Gen Y, Gen Z and Coke Happiness

Youth and Viral Video

A lot had been written about the new Coke viral video and the happiness machine. It is a great video and there is no doubt about it, Gen Y love this video, just as the amazing Carol Phillips wrote about on her blog. But I think this campaign is even cleaver than that and coke could be gearing up for Gen Z with this video.

It is obvious why Gen Y like this video. It appeals to their something-for-nothing mentality (please note that I am not saying that this is a bad thing). It also appeals to their optimistic nature and view of the world. They want things bright and shiny and, on the surface, this feeds that. It was only when I showed it to my two children and their friends, one a late Gen Y and one a Gen Z, that I realised the difference.

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How to Reach Gen Y Influencers

Reaching out to Gen Y

A lot of marketing companies reach out to Gen Y YouTubers and influencers to sell their products and this is a great strategy for most companies. Gen Y know instinctively how to sell and are not scared to push where us Gen Xers may pull back.

However, a word of warning, before you even think of it.

1. Make sure your deal is transparent and you would not feel embarrassed if they leaked the information.

2. Let them figure out how to talk about/market it. If you tell them how to do it you will not get the response you want.

3. Allow them to use their creativity.

4. Be sure the person you pitch to is in line with your product.

5. Make them feel special. If they think they are on a long list of others they will be turned off.

6. Make their success your success. This is a joint venture, a participated conversation. See the influencer as the expert, not yourself.

7. Approach them with a partnership. Don’t just pay them to place, this will never cut it.

And where did I get all this information from? Well, from the experts themselves. We have taken on two “Fink Buzz Agents” and their list of how they wanted to be treated included all of the above…gotta love them

Social Media and Selling Never in Same Sentence

Doing Social Media like the Youth

If you work with youth or have anythign to do with them then you better understand how they use social media or you are dead in the water.

Social Media and Selling Never in Same Sentence

OK, I am not going to make any friends writing this post, however I feel like it needs to be said.

So what makes me say something so bold and controversial?

Well firstly, lets think about it. Who and what was social media set up by and for? Well, it is in essence a generation Y/Net generation thing, set up to meet their needs of freedom, fun and collaboration and of course, their desire to get their voice out there. It was and is there for people to share, collaborate, have fun and yes, be social with each other; the key word here be social.

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The world from the eyes of Generation Z

Generation Z are coming

Generation Z, born after 2001, are coming up. I do not doubt that they will bring a whole new set of challenges. Born into a downturn in the economy, they will have very different views on life. Generation Z are believed by most to bring equality and fairness back. Artistic leaders, they will be advocates of fairness and the politics of inclusion, irrepressible in the wake of failure. And I certainly can see these characteristics in my little Gen Z, who has such a innate knowledge of what is fair, it is incredible.

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Teens and social cause….

Youth and their social conscious behaviour

There has been much said about Generation Y and their socially conscious behaviour and how marketers need to add a cause element to their offerings to youth. it appears that now we can say for sure that this is the case.

C&R Research found in its latest YouthBeat syndicated research report that a brand’s perceived level of social responsibility is an increasingly important consideration when young people open their wallets.

“Nearly half of the teens in our panels said they had made a cause-related purchase, and more than 20% asked their parents to buy a particular product because it supported a cause. And the younger set is following the pattern. Almost 40% of tweens (ages 9 to 12) and 20% of kids (ages 6 to 10) also have bought an item tied to a social cause.
And big money’s at stake. Studies put the annual spending power of young people ages 8 to 14 at $43 billion — and that doesn’t count their influence over billions of dollars in their parents’ purchases, whether it’s cell phones, or cars, or vacations.

You don’t have to be as explicit as “Buy this product, and 10% goes to charity.” Merely associating with worthy endeavors can influence young people’s relationships with brands. Nearly 40% of teens (age 13 to 18) and tweens, for example, say they have bought a product because it was made from recycled materials, with more girls than boys reporting such ecological attentiveness”.

Of course, we knew this anyway……

Some great example are out there already

Innocent Smoothies Big Knit Campaign, which encourages people to knit hats for their smoothies then sells the smoothies with the hats on to make money for the elderly in the winter.

Tom’s Shoes and the simple movement
Tom’s Shoes was founded on a simple premise. With every pair you purchase, Tom’s will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we’re all about.

A lot of these ideas are simple, straightforward and easy to understand, so my questions to you are….

1. What cause would fit in with the aims of your business and appeal to young people?
2. How could you make it simple and easy to understand?

The best campaigns mobilize people on and off line and are really about the cause, not about making the company feel better or a great PR stunt.

Insights from youth for marketers

Insights from youth

Julia Shalet recently conducted a teen advisory panel for some new product designs (a bit like Dragon’s Den, but turned on its head) . I love the insights from this panel and have put them below for you with my two pennies worth.

Marketers to youth, sit up and take notice!

Julia Shalet helps businesses in the youth sector to build their offering, as well as working with schools to develop compelling learning experiences, grounded in real businesses. Over fifteen years in the industry, she has worked with clients including T-Mobile, Weeworld.com, Hertfordshire Careers Services, many internet & mobile startups and schools across London & Herts.

Youth Insights

1. Useful won over Entertaining
Whenever I review digital products I advise that the offering should be highly useful, highly entertaining, or preferably both – a useful product must still offer an entertaining user interface. The highest ranked products in this session were the Next Buses / Traveline service and Wikitude.
- Sophie thought that everyone she knew would use the Wikitude service as it was so useful
- Nick said the Next Buses service was “a good idea and practical”

Millennials want your product to be relevant for purpose; they are not easily fooled. So yes, entertaining them is great but really they want to know how they can use it. Is it practical and relevant for them?

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