The Final Blog: A Truly Insightful Semester

All of our lectures this semester have been extremely insightful and valuable. That being said, I believe that I especially learned a lot about the topic of segmentation from lecture. I had always approached segmentation through the more traditional approached discussed during lecture. However, I had never segmented using the more untraditional approach of segmenting on the basis of needs. In fact, I always thought that the point of segmenting was to then research the market segment identified to uncover their unmet needs. I was shocked to find out how segmenting groups on the basis of needs before the actual research began could provide such invaluable insights. For example, for our group project covering the Phase 1 Segmentation update, my group worked on segmenting 15-17 year old boys on the basis of what we saw as being potential needs experienced by this group, both functional and emotional. One of the functional needs that we segmented our group on was the need for entertainment, and to our great surprise, this segmenting aspect ended up becoming a huge part of our overall project. By addressing this as a part of our segmentation right up front, we were prepared to question the boys we interviewed later in the semester about their entertainment needs in the bathroom. And to our amusement, every single boy that we interviewed expressed a need for entertainment in the bathroom. In fact, they just about begged for it. Had we not addressed this untraditional way of segmenting, we may not have been able to lead the boys down this path that later led to the creation of our final product.

The second topic that really had an impact of me from this semester was from the creativity and innovation lecture. I gained two very important insights from this lecture, one about being creative in groups and one about myself. The first insight from this topic came from the exercise at the beginning in which each team was given instructions for creating captions for a cartoon. Previous to this exercise, my group had hit a bit of a road block. I think that we were just having difficulty in escaping our comfort zone and not being afraid to truly think outside of the box. However, after working on this exercise together, we came up with our final product almost instantly. I think that it was because this exercise forced us to be creative and gave us an opportunity to throw out all of our ideas (even the silliest) under the pretence that we were contributing and that was what was important. This then allowed for us to get even more comfortable with each other as group members and to really open up. It taught me that creativity is often just the result of people trusting themselves enough to take things from a new perspective. Also, you have to be comfortable enough to run each of your ideas by your team members otherwise your team might suffer by not being able to implement or build on your ideas. Secondly, I learned something very interesting about me as an innovator. I had never realized that innovators could be described as either conceptualists or experimentalists. However, during the lecture it became clear to me that I am more of a conceptualist. This also helped me during the innovative stages of designing our product. I knew from lecture that as a conceptualist I needed to understand all of the underlying ideas and aspects of our product before I would be truly ready to construct it. This allowed me a framework for designing and thinking about our product. It was important to me to know that I could not expect myself to jump into building something without having all of the details worked out, and I think that it helped me contribute a lot towards the final product.

Overall, I had a really enjoyable project experience. This was one of the more interesting projects that has been assigned to me in college, and I really feel like I learned a lot from the whole experience. For the most part, my team was incredible. There were four of us (myself included). Unfortunately, we did have one member that literally contributed about 1% towards our entire project. That one person’s lack of commitment towards this assignment put a severe strain on the other three of us. Consequently, we often found ourselves struggling and having to do a lot more work than would have been necessary had that one other group member decided to contribute like they were supposed to. However, aside from that one individual, my other two team members were incredible. They worked so hard and were extremely creative. It would not have been possible for us to have come up with as complex of a product as we did had it not been for such creativity. We all got along really well, and our brain storming sessions were always extremely efficient. It was truly an honor to work with two such talented students, and it is individuals like them that make me so proud of our school. They are definitely a huge part of why I enjoyed this project so much and felt that I learned a lot, especially about how to push away from my comfort zone. Additionally, working with Professor Walls has been an incredible experience. I have never met someone so passionate about marketing. He posseses an incredible amount of knowledge not found in the typical textbook. It was his unique perspective and insights that allowed us to be able to more easily think outside of the box. Professor Walls helped us out tremendously on our project, especially on group work days. He was always willing to lead us in the right direction while encouraging us to really push our own boundaries. Also, I loved that the project was broken up into various “updates.” This allowed us to evolve with our project learnings and findings throughout the semester. I truly do believe that by working on each piece separately from all of the others it allowed us to gain a better grasp on whatever aspect of the project we were working on at that time.

