By Eric A. Becher, Ph.D., Director
We’ve talked about Millennials and Generation Xers but what about those elusive Generation Yers? Born in the 1980s and 1990s, these well-educated and tech savvy consumers account for more than 20% of the consumer spending in the U.S. with the numbers only rising as they grow older with increasing amounts of disposable income. Generation Y consumers rely heavily on online reviews, current information, and word of mouth from other Yers to make their decisions (Business News Daily) so social media is critical to your branding efforts. They value truth and integrity over traditional marketing strategies. So companies should begin to gradually shift more of their branding efforts to meet the needs of this ever increasing consumer base.
Generation Y wants brands that represent who they are as people. To effectively market to them, media messaging needs to be:Honest, ethical, and genuine. Short, direct, and to the point. To capture their attention, the messaging needs to sometimes be humorous and surprising.They value diversity and social causes. They buy experiences, not products.
The need for an agile and constantly evolving media strategy for Generation Y consumers is important. They want to hear about innovation, they look for current information and reviews about the product from their peers, and they want to know how the company is connected to social cause that they believe in. Yers also are hungry for experiences that align with who they are as a person so connecting products to events and activities is critically important. With this in mind, companies need marketing assistance that is nimble and can help connect them to activities and social causes that are meaningful to them. In our opinion By capturing them while young will mean that you are assuring organic growth for the brand.
The TRIPOD Cause Marketing Team is uniquely positioned to help consumer and corporate interests come together by engaging Gen Yers through the targeted media efforts, experiential events, and targeted brand messaging. For more information, please contact us ebecher@2.tripodmarketingagency.com or visit our site at www.tripodmarketingagency.com