What does a brand have to do to connect with our generation?
They try everything now. Fan pages on Facebook. Cause marketing. Sponsored characters in video games. iPhone apps. So what works? What’s the best example of a brand, new or old, connecting with us? Getting us to pay attention? Making us care? Damn, they ought to pay big bucks for the answers.
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What does a brand have to do to connect with us?
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They need to humanize themselves. We no longer care about mass national marketing campaigns unless we can identify with them.
They have to create interesting cultural objects, and to create shared value and conversational currency around the object which is being discussed. Ideas that help connect tribes around passion points are always going to get get traction in social networks. People always want to connect around interesting cultural objects, so brands need to create ideas which organise them.
They need to stop seeming like a big, dark corporation that I know nothing about. Instead, they should reach out to me, give me something to be excited about and make me feel like they care about my expectations of them.
It seems like a tall order, I know, but it really isn’t that difficult. A lot of brands today have smartened up, and this is essentially what they’re doing!
Connect with us!
Huge brands like Ikea, Target, and (of course) Apple all have a sense of humor, a willingness to connect.
Of course because these corporations are so large they are just unable to cater to each and every customer that comes into their stores, but they are able to create an atmosphere in which we feel like we are being included and also mentioned.
Our generation wants to be spoken to, but not sold to. Creating a connection and then following up with us will create a loyalty that any Wal-Mart is completely unable to do.
Yes connecting on a larger scale makes a difference, and yes putting yourself in the social media world is a plus, but I believe that what it all comes down to are the people that are paid $9 to sell the product. Here’s why:
A few weeks ago my mom declared I was 22 and it was time to start to use eye cream. Freaked out and ready to order my Life Alert button to go with it, I decided to browse around in Macy’s. I had heard Clarin’s was the best brand for anti-aging, so I went there first. The lady behind the counter didn’t speak English. So I decided to go to the next counter-Origins. The two women that were on duty were so engrossed in their conversation they didn’t say hi until I was standing in front of the eye cream shelf for a good 5 minutes. Give me a break! And the sad thing is that I use origins for all my face products (day/night cream, face wash, exfoliant), but decided against it because the sales women had better things to do. Finally, I stopped by Clinique. As soon as I walked by, a woman in a pony tail and almost no make up asked me if I needed some help. Not only did she have amazing skin that made me want to use what she uses, she was thorough and even walked around with me to other counters to show me how to test for eye cream. Not only did I buy the eye cream, I bought a mascara and a lip gloss too.
My point-it is up to the representatives of these brands to sell the huge untapped market of home goods, anti-aging products, and responsible things like insurance to our generation. Yes we do our research online, but if you aren’t nice to me, I’m not nice to your brand.
Regardless of the media used, the message has to be personally relevant on some level to make people stop, listen, and care. VW did a great job a few years with the “All Grown Up. Sort of.” campaign for Jetta, featuring 20-somethings who were figuring out how to balance careers and adulthood with fun and youthfulness. The car was offered up as the perfect vehicle to help us tread that line. And the TV spots had some great music, too.
I think it depends on the brand, really. For instance, Apple has our sense of humor figured out draws us in that way – but I had a series of incredibly frustrating conversations with multiple members of Apple’s sales staff via the chat function on their website. Essentially, I felt like they knew less about what they were selling than I did, and with all the information that’s available to us today, that’s not acceptable. As a rule though, accessibility (as with Apple’s chat option) is something I actively look for. If a brand seems inaccessible to me, I won’t try to pry my way in.
I hate to burst the bubble, but “connecting” and “humanizing” just isn’t enough to make me love a brand. I know I’m not supposed to say that, given that I’m an active participant in this social web stuff, but it’s the truth.
Take Ford for example. For all intents and purposes, they did a great job with the Fiesta Movement campaign. I respect what they’ve done, but does that mean that I will buy a Ford? Sorry, nope. Why? Because I don’t like the product.
Look at the flip side: Apple. A few years ago, I never would have touched the brand. Since then, I’ve bought three iPods, am in the market for a MacBook Pro, and am following news about the Apple Tablet like a tween scanning the gossip rags for news on Twilight. Why? Because their products kick ass.
No one can doubt that Apple does a phenomenal job of marketing, but last I checked, they didn’t have any spectacular social media campaigns going on. Their customer service, really, isn’t all that great. As a brand, I don’t think they’re particularly “human”, and yet, they’ve succeeded in turning me into a fan boy. And you know how one of the most innovative companies did that? By marketing the old fashion way. They created a kick ass product, and made me believe that I absolutely had to have one.
