THOMPSONSPF10RESEARCH

“Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation describes the demographic cohort following Generation X. As there are no precise dates for when the Millennial generation starts and ends, commentators have used birth dates ranging somewhere from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s. Members of this generation are called Echo Boomers, due to the significant increase in birth rates between 1982–1995, and because most of them are children of baby boomers. The 20th century trend toward smaller families in developed countries continued, however, so the relative impact of the "baby boom echo" was generally less pronounced than the original boom.

Characteristics of the generation vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions. However, it is generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies. In most parts of the world its upbringing was marked by an increase in a neoliberal approach to politics and economics.

Expression and acceptance has been highly important to this generation.

In some ways, the Millennials have become seen as the ultimate rejection of the counterculture that began in the 1960s and persisted in the subsequent decades through the 1990s. This is further documented in Strauss & Howe's book titled Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, which describes the Millennial generation as "civic minded," rejecting the attitudes of the Baby Boomers and Generation X.

“Generation Y” Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y

I feel that it is important for me to research who advertisers are going after as clients. With the decline of spending from older generations and the rise of younger generations gain in the consumer market, companies have for the past several years targeted Generation Y. In examining the preferences of this market segment it helps me identify how advertising agencies are trying to reach their audience. Understanding the methods they use, I can choose to replicate or disregard these techniques to make my medium and voice more structured and intentional.  In some ways I feel that the clients of the advertising agencies may not be devoting their ads to reach this segment still. If ads are not still reaching Generation Y to its potential it leaves a gap for me to fill with my work and the message I choose to deploy to my viewers. If the ads are effective then I can continue to mimic the current trends. I feel confident that I want my work to reach and resonate with Generation Y, therefore I should do my best to attract their attention. Overall, I feel that it is important for me to take a look at my work and see if it is really reaching the generation I intend for it to. This may help my work from being overlooked as an advertisement and not a political statement.

“A recent survey conducted by Outlaw Consulting, a San Francisco research firm, concluded that Generation Y trendsetters are more drawn to brands that speak to them in a "straightforward and stripped-down way, use plain packaging, and avoid excess," says Holly Brickley, an Outlaw strategic analyst.

Outlaw surveyed 100 of what it calls its "most forward trendsetter panelists" in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami, asking them which companies they most respected, and why.

The sample mostly targeted the first wave of Gen Y consumers, aged 21-27. The goal was to compile a "Trust Index" of brands that evoke "deeply positively feelings" among the trendsetters.

Most of the companies cited by the respondents stress simplicity, says Brickley, who notes that many of their favorite companies, from giants such as Apple to smaller newcomers like Method, are known for keeping things as stripped-down and unadorned as possible - not just in terms of the product's visual appearance but also in the way they organize their offerings. "Apple's computers and iPods are so clean and simple and easy to use," remarked one trendsetter. "No excess."

According to an Outlaw Consulting newsletter, the preference for simplification, lean-and-clean styling and all-in-one convenience could be motivated by environmental concerns. In other words, as the "green lifestyle" is something more and more people aspire to, the notion of excess has fallen into disfavor, notes Brickley, who wrote the report.

The Most Trusted 15 brands named by the trendsetters in the survey were:

Apple

Trader Joe's

Jet Blue

In-N-Out Burger

Ben & Jerry's

Whole Foods

Adidas

American Apparel

Target

H & M clothing stores

Levi's

Volkswagen

Converse

Vitamin Water

Red Stripe Jamaican beer”

Ransom, Kevin “Reign Of The Plain: Survey Finds Gen Ys Prefer Brand Simple” Marketing Daily, Apr 2007

“At first, it wasn't clear what could be done to give Herbal Essences back some shine. "It turned out the brand around the market had just grown older, and it was a broader 'every woman' target," Lafley says. "We thought the target group was interested in natural and herbal ingredients, and we took that a little too literally." To find the right new, smaller target market for the brand, Arnold and her team turned to Clay Street, an immersion program for P&G managers to jump-start innovation. There, the team came up with a new target audience for the brand—Generation Y. "In the case of Gen Y, there really wasn't another hair-care brand that was really meeting their needs," says Lafley. "The question was: 'Can Herbal do it?'" Arnold's team bet yes. They redesigned the packaging of the product to "fit" this more tailored market: The shampoo and conditioner bottles are curved so that they literally fit together on the shelf. The nesting shape not only helped Herbal Essences stand out from others on the shelf but also encouraged more young women to buy both products, driving up conditioner sales. To appeal to Millennials, the team also updated the language on the packaging. The ho-hum "dandruff" reference gave way to "no flaking away." Names for different hair styles were changed to more youthful phrases such as "totally twisted" or "drama clean." "We totally reframed the proposition," says Lafley. While P&G doesn't break out sales figures on specific products, the company reported in a conference call soon after the shampoo was relaunched that the brand was growing again, with sales growth rates in the high single digits.”

McGregor “The Issue: How P&G Brought Back Herbal Essences” Bloomberg Businessweek, Jun 2008