While studying towards a diploma in journalism I was introduced to the world of “blogs” and was fascinated by them for the uncensored commentary they held on everyday life. While traditional print publishing is dictated to by the rules of society (Strict internal policies) and by advertisers, I realised that blogs were a unique way of engaging specific audiences in a regular, day to day manner. Running a blog is also highly profitable, not just from an advertising point of view, but also from a market research point of view.

Traditional market research is characterised by questionairres and tend to give one short lived results as trends emerge and dissipate in the blink of an eye.

SLXS was set up during my college days as an entertainment source for the elite youth market. Designed to attract and engage these highly influential youth, I focused on everything that they would like.

From going to the right events in Cape Town, to embracing the humour of todays generation, I soon began to get an insight into what the Cape Town youth did for fun, what they dreamt of and where their ambitions lay. From what began as a market research project quickly evolved into the SLXS we see today — A daily look at what’s hot in Cape Town, what’s going to be hot and what people are thinking. Targeting the elite market of people anywhere from 18 - 30 years old, and even above, it has offered me great insight into these markets and has allowed me to capitalise on this information by expanding further into the business world.

SLXS allows me to follow this young and influential market on a day to day basis which not only helps me in my capacity as a business person, but also allows me to indulge in my passion — Humour writing.

SLXS is made up of real fact, some fiction and a brashness that gets people speaking. While some of the articles are hotly debated, they have been written and thought out with one thing in mind; to take people out of their comfort zones and fill a gap left wide open by traditional media. SLXS is focused as the anti-media, offering commentary in a way you will never see in magazines.

This allows us insight into the South African youth market, a somewhat undervalued market in all parts of the world.

Too often the youth of a country are looked down upon as they live on a day to day basis, not worrying about the future and partying right through the present. However, this is an oversight on the part of traditional business as listening to the youth and engaging with them on a level they can understand is one of the finest and most effective way of predicting the future. If the youth are a countries future, why are we not listening more to them? Some of the greateast ideas in business are gathered while keeping your ear to the ground and listening to the younger generation.

Some of the world’s biggest companies are indirectly funded by the younger generation. Clothing companies such as Billabong, Quiksilver, Diesel and much more owe a good deal of their profits to this young market who follow trends and spend money on them. If the million dollar clothing companies are engaging this market, shouldn’t we all? I think we should.

We’ve seen many stories of troubled youths turning into some of the greatest success stories of our times. Richard Branson never finished school and in his books he speaks freely of his youth and his experiments with drugs, and yet he continues to be one of the wealthiest and most influential men in he world

SLXS is therefore my on the ground project which helps me to understand this highly influential market and put this information to good use in my capacity as a business person.

To end off with two quotes:

“I think children know how to have fun better than adults.  Children party a lot, and adults start taking life too seriously. I think actually adults should learn from children and not take themselves quite so seriously” — Richard Branson — (SOURCE)

“The secret message communicated to most young people today by the society around them is that they are not needed, that the society will run itself quite nicely until they - at some distant point in the future - will take over the reigns. Yet the fact is that the society is not running itself nicely…because the rest of us need all the energy, brains, imagination and talent that young people can bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society to attempt to solve it’s desperate problems without the full participation of even very young people is imbecile” — Alvin Toffler — (SOURCE)

See you in Cape Town!

Sean Lloyd

Editor