So, if you want to know how to get a Gen-Yer to love your brand, go back to basics. Create a great product and create marketing that makes people fall in love with it. Adapt to new media, because that’s where the eyeballs are, but don’t let new media be the basis of your brand.
“Humanizing” and “connecting” is important, but that will become more of a requirement than a unique sales proposition in the very near future, so beware if that’s what your marketing strategy is based on.
It has to go above in beyond in engaging us, as we are resistant to traditional marketing. Host a contest, make us laugh, anything that will get us involved. Develop a kick ass Facebook page. Make sure your brand has personality to it, and be authentic, or you’ll wonder if you are laughed at versus being laughed with. Lastly I would say that as a generation we are very distrustful of the motives of large organizations and institutions, so win us over first before pitching your wares.
I think the main problem is this idea of *making* us care, as if it was a matter of force. Persuasion is not an art of push and pull, rather, an art of attraction and eventual seduction. The most top of mind brand fitting this concept would be the Nintendo Wii.
As Adam posits, it’s about going back to basics. Nintendo knew it’s strengths were in its mascots and key franchise titles, of which graphics were only going to take these animated characters so far. Rather than compete head on with Xbox and PS3, it provided something we’ve never seen before. As a prior Nintendo fan I was more skeptical than most, but I was interested. It was different and spoke to what mattered to most in gaming; the gameplay.
They were focusing on what I cared about rather than increasing the console’s processing power, and, thereby making outrageous price points (cough PS3 launch cough). Add that element to a seamless product design akin to Mac’s style, and what we had was a beautiful looking product that stood out from the competition and stood up for creating the next best generation of Nintendo games possible. How much more back to basics can you get–they brought it back to what mattered; the gaming.
Nintendo didn’t win me over with any cause related activities or a fan page. They stood back, listened to what mattered most for the company and its users, and created that. Where they really won big tactically was personalization. Creating your own Mii (avatar) was something you did. Everytime a friend visited it was a ritual to create their personal Mii version on your console.
For brands, this might sound like non-advice and plainly obvious, but, make yourself worth liking. I’m serious. Focus on your product (whatever that is) and the user experience (whatever that should become). As I look back on what made Nintendo Wii win, I realize it’s about the experience they created. Not just the dedication to more engaging gameplay, but their packaging, the console design, and the personalization aspects (Mii). It brought all of us, non-gamer and gamer alike, together around the console again.
A brand can only connect with me if it sees me as David Ricaud–not a consumer. Far too often, brands are built on vague consumer data. I am not a number or statistic. A brand needs to recognize that. We are not consumers; we are people. The new HTC smartphone does a fantastic job with this. Check out the ad on YouTube.
I think some one said it before but if a brand can be honest and even self-deprecating they feel more human. And being human makes people want to connect with it. I think Target is a good example of a monolith brand becoming a person – a real boy! Their brand infects everything; not just on-air packaging but also the entire customer experience online and in-store. It went from a store mom’s would go to put coffee makers on lay-away to a place that people fondly refer to as Target using a psuedo-French accent. I use place also because now (at least in my area) it’s not just a shopping store but a place I see lots of teens and Millennials go to shop but also to goof around and hangout. If a place was cold and creepy (like Sharper Image- fun toys but creepy in-store atmosphere- which probably helped lead to its failure ) then you wouldn’t frequent it.
Don’t tell me that you’re connecting with me. Don’t take what you think I love and shove it in my face (i.e. social media) and say HERE!! We’re doing it! You as a Millenial are just gonna LOVE this! The most successful campaigns are ones where I think, “Wow, that was funny.” Be witty. Be clever. Don’t try so hard. An example I can think of is the Avoid the Stork campaign (http://avoidthestork.com). I have seen ads for safe sex since junior high, yet this one just works for me. There’s no preaching, it’s funny but real and makes me think. I agree with Emily Purdie above that the Jetta ads were effective. The new Mac vs PC ads make me laugh sometimes, but also because they’re relevant (once I’m done chuckling I think back to the days when Vista made my laptop crash four times in a semester.) Celebrities aren’t going to help me connect with a brand (sorry, Justin Long), but a live person my age will, though. Do you know how much more Pancheros I eat now that I’m following @pancheros on Twitter? Their social media guy is about my age and responds back when I harass him for free burritos. (Free stuff never hurts to connect with us, either!) While I said in the beginning that social media is not always a guaranteed way to connect with us, when you do it in the right way (like Pancheros is) it can be extremely effective.
