The Agency

A new youth marketing insight service is being launched by TheAgency, a leading brand and response marketing consultancy. Bike Shed will provide clients with exclusive access to a range of programmes delving into the minds and attitudes of young people aged between 16 and 19.

The Bike Shed team of 50-60 teens will be driven through social media portals including a TheAgency Bike Shed Facebook page. The team will be asked to take part in surveys, share insight and give opinions on creative ideas for potential marketing campaigns. To encourage participation, members will be incentivised through a number of reward schemes, which will include gifts such as Sony Playstation’s, Apple iPods, itunes vouchers, even driving lessons.

TheAgency’s recent ‘Beautifully Simple’ campaign to launch BSM’s relationship with Fiat 500 was the first to undergo the rigour of the Bike Shed team. Their feedback was used to shape the creative brief, and refine the visual style, which aims to alter the perception of the BSM brand, making it more synonymous with youth and youth culture.

Saman Mansourpour, partner at TheAgency says: ‘Our approach to targeting the youth community aims to generate honest responses from a target audience which is traditionally a challenge to access. The teen market is not an arena where the clipboard is appropriate and we hope the use of social media will help prompt a more conversational tone. The development of the Bike Shed youth ambassadors will also enable us to listen to and interact with far wider social media networks, tapping into ‘now’ youth trends.’