Generation Y is a unique breed of consumers according to analysts at Forrester. And that is why their clients are asking them how they can serve, retain, and build loyalty with this young segment.
But what exactly makes them different from their elders? And how can technology firms (and everyone else for that matter) grab their often fickle attention?
Forrester have created a new stream of research to provide the answers for clients ready to design for Gen Y. Based on an understanding of Generation Y’s social, emotional, and mental makeup, they’ve identified four design approaches for creating experiences that will resonate with young consumers:
Source: Forrester Research
* Design approach No. 1: immediacy.
To overcome Gen Y’s fickle attention and broad use of media, firms need to hook Gen Yers in by quickly exposing value and then keeping them interested over time.
* Design approach No. 2: Gen Y literacy.
Because Gen Yers are so influenced by peers and their own communication style, firms need to speak to them authentically and on their level.
* Design approach No. 3: individualism.
Diverse and expressive, Generation Yers respond to experiences that allow them to personalize and customize their interactions.
* Design approach No. 4: social interactivity.
Since Gen Y consumers are very social, firms should consider enabling them to communicate and express themselves.
All this is clearly linked to the debate I hinted at in yesterday’s post. And whilst high technology marketers might not need to worry too much about Generation Y at the moment, it won’t be long until they do.
And the trouble is, their social, emotional, and mental makeup won’t have changed in the interim. In fact it may be even more extreme.
Thinking about it, it might be worth a look in more detail. Its always pays to be one step ahead.
Filed under: Analyst, Design, Planning, Research, Strategy, marketing , Analyst, Design, Design Approaches, Forrester, Gen Y, Generation Y, immediacy, individualism, literacy, social interactivity
Well done. Food for thought. As a boomer purveyor of marketing messages often aimed at GenY (Millennials), I have to take myself in hand to force myself to be immediately arresting, use the language of the audience, give full permission to individualism without sounding patronizing, and make peer to peer social interactions easy and un-self-conscious in the process.
Rich media that works for this audience tends to do better when it is produced.
Example 1: i.e. lonelygirl15 was carefully scripted by boomers and genXers and acted by a 19-year-old, so that GenYers actually thought she was authentically cool for a while
Example 2: research shows 90 percent of GenYs buy brand names for almost everything they buy, including college educations.
So when I’m producing video, I try to
1. gain immediacy by launching right into the thick of the issue — no preamble, no predictability, no flowery words, no spokespeople… just Millennials talking.
2. Do an end run around Gen Y literacy by letting them do the talking… that way it feels right to that audience.
3. Give interviewees plenty of rein to be themselves and say what they want. Emphasize the resulting individualism through intercutting
4. Include lots of social stuff, not just academics, in the canvas of college activities we show
Thanks for a great blog!
Thanks Orkthecaveman. I like your approach to video production.
In this instance the hat tip needs to go to Forrester! The IP is all theirs.
I really appreciate your comments about the blog.
Chris
[...] Mason mascot video. Brilliant. But Beedle, you’re a Boomer, and while Millennials crave immediacy, Gen Y literacy, individualism, and social interactivity (according to Forrester), they are not the irreverent rebels you and I are. They get along with [...]
[...] Mason mascot video. Brilliant. But Beedle, you’re a Boomer, and while Millennials crave immediacy, Gen Y literacy, individualism, and social interactivity (according to Forrester), they are not the irreverent rebels you and I are. They get along with [...]