Thanks Professor Walls and Donghua. It has been a really great semester, and this class has been so interesting and helpful. Have a great summer!

Generation G-Keeping Companies on their Toes

For my blog evaluation, I chose to focus on a blog from trendwatching.com. The blog I focused on is entitle “Generation G.” I chose this particular blog because it covers one of my personal favorite topics: social responsibility in corporations and corporations giving back to their employees and consumers as well. In fact, the “G” of the title “Generation G” is meant to stand for “generosity.” I have always been a huge sucker for products that donate “x” % of the profits to “y” charity, even if I have to pay as much as a 10-20% mark-up. For example, almost every time I visit a Gap store I find myself purchasing yet another Product Red T-shirt. It just seems wrong to buy anything else in the store when the Product Red merchandise helps address the global issue of AIDS. Also, I recently accepted an internship offer for the summer with General Mills. Part of the reason that I wanted to work for General Mills is that they are well-known for treating their employees with respect and understanding. Employees from the company have already gone out of their way to help address my personal needs, and I cannot even begin to express my gratitude. Then, as a consumer, there is nothing that I enjoy more that when a company shows its gratitude towards me for choosing them in the marketplace. For example, my family and I recently switched from Sprint to T-Mobile as our cell phone service provider. We switched simply because Sprint has terrible customer service and T-Mobile provides outstanding help to customers, even with it is not an emergency. All of the above are opportunities for me to give something while also getting something in return, and according to this blog, we should expect to see a wealth of consumers like me emerge. The reasons why such an emergence is anticipated are three-fold:

1. Recession and Consumer Disgust-During these tough economic times consumers become even more discussed with large, money hungry corporations whose sole purpose is to increase share prices and CEO bonuses. Instead, consumers would rather see corporations who are making conscious efforts to give back to the community because more people are struggling now than ever.

2. Longing for Institutions that Care-According to this blog, “Challenging times see people craving care, empathy, sympathy and generosity.” And we have seen this sort of behavior time and time again, after the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks and Katrina, and we’re seeing it again now during this recession. When struggle becomes a reality for the majority of society, we desire nothing more than an opportunity to support each other and to be supported ourselves. This allows us to build a stronger community with more enduring institutions, and these institutions in turn will no doubt affect the marketplace.

3. For Individuals, Giving is Already the New Taking, and Sharing is the New Giving-We must be cautious in attributing this new Generation G as being solely the result of this recession. While this recession is definitely contributing towards this more “generous” mentality, we must be cautious in recognizing that this is a generation that has been building up slowly for many years. It’s a collection of individuals who feel empowered through giving and who genuinely want to make a difference. They are compassionate and passionate, and they want the opportunity to change the world, no matter how small their means may be.

So why is all of this relevant to companies? The reality is that companies will need to imitate the values and beliefs of consumers if they want to tap into this “Generation G” market. Those companies at the forefront of reaching out to these generous individuals will be sure to be rewarded by these consumers in turn becoming extremely loyal customers. Companies need to strive to build up emotionally driven brands, backed by a reputation for contributing to the greater good of society. And these companies will need to be socially responsible and giving in numerous ways. They will need to focus on giving back to their employees, consumers, charities, the environment, etc. It is not enough to simply focus on one area; rather, today’s “Generation G” consumers are all about the package.

With all that being said, it becomes important to determine just how companies can successfully target these more generous consumers. Luckily, this blog has already identified and outline 8 ways for corporations to join Generation G. By joining this generation, companies will become absorbed into the practices, values and lifestyles of these generosity-focused consumers and will become better integrated into this culture. Consequently, companies that explore how to join this generation will find themselves better able to target this newly emerging market. For my purposes today I will only explore 3 of the 8 ways for corporations to join Generation G.

