It’s happening right now before our very eyes.  We are witnessing a remarkable and revolutionary marketing transformation lead by today’s Gen Y consumers.   According to J.D. Power Web Intelligence, born in the 80s and 90s, the Gen Y-ers are 30 and younger and make-up the largest demographic segmentation to date with approximately 85 million in the US (compared to 65 million Baby Boomers and almost 35 million Gen X-ers).   As this significant generation of “digital natives” — meaning they have grown up using digital technology in daily life — enters today’s workforce in large numbers, we are learning they have very different communication skills, cultural interests, behavioral patterns and purchasing strengths from that of their parents.

For the tech savvy Gen Y-er, technology is ranked as the most important lifestyle necessity.   When asked in an independent Generation Y focus group study conducted by Newport Beach, CA based Bassenian Lagoni Architects in 2008, what one piece of technology they can’t live without, 61 percent claimed their cell phone or texting device, 31 percent iPod or radio and 12 percent claimed GPS.  Ironically, this generation will probably never have a land line to their apartment or home, and would rather text each other across the room about their new favorite artist or movie rather than speak to each other.  And keep in mind, they quote “facts” from Wikipedia.

So why are our old methods of marketing and merchandising not attracting this new generation?  Today’s Gen Y-ers are spending three or more hours per day online with averages expected to increase over the next 10-years.  Examples of time spent online include active search for music preferences, gaming, new fashion trends, grooming products, favorite restaurants frequented, car enthusiasts, online shopping and entertainment, news, and programming choices.   Gen Y-ers live their lives in a virtual state and via social media networks and spend less time reading books or watching TV.   Marketers should be focused and concentrate on more effective social media campaigns to allure these digital natives and spend less money printing expensive informational collateral, purchasing expensive print advertisements, radio or TV spots.

Do Gen Y-ers trust our tradition and proven forms of advertising, marketing or merchandising?   No, this skeptical generation sees “old school” informational advertising as interruptive.  According to findings from work by researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle University, and Washington State University who examined consumers’ responses to advertising, including brand beliefs, responses to informational and emotional appeals, efforts to avoid advertising, attention to ads and reliance on ads versus other information sources. “The advertising skeptic regards advertising as not credible, and therefore, not worth processing,” said co-author Doug MacLachlan, professor of marketing and international business at the UW Business School.

Gen Y-ers are also more inclined to seek validation of truth of advertising by consulting friends and family members.  Gen Y-ers are changing the conventional way we brand, market, advertise, merchandise and even communicate.

What is “emotional” advertising and how can we incorporate it into today’s strategic and tactical marketing efforts?  Emotional advertising evokes direct behavior response connecting the consumer to a brand, a product or a service.   This fits the blueprint of this generation, where almost everything from their apparel (clothes with their name, team color or sports number) to their candy (M&Ms stamped with their own message) are made special, customized and connected.  Remember, the brand that most excites their feelings is what they will end up choosing.

How can we evoke the emotions of today’s Gen Y-ers?

1. Consider Gen Y-ers values and appeal to them in a genuine and authentic manner.  Align your products, goods or services with their experiences and build a relationship.  Dove’s Real Women campaign connected with the Gen Y-ers by communicating the health and beauty message utilizing real people instead of models.  Their slogan “feel good about your skin, feel good in your skin” resonated successfully to this generation.
2. Use color to impact and create lasting impressions.  Malcolm Gladwell, author of the best-selling book BLINK was correct.  We can make accurate decisions in just a blink-of-an-eye.  What do you think when you walk into a model home and see your name embroidered on a bath robe?  Or maybe it’s just the emotion stirred when you discover your birthday gift is a treasure wrapped in a tiny blue box?  Gen Y-ers have grown up in a self-indulgent world and relate to direct target marketing.
3. Less is more. Make your promise in as few of words as possible and then keep it!  Research gathered by DYG in their January 2007 newsletter, Digit, reveals that people shown websites for less than one-twentieth of a second rated their visual appeal with the same consistency as those who had a much longer time to view the site.  Remember, Gen Y-ers take in visual information so quickly, evaluate its content, and then jet to their next subject.  You will lose their attention by flooding them with too many words or mixed messages, causing them to click their mouse and proceed with their next topic of relevance.  It is easy to see that the speed of our visual cognition would also pertain to model homes, landscape designs, entry monumentations, brochure covers, billboards, print ads and so on.
4. Attitude is everything. Have you investigated “mobile” advertising (and I don’t mean the truck that drives around your neighborhood with your new home community sign on the side).  If the cell phone is the one device they cannot live without, how are you utilizing its potential?  Demonstrate you understand Gen Y-ers needs and desires by communicating with them the way they communicate with each other.  Do you have a Facebook Fan Page for your new home community?  How can this tech savvy generation seek validation from their friends and family about their new home purchase if you are non-existent?  Can you Tweet to your followers that you have a new phase release this weekend?  Or maybe you just want to send a customer care maintenance update reminder…how would you communicate that to this emerging generation?
5. When creating (or modifying) your branding platforms and campaigns, planning and designing product and merchandising homes, consider the Gen Y demographic and their emotional needs.  Provide them with the necessary access to information to support their desire with reason. Emotional advertising is our recognized outreach opportunity to by-pass Gen Y’s skeptical filters and deliver authentic communication, aligned messages and suggest intelligent desire for products and services.  Entertain and inform this significant generation the way they communicate with each other.  Be sure your content is relevant and current and if it doesn’t move at their fast pace, they will leave you behind.
6. Review, review, review…always be open and responsive to shifts and variances in your marketing plan.  Remain current and connected to your market and continue to monitor and measure your results.

Published December 2009 in NAHB Sales & Marketing Online Content Channels, Ask a MIRM: