Creating winning strategies for Generation Y

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Creating winning strategies for Generation Y

• Mike Smith
• Media Management Center
• Northwestern University
• __________________________
• m-smith3_at_northwestern.edu

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Presentation plan

• Who is Gen Y
• Data from a variety of sources
• Comparisons to boomers
• Media usage
• Technology interests
• Buying habits
• Values and lifestyles

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Who is Generation Y?

• Born between 1977 and 1995
• In 2002, aged 7 to 25
• Coming of age now
• Often called Echo Boomers, Millennials

4
Their impact

• In each of the years from 1989 to 1993, U.S.
  births exceeded four million for the first time
  since the early 1960s.
  
• Today there are roughly 57 million Americans
  under age 15 -- and more than 20 million in the
  peak years between four and eight.

SOURCE Census Bureau
5
Portrait of a tidal wave

• More than 70 million Gen Y-ers make up more than
  21 percent of current population.
  
• Generation Y will exceed the number of baby
  boomers at their peak.
  
• The size of Generation Y is expected to increase
  at twice the rate of the overall population until
  2010.

SOURCE Census Bureau
6
Portrait of a tidal wave

• Nearly 60 of children under the age of six have
  mothers who work outside the home, compared with
  just 18 in 1960.
  
• Some 61 of U.S. children aged three to five are
  attending preschool, compared with 38 in 1970.

SOURCE Census Bureau
7
Portrait if a tidal wave

• Nearly 60 of households with children aged seven
  or younger have personal computers.

SOURCE IDC/LINK Resources Corp., New York
8
Portait of a tidal wave

• More than one-third of elementary-school students
  nationwide are black or Hispanic, compared with
  22 in 1974.
  
• If current trends continue, minorities will
  make up the majority of the U.S. population by
  2050.

SOURCE Census Bureau
9
Portrait of a tidal wave

• Approximately 15 of U.S. births in recent years
  were to foreign-born mothers.
  
• Origins so diverse that more than 100 different
  languages are spoken in the school systems of New
  York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Fairfax
  County, Va.

SOURCE United Nations Center for Population
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Portrait of a tidal wave

• Nearly one of three births in the early 1990s was
  to an unmarried woman. With approximately one in
  three marriages ending in divorce, that means a
  significant portion of this generation will spend
  at least part of childhood in a single-parent
  home.

SOURCES Various
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Portrait of a tidal wave

• One-quarter of children under age six are living
  in poverty -- that is, with cash income of less
  than 15,141 for a family of four.

SOURCE Department of Labor
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Reading by generation
SOURCE Media Management Center
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18-year-olds are important
SOURCE Media Management Center
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Audience pool and Gen Y
SOURCE Media Management Center
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Population projection
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Ethnic makeup

• Generation Y is an ethnically diverse
  generation.
  
• Minorities make up 34 percent of Generation Y,
  but only 24 percent of baby boomers.

Baby boomers
Generation Y
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Ethnic projections

• Ethnic diversity will continue to rise among
  Generation Y.
  
• Hispanics will be the largest minority group in
  10 years.
  
• Hispanics will make up 17 percent in 2010 and 19
  percent in 2020.
  

SOURCE Census Bureau
Generation Y ethnic make-up projections
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Media usage

• Heavily concentrated in broadcast media,
  especially radio.
  
• Newspapers are generally trusted as a good news
  source.
  
• The Internet is used less frequently than all
  other forms of media.
  

SOURCE Media Management Center
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Teens use of media
SOURCES NAA,NAB
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Media choice for news
Percentage of teens
SOURCES NAA, NAB
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Media use by topic
22
Attributes of media
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A quick test
How did you hear about the Atlanta office bombin
g?

SOURCE Media Management Center
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A quick test
How did you pursue the story?
SOURCE Media Management Center
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Attributes of media
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What teens read
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What teens want
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Generation Y meets the Web

• Technologically, this generation is going to
  make the Gen-Xers look like fuddy-duddies.
  Theyre on fast forward.
  

Frank Gregorsky social historian at the Discovery
Institute,
a Seattle think tank
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Technology trends

• 56 percent of teens have a PC at home 85 percent
  use a computer at school.
  
• Two-thirds of children under 11 first used a
  computer before they were 5.
  

