While we at YMC most often focus on engaging with the high school to post-college set — those often called Generation Y — we’re always looking for insights about the generation behind them, the so-called Gen-Z-ers. According to demographers (and the legions of youth culture bloggers), Gen Z covers those born between roughly 1992 and 2010. If you want a (very brief) but insightful look into what this up-and-coming generation of consumers think about television, check out this video from Dave Knox at Hard Knox Life. In about 45 seconds it demonstrates that TV’s pop-culture reign may not be indefinite…
Across the last few years, more than a few social commentators have leveled some pretty heavy charges at Gen-Y: they’re entitled, pop-culture obsessed, and technology dependent. They fill school assignments with emoticons, they look to Wikipedia as the end-all authority, and worst of all, they’re lazy.
The charge of laziness is one that Carol Phillips of Millennial Marketing recently took up. Citing a fascinating panel that examined Gen-Y in the workplace from two very different perspectives, she demonstrates that what is viewed by an older generation as laziness is often just a different, less traditional set of priorities.
Carol quotes one panelist who says: “I spent years as an associate, I hit all my metrics- but I didn’t want to become partner. It’s no secret that focusing on making as much money as possible ruined many of these older partners’ personal lives.” said Anthony Zana, he is now Corporate Counsel for Intergraph Corporation — where he left behind the billable hour. “I’ve seen too many successful partners on their 3rd and 4th marriage — and I did not want that to be me.”
Gen-Y is upfront about its interest in balance. For many millennials, having grown up among the prosperity of the last twenty-five years, there is an intimate understanding of what wealth makes possible — and, more importantly, what it doesn’t. Money isn’t just an abstract thing to be strived after; it’s familiar, and thus for many, demystified. With almost half of millennials exposed to divorce, there is also a generation-wide recognition that relationships and marriages can’t be taken for granted; just like a job, they’re things that require time, effort and long hours. This all amounts to the fact that Gen-Y is more aware than any previous generation that financial and professional success comes with costs. And in many cases, based on the experiences of those they grew up watching, the costs don’t feel justified. With that in mind, it seems to me that many Gen-Y-ers are looking for a career that compliments and supports their life — not consumes it. They’re interested in material possessions and the typical markers of success, of course, but they’re simply more aware that success in one deparment (be it professional or financial) doesn’t equate to happiness. In that regard, I have a tremendous respect for the ambitious Gen-Y-ers who strive to be successful across all fronts.
Carol Phillips comes to some similar conclusions in her post here. I highly recommend giving it a glance — if only so that you know where your Gen-Y-er is coming from.
I’m going to be writing on other misunderstandings that surround Gen-Y from time to time, and I’d certainly be interested in hearing some of your thoughts on the subject.
Before we begin in earnest, a brief apology to you, dear YMC reader: You’ve probably noticed that as the Spring Break marketing season has ramped up, the number of blog posts has dropped — precipitously. This is a consequence of being (a) ridiculously busy and (b) having a job that involves weekly trips to Cancun and Panama City Beach. Take it from me: it’s almost impossible to blog with a margarita in one hand. But with another Spring Break season coming to a close (click here for a summary of the brands we created campaigns for this season), I promise to redouble my blogging efforts. Hold on to your hats, YMC readership — things are about to get sassy in the blogosphere.
Now, on to the business at hand: this past week, the ever-awesome YPulse published a survey that examined the top 12 ways “young people” around the world relieve stress. There weren’t really any shockers here, but it’s certainly worth taking a look at. As you might imagine, music — which is involved in some fashion in just about every moment of a Gen-Y-ers life — is front and center. The study is most interesting when it notes the stress-relieving habits of Gen-Y-ers around the world; if you were ever curious about how the youth in Sweden respond to stress, this post is for you. Check out the top three stress releavers below, and click here to read the rest of the post at YPulse.
1. Music Rules. The number one way young people cope with stress is to listen to music — 65% of all youth globally do this.
2. The Sun Always Shines On TV. In at number two, 48% of kids watch TV to relieve stress. 60% of youth globally lie down to watch TV. But….don’t watch CNN. MTV’s research proves the more news kids watch, the more stressed they become.
3. Talk To Me. Third is talking to friends (not face to face). The explosion in the new tools available to connect to friends has seemingly come at just the right time for a generation seeking moral support. That said, it is existing friends that provide the most support, rather than strangers, the only nation likely to turn to help from online strangers in significant numbers are the Chinese.
