Originally aimed at the on-the-go businessman, the paging industry is now aiming its product toward a new set of users-the on-the-go teen-ager.
Studies show that the young adult market is the fastest-growing user group in the industry. According to a study conducted by Motorola Inc., the teen market has doubled in the last year, to 14 percent of the total market.
Accordingly, paging companies are creating units aimed at the younger market, the latest being Motorola’s Digitz numeric pager, introduced this month as part of the company’s LifeStyle Series.
“Our research shows that active young adults are choosing paging as an effective and affordable way to communicate frequently with friends and family,” said Jennifer Hansard, senior marketing manager for Motorola’s North American Paging Subscriber Division.
“It’s important to recognize that staying in touch and feeling a sense of security is vital to these younger consumers. They want to be able to be reached almost immediately by the people important to them.”
The Digitz pager differs most significantly from traditional business-use pagers in its more dynamic color scheme and accessories. Colors such as Cranberry Ice, Totally Teal and Majestic Jade join Electric Blue and the multicolored Jewelz, as well as traditional black, in an attempt to attract the hyper-fashion-conscious Generation Next crowd.
Paging accessories like bungie cords, lanyards and several different colors of belt clips for color customization complete the fashion.
The item has a suggested retail price of $109 and is available to all major carriers in the United States and Canada.
“We expect it to be widely accepted,” said Motorola Market Development Training Manager Amy Kapcenell.
The pager’s introduction reflects a growing trend toward marketing and designing paging products for the young adult population.
“We see that the younger demographic is the fastest-growing user group in paging,” Kapcenell said. “As a result, we want to make sure we have the products that meet their use and style needs.
Motorola is not alone. Standard Telecom Inc. and NEC America Inc. both recently introduced pagers geared at the teen market.
NEC introduced the Message-Maker pager at the beginning of the year, featuring bright colors and graphics.
“It’s still our most popular pager,” said Beth Anderson, manager of marketing communications for NEC’s Wireless Message Terminals division. “We haven’t been able to keep them in stock.”
Anderson said she believes the paging industry will continue to target teen-agers as they are the foothold into the entire consumer paging market.
“The younger generation are definitely the trendsetters,” she said. “It’s going to be a challenge to keep up with the color and styling to meet their needs. They know the benefits [of pagers] and they’re teaching their parents what some of those benefits are.”
About half of the pagers owned by teens are purchased by their parents, Kapcenell said.
Kids want the status of owning a pager as well as the ability to have more direct contact with their friends, while parents benefit from the constant contact with their children.
“It’s a 100 percent win-win situation,” she said.