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Web use highest with young adults
SOURCE Jupiter Communications
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12
21
5
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Gen Y and the Web

• More than 80 percent of teens have Internet
  access.
  
• 44 percent of teens used the Internet in the
  previous week
  
• 79 percent of children say they would like to
  spend more time online

Where teens access the Internet
32
Online shopping

• 67 percent of teens and 37 percent of children
  who have Internet access use it to research or
  buy products online

What teens buy online
33
Spending trends

• The average teenage boy spends 84 a week
• THE average teenage girl spends 83 a week

34
Income

• Teens had a combined income of 121 billion in
  1998, a 9 percent increase from 1997.
  
• 49 percent of teens have a part-time job.

Where teens get their money
35
Shopping as sport

• The average teen visits a mall 54 times a year,
  compared to 39 times for all other shoppers.
  
• 87 percent of teens say they go to the mall to
  shop, 73 percent say they go to hang out.

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E-commerce wants Y

• Teen e-commerce sites soar
• The success of these sites based on teen buying.

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Cyber allowance

• Cyber allowance is at the heart of three sites
• I Can Buy
• RocketCash
• DoughNet

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Cyber allowance sites

• Parents set up pre-approved accounts.
• Digital cash works at only pre-selected vendors
  and Online malls.
  
• Teens will account for 1.2 billion of electronic
  commerce dollars in 2002.
  
• 5- to 12-year-olds will be responsible for 100
  million in spending Online in 2002.

SOURCE Jupiter Communications
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Web Y strategies

• Some Gen Y Web sites go straight for the
  e-commerce payoff, while others attempt to build
  community using an e-commerce engine.

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Web Y strategies

• Commerce THEN community
• The Delias clothing catalog site buries in small
  type at the bottom of the home page a survey
  question asking readers whether they Dig or
  Diss the new Austin Powers movie.
• Main focus is stuff for sale.

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Web Y strategies

• Community then commerce
• Bolt, which boasts 800,000 members, hits you
  right off the home page with a picture and
  profile of its Member of the Day and a rolling
  headline feed of Gen Y topics such as "Student
  suspended for blue hair."
• OTHER FEATURES
• Favorite Memories of the Prom
• Electronic greeting cards ready to send for
  various occasions such as "I Have a Crush on
  You."

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Web Y strategies

• Commerce AND community
• Alloy Online's home page is more of a mix of
  content and commerce.
  
• Content-heavy sections include
• An advice column ("How do I get rid of
  hickeys?"), sports, music, and even a poetry
  section
  
• There's also a link to Alloy member home pages
  and a tool to create your own, using technology
  from Homestead.com
  

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Products that sell

• Interactivity
• Anything having to do with education
• Educational playthings sold as stores like Noodle
  Kidoodle and Zainy Brainy.
  
• Such stores tend to shun violent or licensed
  products and stress multimedia learning.

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Interactive education

• The motivation for the company was quite
  frankly, the belief that consumers can't spend
  enough time with their children, and when they
  do, they want it to be something that will help
  them go to Harvard.

Brian Lynch, vice president of operations at the
Learningsmith, a chain of 36 stores based in
Cambridge, Mass.
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Products that sell

• Books
• This generation is reading and being read to
• Publishers have responded with an outpouring of
  titles and series for young readers
  
• Annual sales of juvenile books have more than
  doubled, to 1.4 billion, since 1987
  

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Reading

• We have babies in here, and one-, two- and
  three-year-olds coming to our story hours.
  

Maureen Golden, vice president of merchandising
for Barnes Noble Inc.
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Products that sell

• Clothes!
• Apparel manufacturers from Ralph Lauren to Gap
  Inc. are also targeting the Gen Y crowd
  

Preferences Jeans Sports jerseys Baseball caps


Around the corner Dress-up clothes
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Products that sell

• Family time
• Auto makers are courting their parents with
  minivans and sport-utility vehicles, many with
  built-in child seats.
  
• Hotels and cruise lines are offering kids'
  programs.
  
• Some malls, furniture stores and even
  supermarkets provide on-site baby-sitting.
  
• Restaurants are setting out crayons, putting
  changing tables in restrooms.

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Brands are big

• Generation Y is the most brand-conscious
  generation ever.
  
• 90 percent of product requests made to parents by
  children 4 to12 years old are by brand name.

