Target Market
Generation Y also known as Echo Boomers, Generation "Net," and the
Millennium Generation. Born during a baby bulge that most demographers
locate between 1979 and 1994, they are as young as five and as old as
20, with the largest slice still a decade away from adolescence.
At 60 million strong – more than three times the size of Generation X –
they are the biggest group to hit the American scene since the 72
million baby boomers. They are the first generation, large enough to
reach a critical mass, that will force marketers to move away from baby
boomers as the end-all and be-all.
Generation Yer’s are an important emerging market. Raised by baby
boomers and Generation Xers who encourage them to participate in family
decisions, and exposed to media from all sides, these kids are becoming
active and sophisticated consumers at an extremely young age. For
example, last year, 6 to 11 year olds (as the kids market is generally
defined), spent $25 billion of their own money and influenced another
$187 billion of spending.
Gen Y is also remarkably diverse. About one-third minorities,
predominantly African-Americans and Hispanics. They are noticeably
tolerant. One in four teens lives in a single-parent home; every high
school student seems to know someone who's gay. Neither is a big deal.
Even so, traditional values and parental approval are important, more
so than for Gen X before them.
Companies that support causes will win teen loyalty and dollars.
Today’s teens strongly support cause-related marketing. Over half (55
percent) would switch brands and two-thirds (64 percent) would switch
retailers to one associated with a good cause, when price and quality
are equal.
Lots of Gen Y choices come from viral marketing — another name for peer-to-peer recommendations.
It is especially important to remember that Generation Y teens, are
destined to be the largest teen population in U.S. history, currently
there are some 31 million kids between the ages of 12 and 19 and
projected to grow to 34 million by 2010.
Kids, 12- or 13-years-old, have a totally different life experience
than did people who are now 23 or 24. Changes in family composition,
elevated expectations, the accelerated delivery of information all have
made this generation more self-reliant and more discriminating of
messages directed at them.
Generation Y teens are coming of age during one of the hottest domestic
economies in recent history. Many of their parents are earning more
than ever, and they are sharing it with them. The kids are, in turn,
spending like never before.
Many teenagers have about $90 a week to spend. This may be from their
parents or earnings from a part-time job. Unlike their parents, they
don’t have to worry about paying bills and mortgage payments. Their
income is primarily disposable. Thus Generation Y forms a less
homogeneous market than their parents did, with more ethnic and racial
diversity. In fact, today, 15 to 24 year olds are the most racially
mixed group America has ever spawned. They are 60 percent more likely
to be non-white than their grandparents’ generation. And, as a result,
they have a global perspective that earlier generations did not.
Unlike Generation X, there are few slackers in Generation Y. They score
high on maturity and while their attitude is often edgy they are very
optimistic. These kids are smart. They’re interactive. They are the
Internet (Net) generation.
The Internet lets kids everywhere find out about even the most obscure
trends as they emerge. As a result, ads that push a slogan and an image
and a feeling don’t work. Marketing ads based on traditional
positioning, image, and emotion simply don’t work. When communicating
to this group, recognize that in an information economy smarts are the
key to success.
Use technology as a way to stay connected, as a way to grow. The
Internet fuels generation Y’s autonomy, where anyone with a search
engine can become an instant expert, an instant artist, an instant
shopper, with comparisons at their fingertips.
Generation Y have lives driven as much by changing household patterns
and the presence of two working parents as by computers and access to
information over the Internet. Three out of four have working mothers.
Unlike previous generations that have had a sort of surly sense of
entitlement, this generation doesn’t. Echo boomers are taking on
increased family responsibilities in the present and nurturing high
aspirations for the future.
Their most valued traits are individuality and uniqueness. Children,
teens, young adults want to customize and personalize their image, dip
into different streams of history, iconography, and symbolism, and
craft an individual message that communicates individuality even as it
confirms membership in a group, or groups.
One of the macro-trends for older Generation Yers, those 18 to 24, is
neo-traditionalism. According to Kirsty Doig of Young Intelligence, a
market research and trend-forecasting group in New York City, "these
kids are fed up with the superficialities of life. They have not had a
lot of stability in their lives. It’s a backlash, a return to tradition
and ritual. And that includes marriage. Focused on finding the right
one, they look for opportunities to meet others in values-oriented,
friendship, and situations. They believe in volunteerism. Many return
to or seek spiritual roots through organized religion."
As millennial kids move into maturity, what will life be like for them?
Life in 2020 will be dynamic and challenging but, unlike older people
who married for life and anticipated a job for life, most will have no
difficulty in adapting to the daily social changes they will meet. The
new lifestyle set to emerge in 2020 includes:
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Jobs for life are replaced by short-term contracts.
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One in five people will be self-employed.
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Old age will be postponed by active senior participation.
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The family of choice replaces the family for life.
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One in five Generation X women will choose to remain childless.
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First time mothers will often be in their late 40s.
As you see, sweeping changes are in the making. Be alert and start
preparing your family and businesses to accommodate and embrace this
bold new group known as Generation Y. After all, they are our future.