Marketing is all about targeting. Marketers want to reach specific audiences, and media companies try to develop audiences that marketers want to reach. Typically, the more specific an audience is, the more valuable it is—at least as long as there’s something that you can sell to that audience. Alloy Media + Marketing, which is headquartered in New York City is a company that operates on both the marketing and media sides. They specialize in targeted youth media and promotional programs, and they operate a number of businesses in those areas. Youth marketing is a big deal—not only do young people spend a large portion of their income (even if it’s relatively small) on discretionary purchases, but they also are impressionable. If you can gain an 18 year old’s loyalty, you’ll have a long time to extract value from them as a customer. Alloy leverages “a diverse array of assets and services in interactive, display, direct mail, content production and educational programming” to build relationships with and market to teens and college students.
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. I’ve enjoyed it so far, and the chapter on Afghanistan reminded me to take a look at the U.S. Agency for International Development (better known as USAID), which a reader recommended I write about a few months ago. They are “the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.” Right now they’re playing a huge role in moderating the impact of the war in Afghanistan on civilians, while they’re also heavily focused on helping those in Pakistan who have been affected by the earthquake. While USAID’s budget is less than one half of one percent of the federal budget, their impact feels much greater. 
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