Today’s young people are a considerable and influential market within today’s economy. Major corporation have given substantial time and expense to generate brand loyalty by teenagers towards their product- not only for today but for the future as well. It is likely that a young woman who uses a certain brand of make-up or feminine hygiene product in her teen years will continue to use the same brand throughout her life. Sneaker companies sign large sponsorship deals with pro athletes and college teams in anticipation that young fans will emulate and dress like their sports heroes.

Advertising reaches out to young people everywhere- even within their schools. Long before their teenage years, young people have been exposed to “schoolhouse commercialism.’ Programs that support education such as Campbell’s “Labels for Education Program” or Pizza Hut’s “BOOK IT!” program are also engendering brand identity brand loyalty.

Those who market to young people recognize the value in letting young people do the marketing for them. They know that youth branding must be appropriate and conceptual, based on lifestyle choices. Teenagers must be treated as mature consumers. They refrain from patronizing them and appearing as if they are overtaking adolescent culture, language or behavioral patterns.

Sales of t-shirts proclaiming that it is “Cool to be Catholic” or “Totally Catholic” are not the agents of a catholic identity that will sustain life-long participation. The formation of identity responds to the human need for meaning. Meaning and belief is formed within the culture and community whose actions embody these beliefs. Americans favor democracy and equality. Canadians are more likely to appreciate the Olympic sport of curling than Floridians. Members of the National Rifle Association are more likely to favor lenient second amendment rights as well as be gun owners than their neighbors.