the new world of working with millenials (aka Gen Y)

the new world of work



http://www.askgeny.com/




Millenial Generation

Why does Generation Y love luxury brands

Recently answered this HARO inquiry by a student for an article on "Irrational Spending in Generation Y" for her NYU Journalism Class:

"My article is about how Generation Y spends money with false rationales. What are the psychological and sociological reasons for spending on luxury goods when there are loans to pay? What influence do advertising and pop culture play in the demand for luxury goods?"

MY RESPONSE:
Ah, Generation Y, lovingly referred to in marketing circles as “Generation Why” or “Generation Why Not”.

Why does Generation Y spend money with false rationale? Why they’re not “false rationale” at all! The U.S. today is full of example after example of bail-outs. Gen Y has been raised with “helicopter” parents who protect from every harm and admonish nay-sayers that their child is NOT at fault for anything they do, federal bail-outs including those on the scale of Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae, the mortgage industry (I could go on ad infinitum and ad nauseum) where managers walk away with their heads held high and millions in their pockets, bankruptcy protection rates soaring again. You get the point.

So, if a Gen Y’er can’t lose, why not spend like there’s no tomorrow. In their frame of reference, there IS only today. Modern culture for young Gen Y’ers has also included U.S. participation in war after war and terrorism-you-can-touch brought to American soil. So, there may not be a “tomorrow”, either. A very different "feel" from the Cold War of the baby boomer's generation.


What part does advertising and pop culture play in the demand for luxury goods? Manufacturers and retailers are in business to make a profit. Period. And, advertising’s goal is to encourage more sales to make those businesses more profit by playing to the attributes of the target market. And, play to them, they do. Gen Y’ers are really being “played”. Advertisers are pushing ever more expensive must-have items. Imaginative brain-teasing toys and games, or even create-your-own fun games, have been replaced with follow-the-leader computer games and virtual worlds.

Pop culture is fraught with celebra-mania. Gen Y’ers see how easy – and “fulfilling” – it is to be a celebrity. Celebs represent the “good life”, lots of stuff and doing nothing more than smiling at a camera to get it.

Gen Y was raised amidst the explosion of instant communication and, thus, instant gratification. Just look at the anecdotal evidence, such as the explosive rise of social media and alternative newspapers where articles are reduced to no more than sound bites themselves and we communicate in 3 minute or less video vignettes.


A better question may be: what would Gen Y do without electricity?

Good source: the folks at Iconoculture.com.

So What Can a Nonprofit Do With Social Networking?

Social networking is one of the most popular ways constituents connect and meet people.

Nonprofits can parlay social networking into fundraising and awareness campaigns.

Ways nonprofits can use social networking and fulfill their missions.




1. Set up group pages and individual profile (more is better; be everywhere): develop a presence on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Link them to each other and link back to the nonprofit's website.

2. Use gadgets: such as a fundraising thermometer or the honor roll tracking tool, to create a visual representation of how well the organization is meeting its goal(s). Solicit supporters to post your gadgets themselves that create viral momentum.

3. Post bulletins: announce new tools available for use on personal webpages, such as promotional banners and news clippings. Againg, be sure reciprocal links are in place.

4. Recruit volunteers: to be social networking "ambassadors" so they can act as an additional hand reaching out to more people and enabling those people to reach out to even more potential supporters.

5. Promote: use social networking pages as another medium to communicate and promote the organization, events, campaigns, etc. and add ways that constituents can promote on their individual pages.

Consistency is key here. Share the same "face"(images, messages, etc.) in all online interactions.

Ten Top Ten Lists for Blog Content

Here are the Ten Top 10 lists.

#1) Top 10 Favorites.
You know this kind of list. Your favorite lists can be just about anything - books, movies, videos, music, actors/actresses, artists, writers, hobbies... You get the picture.

#2) Top 10 Dislikes / Peeves.
Same thing as the 'favorites' list. Only on the nastier side.