And, yes, I’m finally on Twitter: YPulse also recently published a list of Youth Marketers you need to be following on Twitter. Now, seriously, I’ve been meaning to dive into the world of Twitter for quite a while now. I’ve been chomping at the bit, I swear, to get in there and just tweet like there’s no tomorrow. Thus far, however, I’ve left Twitter and its minute-by-minute, 140-character updates to our younger employees who seem to be unable to go for more than a few minutes without touching a keyboard of some kind. But after being told for the 12,000th time that I should be on Twitter, and after checking out the legitimately fascinating conversations taking place on Twitter regarding marketing, it became obvious that I could be a hold out no longer. So, without further delay, make your way to www.twitter.com/paul_himmelfarb and “follow” me quickly! I need some friends so that I don’t look like such a newb.
(Also check out our good friend @carol_phillips who writes the always-worth-reading Millennial Marketing. She was mentioned in YPulse’s best-of-Twitter list and definitely deserves it!)
I should begin by saying that, yet again, the fine folks at YPulse have made me stop and think. Their most recent post chronicles Gatorade’s attempt to rebrand (and score media attention) through their cryptic and much-discussed “G” campaign. (If you need a refresher, you can view a clip here. Essentially, Gatorade ran a series of unbranded, star-studded commercials in an effort to build buzz.) And it worked. For weeks, curious viewers flocked to the web, asking the Google Gods who was behind the ads. A few weeks later, the ruse was revealed, and just about everyone gave a collective nod and said to themselves, well, that sounds about right. Most media watchers agreed that it was a success — if a short lived one. One point Gatorade.
In an effort to build on the success, Gatorade has created a stand-alone microsite for the “G” brand. The site is designed to house a wealth of Gatorade-made video content, which, at least in theory, Gen-Y-ers will spend hours pouring over. This attempt is of particular interest to YMC since we’re in the business of helping brands connect with their consumers both physically and digitally. Now, to be sure, Gatorade (or rather, Gatorade’s creative agency) has made some excellent content. This stuff is stunning. I mean, they have access to Kevin Garnett, Tiger Woods, those weird masked dancing guys from that dancing show on Fox, and they have a budget, I’m sure, that rivals NASA’s. In that respect, Gatorade is just about the ideal client to develop a digital campaign for.
And of course, like any smart brand, Gatorade makes it possible to share the content they make on just about every conceivable platform. Add a video to your blog, your Facebook page, your, er, LiveJournal. It’s yours! Do whatever you want with the content, Gatorade tells us. But I wonder: is there enough opportunity for dialogue with the consumer? Sure, you’re allowing those share-happy Gen-Y-ers to send your 30-second video to their friends, but are you giving them a chance to really interact with the brand?
So, I’m going to open this up to y’all. What do you think of Gatorade’s efforts? Do you think this will resonate with Gen Y? Or is Gatorade not going far enough?
This is going to be an unusually short post (as it’s nearly midnight and youth marketers need their beauty sleep, too), but I wanted to note that Skittles is now forwarding to Wikipedia. For those keeping score, that means Skittles’ homepage on Tuesday was Twitter, Wednesday was Facebook, and Thursday is devoted to Wikipedia. (One can only guess that YouTube is on tap for Friday.) I think this confirms that yesterday’s move by Skittles to redirect their website to Facebook was not, as some claimed, a response to the occasional foul language that appeared on the Twitter feed, but a calculated decision to ride the buzz wave. (It remains to be seen if pointing their homepage towards Wikipedia is good enough for another day of news.) I said it yesterday, and I’ll say it again: I think this represents a bold and well-executed embrace of social media by Skittles. Will it reap long-lasting benefits? No, not necessarily. But it certainly got us talking. Just do a Google Blog search for “skittles” and you’ll see what I mean.
(While we’re on the topic of Google searches, I would also suggest doing a Google News search for coverage of the Skittles campaign. I was surprised to find that “traditional media” was really quiet on the topic. There were a few articles — one in The Wall Street Journal, for instance — but they essentially stopped paying attention after the Twitter-linked version of the site went live. This is definitely one of those stories where blogs are hands-down doing it best. I haven’t found a single “real” news story mentioning the move by Skittles from Facebook to Wikipedia.)
For those of you who are just stumbling upon this now, check out our posts about the Skittles social media campaign from Tuesday and Wednesday which provide background and (in our humble opinion) some analysis worth reading about the implications for youth marketing and the Gen-Y set. Oh, and as always, let us know what you think about this new development. You’re going right now to write on Skittles’ Wikipedia page, aren’t you?
