Gen X-ers had a little more fun. They could’ve emailed each other over 28.8 or used their pagers to send 1-sentence messages back and forth.

Here’s what Generation Y uses to stay in touch.

To an outsider, it can be a confusing to understand how Gen Y uses those channels just to talk to each other. After all, Boomers just had three channels and they made friends just fine.

To put things in context, here’s what my communication habits are like and how I use the above.

Looking at that chart makes me envy my father’s generation. They didn’t have to worry about drunk texts. Or having personal information all over the internet.

Honourable mentions for Blackberry PINs and Twitter.

This experience also confirmed that yes, Gen Y presents an interesting challenge to the marketing and sales teams of the future. There was a distinct difference in the way my transactions with Gen Y-ers went, as opposed to Gen X and Baby Boomers.

Selling to Boomers vs Gen Y

Here’s how a typical interaction with a Boomer would go, let’s say, for a printer.

Me:: “Hi! Welcome to ABC Electronics. How can I help?”
Boomer: “Hi. I need a printer.”
Me: “Alright, that’s something I can help you with. Let’s take a look at the printer aisle.”
Boomer: “You know what, I don’t know anything about printers. Just recommend me something.”
Me: “Sure, but first, let’s find out what you need from the printer. Do you have a printer now?”

This interaction would continue for a while as I probed for information to make an appropriate recommendation. It would take a lot of energy — I’d constantly be asking questions, gathering feedback and leading the interaction. If at any point there is an impasse between similar printers, I would inevitably get this question:

Boomer: “So which one would you buy?”

Depending on the day — sometimes we had certain goals, wanted to move particular units, or whether I just wanted to test my abilities — I would recommend different things. 99.9% of the printers we had could do everything the customer was looking for, so it didn’t really matter which one I recommended. However, a big part of how much they spent that day was dependent on me.

Let’s compare this to a typical experience with a Gen Y customer.

Me: “Hi! Welcome to ABC Electronics. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Gen Yer: “Hey there. Do you have the Canon Pixma 3000?”
Me: “Let’s check the printer aisle.”
Gen Yer: “Alright. And how much are your USB cables?”

Millennials had already done their homework, making their transactions much faster. In many cases, I couldn’t even engage the Gen Y customers, since they typically just walked in, grabbed the product they were after, then walked out before I could do my spiel.

Gen Y Customers: Smart but Unprofitable

As a salesperson, Boomer customers were great for the department. Since they often relinquished control of the interaction, I could persuade them to purchase my recommendations, as long as they were within a reasonable price. It was much easier to sell them high-margin accessories and services.

Gen Y-ers were also great customers, because they took very little time to serve and I didn’t have to spend half the conversation explaining what a gigabyte was. Generally, they knew their stuff and sometimes corrected me if I had my product info mixed up. They’ve looked at reviews online and know everything they need and what to buy, so it was hard to sell them accessories and services.

Google and Gen Y

Boomers can’t be faulted for their lack of preparedness. They don’t have what I call the “Google Reflex“. Gen Y instinctively looks something up online to get informed, where Boomers, in my experience, are much more comfortable hearing it from a “certified” person. This made them much more susceptible to upsells (which, by the way, aren’t always bad…just expensive) and pitches for accessories (which could be bought elsewhere for cheaper).

During a sale, it’s all about who has the information. Whoever has the information has the control. Whoever has the control wins the transaction.

Antonella Barba from American Idol, Disney’s Vanessa Hudgens and “Hannah Montana” Miley Cyrus. Celebrities designed to be wholesome, talented role models. Celebrities whose reputations were tainted by having sexually explicit material from their past leak to the media.

It’s a sign that the tides of sexual attitudes are changing. Indiscretions are willingly being captured. In fact, some sex scandals are entirely manufactured with the intent of drumming up PR (why, Screech, why?).

Us normal, every day folk may not have our dirty laundry aired on Entertainment Tonight — but we’re choosing to put last weekend’s bar shenanigans and other potentially incriminating pictures on Facebook. It’s the inevitable inflation of sexual message thresholds that occurs in every generation.

The stakes are raised with every generation. Some Boomers grew up to the sight of Elvis’ hips being censored. My kids won’t even blink at a sex tape being released.

Unfortunately, you and I have been gravely misled.

Some researcher, somewhere, decreed that since Gen Y grew up with advertising, they have grown thick-skinned to marketing. This made sense to journalists and media agencies everywhere, and thus began the wave of articles about how Gen Y was some kind of superintelligent consumer. These consumers are apparently like an antibiotic-resistant viral strain. Substitute where needed to make that analogy work.

Exposure does not make you an expert
I moved to Canada from the Philippines when I was ten. One of the first ads I saw on Canadian soil was in Pearson Airport, where a Toronto Maple Leafs player was posing in a “got milk?” poster. Hockey, I would soon find, was everywhere. Someone was always talking about it, every third commercial seemed to relate to it and my street was always home to pickup hockey.