#3) Top 10 Destinations.
Or Top 10 Places To Avoid. These destinations/places can be anywhere in the world - even in your own neighborhood. Even if you're not writing a travel blog, these lists are always interesting reads.

#4) Top 10 Things About.... You, your pet, your crush, your interests...
Whatever the topic, you can write Top 10 facts that you may wish to share with your readers.

#5) Top 10 Tips.
Whether you're an 'expert' on knitting, surfing, or chess, you're bound to have some words of wisdom to share with your readers about your field/s of expertise/interest.

#6) Top 10 Ideas.
This is another catch-all Top 10 idea with a twist. You can list anything here, but they should be categorized as "ideas." For example, you want to give ideas on how people can combat global warming. So, you can come up with "Top 10 Ideas on How To Fix The Problem with Global Warming". Or, something to that effect anyway.

#7) Top 10 Things That Excite / Sadden / Delight... You.
Change the feelings, if you must. Other ideas that you may consider are: things that freighten you, things that anger you, things that make you fall in love, etc.

#8) Top 10 Things To Do. Or even Top 10 Things That You're Avoiding to Do.

#9) Top 10 Memories.
Whether you're writing about the top 10 memories you have of your wedding day or that job interview you just had, listing things that you remember will help you preserve these moments.

#10) Top 10 Random Things.
So, you're not in to organizing ideas and themes in a neat little package? Why not list random things that you just happen to think about? Just go for it!

Sales/Solicitation Food for Thought!

Today is 20% of your sales/solicitation week.

Two sales/solicitation days are 10% of your month.

To have only two "slow days" each month is equivalent to having more than one full month of "slow days" each year.

Sales point: Every moment of every sales/solicitation day matters. These are your "money hours.”**

Hesitation for a "better sales day" of the week or a time when you’re feeling more "up to the task" will have a long-term effect on your and your team's ultimate sales results (and discipline).

It's this serious. Every sales/solicitation day is a sales day regardless of circumstances. Once gone, it's gone forever.

Over the next few weeks, begin your quest for complete sales/solicitation time discipline regardless of environment... regardless of circumstances. Put the "Do Not Disturb" button on your money hours and on your solicitation/sales discipline.

Time management is simple. Do what it is you know must be done.

**money hours: the hours in a sales day where one can talk with prospects and/ or customers… the most valuable hours of the day

Twitter, Ultimate Time-Waster or Great Tool?

Check out this Twitter presentation from http://twitter.com/chriswinfield of 10e20, an Internet marketing and web development company based in New York & Florida.

Please note: I have NO affiliation with 10e20 other than as a fellow marketer and inhabitant of planet Earth.

Here are my not-in-any-particular-order Top Ten fave responses (ok, really 11, but couldn't leave Pamela Anderson out!)

1. I agree with the sentiment of using it for something other than the day-to-day routine, but having some personal touch to Twitter isn't a bad thing until it overshadows the content. One thing I do dislike, and I will specifically use Dan's example, is a Twitter that is simply a Twitterfeed. Let's face it, I can get that same information in my RSS reader should I so choose. Sure, there's a new audience, but what do you give them to make them communicate. Twitter's about communication, not a broadcast. The reason I haven't started a general account for my station is because I don't want it to be just a feed, but the main people that would work on the account are nightsiders, which would leave my morning and midday tweets bare. Companies should use it to communicate with its customers (Zappos, JetBlue, etc.). News sites should use it to solicit story ideas, provide info the follower couldn't normally get AND serve as a way to feed information (Austin American-Statesman is my favorite). One of my best friends is a reporter at the AAS and I told her I was surprised that the paper's Web site linked to her Twitter from her work blog. She said it was because the paper WANTED the personal level with their reporters and readers. Granted, she doesn't post the entirely too-personal tweets she did before, but she still has some personal mixed-in, and she said it's helped her rapport with her readers when they suggest something or simply communicate with her. During Hurricane Ike, my station used Twitter to broadcast information as we received it (which got it out before I could attack the pile of mounting information) and used it to show pictures from the field. I set up a Twitpic feed to our Twitter and gave the e-mail address to our reporters and photogs out and about. It was very successful and ended up driving more traffic to my site in what turned out to be a great week for our analytics. If you think it's just about what coffee or sandwich you had, you're following the wrong Twitterers.
   Joe Ruiz
   
