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Some people like to watch TV, read a book, blog or drink a glass of wine.
Yeah, I like those things too, but my escape is running. The act of my feet hitting the ground gives me a feeling of accomplishment. Running gives me a sense of being, a sense of belonging. It gives me vitality and energy to accomplish other things in my life. Running gives me a sense of individualism–it allows me to focus on becoming who I want to be if I just work hard enough
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Comments
11.14.08
I will say about your analysis what I say about all Gen Y articles. You have many nuggets of truth, but you can't say, "Gen Y is..." or "Gen Y wants..." about anything. There is as much variation and uniqueness within our generation as there is between ours and Gen X, or the Boomers.
There is no "Gen Y Mantra." One a bunch of individuals with unique and individual beliefs, who happen to have been born during a particular technological era.
Gen Y doesn't crave brands with a "feeling of community- with no geographical or time boundaries." People do.
The only thing that really binds us as a generation is that we grew up with particular technologies that shape our interaction and social preferences. We're more reliant on computers. We do more communication with email and text message. That's it. All the other stuff is just fluff.
- Chris
11.14.08
Chris-
I do agree that people, not necessarily just Gen Y, crave a feeling of community from their brands. But, like you said, Gen Y is more reliant on technologies--which I believe brands can use to their advantage to create a sense of community. We are, in my opinion, perhaps more accessible than previous generations because of our technology use.
-Carla
11.14.08
I will agree with you in that sense. I think companies can certainly leverage new technologies to more effectively market to tech savvy people. Tech savvy people aren't just Gen Yers, of course. I know a healthy handful of 40 year olds who hang out on twitter and blog.
11.14.08
Thought-provoking post. Relevant to your piece is the fact that many experts have argued that Obama is a member of Generation Jones…the heretofore lost generation between the Boomers and Xers, now 42-54 years old.
I've noticed that there’s been quite a bit of buzz about GenJones in the context of this election; I saw several discussions on national TV about Obama being a Joneser, as well as about GenJones voters being a key swing vote.
You may find this link interesting, my friends and I have been linking people to this page because we think it matters: it has a bunch of print excerpts and videos of big time publications (e.g. The New York Times, Newsweek, etc.) and pundits (e.g. David Brooks, Clarence Page, etc.) all talking about Obama’s identity as part of Generation Jones: http://www.generationjones.com/2008election.html
11.14.08
I think your last paragraph really nails it. Gen Y really wants that sense of community, without regard to geograpic or time boundaries.
11.15.08
Great post, Carla. I love that you link brands to community. So often I wonder why I am studying marketing and what attracts me to brands exactly. Then I remember that it really isn't about any specific product, but about the feeling that a strong brand can evoke in me, as a consumer.
11.15.08
@Nisha and Samantha- I think brands evoke a lot of feelings in us. But the strongest ones give us a sense of belonging to something bigger than our individual selves.
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