Teens of generations past rifled through their parent’s closets for remnants to add to their latest and greatest looks. Perhaps their friends would be in on the action, but that was the end of it. Now, they can pile on the relics of bygone eras, snap some digital photos and blog about it to the entire world.

Three teens named Stephanie, Tavi and Arabelle are featured in the brand new issue of the New York Time’s T Magazine in an article in which they interpret high fashion styles with only their parent’s clothes mixed with inexpensive basics.

Some readers were not impressed, calling these girl’s looks unoriginal and painting them as greedy consumers. I disagree with the negative reactions. These teens are still growing into their own styles and personalities and are brave enough to share their experiences with the world. Instead of sitting in front of a TV, they’re writing and publishing articles on topics that they’re passionate about and learning the valuable skills of using a digital camera, self-publishing and social networking in the process. By running popular style blogs, they could be setting themselves up for future internships and careers in the worlds of fashion and magazines.

Teens that are staying out of trouble and producing content that makes them proud should be commended.

Even with a barrage of endless new options, today’s teens are still partial to many of the ‘old school’ brands that were popular with past generations. Last winter, networking website Habbo conducted an online survey of teens ages 11 to 18 and asked them to name their favorite brands.

Many of the biggest brand names in their respective genres were rattled off as favorites including Coca-Cola (beverage), McDonald’s (fast food), MTV (TV channel), Seventeen (magazine) and Nike (shoes).

With a constant link to the internet and access to so much outside information, it seems surprising that teens would identify such mainstream brands as their favorites. This may partially be due to the constant exposure of their big budget advertising campaigns that span the globe.

Nike: Staying Ahead of the Curve

Nike stands tall amongst its fellow footwear competitors with 40% of the market share for shoes. The brand recognition among teens has surely benefitted from one of the most recognizable logos in the world (the swoosh) and the empowering “Just Do It” slogan that has managed to cross all race, economic and gender barriers since its 1988 inception. Nike has been especially aware of teen consumers’ changing preferences with two notable additions to their roster being the Nike 6.0 and Nike SB lines. By focusing on the hot action sports and skateboarding sectors, they have remained a viable competitor in the fickle teen market.

Nike has also smartly followed in the footsteps of Vans, adding a larger amount of ‘lifestyle footwear’ to their product mix. Both brands have realized that while not all teens participate in sports, they will still gobble up the stylish soft good offerings.

Market Saturation Equals Recognition?

Though some teens may not actually prefer McDonald’s over its #2 competitor Burger King, its market share is so broad and the convenience of its locations so unparalleled that the iconic golden arches immediately come to mind.

A Case of Impressionability

Habbo, the site responsible for the brands survey is a social networking site aimed at teenagers with chat rooms that are set up in the form of virtual hotel rooms. Each user creates an avatar representing themselves and purchases credits to buy virtual items like furniture for the hotel rooms. 90% of Habbo’s users are between the ages of 13 and 18 and for this reason, it receives sponsorship from large corporations as well as bands targeting teens.

The broadness in age of its survey respondents should be noted. Teens on the younger end of the spectrum may be more impressionable; perhaps they haven’t branched out from their mainstream brand preferences yet, many of which they’ve been exposed to over the years in their households.

As teens mature, it’s normal for them to broaden their scope to lesser-known brands, many of which have less visibility (and smaller advertising budgets). This can be part of their allure since the need for individuality and the push towards the customization of products is an integral part of growing up.

While many of the top brands of our past will remain viable for future generations of teens, they should keep an eye on the smaller up-and-comers, many of which are playing by their own sets of rules.