   
2. I have said it is a viable tool. Many large corporations have figured out how to use it and smaller ones too. I have seen recruiters use it, the key is they re-tweet the same message. I know people have increased traffic to their websites too. Here is a link for a story Business Week did on companies who use Twitter. This was posted by someone in my network and it is one of the tools of the future. I would guess from their results in customer service and building relationships--it is not a time waster. http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/09/0908_microblog/index.htm?technology%20slideshows
   Tracy Crossley
3. You're always as good as the people you surround yourself with, Twitter is no exception. Don't follow those you notice tweet more garbage than fact. I think Twitter is a great tool to keep up on breaking news/tools/sites or blast announcements about your business. It's also helpful in the research department. I've thrown questions to the masses and gotten terrific answers and sources in return. There are several ways to set up alerts to filter through the mundane and keep you from having to listen to everything coming through. Use their search feature to mine for keywords and people relevant to your interests.
   Debra Mastaler
   
   
4. I find twitter very useful. By selectively following others, I get info regarding my interests, my career (marketing) and have even found a few people that make me laugh at least once a day. How can you beat that? Sure, you'll get some mundane details in the mix but wouldn't you get that if you were networking at an industry event or lunch? In some ways, it gives you a level of detail about the person you are networking with that you wouldn't get from 'in person' networking. I also use it to share articles and blog posts related to those I am connected with via twitter. http://twitter.com/5691gerg
   Check the NY Times Magazine Clive Thomson Sept 5 article via link below....
   http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
   Greg Padley
   
   
5. Like so many communication tools and social media technologies today, the fundamental question isn't whether the medium is a great tool or waste of time, but whether the participant has set the right objectives. Without set objectives, Twitter is likely to be a waste of time. With set objectives, it's effectiveness in meeting those objectives will determine whether or not it is a great tool or waste of time.
   http://copywriteink.blogspot.com/2007/11/revisiting-metrics-social-media.html
   Richard Becker
6. I share the sentiments with those that find it useful (as with any of the social networking and microblogging sites). It's all about quality not quantity. You don't have to follow every person that follows you just like you don't have to accept every friend request via SN Sites. Don't sign up for social networking sites unless you have a purpose: i.e. be more personable with your clients (improve value add); create a network if you are a solopreneur or micro business looking to share resources, challenges, ideas and solutions; drive traffic to a blog, website, event or product release, otherwise you won't 'get it'. I use a few of the applications like tweetlater so that it autoposts my blog posts as i make them as well as tweetburner so I can track metrics of people who click my links and know what kind of stuff my target audience is most interested in and then post more things in that genre. I also like the functionality of tweetlater where you can create posts and schedule them for later which is great for reminders or if you have an event that requires registration and you have to send out something multiple times to insure it gets noticed. And if you haven't already guessed, I am sometimes a long winded person ;-) so it helps me to think of the bottom line and get to my point quickly. http://teenentrepreneurblog.com/
   Shonika Proctor
7. I would say that Twitter can be either a good marketing tool or a time-waster. It really depends on who is using it and how they are using it. For instance, I don't really need to know when people are getting up to go to the bathroom. On the other side, it can deliver information about current events faster than any news agency can. For instance, I wrote this article on my blog at http://www.spinfield.com/2008/05/13/twitter-up-to-the-second-news-as-it-happens-really/
   To summarize, it tells about how an individual was browsing around Twitter one evening when he started seeing all these Tweets from people in China about being in the middle of an earthquake. He was able to decipher information from them and break the story hours before CNN. Now that's powerful, and I bet CNN is now monitoring Twitter.
   Stephen Lamb
8. Twitter is a great tool. It gives companies the opportunity to see what their clients or users are saying about them. It also allows them to see what the latest trends are at the moment or what people are really no interested in. It can become a time waster if not used in the correct manner but if there is a strategy behind it a company can find it extremely useful especially for events.
   http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2008/02/analysis-of-our.html
   http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2007/12/do-you-get-it-y.html
   http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2007/10/the-twitter-eff.html
   Alexis Karlin Web Producer at Forrester Research
9. Twitter is only as good as the information you put in, and the folks you follow (and follow you). For instance, I only follow users that I know personally (local), or are part of the industry in which I work (media/newspapers). This allows me to filter the noise to tweets that provide context for my life and interests. For the record, I've used Twitter to fill job openings at Scripps, get freelance projects and find industry contacts for future opportunities and networking. I've also used Twitter as a means of boasting page views and SEO for entries published on my personal Web site/blog. I've found Twitter to be VERY effective in driving direct traffic to links posted in tweets (again, because of the targeted audience).
   Patrick Beeson
   