Don’t push it. You know how parents try to act “cool,” but it just comes off as really lame, like they’re trying too hard? A brand that does the same gives itself a death sentence.
The way brands best connect with me is through their user experience online and off. How well do you anticipate my needs and questions, so that you already have the answers provided. What kind of tool do you have for me to use that will make my experience go smoother. These are the things I think of first when thinking about brand’s value to me.
For a brand to connect with me it has to be a variety of things. First of, I have to like the product. I can love a commercial but if the brand itself isn’t something I like then it is almost useless. I think it also helps if the brand is willing to take risks. Do something different for a commercial or ad campaign. I respect a brand that isn’t afraid to fail in order to be different stand out. I will recognize the ad if it is huge success or a huge failure. And most importantly, the brand has to reach out to me as an individual. It certainly reflects something about our generation as so many things are now specialized for us. We can make our own sneakers on Nike.com or make a customized NFL jersey on NFL.com. We no longer just want to be a part of the masses. We want to be an individual and that means being targeted as such.
They need to be able to offer us something new or a better version of what we had before. We’re always looking for the next great thing.
Also, like others said, they need to connect with us. If we don’t feel connected to their brand or campaigns, we don’t care. Our generation has become so exposed to media messages, over 3,000 a day, that we filter out the ones we don’t care about. Brands need to be able to pass through our filter and show us something new.
Brands need to identify with us, or rather we need to identify with them.
There’s so much noise in the world these days we’re growing up tuning it all out like we would a loud annoying noise. Injecting themselves into our personal space is all that’s left for them, so it’s not surprising they’re going for twitter/facebook et al
Be freakishly passionate about what you do. It will come out. If you don’t care, then I won’t really care.
Brands that have made an influence have done so because they’ve latched onto something new and unique, and thus have gone on to become verbs, nouncs, and define a generation.
I’m not sure what exactly it is that they did, but they definitely latched onto a sentiment, feeling, urge, that was missing.
I would look back on what Apple has done (and continues to do), what Barack Obama did for politics. It’s more than just giving away free stuff and having a facebook and/or twitter. It’s about filling a void and going on to influence a generation.
There’s a reason why the Mac vs. PC ads are so great and widely watched and why everyone always associates Pepsi with Michael Jackson. Smart marketing that defined a generation.
Make quality products, sold at a reasonable price. Also please stop invading my mindspace; I need that to think.
Valerie has a great point – we love free and easy, but that’s just the bait. Keep us interested by letting us integrate with the brands on our own. You can’t just trust someone to like your brand, but you also can’t force it down our throats.
Boloco has quickly become one of my favorite chains with almost NO advertising. They have a highly interactive twitter presence, offer free burrito’s and incentives to loyal customers and most importantly, they have a high quality product.
When all is said and done, if your product isn’t any good and if what you stand for is downright rotten, NO amount of branding and interaction will save you.
Honestly the first thing to integrate your brand with a person…… stop calling them Gen Y. They are individuals not identical lumps of DNA.
If I brand makes me laugh no matter what the media is (twitter, tv ad, Facebook) then I am sold. I respect brands who don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s awesome and admirable when a brand admits to a mistake through a tweet or pokes fun at their fans on Facebook. It makes them less detached from the consumer and also makes the consumer feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Yes, I did just say warm and fuzzy.
I think that brands need to embrace who their passion consumers are and run with it. The best example I can think of off the top of my head is what Mountain Dew did with World of Warcraft. Not only did they come out with two new flavors that reflected the two opposing sides of the WoW universe, but they made little creatures within the game that you could play with. And I’m pretty sure that the main character in Zombieland was drinking Mountain Dew while playing WoW. Perfect product placement.
I don’t want to drop any names, but since joining the advertising world I’ve seen a few brands completely ignore the people who truly love them. Maybe they aren’t the most chic or the most wealthy or the most attractive customers, but they are passionate about your brand.
We all know that WoW players aren’t the coolest (no offense), but they do have a lot of devotion. And reciprocating that devotion will go a long way.
The best brands, in my opinion, connect with me, make excellent products and offer me something worth it.
Case and point:-
I have an iPod because it’s stable, excellent quality and simply is the best.
I wouldn’t buy an iPod, and rather, am getting the Nokia n900 because it’s stable, not commercialized, excellent quality, is the epitome of what a real smart phone should be (to me) and it meets my needs.
Same logic, different brands.