The mere exposure to hockey did not make me hockey-savvy. I knew that whoever had more goals won the game, but I didn’t know anything about the strategy or tactics involved. I knew that Doug Gilmour was one of our best players, but I didn’t know what he did that made him “the best”. All I knew was that my friends liked him, so I also liked him.

Similarly, if someone grows up surrounded by advertising, does that make them advertising-savvy? Do they know the psychological tactics involved, the purpose of brand messages, and all the work that goes into making an ad say “you need to own this product“?

Generation Y is a bunch of marketing suckers
Gen Y’s lifelong exposure to media hasn’t “thickened their skin” to marketing. Lifelong exposure makes them accept advertising as a normal part of their lives. We were introduced to brands so early in life that they’ve contributed to large parts of our childhood. This exposure has taught us that it’s normal to become emotionally attached to brands. Hell, just writing about my childhood reminds me of McDonald’s Playplace and Happy Meals.

As advertising continues to slowly permeate every piece of our lives, kids are implicitly being raised by corporate logos and “brand experiences”. My two-year old nephew can’t even pronounce his own name, but whenever someone mentions “Toys R Us” he loses his mind.

The archetypes and values of this generation are embedded in commercials, slogans and marketing. Young, aspiring golfers don’t look up to Tiger Woods. They look up to Tiger Woods as sponsored by Nike.

It’s no secret that Generation Y doesn’t blink when it comes to downloading music. The story of the day is not that teenagers and twentysomethings are loading their iPods with unpurchased music.

I consider myself a veteran digital native; I remember the internet as it was through a 14.4 modem. But I was astonished at the level of piracy that goes on today: a study concludes that 95% of Gen Y engage in piracy.

In the short-term, the music industry business model is nothing less than doomed. We all point and laugh, ridiculing the executives for their flat-footed ineptitude, but no one actually provides any solutions. Perhaps we’re all still angry at them for overpricing CDs and DVDs, so we smugly smile as the industry implodes. On a side note: Generation Y isn’t buying CDs either.

I encourage you to think about the consequences. At some point, artists will need to be compensated for their work; a concept I’m not sure youth understand when they hop on Limewire and download Miley Cyrus’ latest album.

The challenge for the music industry is more than thinking about how to monetize consumer behaviour. Another challenge lies as they argue for their own relevance; especially in these times where Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails continue to push for the industry’s obsolesence. There’s also a question of making consumers realize that someone has to pay these artists to produce music.

Until someone makes a compelling argument — be it Reznor or the RIAA — brokep and ThePirateBay have Gen Y’s attention.

EAT. You want to devour everything in the universe, as long as it’s greasy and tasty.

I am always surprised by how much untapped potential there is in the after-bar food market. It seems like people are willing to give their firstborn for that perfect pita, the street meat bathed in ketchup or the ever-glorious slice of pizza. Why there is no clear, dominant player in this market is beyond me.

Then again, these hungry zombies are not willing to go very far. They’re liquored up, lazy and hungry. So if you were Ronald McDonald, how might you infiltrate this market?

How about a roving McDonald’s? I think of them as the 20something ice cream truck. Just play “I’m Lovin It” by JT instead of the ice cream song, and drunk people will be moths to a flame. All you’d really have to do is park outside a club or bar and wait for the party to come to you.

Someone from McDonald’s read this! I’m tired of having chinese food!

They’ve done a great job in breaking away from the typical insincere PSA (I’m looking at you, The More You Know). The ‘truth’ ads cut through the clutter and get your attention. I believe this because you know which campaign I’m referring to.

So we’ve got credible, attention-grabbing and a clear call to action. Looks like the ingredients to a home-run campaign…but are Gen Y smokers quitting?

Nope. The campaigns have the complete opposite effect. Smokers are aware of them, but absolutely hate them, making them dig their nails into their stances even deeper. The allure of smoking is rebellion, after all.

Nonsmokers, however, love the ads, saying things like:

Nonsmoker comment:
I think it’s about time someone took responsibility for the deadly addiction that kills so many people.

Smokers, on the other hand, were being put on the defensive. The message being put across was “Why can’t you see smoking is bad for you? Just stop! Are you a moron?”.

Smoker comment:
I can’t turn on the TV without those frickin’ stupid kids being in my face about smoking … they act like they are better people just because they don’t smoke.

Smoker comment:
These are the kind of ads where people try to get in your face about something I choose to do. It’s just annoying and makes me want to smoke more. It is really none of their business if I smoke or not.

Polarizing campaign, no doubt. There was a strong, unified reaction from smokers regarding these anti-smoking ads. They hated them and claimed that it would never change their behavior. On the other hand, we have nonsmokers who love the ad and can’t understand why more smokers aren’t being converted.

So is the campaign a failure?
It would be too hasty to say that the truth campaign is a failure. The MADD campaigns — also using fear-based appeals — are successful because they tell a story of a quick, sudden death (of yourself and others). Smoking is more of a long-term harm, so it’s harder to scare someone straight.

