Marketing to a generation that doesn’t follow orders, hates ads and throws a wrench in your strategy.
Read Write Web recently fielded a great article that caused interesting debate within our viral marketing company, and I thought it would be worth sharing. The article focused on how Generation Y (born between 1982-1997) is going to “change the web” and what makes a Gen Y-er different from the previous generations. Some of the notable (debatable?) facts about Gen Y when viewed from a social media marketing perspective:
- TV Isn’t King
- They Don’t Care About Your Ad, They Care What Their Friends Think
- Marketing Has to Change
I agree so strongly with these three notes in particular that I formed this business based on them! But the discussion that followed the article brought up some points that I thought worth getting blogosphere feedback on.
- If TV isn’t king what is? Stats show that TV quality content is still extremely popular (might we say king?) online. If this isn’t King, what does something need to do to be ‘King’? My main feeling is that TV as a medium is dying due to one main factor: Interruption marketing. What is the first thing a DVR/TiVo owner does? Skip all commercials. One of my colleagues asked “why?” when this point was brought up. I think the better question is “now that the possibility for freedom is there, why does anyone EVER WATCH TV commercials?”
- Gen-Y (and many older folks) are supposedly of the opinion that “your ad doesn’t matter”. I would have further refined this point to be “your poorly-targeted, uninteresting ad doesn’t matter”. Look at the viral success of some interesting, funny or amazing online ads. Are they THAT hard to understand? Are they random, unrepeatable anomalies? I say no. They all engage the consumer in a way that the consumer WANTS to be engaged. Putting a TV commercial online and then complaining that viral marketing is failing is like putting a Mustang in the ocean and telling Ford their cars don’t work! I think ReadWriteWeb had it slightly wrong. Gen Y-ers like relevant, engaging ads. They watch the Superbowl for the ads, they forward amazing online ads. Gen Y is responsible for the huge success of some viral campaigns. It’s the overwhelming failure on the part of the ads to understand the medium and earn attention that Gen-Y disagrees with, not advertising in general.
- “Marketing has to change” is about as timely and insightful an observation as someone showing up to the D-day beaches on June 10th, 1944 and proclaiming “something big just went down”. Maybe they were being “simple” for simplicity’s sake, but think comments like that reassure marketers in a terrible way. With that comment, we’re askin g people to ignore and delay the inevitable. “It’s OK, other people who ‘get it’ are just beginning to understand this new wave of marketing. I can spend five more years of marketing budget before I turn my brain on.” So much content is available online now (print, radio AND Television content) that advertisers who aren’t wising up don’t have much more time as the space is rapidly being conquered by the forward thinking outfits who are willing to “brave” the lands where consumers are in control of what they spend their time on.
I would say I think very much like a Gen Y-er. I can’t stand being interrupted online and I hate irrelevant ads, but I LOVE good viral videos and I love targeted ads. I realize that TV isn’t king anymore (or more specifically, for much longer). I realize that in an increasingly on-demand world, marketers can’t demand attention of Gen Y, they can only earn it.
If you’re a marketer seeking Generation Y’s dollars, ask yourself if you’ve honestly considered the changing landscape and changed your actions accordingly. It’s like they say, repeating the same action over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. How will you change your approach today to win Gen Y dollars tomorrow?
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11 users responded in this post
Brennan, I think you’ve nailed your three points. Pretending like the world is still the 1970’s, or even the 1990’s for that matter, is a quick path to marketing irrelevance.
On point number one, I wouldn’t count TV out just yet. They are desperately trying to change their business model, and since there are a lot of smart people working in that medium, they may just succeed. As a related point, I’m intrigued by what may happen with Hulu.com. But the days when everyone watched the same shows and the same commercials on the same three networks is DOA.
All in all, an excellent post on marketing to a very different generational landscape.
Brennan, I’m really interested by the 2nd point that you make. I think when people say that Gen Y doesnt care about your ad, they really are taking the easy way out. Consumers never cared about your ad in the past…they just had to put up with it. The world is different today without a doubt and if anything, I think Gen Y actually cares more about ads because they are vocalizing and asking for something better. This is a generation (myself included) that wears brands as badges and they want brands to say something about who they are and what they believe. So today they are holding lazy marketers to higher standards than every before. Those of us that can deliver will win their loyalty. But those of us that still give them the same old crap will face with a flat out rebellion.
Paul,
Thanks for the kind words.
Your point about TV is probably the more accurate one. I debated going into the possibilities of TV “finding a way”, but I figured that I would make one clean point. I probably could have stated it better, but I was going for “TV as it is now done is dead” or something similar.
Here’s another philosophical question based on your comment: Is the marketing on Hulu.com TV or online marketing?
My personal view is that the television and the PC will very shortly be almost the same machine. Targeted television ads will come once the information from social media sites and other places online is readily available to the broadcasters.