1. Co-Donate: The basic idea behind this program is that companies work with their customers to co-decide on ideas and programs and even make co-donations meant to benefit society. For example, Whole Foods has a program whereby customers bring in old plastic bags in return for wooden coin that can then be used to select the individual’s charity of choice for which Whole Food’s will then donate money to. Here, the customer and retailer co-donate. The customer donates their old plastic bags, and Whole Foods donates money to the charity of their choice. The retailer and customer also co-decide. Whole Foods provides the charities among which the customer can choose from, and the customer then chooses among which among those charities they would like Whole Foods to contribute to on their behalf.

2. Eco-Generosity: In today’s world, one of the hottest topics without a doubt is global warming. Whether you believe that global warming is a reality or not, most of us can agree that we need to find ways to better take care of our planet. This new trend towards becoming more “green” and eco-friendly has led many companies to start focusing on sustainability in the products that they sell and the projects that they partake in. For example, Toyota’s Prius is currently one of the hottest selling cars because it’s every eco-conscious consumers dream. It uses less fossil fuels and it’s extremely affordable. Thus, Toyota has essentially dominated a large part of the auto market by proving that they too care about the environment and are willing to focus their efforts on developing cars that allow consumers to reduce their carbon footprint. Another recent trend among companies trying to go green is the selling of recyclable grocery bags. Take HEB for example. I recently bought about 8 recycable bags from and HEB grocery store because the store actually had custom bags made for The University of Texas. I thought that it was an extremely cool initiative on the part of HEB to be tailoring bags towards consumer’s interests while also working to promote a good cause. And so, once again, I just could not resist making a socially responsible purchase (or rather 8 of them).

3. Free Stuff: Companies have recently began giving away more and more free items to customers. As a result of decreased production and promotional costs, companies can now actually afford to have free giveaways. And consumers love this. It’s speaks volumes when a company is willing to put aside the opportunity to make money and increase shareholder wealth just so that consumers can have something for free. Companies willing to have giveaways will be able to build a deeper relationship with their consumers of trust and faithfulness. In the long run, companies willing to give away some goods for free will undoubtedly attract more consumer traffic and create a more loyal customer base. For example, Denny’s recently gave away free breakfast to anyone who visited a Denny’s during specified hours. The free breakfast proved to be a huge success. Denny’s everywhere were packed, and although I didn’t get to go personally, I know about two dozen UT students that did. Everyone that did couldn’t stop talking about how great the food was and how considerate it was of Denny’s to be willing to give out free food to patrons. Denny’s benefited because it received a lot of publicity and in-store traffic, and consumers benefited by saving some money will still enjoying something of real value.

All in all, I agree with the vast majority of view points, advice and opinions expressed in this blog. It would be absurd for companies to turn their noses up at “Generation G” consumers since I have no doubt that this type of customer is sure to continue to multiple. Consumers today have a sense of empowerment not afforded to earlier generations. Our technology and means of mass communication have given us a much more in-depth look at issues from all over the world. This new level of global education has allowed for us as consumers to understand that there are people and causes all over the world that need or help, and who doesn’t get the ultimate “high” off of feeling like you’re helping to save the world? However, there is one major point in which I disagree with the author(s) of this blog. I actually think that as a consequence of the recession, companies will have even more difficulty enacting some of the “8 ways for corporations to join Generation G.” For example, I think that companies will find it harder to convince consumers to co-donate and by eco-friendly products. Co-donating often asks consumers to part with something that they own, and during a recession, less consumers are going to be willing to give up what little resources they now have, especially when the resource being called for is money. Also, eco-friendly products tend to be more costly or require the consumer to purchase something that they otherwise wouldn’t have considered. During these tough economic times, it will certainly be difficult to convince consumers to participate in green initiatives that come at a 20% markup. However, that being said, I also think that companies might actually see some of their efforts aimed at being socially responsible receive even higher levels of respect as a result of tough economic conditions. For example, a company that is willing to give away free merchandise/services/etc. to consumers will gain a ton of respect in the marketplace. Consumers know that the current state of the economy is also greatly affecting the profits of companies, and companies that are willing to demonstrate that they care enough to give back even when they barely have the means to do so will surely win over the hearts of consumers.

