Gen “Y”…is this you?
If you were born between late 1970’s-1980’s …..Congrats, you are Gen y (Generation y)also known as the the Millinnials, The Eco Boomers or my personal fave The MTV generation.
If your still wondering what this means let me emphasize. Gen Y basically includes anyone that was born after the late 70’s (Although there is still speculation about this time range.)
The previous generation, Gen X, also called The Baby Boomers is anyone that graduated High School in the 1980s. Although Gen x were the first group to be raised with televisions in their homes, the media was not as advanced with technology as it is for Gen y.
So, how does a company market to such a vast generation? In my opinion, It’s all technical…..Technology, that is.
Let’s look at bit closer at who has been successful at marketing to Gen y: Apple, Jet Blue, Coke and Red Bull Companies just to name a few. How do these companies speak to this demographic? To answer that, we first have to understand the 4 things Gen Y considers before buying a product or using a service.
- Low cost
- Good quality
- Fast service and
- An “Experience worth the money.”
They just know us……
Even Yahoo understands how unique we are!
And Fairfax credit union knows what we really want….
Darn, they know our weakness…. twenty five bucks! lol.
Gen “y”ers are young collage students that are open minded as well as curious to the latest and greatest technology but, most importantly…. They have lots of disposable cash…. So, this is the best generation to sell to yet!
Check out these stats…
In their recent book, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa (2007) found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:
- 97% own a computer
- 94% own a cell phone
- 76% use Instant Messaging
- 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
- 34% use websites as their primary source of news
- 28% author a blog and 44% read blogs
- 49% download music using peer-to-peer file sharing
- 75% of college students have a Facebook account
- 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod
Yes my fellow Eco boomers, we are spoiled.
On a final note I just want to say ….I can’t wait till the next generation beats those kind of stats!
Danny replied:
I have talked about this when I had my radio show, and I have also been saying it on my blog as well as in other types of media. It is very sad where we have ended up. I like the old days! I hope some day in the future we can have a little bit of both.
July 9, 2008 at 5:58 am. Permalink.
maliworld replied:
I agree with Danny but I don’t it’s all negative. If we could use all the technology and media that we own and know so well, to change the world and be creative, then all these incredible things could be used in an extremely positive way. I don’t think people are stimulated enough with all these luxuries.
July 14, 2008 at 3:50 pm. Permalink.
Innonemodymn replied:
It’s amazing
August 3, 2008 at 1:13 pm. Permalink.