Another measure of success is whether the younger tail of Gen Y is influenced, planting “smoking cigarettes is bad” before they stand in the spotlight of peer pressure. Fortunately, there is some hope:

Smoker comment:
If I had seen messages like those at the time that I started smoking, I might have said, no–no thank you. I was in that situation when my friend offered it to me and I had every opportunity to say no, but when I was young I really didn’t see any example of that in the media against smoking.

Check out the campaign at the truth.

References:
Wolburg, Joyce M. “College students’ responses to antismoking messages: denial, defiance, and other boomerang effects.” Journal of Consumer Affairs 40.2 (Winter 2006): 294(30). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. University of Guelph. 19 May. 2007

Let’s listen to their conversations.

“They used to be great until I heard them on the radio.”
“They were awesome, but they’re getting too big now.”
“I used to like them back in 2004, but they sold out.”

Sound familiar? That is the sound of the person who looks down on you, solely because s/he heard of Band XYZ before you. “Jeez, that song is so old to me!”

I don’t think these people start hating the band because their music radically changes. It’s because once the band achieves mainstream fame, their exclusive clique of heard-of-them-before-everyone-else is destroyed, annihilated and blown to pieces. They lose their early-adopter power, and it hurts them so deeply that the only psychological recourse is to show disdain for the band.

Instead of hanging around the now overcrowded fan club and looking like “just another fan”, they will instead turn their back on the band they once worshipped, looking for the next big thing to be smug about.

“I knew the dog before he came to class.” – Milhouse Van Houten

That’s the message that I get whenever I see Fair Trade products for sale. The guilt-based appeal.

Fair Trade products are pushed at my university, and it seems to me no one but the hippies (sorry liberal arts students, lack of a better word) are buying them. I’ve met a few who were passionate about it and I think they failed to get my point of “it costs more money, I’m a poor student…the math isn’t hard”.

Incentive drives people to act, and more importantly, buy. Looking at it from the basest point of view, if I see two cups of coffee of similar quality, and one is a dollar more expensive than the other, guess which one I’m going to buy?

We’ve seen this when the girl scouts come around and ask you to buy their expensive cookies. This is entirely different because that is a one-off purchase, whereas Fair Trade is asking you to replace your entire purchase behavior reflex and buy more expensive products over cheaper, similar-quality goods. Is tugging at your heartstrings a little really enough to make consumers do that?

At the end of the day, I’m not convinced that consumers are responding to guilt-based appeals. Just because my heart aches doesn’t mean my wallet’s going to open. The starving-children commercials come out in full force at Christmas, and we easily rid ourselves of the induced guilt by simply changing the channel.

Let’s look at it alongside other common types of appeals.

• Guilt-based appeals: The main reason to buy is to get your conscience to shut up. Which is surprisingly easy, as “out of sight, out of mind”. This is why we change the channel or ignore the homeless guy asking for change.
• Fear-based appeals: These hang around a little longer, because they show a larger incentive to you. Think of MADD commercials and germ-killer products. If you don’t buy our product you will die!
• Sentimental appeals: Since we’re all hedonistic animals, this is an easy sell if there’s a direct emotional connection. Buy this Pepsi if you want to feel young again! Drive this Hummer and have people kneel in awe!
• Personal-benefit appeals: The easiest sell. Buy Tide because you want your clothes clean! Buy Robitussin to stop that pesky cough!

To paraphrase from Freakonomics …morality dictates how the world should be, economics dictates how it actually is.

The one thread uniting all sales techniques is the unbelievably powerful “Assume The Sale”. Project the attitude that what you’re peddling is something they want; they will unconsciously take your cue and believe it, regardless of truth.

Believing that everyone wants what you’re offering before you even ask has tremendous effects. It’s everywhere. Here’s a few examples.

• Club flyers – promoters hand out flyers to people walking by. The hand is already outstretched in your direction, so you instinctively take the flyer, whether you actually wanted it or not. You probably chuck it in the next garbage can you see.
  “Hey there! I know you are going to take this flyer.”
• “Do you want a 1 or 2 year warranty?” – I remember buying a cellphone a few years ago, and heard this line. It worked. As the transaction was winding down, I got suckered in, not even realizing neither was an option.
  “I know you are going to buy a warranty.”
• Door to door – ATS is powerfully used in D2D sales. Ring the doorbell, friendly smile when the door opens and wipe your feet on the mat, while making a slight motion to enter the home. There is a very high chance that you will be let in the door.
  “I know you are going to let me in your home.”

The trick here is backward-rationalization. It’s the quirky thing that happens whenever the waiter gives us roast potatoes when we asked for a salad — and we don’t send it back. The thought is

Well, I asked for salad, but I guess potatoes are okay…alright fine, I’ll just stick with the potatoes. Potatoes aren’t so bad.

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