Final Paper Outline

I. Introduction
a. Thesis-Women are entering into college at staggering numbers these days. This will allow for the rapid development of an educated women’s market segment because these women will undoubtedly have unmet needs. As such, marketers need to be on top of understanding this segment and what sorts of products and services they will need.
i. More Mrs. Robinson, Please
ii. Women with Wheels
iii. We Need More Marie Curies
iv. To Be Decided
II. Body
a. More Mrs. Robinson, Please-As more women receive their degrees and earn higher salaries, they will have more control over their own lives and finances. This will allow them the opportunity to attain an independence that other generations of women have struggled to embrace. All of this will lead to a rise in women who date younger men, now coined by the term “Cougar.”

i. This is an extremely fast-growing and unique segment

1. In 1997, fewer than 500,000 women were involved with a man at least ten years younger than them. However, by 2003, 3 million women were dating a man at least six years younger than them (Penn, 7).

2. Perhaps the greatest explanation relates back to the current trend of women attaining higher levels of education at phenomenal pace. In fact, women are now entering into college at greater rates than men. While back in the 60’s very few women were independent and wealthy enough to have more control over whom they dated, today’s women have the money and the power to be choosy. And they’re choosing to go younger.

ii. It’s now perfectly clear that this trend is rapidly rising within our society, and marketers would be smart to start targeting this group immediately. These women and their “boy-toys” are going to need products and services, and they’re going to need them fast.

1. Take the entertainment industry for example. Movies and television shows have been taping into this segment for quite some time and have found it to be an extremely successful pursuit. However, literature has been much slower to catch on. Where are the fictional stories of a 40-something heroine, successful and confident, wooing a 20-something hunk?

2. Additionally, dating advice books are desperately needed for Cougars and their boyfriends. Few of these books exist today, and the market potential for such books is huge. It is clear that the dynamics within this sort of relationship are quite different from the dynamics of the usual relationship, but just how different are they?

3. Matchmaking services should look towards men and women seeking this type of relationship. Television’s Bravo has had a lot of success with its hit reality TV show, “Millionaire Matchmaker.” Now how about a “Cougar Matchmaker?”

4. According to Valerie Gibson, a sex columnist for the Toronto Sun, “A woman’s sexual peak is more aligned with that of the younger man” (Penn, 8). Victoria’s Secret has enjoyed great success with their “Pink” line targeted towards young and flirty girls. As such, they have demonstrated the power of targeting intimates at a specific segment with specific needs. However, this brings one to wonder then where Victoria’s Secret’s line of Cougar designed lingerie is hiding out at?

b. Women with Wheels- The end of 2008 marked the end of an era for automakers. General Motors found themselves kneeling before the government, begging for a bailout. And they weren’t the only ones. While the solution may seem far out of reach, is it possible that the American car industry is totally in control of its fate? Perhaps the problem comes from the underlying fact that the American car industry is currently doing a superb job of isolating its largest segment of buyers: women.

i. The fact is that the majority of car buyers today are women, and with women obtaining higher levels of education, the number of women buying cars is only expected to increase.

1. How is it then that the U.S. car industry has managed to miss the mark when it comes to women?

a. It begins with what American car makers’ current emphasis these days seem to be on: speed. Sure, men tend to love speed and adrenaline, but the average woman prefers safety and reliability (Penn, 266). In fact, the differences in women’s and men’s tastes in cars is so extreme than when asked to pick their top five car brands, none of the brands identified by women matched those identified by men (Penn, 267).

b. There have been a couple of efforts to target women exclusively, and they have been well-received by women consumers. For example, in 2004 Volkswagen created the first car designed exclusively by women for women. The car focused on features that women deemed to be important, including low maintenance and high reliability. The concept car also included a program that would send a message to a service center when the car was due for inspection (Penn, 266).

