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| HP Asks Youth to Create, Shout Out and Be Heard With no end in sight to the Internet's growth as a powerful tool for expression among youth, a new HP campaign will give them a new opportunity for their voices to be heard. The Listen 2U campaign will reach youth across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), creatively merging online social media with face-to-face activities. At the same time, the programme will give HP new ways to listen to young people as it develops computers that better anticipate their needs. Inspired by new research on how youth in EMEA are influenced today and the role technology plays in their lives, Listen 2U will challenge youth to invent, direct films and promote their talent and ingenuity. They'll also compete to win HP products to help them realise their creative dreams. "Everyone sees that today's young people are constantly adapting to new technologies and the myriad creative possibilities they offer", said Luciana Broggi, vice president, marketing, Personal Systems Group, HP EMEA. "But our research found that this phenomenon is creating a lot of pent-up demand for expression. We're offering youth a place to be heard and we are listening to them." Central to the campaign is the website www.hp.com/listen2u. It will offer campaign and contest information and will gather input and contest results featuring video and photography from participating youth. Specific Listen2U groups on YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter will complement the website. The first campaign activity is a contest called "RU the next inventor?" which challenges youth to create a video showing the coolest thing they would like to do with a PC. These 30 second videos will be hosted on YouTube and open to all for viewing and rating. HP will select ten finalists from the best rated and most viewed entries and HP will select the overall winner. This contest will be followed by two additional competitions. Together with Mensa, HP has developed an online game, Digital Genius, which measures digital knowledge, skills and agility. It will allow youth to compete, show-off and share with friends. A monthly winner will be drawn and awarded HP products. The campaign will also feature a road show, the Listen 2U Tour, which will travel around Europe starting in Spain July 1st and ending in the UK on October 26th 2009. Visitors to the truck can contribute videos and photos to upload to the Listen2U website, interact with the Listen 2U crew and discover the latest HP PCs. The Listen 2U campaign coincides with the launch of a new laptop, targeted at youth and itself a winning entry from the HP and MTV Engine Room Notebook Design Contest. The HP Pavilion dv6 Artist Edition laptop designed by Hisako Sakihama represents the Okinawa sea and sky with an appealing retro look. An HP-sponsored survey that inspired Listen 2U activities found that the overwhelming majority of youth believe the Internet enables them to have more influence in shaping the future than youth of previous generations. Similarly, they feel it enables them to get involved with issues that matter to them. Despite this, less than one percent of young people surveyed believed that political leaders valued youth opinion. "Young people are catalysts for change", said Broggi. "Now with the Internet and social media, youth have unprecedented reach which gives this generation a voice that will be more influential than ever before." The survey, which included 2,000 youth across EMEA, showed that the Internet continues to grow as a dominant tool for youth to be heard, to engage on issues of importance to them, and to connect with one another on social sharing Web sites. 78 percent of respondents agreed that today they can learn everything they need to know on the Web. Nearly half of those questioned said that their computer was the digital tool they'd least like to give up. One bright spot for parents who may be slightly bewildered by the effect technology has on their children, however, is the survey's finding that over 70 percent of children say their parents are the biggest influence in their lives. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Computing News :: home page |