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20 coolest brands

• 1. Nike
• 2. Adidas
• 3. Tommy Hilfiger
• 4. Sony
• 5. Nintendo
• 6. The GAP
• 7. Old Navy
• 8. Abercrombie Fitch
• 9. JNCO clothing
• 10. Levis

• 11. FUBU
• 12. Coca-Cola
• 13. Calvin Klein
• 14. Cover Girl
• 15. Pepsi
• 16. Ralph Lauren
• 17. Clinique
• 18. Mudd Jeans
• 19. Nautica
• 20. Reebok

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Values are important

• Optimistic
• Confident
• Idealistic
• Ambitious
• Passionate
• Committed
• Traditional
• Empowered

• Common attributes of the generation

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Attitudes

• You can already see a generational shift
• Teenagers aren't as angry as they used to be
• The crowd right behind them shows much less
  hostility, much less nihilism.

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Gen Y and their parents

• Generation Y and their baby boomer parents are
  extremely close
  
• When asked who they admire, most Gen Y say their
  parents.
  
• Generation Y and boomers are in agreement on
  important issues, whether they have to do with
  authority, environment, the corporation, the
  government, volunteerism.

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Gen Y and their parents

• 80 percent of teens feel they can trust their
  parents to be there when they need them.
  
• 25 percent feel their parents do not understand
  them.
  
• 90 percent of teenage daughters are very happy
  with their relationship with their mothers.
  
• 70 percent of mothers and 78 percent of teenage
  daughters feel an understanding with each other.

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Attitudes toward sex

• A 1998 survey of 18-to-24-year-olds revealed
  that
  
• 23 percent believe it is always wrong to have
  sex before marriage. In 1972, 10.4 percent
  believed that.
  
• 76.6 percent say they are sexually active. In
  1988, 83.9 percent said that.
  
• 21.6 percent of romantically-involved couples
  live together. In 1996, 31.7 percent did so.

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Views on marriage

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Political participation

• One-fifth of Americans 18 to 24 years old voted
  in the 1996 national elections. Nearly 49 percent
  of all voting-age Americans voted in that
  election.

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Voices Ad appeal

• I like ads that are flashy and look good and you
  can tell what theyre advertising.
  
  
• -Amelia Gonzales (left)
• with Michelle Mulvihille

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Voices Ad appeal

• I like ads that arent with anorexic-looking
  people, but with real people.
  -Sarah Rane, 20

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Voices Shopping

• Almost all of the money I earn, from babysitting
  and my parents, goes to shopping for clothes and
  accessories. -Rachel
  Daveo, 13

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Voices Brands

• I look for brand and quality when I shop. Price
  doesnt always mean quality. Take Starter --
  its expensive, but it sucks.
  -Brady Chalmers, 13

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Voices The Web

• I spend three hours a day on the Internet --
  playing games, e-mailing and chatting online.
  -Michael Wilson,
  17 -with Teneshia
  Harvey

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Voices The media

• The media portray our generation in a negative
  way. -Lindsay
  Weatherdon, 18

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Voices Parents

• I look up to my parents. They are great people
  with morals. My values reflect theirs pretty
  closely. -Carla
  Lewandowski, (right) 17
  -with Cyndi Harman

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Voices Their peers

• I look up to my mom because for her, its 90
  percent work and 10 percent pleasure. People (in
  our generation) are just too spoiled, too
  materialistic. -Bard
  Glynn, (left) 18 -with
  Matt Wesley

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Voices Their peers

• Members of our generation are not serious
  enough. They just want to have fun.
  -Yunhee Im, 17
  

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Voices Politics

• The biggest problem facing our generation is
  corrupt politicians and not enough youths
  involved in politics. -Aaron Schiff,
  20

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Voices The future

• The country is definitely not headed in the
  right direction -- just look at all the things
  that happened with Clinton and in Yugoslavia.
  -Drake Ilich, 15

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Voices The future

• The biggest problems facing our generation are
  access to guns and weapons and racism.
  -Diana Thiara, (far right) 11 -with
  (from left to right) Allison Boweus, Elizabeth
  Vieira, Maya Smith and Roanne Mesirow

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Traits of Gen Y

• Fierce independence
• Openness (emotional and intellectual)
• Inclusion (global)
• Free expression /strong views
• Innovation
• Investigation

• Preoccupation with maturity
• Immediacy
• Suspicion of corporateness
• Authentication and trust