The one thing you can say about the ad agency biz is… Nothing ever changes and no one ever learns from the past. Today’s news that Saatchi & Saatchi has re-launched its kids marketing unit with a broader focus and stronger ties to the agency's account planning department brought a smile to this wizened old face. Adene Van der Walt, a planner, and CD Pete Johnson, will lead Youth Connection, reporting to Saatchi's strategic planning chief Sandy Thompson. "Youth is not about age. It's an attitude," said Thompson. "By capturing the creative, can-do-anything attitude of today's youth, we will not only create stronger connections with America's youth, but change the way marketers are currently thinking about them." Youth Connection's mission is to go beyond trend spotting to observe children, tweens and teen-agers in their environments and understand how they feel and interact with others, Thompson said. But didn’t he just say “Youth is not about age. It’s an attitude.” So why aren’t they talking to old farts like me who have far more money than acne encrusted teenagers? Anyway, people have been opening and closing “Youth Divisions” since the sixties. None of them ever last, because no one in advertising really has a clue what’s going on in a kids head. 
There's a bunch of old geezers carrying all that stuff that went out of fashion last year!
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