Attention to detail and good design. I know this is crazy obvious, but apple is a great example of this. I wanted a computer to do just a few things, I wanted it to work and look good. That’s it. PCs are still behind with this, though not as much as they used to. The closest thing to a good looking design for a long while was the Sony VAIO.
Beyond that I usually spend my money on quality. I’ll shop at JCrew and Brooks Brothers over Old Navy or The Men’s Warehouse because I want the cloths I buy to last and continue to fit well. In the long run I think I break even because my cloths last a long time. If the latter stores offered products with more longevity I’d certainly shop there more, if not exclusively.
Brands try to connect with us in every way, but few are able to succeed because they’ve just become sponsors. Just because you’re on Facebook, it doesn’t mean I want to interact with you. Your simple presence at the Olympics or the X-Games or New York Fashion Week doesn’t make me identify with you. It’s what you DO to make me realize that I, Erica Nardello (not I, Millennial Consumer 305301743), need your brand because it’s fitting for me, my personality, my lifestyle.
I agree with a lot of the comments so far – make me laugh! But also, teach me something that will make me continue to come back to your brand. Position yourself in a way that’s going to remember that YOUR brand knows me and what I need. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a nerd and I like to learn, but that’s what I’m looking for from a brand. I recently bought a circle scarf and wanted to see if there were different ways to wear it. I went online, and American Apparel has a $28 circle scarf and a corresponding image they put together of about 20 ways to wear this scarf. Now, when I need basic items of clothing and need to spice it up a bit, I’m turning to American Apparel. They’re really not even interacting with me – they’re just showing me what I need. Also, I returned the other scarf and am currently waiting to receive my new American Apparel scarf.
Brands need to realize that hiding behind lawyers and a PR department is a thing of the past. I was just reading a great post about how transparency is the new “norm” and those companies that embrace that will soon figure out how they can connect with the new generation. By simply being “real” and “human” rather than a faceless entity, they will gain many customers and go a long way towards regaining brand loyalty.
I do not think that the major concern here is how a brand is able to connect with our generation but, rather, how that brand is able to build some form of loyalty and consistency within our generation. We exist in a time period where we are consistently bombarded with new ad campaigns that attempt to be “hip” or “edgy” in hopes of grabbing Generation Y’s attention long enough to result in a boost in sales. However, despite these attempts to manufacture consistent customer support, I believe that these brands and products need to get a greater handle on the “intangibles” to be successful.
These “intangibles” are such that they represent ultimate value to the consumer. This value could either be one of practicality or something far more “trivial” (Fashion value, for instance). Unfortunately, I believe myself to be on the outside of Generation Y thoughts, interests, and activities. As a result, I don’t have a whole lot of insight (or ideas) as to how to accomplish this valuing of products, brands, and companies.
Huh. That sounded a lot more snobbish than I meant it to be.
I think Apple has done an amazing job appealing to our generation. They have managed to make the iPod and iPhone synonymous with ‘cool’.
Brands need to contribute something significant to the culture, brands like Vans and Mountain Dew did it well.
For me, a brand has to be supportive. This is shown through being transparent, responding to inquiries in a timely fashion (picking up the phone when I call, responding to me in a reasonable amount of time if they’re on Twitter, listening).
I’m the biggest promoter of the brands I believe in and will talk about them to anyone listening. I start caring when I believe the company has something to care about, and I continue to care when they back that up with showing me I wasn’t wrong.
If your campaign can target things that are relevant by making me laugh (Bruins-the rivalry) or touch me in a way that has not been done before (Dove-evolution) then it’s good enough for me to spread the word around about the brand. I am from NY, so that doesn’t mean I am automatically a Bruins fan, but it does mean that I sent the video to all of my friends because it had relevance to my life ( I am a Yankee fan and my boyfriend is a Red Sox fan). If you can find something that will hit home with the target age group, even if it doesn’t fit their needs exactly, they might talk about it with people that it does matter to. So yes, social media is a huge way to get involved, but any time of advertising will work if it is good enough because people still talk, just the medium in which they do so has changed.
Sense of humor is an excellent start. Have an interesting name that grabs my attention but isn’t super long or difficult to pronounce. If you want to connect with us, then do something that incorporates the social need of this generation. We aren’t necessarily interested in the newest technology or the fanciest, because, let’s face it, most of us probably can’t afford it. So something still updated but doesn’t sound too complicated or pricey. Overall, the thing you want to go for the most is the social aspect of people.
They need to humanize themselves. We no longer care about mass national marketing campaigns unless we can identify with them.