   
10. I'd echo Patrick's comment: "Twitter is only as good as the information you put in..." I've seen Twitter used in utterly meaningless and time wasting manners, under the guise of a community information tool. Nobody cares what kind of mocachino you had with lunch or how awesome you are at Rockband, they are just waiting for that once-in-a-blue-moon occasion when you actually post something about your product. Then there are the companies that actually use it well, and in those instances I think it can be a very useful tool. It serves as a clear and concise was way to condense a lot of news articles (possibly fed from a variety of websites) into one page. For those people who just can't get enough information about your product it is a great way to track what's going on. I'm not at all opposed to the personal touch when it comes to relating news on a community level, but when it becomes more about you than it does about your product it really is a waste of time. Example of a well utilized Twitter page below: http://twitter.com/cohnews
    In regards to Joe's comment on my example: I agree that adding a personal touch does make it a more rewarding experience to read. The example I gave was just to illustrate a content/product centered Twitter page, as opposed to the mundane spew that fills many. Thanks for the comment!
    Dan Gray
    
    
11. Pamela Anderson suggests this expert on this topic: Mark Mayhew of TwitterTutor.com, https://twitter.com/MarkMayhew
    Pamela Anderson

For all of the answers to this query, visit LinkedIn.

Understand History or doomed to repeat it?

The Hampton Roads Ad Club recently invited Jason Chambers to speak to our group in Norfolk.

Jason teaches advertising at U. of Illinois. He shared info from his book, Madison Avenue and the Color Line, specifically about black women in advertising through the years.

More importantly, he alerted us to the fact that despite Hampton Roads being the 43rd largest TV market (or 42nd, depending upon which report you read, we represent the 14th largest African-American market.

Marketers take note!

Online Newsroom from the Journalist's perspective

To have a successful online newsroom (which furthers your Communication Goals), it IS all about what the Journalist wants. Above is a graphic depicting who is using Online Newsrooms now (2008 survey by TEKgroup International). Here are the Top Ten survey results from the more than 400 journalists queried:

1. Search-able Archives (number one asset in the last two surveys)
   
2. PR contacts
3. Press Releases
4. Background Info (company history, timeline, name changes, etc.)
   
5. Photographs
6. Press Kit (big increase in use of audio and video files)
   
7. Crisis Communication (have a "hidden" page ready to "publish" when a crisis arises)
   
8. Executive Bios (effective use of audio and video to capture tone as well as text)
   
9. Events (video is very important with events; journalists can "cover" events they can't physically attend)
   
10. Financial Info (as long as its understandable!)
    

Ding, dong, SEO is Dead!

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is DEAD or, at least, as a stand-alone strategy!

Now we use SEM (Search Engine Marketing) which includes the following action-oriented tactics:

• Build links
• Add backlinks
  
• Write articles and distribute
• Write press releases and distribute
• Advertise using Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Employ social networking
• Blog and comment
• Be fresh and dynamic, updating frequently
  
• Create interactive tools and widgets
• Own your own unique keyword
• Add meta tags to your webpages
  
• Learn cutting (and bleeding) edge techniques as new ones arrive on the scene every day

Gone are the early days of the web where a static brochure-like website will work for your brand. "If you build it, they will come" is not a viable strategy for the web today.

