year. The first issue of MYIQ, available now, candidly illustrates teen dependency on mobile phones, shares views on text messaging such as which mobile marketing campaigns they felt were successful/useful, as well as a list of brands that they would be interested in receiving alerts from – including specific phone companies, clothing lines, retailers, broadcasters, health and beauty products, snack and beverage companies, among others.
“The future for mobile youth marketing is enormous,” commented Joanne McKinney, Partner at North Castle Nextstep. “The phone is the most important and personal device a teen carries. The fact that they are open to brands sharing that space with them is exciting. That said, if it’s done in an irrelevant or intrusive fashion, that access point will immediately shut down. We believe brands can be successful if they tailor their mobile marketing plans to the very specific wants and needs of the target – and MYIQ provides that much-needed learning.”
“We’re excited to work with North Castle Nextstep in an effort to further educate marketers on how to effectively target the youth market,” said Jonathon Linner, CEO at Enpocket. “Brand marketers’ understanding of how their product or offering fits into the youth culture is the first step in connecting with this important demographic.”
“The creation of MYIQ represents a shared vision and a great combination of strengths,” said Jim Davis, President of North Castle Nextstep. “We view Enpocket as the gold standard in mobile marketing and we bring North Castle’s 15 years of teen marketing leadership as well as our continuing commitment to pioneering new ways of using technology to build relationships between youth and world class brands.”
The Mobile Youth IQ newsletter is published six times per year and is available by subscription. Additionally, custom surveys where clients can get feedback on the youth markets’ attitudes towards their specific campaign ideas can be completed within a matter of days – providing quick feedback to drive better execution in this evolving marketplace.
For subscription information, please contact subscribe@myiq.info.
About North Castle Nextstep:
Nextstep, a division of North Castle, was founded in 2003 as a specialty digital solutions provider whose sole focus is the development of digital and wireless communications programs for global marketers targeting teenagers and young adults. Nextstep was founded in recognition of the obvious migration of this target to digital and wireless media. North Castle Partners, an independent advertising and communications company, is a national leader in the field of youth marketing and advertising. North Castle has long been an innovator in the development of unique, youth learning tools and strategic planning, resulting in breakthrough youth advertising campaigns.
The launch of MYIQ is the natural extension of over 15 years of working with teens on staff to help the marketplace reach this audience with maximum effectiveness.
To learn more, see www.northcastle.com.
