It’s all about the channel, not the brand

Image Credit: caveman_92223 via Flickr

Paul Parkin, a founding partner of SALT Branding in San Francisco, had an interview with MediaPost’s Sarah Mahoney about Gen Y and brands earlier this month. Ultimately, he says, members of Gen Y trust channels more than brands. “They may not be loyal to any brand of shoes or department store, but they are loyal to the Internet channel, and brands like Zappos.com and Amazon.”

In short, I agree with Parkin. As a member of Gen Y, I am not the most loyal and often distrust brands. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t buy into brands or have brands that I am loyal to.

Yes, it’ true. Millennials do trust some brands, but these days, they seem few and far between. The companies that we do invest in are ones that communicate with us  and not at us. Not to mention that those brands often have a message or meaning beyond the products they sell.

One important topic that Parkin touches on in his interview is that we are much less loyal than previous generations. We “grew up in an age when there was always a new site emerging that was better than the old one.” With events like the BP Oil Spill and the Toyota recall, how is it possible for us to trust brands and companies that seem constantly shrouded in secrecy?

If a brand wants the trust of Millennials, it needs to be transparent and create a community for us to gather. Brands that do this successfully are the ones we are most “loyal” to like Zappos. Their CEO has a Twitter account and they also have a customer service account. As a result, you know you can always have your voice heard when your shoes don’t fit or you need help with the site.

Parkin cited also brands like Pepsi and Virgin as companies that are able to interact successfully with Millennials via mobile and social media. But when you really think about it, how many brands are able to use social media effectively to communicate with members of this generation? Most marketing professionals are still trying to figure out the best ways to use the social media world. It has had such an impact that the entire industry is changing. However, most companies still aren’t embracing this idea, and as a result, are being left behind.

For Gen Y, it’s all about the community we create with our friends, family, classmates, and even brands. According to one Time magazine article, for members of Gen Y, the lines between work and home are blurred. No matter where we are, we want to spend our time in a “meaningful and useful” way. We want to know what other people think about products we want to try versus what the companies claim these products can do. Then, and only then, by this process of evaluation, can we figure out which brands we trust.

I’ve always wondered, though, where  distrust comes from? An article in BusinessWeek said, “years of intense marketing efforts aimed directly [at Gen Y] have taught this group to assume the worst about companies trying to coax them into buying something.” Frankly, they’re right. After being bombarded by advertising and other marketing our entire lives, we are jaded and often ignore brands. At this point, we can spot a disingenuous advertisement from miles away.

Parkin summed up Millennials perfectly by saying we are “much more into ‘we,’ in the sense of collaboration. [We] want to interact with companies, and with each other.”