Jason Dorsey, an award-winning entrepreneur and author of Gen X, Gen Y, on knowing your audience.
The advertiser’s dream audience of 18-32 year olds is a politically incorrect, technology dependent, outcome-driven group of people who require carefully targeted advertising to achieve optimum results.
That was the message from Jason Dorsey when he addressed delegates at Kinetic’s recent Ahead of the Curve Global Conference in San Francisco. Dorsey, an award-winning entrepreneur and self-confessed ‘Gen Y Guy’, has identified a generation of consumers whose lives all operate within a certain, similar pattern.
According to Dorsey (pictured left with Global CEO, Steve Ridley), the standard ‘Gen Y’ member was born between 1977 and 1995 and enjoyed similar upbringing with parents who were themselves ‘Baby Boomers’ (that is people born between 1946 and 1964). They share similar early memories such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Gulf War, and consider September 11 as the defining moment of their youth.
More and more of this group are now graduating from college, university or high school but many have never worked, and their experiences of management have only been gleaned from a text book and classroom, rather than from direct experience.
They have financial freedom – thanks in part to their parents – but no responsibility and as a rule, they may earn $30,000 but spend $50,000.
Despite wanting to be part of online communities, Gen Y-ers do not see themselves as part of a generation, but as a special and unique group who do not recognise diversity and find loyalty an effort, and not a natural instinct. Not only do they value lifestyle and relationships above work, but when in the workplace, they require diverse challenges, examples of expected performance, and immediate feedback - though many would rather be entrepreneurs than in formal employment.
Dorsey went on to advise his audience how best to reach this social group optimum audience but whose attention is the hardest to retain.
He also stressed the need for advertisers to make their first interaction with Gen Y “unforgettable”, engaging with them outside the work environment and on a range of technologies. The mobile phone, internet and computer – though not telephone calls which are deemed invasive - are second nature to Gen Y-ers and as such, brands should implement these tools in their advertising.
It is important to remember, though, that this group also has a short attention span- being loyal to no single medium in the long term.
Gen Y-ers value unique, personalised experiences so a one-off message, sent via social media or community-based technology, will be most effective according to Dorsey. They are the first generation for whom word-of-mouth is non-verbal. Viral advertising is gaining in prominence and social media such as Twitter and Facebook are becoming tools via which the majority of communication within the group takes place.
Despite their reliance on social media, Dorsey went on to say that Out of Home media is best for selling intangibles to Gen Y and for reiterating messages, as this environment is “where they make all of their decisions.”
