Super Villains Week: Down-With-The-Kids Man

Let's face it: most of higher ed marketing is aimed at appealing to high school students. Sadly, most of the creative direction we seem to get from higher ups for marketing materials is to make something look "academic." Translation: an ad in the Chronicle versus something you see on MTV.

So, many in higher ed marketing have tried to learn more about that audience. Some become misguided in their efforts. Enter the super villain Down-With-The-Kids Man. This is the person who may be older, but tries really hard to keep up with what the high schoolers are doing and either fails miserably or totally bluffs and doesn't know anything at all.

For an example, take Creed from "The Office:"



There's nothing wrong with someone older than 18 trying to learn about people younger than 18. Problem is, Down-With-The-Kids Man does it in really misguided ways -- like Creed there -- by not actually researching something thoroughly or bothering to experience it. We have a few people who claim to be "experts" on social media, but their Facebook profiles have sat dormant and inactive for months. I'm not saying you have to be on there everyday, but do something beyond just opening a profile! Another example is one of our administrators who provides us with marketing direction but admittedly does not watch any TV ... ever.

Down-With-The-Kids Man may also think he knows what students like by spending 5 minutes talking to his kids' friends. Problem is that this is a really, really small sample size. Likely, her or his kids' friends are going to confirm most of the things Down-With-The-Kids Man probably already knows. They won't get the bigger picture from a more diverse group of students.

And let's be honest, Down-With-The-Kids Man is -- at the core -- afraid of looking dumb. They're rather make up stuff or pretend to know than to say, "I don't know what they like, but I want to learn. I'd really appreciate your help." And I know that I, at least, have much more respect for someone who admits he/she doesn't know something and genuinely wants to learn than someone who bluffs or inflates their knowledge.

How can you deal with Down-With-The-Kids Man?

• Offer them opportunities to learn more — If you sniff out they're crying wolf, offer them some lessons, like "If you're interested in learning more about Adwords, I'd love to sit down and go through it with you." Then, you can gauge their knowledge in private, and they may be more forthcoming that they don't know that much after all.
  
• Send them unsolicited links and videos that give them the real scoop on things — I could picture an e-mail like "Hey, I checked the TV ratings and here's some the sites for the shows that perform really well with our audience."
• Get them out among your audience — Tag along on a recruiter visit to a high school, go to the mall during the summer for a lunch in the food court (prime teen hang out), or even chat with the younger students who work in your office. That'll give them a wider base of information than their kids' friends.
• Be honest — If Down-With-The-Kids Man is trying to get you to write something or design something that's not in tune with your audience, tell them and show them otherwise. Be understanding when you start: "You know, I can see this is a great idea, and I know it's worked for us for other projects before. However, I think we should go with more of a booklet layout than a trifold for this. I've got a sample down in my office that would be perfect for this high school audience. Come on down and we'll talk about it."

And I'd like to add that not everyone over 35 in higher ed is doomed to become Down-With-The-Kids Man. One of the designers in our office is over 50, and she has some of the hippest taste around. She bothers to do her research and really understand what the teens like. And her shelf full of awards shows she knows what she's doing!