Generation Y?

I believe that the current companies have captured the idea of generation Y in the short run but they are missing the bigger marketing strategy picture that we have been raised on. Ideas continue to change on a daily basis in the world of generation Y. Fads and trends come and go much more quickly than in the time of the baby boomers. Companies such as Tommy Hilfiger and the recording industry are successfully turning younger adolescents on to new products via word of mouth and viral methods. However, these methods may prove to be outdated in the next 5 years as companies such as Google and Apple begin offering new programs and amassing obscene amounts of data on the average consumer.

Amazon has emerged as a large retailer through its modern techniques of suggesting new products to returning customers. Industries have been perfected over the years as companies continually use data to predict how consumers will react to product changes and introductions. Maybe Amazons approach in suggesting items is the next step for the modern marketing professional. Companies need to stop guessing how generation Y will react to mass advertising in popular events and begin capitalizing on the synergy between product relations that we seem to be experiencing. Generation Y is one that moves from trend to trend quickly and relies on small similarities between each to move on. Apple has capitalized on smaller, sleeker laptops and slowly transitioned its popularity onto other small electronics such as the Ipod and Iphone.

Despite the fact that I have primarily focused on a new approach to marketing, I believe that the path companies need to make is one that keeps the idea of constant change in their minds. Marketers need to focus more on image than products at this point in time. The days of the baby boomers saw a need for physical products to be present in order to convey quality. With online shopping on the rise this is no longer the case. Generation Y will be shopping online for news about the latest trends and best deals.

I do not represent generation Y very much because of my belief that consumption is not necessary in most cases. As an avid follower of George Carlin’s beliefs I find that the more useless items I have shoved into my closet never to be used, the more cluttered my life is.

I believe companies have saturated websites such as Facebook and MySpace to the point of turning away users, but at the same time they are consistently getting their message across. This marketing strategy parallels my idea of constant change because they can instill different images each day based on the users that subscribe to them. The amount of clicks generation Y makes can be traced and used to draw conclusions about which users are the most dedicated and which are first time users. MySpace advertisements can use previous internet activity or posted personal information to target the exact crowd they are looking for and keep up with the changes their consumers undertake.

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