2. Outside of car design, there are many other areas that car makers can redesign to cater more to a woman’s taste.

a. Car sellers should also reevaluate the layout of their dealerships. Clutter and dirtiness do not sit well with women. They would prefer a showroom not overstuffed with models, but one with a little more room. A nice sitting area with complementary beverages is a much. Also, privacy is highly valued, and dealerships that don’t allow women to work with car salesman in a secluded office will find themselves struggling to reach this segment.
b. The American car industry also needs to seriously reconsider the current nature of its car commercials. Car commercials today tend to focus on off-roading, speed and agility. However, women want to see a commercial with women handling cars, and not necessarily speeding away at 100 mph. They want to see women with families having a picnic. For single women, they would probably prefer a commercial in which a woman is shown on a road trip with her best friends, completely comfortable in the safety and reliability of her car.

iii. We Need More Marie Curies- One area that the U.S. is especially receiving a lot of scrutiny in education is the lack of emphasis put on pursing math and the sciences. In fact, degrees obtained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM degrees) have fallen drastically in the U.S. Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that the government, educational institutions, service providers and product developers have failed to adequately market math and the sciences to the vast majority of current college enrollees: women.

1. Women now outnumber men 57 to 43 percent in terms of college enrollment, and yet women are still entering into math and science related fields at disparaging rates (Penn, 5).

a. According to experts, a lot of the problem arises from gender differences in the ways that girls and boys are brought up. One needs only to look at the various toys marketed to young girls and boys to notice a serious difference in the types of future occupations encouraged at very young ages.

b. These differences among childrearing of boys and girls is then only further influenced by differences in educational practices. Whether it is subtle or not, something is clearly going wrong from the cradle to the schoolroom for young girls. In fact, young girls and women have been found to have much lower levels of confidence in terms of their mathematical capabilities than their male counterparts, and most experts would argue that natural ability between the genders has nothing to do with it (Encouraging Girls in Math and Science).

2. It has become imperative for the government and educational institutions to begin to think like marketers. Also, product manufacturers and service providers will need to contribute to the targeting of women for math and science related programs and products. These “marketers” then need to learn to look at young girls as their potential “customers.”

a. One area that the government could especially look towards encouraging women to participate in is the aerospace field. The government should work on creating summer camps at The Kennedy Space Center and NASA Space Center for young girls from around the nation to attend and learn what a job in aerospace could be like.

b. More private magnet high schools are needed that focus specifically on math and science and cater exclusively to a female student body. For some young women, such a school could help them by allowing their separation from their male counterparts so that they can better develop confidence in their math and science competencies.

c. What we need now is for the service sector to look to the entertainment industry to create shows and movies about math and science that have women at the forefront. CSI, House and Numb3rs all feature men as the primary genius protagonists, but we also need women that young girls can identify with. We need programs with a brilliant female doctor, not primarily portrayed as a sexual symbol but as a brilliant physician.

d. Also, products are needed. Just about every Barbie imaginable has been created, but what about chemist Barbie?

iv. I’m honestly not sure what I’m going to be writing for this section or if I will even include another section at all. I have tossed around the ideas of a section on parenting, changing technology and home buying, but I haven’t settled on a favorite just yet. More importantly, I have written all of my paper except for my introduction and conclusion, and as it stands now it is already 12 pages. As such, I’m not sure if I will have the room to thoroughly explore another section. I will just have to see once I have finished editing what I have now and writing my introduction and conclusion.