National Arts and Humanities Month

October is National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM), our opportunity to recognize and celebrate the positive impact the arts bring to our schools and communities.

Undecided Voter? (second request)

If you're undecided in this year's Presidential campaign, then "What Matters", the local public affairs TV show on WHRO-PBS and hosted by Cathy Lewis, wants you for a special election coverage show in October.

Contact Barbara Hamm Lee, WHRO Chief Community Affairs Officer and Producer of "What Matters", to be part of WHRO's Friday night public affairs line-up. Call Barbara at (757) 889-9437 and leave a message now, if interested.

Word of Mouth Marketing, whatssup?

FYI- generally accepted forms of word of mouth marketing:

Buzz Marketing: use high-profile celebs, entertainment or news to get people to talk about your brand.

Viral Marketing: create entertaining or informative messages designed to be passed along in an exponential fashion via social media or email.

Community Marketing: form or support niche communities with shared interests (such as user groups, fan clubs, message boards and discussion forums); provide tools, content, and information to support the "community".

Grassroots Marketing: organize and motivate volunteers to engage in outreach on a personal level.

Evangelist Marketing: cultivate evangelists, advocates, ambassadors or volunteers and encourage them to take the lead in actively spreading the word or your brand.am

Product Seeding or Seed Marketing: place the right product in the right hands at the right time, providing information or samples to influential individuals; with the right guidance, see "Evangelist Marketing" above.

Influential Marketing: identify key communities and opinion leaders who are likely to talk about products and have the ability to influence the opinions of others.

Cause Marketing: support social causes to earn respect and support from people who feel strongly about the cause which is usually akin or adjacent to your own brand.

Conversation Marketing: spread interesting or fun advertising, emails, catch phrases, entertainment, or promotions to start word of mouth activity.

Online Brand Marketing: create a blog(s) and participate with other bloggers, in the spirit of open, transparent communications to share information of value that the blog community may talk about.

Referral Marketing: create tools that enable others to refer their friends.

Cool Social Marketing and Media Web Tools

I e-met Cha Cha via Twitter and she has a social media blog. Click on the link above for her ever-updating list of cool tools for social networking sites.

Tell her I sent you!

Capitol Steps or Halliburton Steps

The Capitol Steps, who started out as a group of Senate staffers, appeared at Virginia Beach's Sandler Center on Sunday, September 28th. They satirize the crazy business of U.S. politics. And, they're equal opportunity artists of the political lampoon, i.e. they're "bi-partisan butchers"! And hilarious! My face hurt from laughing so much.

We met a few of the Steps prior to the show and laughed as they told us that they just couldn't make this stuff up. What goes on in politics today provides SO much material that they just can't use it all, and they could change their schitck daily!

Some of the best skits dealt with Bushisms, Spoonerisms and the naming opportunities of major corporations, hence the lampoon of their own name into "Halliburton Steps".

See some of their hilarity for yourself on their YouTube Channel HERE.

Round and round we go... where we end up, do you know?

An article in TIME magazine (15 Sep 08) claims that just ten roundabouts in Virginia save 200,000 gallons of gas a year due to no more idling.

Roundabouts calm traffic. Traffic engineers' main reason for using highway roundabouts is more safety at lower cost, compared to traffic light-controlled intersections, overpasses with on- and exit-ramps, and two or four way stop signs. But, gas saving (and cost saving) is a darn good by-product!



Traffic lights waste more fuel and cause more fumes to be produced compared to roundabouts. Insurance studies show that drivers run stop signs and stop lights, and when they do stop, they sometimes obliviously pull out into oncoming traffic. This results in catastrophic collisions.






More interesting reading on the subject:


Billions of gallons of gas (i.e. dollars) could be saved by "Smart Intersections"

Timing Traffic Lights Would Save Billions in Fuel, Emissions and Wasted Time