In the middle of a marketing presentation, I was talking about integrating Social Media into a pretty large company’s summer marketing and branding plans. I was trying to explain why they needed to blog, be on Twitter and integrate their plan to make seamless integrations between platforms.While spitting this out, I came to the conclusion that Gen-Y, or 16-25 year olds in this case, loves getting brand information from a person. We like connecting and building trust with a live human being who has likes and dislikes and tells it how it is.
I don’t give 2 shits about what “Insert Fortune 500 Company Here” thinks I should like. I wanna know what the kid down the hall likes. I don’t even mind if that kid works for “Insert that same company here.” I only care that he is honest. I care that he is human being. I care that he is “Green,” likes indie hip-hop and hates Kool-Aid.
Companies need to invent this person for their company if they want to market to our generation. Apple has Steve Jobs, Wine Library has Gary Vaynerchuk and IZEA has Ted Murphy.
Facebook used to have Zucks, but now he’s so full of corporate bull that no one cares what he says. DirectTV tried to joint the Twitter revolution, but pitched it from their company and not from a person helping to promote the company. Plus they didn’t understand Twitter101.
So, this is an open call to all the brands out there that want the dollar I am still willing to spend! You don’t need a million dollar SuperBowl commercial. You need to connect with me. Not the me that other big companies think “I am.”
MTV doesn’t know me. They know the me that E!News says I am.
Brands get to know me. You do this through listening and then entering the conversation. Do this on Twitter. Do this on influential blogs. Do this with Social Spark and get real reviews of your products.
Don’t do this on Myspace with a Friend Blaster!
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Awesome post! Gen-Y needs to connect with a person and not a company (personal branding).
You are right on target here. The only really good way to reach Gen Y is peer-to-peer. They grew up in a world where realty television is not real. They believe what their friends say, not what corporate representatives say.
Thanks for your responses guys. Gen-Y is a hands on generation. Think of the Apple stores and why we all want iPods and MacBooks. We can touch and feel them. The cool tech people have them and so on. Knowing what Kenny down the street is driving is going to influence us more than a fancy commercial. Hopefully big corps can start to get it right!
I can not agree with you more. I feel so strongly about this and had to put up with a bunch of older people telling me how to market to MY OWN generation- and they just did not get it. It’s all about what we know we like- and how we spread that virally within our own community. Good stuff.
Thanks Lindsey. Your company will learn when their profits continue to drop! Then they will knock at your cubicle and plead for your suggestions. Hopefully sooner than later as we all could use a little raise with gas the way it is.