Fellow Mozzers:

First and foremost, thank you very much for warmly welcoming me to the SEM community. I stumbled upon this website when I began researching and preparing for a new position I accepted: Internet Marketing Specialist for an insurance brokerage in Los Angeles, CA (yes I know… the Lakers really blew it). My responsibilities consist of SEO, lead and affiliate marketing, and thanks to this blog, I have caught on rather quickly to each. This is my first full-time position as a college graduate; therefore, I am not the most technically-proficient SEM… yet! Despite this, I still love to write (I was at the helm of a very provocative – yet funny – blog in college) and feel that I can share some pearls of wisdom to assist you in marketing to our generation… The IPod Generation.

From what I have gathered in the past few months, the SEM community is primarily composed of members of the MTV Generation (Generation X – born between 1975 and 1985). This generation is known for stagnant population growth (hence the clever nickname “Baby Busters”), political apathy, and the advent of birth control and MTV – resulting in a general distaste for authority and parental guidance. Contrast that with the generation currently entering the workforce and building buying power: Generation Y. We are the products of monumental population growth – resulting in a fierce competitive spirit and being “babied” since birth. Therefore, we are bred to respect authority and of course have grown up with an IPod, DSL connection, AIM, and a smart phone, in turn explaining our desire for instant gratification. Lastly and most importantly, we may be on track to becoming the first politically-active generation since our parents, the Baby Boomers.

I call Generation Y “The IPod Generation” for a number of reasons. We are a distinctly unique generation in that we have seen more technological advancement in twenty years than most have in their lifetime. We are used to having the world at our fingertips (literally), and thrive off of efficiency. This has resulted in busier schedules and fierce peer competition – also a product of outsourcing and immigration. Dana Carvey put it perfectly in his recent comedy special on HBO: “Have you seen the sh** kids are doing nowadays in school?! How am I supposed to help my kids with these critical math questions? Train A leaves the station at 10:00 AM, Train B leaves at 12:30 PM. What color shoe is the conductor wearing?”

Let’s take a look at some numbers that may assist us in pinpointing a marketing strategy for Generation Y:

• 97% own a computer
• 94% own a cell phone
• 76% use instant messaging
• 34% use the Internet as a primary news source
• 44% read blogs regularly (AWESOME for Rand and Co.)
• 50% download music illegally
• 60% own an MP3 player

Now that we have analyzed this information, we need to answer the question, “How do we market our product successfully to this generation?” With that being said, here are the three things to remember when marketing to Generation Y.

1. It’s All About Us. I don’t care how good of a product you may have. If you can’t bring the product to us and throw it in our faces, we won’t find it and definitely won’t buy it. Marketing to Generation Y is drastically different than marketing to Baby Boomers. We have no patience. We never needed any. Why wait to buy an album when we can download it today? Why should we take the time to buy and read a newspaper when we can go to CNN.com and read the headlines? The important element of this point is marketing needs to fit our schedule. We are an impatient and multi-tasking generation, and few things upset us like wasted time. The more concise a marketing campaign, the better. Marketers need to understand that we are not going to search for their product, so the company that can capture our attention for even ten seconds with truly innovative campaigns will prosper.
2. We Find Marketing Annoying. Generation Y does not like marketing. This, of course, goes back to the issue of impatience. But it also has a lot to do with the fact that we have been marketed to more than any generation before us. Television. The Internet. Email. The Cheesecake Factory menu. These have all become avenues for marketers to spread their message – a message that 90% of the time we do not want to hear. Solution? On-demand marketing – in essence, we want to “TIVO” our marketing. Send it to our Blackberry, write clever blog articles (but don’t make them seem like advertisements!), even email blast us if you have to – if we find it interesting, we’ll follow-up on the firm or come back to the advertisement later. Don’t try marketing to Generation Y via traditional mail or in person because of the following: Why send mail or talk to someone in person when you can call them? Why call them when you can text them? And why text them when you can email them? Simple, to-the-point, and convenient marketing is the key to capturing our attention and building a brand.
3. We Want What Our Friends Have. As explained earlier, Generation Y is very competitive. In the current era of outsourcing and population explosion, increased competition has led us to see our peers as measuring sticks of ourselves. If you sell our friends, you will most likely sell us. Word-of-mouth and viral marketing have become priceless strategies for many firms. And of course, if you can get celebrities on board with your product, marketing heaven is attainable. It makes perfect sense: with all the technological advancement we have seen, each successful product seems to make life more convenient. And with our sense of competitiveness, the last thing we want is to fall behind the pack technologically. In conclusion, an effective marketing strategy aimed at our generation should win over early adopters and influencers – then word-of-mouth will take over.

To put this in perspective, let’s look at an example. There has been one company that has managed to capture our generation’s limited attention span like no other company has before – Apple. Apple realized that it was “all about us”: the IPod was released in different sizes to accommodate a broader audience, looked urban and hip which drew us to it, and capitalized off the frenzy of the downloading phenomenon, simplifying our lives with a product that managed our music for us. They also realized that “we found marketing annoying,” so they crafted masterful commercials with contemporary artists like U2 and Coldplay.

Apple’s captivating use of white earphones on a black profile became a powerful marketing staple of the product. Not to mention the advent of the Apple Store became a very successful stealth marketing tactic to turn IPod users into Mac enthusiasts. They also realized that “we wanted what our friends had”: the IPod became a must-have accessory for students and they released newer models annually to stay a leg up on the lagging competition and retain their market share. And of course, celebrities aided in the widespread adoption of the IPod – photos of Gwen Stefani jogging around New York City with her pink IPod in US Magazine, for example.

This was how Apple was successful. This was how Apple created one of the most recognizable brands on the planet. This was how Apple created a cult. They managed to conquer what some termed an unreachable demographic, slowly but surely turning us into… The IPod Generation.