III. Conclusion

a. Educated women are going to radically change the marketplace. They have unique needs that are still unmet. Ignoring this segment in the future will essentially end up being economic suicide as they will soon have the finances and independence to rule a large part of the segment. As such, marketers would be smart to begin targeting these women early on so that they can have educated women as part of their market following.

b. What I have learned from this study.

i. I have learned that I should be proud of my own accomplishments as an educated woman. I am going to have a lot of financial power, and I need to start being responsible with my purchases and identifying my needs.

ii. I have learned that this market can drastically differ in terms of their wants and desires from their male counterparts.

iii. These women are going to change and reshape the way we carry out almost every aspect of our lives. They are going to have a huge say in politics, education, relationships, consumer purchases, and just about every other area you can think of.

c. Application to customer insights-this is applicable to customer insights because by being insightful and truly learning to think like these women, a whole new market with new potential emerges. This new market will allow those marketers and companies at the forefront to achieve huge economic gains and new levels of respect.

d. Concerns-I’m having difficulty finding trade journal articles to use, but I know that we have talked about this so I will be coming to you soon for help. Also, I was concerned that my section “We Need More Marie Curies” wouldn’t be understood, but we talked about this in your office hours, and you seemed to really like it so I think that’s fine.

Emotionally Intriguing=The Challenge of Creating Something Bigger

Personally, there is little more in life that I enjoy more than a truly good commercial or a brand full of spirit beyond its clearly tangible benefits. Yes, I am a commercial nerd. While most of my peers are desperate to have DVRs that allow them to rewind through commercials, I am constantly on the search for the world’s most intriguing and successful commercials. Particularly, my personal favorite commercials tend to be those aimed at targeting the more emotional side of consumers. Over the years, this has led me to wonder: what exactly works in emotional advertising and what is lost on most consumers? To get some answers, I referred back to the film “The Persuaders” and studied the segment on “Emotional Branding.” I also looked into to a recent study surrounding this issue and informally surveyed some people on my own.

The film “The Persuaders” documented advertising’s move into the emotional segment. By the 90’s, consumers had pretty much decided that all products were fairly equivalent, meaning that each and every paper towel will clean up spills, each laundry will get your clothes relatively clean, etc. As such, brand managers and marketers became desperate to find a way to truly set themselves apart from all other companies trying to win over consumers. In an effort to “go against the tide” so to speak, companies began digging down in an effort to create a deeper relationship with consumers through emotionally positioning their brand. Such emotional positioning required emotional commercials, the very topic of my intrigue. As some companies began testing the “emotional waters” and found some initial success, more and more companies jumped on board until emotional advertising and branding where the norm. However, where as emotional branding and advertising has worked miracles for brands like Hallmark and Coca-Cola, the vast majority of brand attempting to reach consumers’ emotional sides have failed miserably. This leads us to wonder why certain brands experience so much success while others just cannot seem to tap into this part of the market. This disparity among the successes realized by various brands through emotional advertising experts has led many to be skeptical as to whether such advertising and positioning truly works. And what is the true essence of a successful emotional promotional campaign?