I definitely think the smart TV execs will find a way to continue being relevant… once they ditch the “how do we interrupt people better” mindset.
Dave,
Great point.
When speaking to my parents about why they don’t TiVO through their commercials, it seems as if a lifetime of “putting up” with them has desensitized them to irrelevant marketing.
Maybe the younger generation isn’t jaded and sees the 100% on-demand nature of online as the way TV should be rather than “accepting” the current TV ad model as “how it is”.
The point you make about Gen Y wearing brands as badges is dead on. Gen-Y is the Abercrombie generation and has grown up caring A LOT about what brands they wear and use. I think the recent success of companies like Starbucks and Apple are examples of not only mastering their niche, but REALLY building a brand, courting and eventually winning over the generation that cares the most about these sorts of things. Very good point.
Thanks for the commentary guys. Great points so thus far.
First off, let me thank you for sharing this article with me, as well as your insightful post. As I read the article and your post I began getting frustrated thinking about all the companies that are completely ignoring this new generation and what they must do to survive.
Websites create something that look “cool” but isn’t usable and expect it to be okay in today’s online world. If I can’t navigate through your site, I guarantee you I’m going to go somewhere else.
I would like to find a way to reach these individuals somehow, as I fear that only the individuals who beleive in this type of thing are reading this type of stuff, while those who are trying to stay the same because “that’s the way its always been,” are the ones who should really be reading this.
I’ve tried explaining politely, with examples and real life situations, but I can’t get through. Any suggestions?
LOL! AWESOME!
I love the comment, things must change. Obviously.
The Internet is King, TV with an Xbox, PS3 and the internet makes an interact gaming experience shared with Friends. That’s what kids, (even old kids) are doing. TV quality sucks, it’s so much a brain-littering(would say wash but nothing is clean) Kids, Adults, would like to see content that is uplifting, hopeful, honest, heartfelt, non-offensive, clean, not over the line, not pushing the envelope with language, sex and violence, things the whole family can watch together, has characters they can look up to…
Now with Video delivery systems over the internet in HD quality TV, and most TV’s (Flat Screens) being able to hook up to a computer in seconds with a VDI cable. New TV channels, and networks can spring up to fill in the void.
www.ControlHollywood.com
www.JoshDarville.com
Erica,
Thanks for your continued commenting on PandemicBlog. Great points as always.
That said, you’re absolutely right. We have an adverse selection issue here. The marketing directors that are reading these kinds of things are the ones that are most likely to already be open to and considering new strategies. The more “traditional” (used euphemistically) marketing directors probably have enough distrust of blogs in general, let alone entirely new strategies.
That said, I can’t claim I would act differently. If I had made an entire career using one strategy, it might be hard to convince me that suddenly that strategy is less valid.
Great comment as per your usual. Thanks.
Josh,
Thanks for visiting and thanks for you post.
I agree with your point that the new opportunities will allow the market to be filled in with accessible, online, HD-quality content. That is my own vision. There is very little reason to believe that television channels and online channels will remain separate for long.
Great philosophy behind your sites. I’d love to hear more about what you’re doing to promote a business like that. It seems like you’d need a groundswell behind you to get the attention needed to wield the kind of power your talking about. Is this accurate?
Thanks for commenting.
Cheers.
Sorry, but I think the term “Viral Marketing” is pure hyperbole. There is social media marketing, and if you’re lucky a video or post can spread virally. Viral is an outcome, not a strategy. Claiming that you’re a “viral marketing company” is misleading.
Max,
‘Viral,’ to me, is a means of delivery rather than a result.
Say you make a commercial. Rather than paying $50-$500k to have it shown on television (and have it last a limited and finite length of time), you might choose to try much more affordable ‘viral’ marketing and see how it does online first. The viral distribution is what gives the marketing the name in my mind, not the result.
Also to note: Not all biological viruses are pandemics… or even epidemics for that matter. Nonetheless, they’re still spreading by purely viral means. For me to equate the word ‘viral’ with some sort of extremely successful result wouldn’t make the most sense given that fact.
That is my own view of the term anyway. The company isn’t hugely in favor of the term in general, but that is what this kind of marketing has been called for a while and the reasoning behind it makes enough sense.
Thanks for the comment and your thoughts. I appreciate the frank discussion.
Good points. It’s really a semantic debate. Maybe I just have a bit of viral fatigue. Everyone wants to “go viral” and by that they mean a global pandemic. It sets unrealistic expectations b/c no one knows why a piece of media gets there. The Obama Girls of the world are rare. But good, sound, social media tactics have excellent ROI w/o becoming sensations.
Excellent blog, btw. I’ll visit often. Glad to hear you’re an Ayn Rand fan.
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