A recent story featured on NPR spotlighted a lucrative trend in advertising to young people through haul videos.   Teenagers are making these videos at home to share their thoughts on fashion and their latest purchases.  A quick Google search yielded a brief overview and also included a “haul” video produced by Time magazine staff to illustrate the simplicity of making one.  Also, as illustrated below in a real haul video found on youtube, the technology and expertise needed to create these videos is very basic.  The key to developing a following though, evolves from the trust and credibility these young people are able to develop with their target audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfzRco2_QPQ

According to The Role of Mobile and Video In the Apparel Shopper Digital Path to Purchase study released by Google and Compete last summer, this trend has increased since 2010 and the main focus has been on fashion.  This development could yield opportunities for mission-focused or socially conscious organizations to do more than product placement through the use of these videos.  Since my expertise is in education and Latinos, let’s explore a couple of scenarios related to both topics.  What if instead of doing a “haul” video for cosmetics and fashion, these young people created videos for their respective colleges?  Video tours have been used to recruit students, but the colleges typically influence these videos, so the students know these are filtered. What if instead students at a campus were encouraged to make a video that could be placed on the college’s website and used as a recruitment tool? This could lead to a more authentic experience anchored on some of the best practices showcased by the “haul videos” that include credibility, flexibility, and a fresh and cool new message.

Finally, it would be remiss of me if I did not also include an important fact for those interested in the booming Latino market.  According to the  latest Pew Research Center’s report titled Closing the Digital Divide: Latinos and Technology Adoption “Latinos own smartphones, go online from a mobile device and use social networking sites at similar—and sometimes higher—rates than do other groups of Americans” (Lopez, Gonzales-Barrera & Patten, 2013, p.5).  So, what does this mean for education?  If we are able to reach Latinos through the use of technology, we can help them understand the benefits of higher education and virtually create a college-going culture in the Latino community.  Targeted “haul” videos could be part of the solution and potentially lure Latinos to more than a product, but to a better life thus increasing our economic competitiveness and strong standing in the world.

References:

Google & Compete (2012, July). The role of mobile and video in apparel shopper digital path to purchase. Retrieved from http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/insights/library/studies/the-role-of-mobile-video-in-apparel-shopper-path/

Lopez, M.H., Gonzalez-Barrera, A., & Patten, E. (2012, March 7).  Closing the digital divide: Latinos and technology. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/files/2013/03/Latinos_Social_Media_and_Mobile_Tech_03-2013_final.pdf