- Gen X’ers are in their 30s, and are beginning to make an impact in their jobs. When they go after a youth audience, they tend to think very differently than Gen Y.
- What’s cool to a Gen X’er is not cool to a Generation Y’er.
Differences Between Gen X and Gen Y
- Gen X are 1965-1981
- Gen Y after 1981.
- Gen X grew up with the question, “How can I be different?”
- It was all about becoming a unique individual.
- Gen Y question, “How can WE be different?”
- Gen X’ers have an attitude of exclusion.
- Gen Y has an attitude of inclusion.
- “Wevolution” – we are shifting froma a “me” culture to a we culture.
- Gen X’ers source of information was an encyclopedia; today it’s Wikipedia.
- Reporters used to have all of the information; today people are [ Twitter, iReport, etc. ].
- Peer-to-peer approval is the most important thing.
- For any youth generation we always care about what our friends thing. For Gen Y’ers it’s different.
- Gen Y’ers get marketing. They don’t trust ads or big business but they trust their friends.
- Credibility and authenticity comes from their friends.
- You have a message? If you get into the audience they will send it.
- Success to a Gen Y’er is a balance life, fulfilling career and strong relationships.
- For Gen X’ers it was luxury items.
- Gen Y’ers have a huge belief in causes.
- Gen Y’ers thing that the biggest issue they are facing is the environment, economy, and education.
- Environment is #1 because it’s easy. Getting involved is easy compared to war, economy, politics, etc.
- Social causes used to be about protests; today it’s about wearing a wristband or having a sticker on your laptop.
- Today’s youth are time-stressed.
- The last thing they want to do is research.
Social Media
- Websites used to be the “first screen”; today it’s your phone screen.
- Figure out how you can get mobile.
- Social media started with MySpace, Facebook, etc.
- It evolved to being a place of promotion.
- Today’s generation expects 15 minutes of fame.
- It’s no longer an aspiration it’s an expectation.
- Social media allows people to be supestars in their own realm.
Where is Social Media Going?
- Social media is going to the first screen; mobile. [ Dodgeball, Four Square, etc ]
- Social media is feeling less and less like our space. Big social networks are becoming smaller and smaller. [ www.sneakerplay.com - interaction for people who like sneakers. ]
- Social media is going into the virtual world [ Second Life ].
- Wevolution plays well into Christianity and the cause of Christ; where we have a breakdown is how we position.
- Our advertising gets so watered down that the message loses its significance.
- You’ve got to offend people.
- You can target your messaging specifically to avoid overlapping audiences.
- If you do a good job with your message, Gen X won’t see it.
- You need to make sure everybody is included.
- Most of you feel like an island because you get it and no one else around you does.
How do you get Gen Y to get interested in God?
- You’ve got to relate to them.
- You’ve got to let them discover you.
- Don’t make it about your message.
- You’ve got to let them find their way to you and not just shout your message.
How do you judge success with Gen Y?
- You have to change your expectations.
- Any engagement is success.
- Are they becoming brand loyalists?
- Most people stay excited about a new brand for about 3 months.
- You’ll spend your whole life doing nothing if you try to keep up with the trends.
- Trends come and go, don’t follow them.
- They are a waste of time and effort.
- Find the overarching trends that tap into a generation.
- There’s 5 Generations of people today… it’s difficult to brand for all of them, all you’ll do is a weak job at reaching all of them.
- Find something you believe in and stick with it.
- Most effective form of branding is having a specific target audience.
- If you have big $$ you can brand to multiple audiences.
- State Farm is getting killed by Geico.
What’s after Y?
- the next generation is yet-to-be-named.
- it will start in 2001… when things changed in our culture.
- some people thing they will be like Gen Y x 50
- Gen Y has been a cottled generation; it’s hard to argue with them.
- They’ve been marketed to and told they were experts.
- They will be a strong, family-oriented generation.
- Gen X grew up with broken families.
- Gen X’ers don’t want the same relationship with their kids like they had with their parents.
How is leadership defined in a generation of experts?
- People don’t want to be leaders but they want friends who like them and who are doing interesting things.
- Leadership is a sensitive subject.
- Leaders won’t come out like Gen X leaders did.
- Leaders in Gen Y will say, “how can we lead?”
- The WEvolution.
Books or articles to read…
- Entertainment Weekly
- trend blogs online, etc
When Gen Y says, “I”… it’s really like saying, “you.”
- Look for leaders within social networks.
- Who’s throwing the parties?
- If you get them, it will spread to their friends.
Is there such a thing as brand loyalty to Gen Y? No.
- There will always be something new that will come around the corner.
- If it’s better, they will switch.
What Gen Y does, Gen X will follow.
1 – New Politics
- Young adults are disillusioned by politics.
- There’s a lot of hope with a lot skepticism.
- They don’t think their votes count.
- They believe Steve Jobs and Apple will make a bigger impact in their lives than the government.
- They look to corporations as the ones that have the opportunity to make change.
- Political process and consumer process blend together; they vote with their dollars.
- They support products they believe in.
2 – The Modern Guy
- There’s a “new guy” mold forming.
- Back in the day, the modern guy was tough, liked beer, trucks and sex.
- Gender roles have been redefined.
- Guys are asking, “what does it mean to be a guy?”
- Media portrays guys like a lost boy.
- Guys feel free to explore things they are actually interested in; they don’t have to fit the mold.
- There’s new opportunities… they can be creative, etc.
- Society is letting them be the guy they want to be.
- As a church, we can help define that.
- 500 Days of Summer was one of the first movies that showed a guy expressing his emotion.
3 – Life Tracking
- Through blogging, Twitter of Flickr, they use it to let you know about their life.
- There’s all of this data with Gen Y that we can start to use it for personal improvement.
- Daytrum.com lets your track anything in your life.
- PaitentsLikeMe.com lets you track your health.
- NikePlus.com
- Monthly.info – for women.
- Shipsandwrecks.com – lets you track your relationships.
- Mint.com – finances.
- You track your data for personal improvement.
4 – Do the Right Thing
- There’s a sense of pride in doing the right thing.
- People question everything they do every single day… “should I?” or “shouldn’t I?”
- People are looking for a moral code.
- Where are they getting their information from to make their decisions? Their friends.
- It makes people feel spiritual when they make the right decision.
- When they do good, it’s a spiritual thing to them because the power is in their hands.
- This is a big question to wrestle with.
