talkin' bout my generation

I feel marketers have mostly always been successful at appealing to the majority, and I would say that again, the majority of my generation is no different. We tend to dress similarly in brands such as American Apparel and share many of these very accurate stereotypes from the Generation Y article. Why are we such a collective generation in dress, attitude, and thought? Well, we were born from parents that raised us to be opinionated, passionate, and different. Growing up, everything we said and did was genius and our parents cultivated our obscure interests in a way seemingly different than past generations of parent and child.

So, marketers are doing a good job addressing the needs of Gen Y, but could it be better? I think yes. Marketers are moving fast in following our every interest, but I think we move a little faster, and we won’t exploit all of our daily fads to some guy in a suit wanting us to take a quick survey. Marketers need to come to us as an equal or at least a little more casual and in an environment we feel comfortable in. They need to loosen up and have fun, be quirky and sarcastic and interesting. We need to learn something new and possibly absurd while laughing at the same time. These are attributes we Gen Y’ers can appreciate and over time, begin to purchase from.

Some examples of people/products that do this combination of funny yet casual are: Stephen Colbert and Flight of the Conchords.

One more important thing I believe marketers should know about Gen Y is that even though we are connected in many ways there is one significant line that divides us. Celebrities and/or celebrity gossip. This is one very profitable area of my generation that I do not get at all. Maybe this makes me less of a member of my own generation; however, I’ve observed the celebrity obsessed and the non-celebrity obsessed member of Gen Y (no discrimination by the way) and though, we coexist and laugh at one another, we find very different values and meaning in our respective brands.

So do I, myself, feel that I am a typical and valid member of my generation? Yes and no.

Yes, I listen to many of the same uber-popular bands that every other kid my age is obsessed with. Yes, I dress myself with comfortable yet unique clothes that express the individual inside. Yes, my parents awe at the opinionated child they raised and wonder when I’ll stop educating them on saving the environment. Yes, I feel ill if I don’t get online or check Facebook a few times a week. Yes, I question everything and half to have solid proof before I’ll completely believe it, and yes, the internet forever changed my life.

However on the other hand, I’m not so much like my generation in that, I drink tea like an English old maid and love to throw dinner parties. I watch all the old movies on TCM and can have more interesting conversations with my grandmother than many of my peers. I believe many of my generation don’t quite “get it” and it’s nearly impossible to find any who do. Sometimes I’m even still figuring out what “it” is exactly. So, even though these items might be obscure for a marketer to use, I believe no one would guess that inside a young 22 year old girl lies remnants of her grandmother, remnants of the the 40’s and 50’s.

These are conversations marketers need to have with members of my generation. Try to discover the remnants within each of us and figure out that it could be similar to the remnants inside each of them.