Engaging and activating Generation Y will take a strategy, patience, creativity and a unique set of tools.
Microsoft’s Small Business Center breaks down some of the difficult questions surrounding reaching and engaging Generation Y consumers through contests, being present and visible in the marketplace and cause-related products and offerings. Outlined below, is a more in-depth view of how your company can better engage Generation Y and Cal Students.
1. Make your products cool for the kids as well as their parents. “Offer pop clothes at good prices with a brand that will appeal to 30- to 50-year old soccer moms and dads but that Gen Y is not loathe to adopting,” Cooper says.
2. Exploit contests and promotions. “Gen Y is unbelievably enthusiastic about winning free concert tickets or cars or ski weekends,” he says. “Marketers need to generate teen excitement with radio and mall tie-ins, advertising, discounting, promotional kiosks — anything that’s cool and has cachet.”
3. Become “hip.” Yes, I’ll explain. It means a combination of location and concept, Cooper says. “You have to be present where teenagers want to spend time, in skateboard parks, at concerts, in malls. Older marketers are not as comfortable doing that.” Concludes Cooper: “You need to balance the benefits of attracting the younger market against the difficulties of embracing alternative business principles.” After that, you need to get a handle on how Gen Y makes buying decisions. Like teens beforethem, Gen Y relies on peer recommendations, says John Burnett, professor of marketing at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business. “But they are far more socially conscious than any generation since World War II,” he adds. “They believe in giving, participation in nonprofits, and in donations of time and resources.”
To view the full article, please visit the following link, Microsoft Small Business Center, “Tough customers: how to reach Gen Y”
Source: Microsoft Small Business Center, “Tough customers: how to reach Gen Y” by Joanna L. Krotz