Perhaps Kevin Roberts, advertising expert and author of “Lovemarks” can provide at least some of the answers. Roberts has full faith in the concept of emotional advertising and positioning. He fully believes that companies can realize huge gains if they successfully implement emotional branding by ensuring that they “create loyalty beyond reason and infused with sensuality and mystery.” As an example of a brand that has done an excellent job of creating this emotional element in their positioning and promotions, Roberts pointed to one of my favorite all time commercials about General Mills’ cereal Cheerios. I couldn’t find a link to the commercial itself, but basically its clearly Christmas time and the commercial features a grandmother talking to her very young grandson. The grandson has Cheerios spread across the tray on his highchair, and his Grandma uses those Cheerios to map out where all of his family members are while the grandson vainly attempts to eat the Cheerios from her. In the end, she tells her grandson that no matter we’re they all are, “we’ll always be together for Christmas.” This is arguably one of the most successful commercials of all time, and it has become a staple in American culture. Roberts argues that this campaign works because an image of mystery surrounding Cheerios was created. However, I beg to differ. So many emotionally geared commercials and campaigns fail, causing me to think that there is something more important than just creating “mystery.” In fact, I think it’s quite the opposite. I think that what’s important is expressing what exactly is being sold, but in a manner that allows the consumer to connect with what is being sold on a higher level. The Cheerios commercial touches our hearts in its references to the importance of family and being together on the holidays. However, more importantly the commercial also focuses specifically on the cereal itself and the cereal is an intricate part of the emotional expression. This allows the consumer to be able to easily associate the emotions triggered while watching the commercial with Cheerios itself. To further understand my personal opinion, I would suggest referencing Liberty Mutual’s current commercial campaign. An example can be found by visiting the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMwoexR1evo. I love the idea behind these commercials, but I think that the execution is, at best, poor. While the commercial time and time again leaves the consumer with “warm fuzzies,” it does a terrible job of letting the consumer know early on what this commercial is supposed to be selling. In fact, unless you are a commercial junkie like myself, chances are you have seen this commercial time and time again but cannot name who the company is behind the advertisement. I cannot even begin to estimate the number of times that I have described these commercials to friends and family members, only to hear them say, “I love those commercials. What are they for again?” I maintain that the fundamental difference between Liberty Mutual’s emotionally driven commercials and General Mills’ Cheerios is that the Cheerios commercial ensures that consumers know up front what the focus of the commercial is. It is clear that the Grandmother and her Grandson are sharing a priceless moment over a tray of Cheerios, and that those Cheerios are an essential element in their conversation. However, Liberty Mutual’s commercials fail to introduce what the commercial is supposed to be about until the last couple of seconds. By that time, consumers find themselves scratching their heads wondering what this commercial is really supposed to be about. Also, because the Liberty Mutual’s brand and services are not incorporated into the commercial itself from the beginning, consumers later find themselves at a loss as to who sponsored those “warming” commercials.

Lastly, I would briefly like to discuss an interesting article that I recently read that relates to this topic. The article is entitled “Emotional, not factual, ads win skeptic consumers, study shows” and can be found at the following link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/29174.php. This article suggests that emotional marketers may have found their perfect audience: skeptics. This could be a result of skeptics’ overexposure to informational ads that have only served to disappoint them over time. It is these very skeptics that have been every advertiser’s worst nightmare for years. They distrust advertisements and never give them the time of day. Consequently, they can be an extremely difficult market to reach. However, these skeptics seem to be more trusting of emotionally appealing advertisements. With Generation Y’s well-established skeptic consumers having more and more purchasing power daily, it is extremely important that marketers and advertisers learn how to effectively carry out an emotional advertising campaigns and positioning. It will be necessary to reach this market. However, if not executed properly, it will still undoubtedly fail. As such, companies that can learn how to make emotional advertisements work for them like General Mills has will realize huge gains, especially as more and more skeptic consumers enter the marketplace.

"When You're Downtown..."

“The Persuaders” was an extremely intriguing film covering many important aspects addressed by marketers on a day to day basis. For example, in a world now overwhelmed with advertisements, how does any one company manage to break through? Also, do consumers make purchase decisions? The answers to such questions are pivotal to any company trying to survive in today’s crazed business environment. As such, marketers need to come up with specific means of gathering important marketing research data to figure out how to more effectively market to consumers. “The Persuaders” explored several of today’s marketing approaches, including the infamous Dr. Rapaille’s controversial method.

Dr. Rapaille’s believes that consumers purchase decisions are driven by natural instinct buried in our deep unconscious. For example, Dr. Rapaille questioned why anyone living in Manhattan would ever think that a Hummer intended for off-roading would be an appropriate choice of vehicle. He maintains that anyone thinking logically would never purchase a Hummer if they were living in a city such as Manhattan, and therefore, there have to be underlying factors affecting our purchase decisions. It is these underlying natural instincts and impulses that drive us to act a certain way that are the focus of Dr. Rapaille’s work. In order to identify these natural instincts, Dr. Rapaille performs a three phase experiment in which he seeks to understand our true beliefs and natural drivers. Essentially, his process is a psychic journey in which he seeks to move past participants’ more conscious emotions and into their primal cores. It is here that the doctor believes we actually make our purchasing decisions.

In the first stage, the doctor seeks to understand the participants by reaching out to their cortex. Here, he is giving participants a chance to demonstrate how smart they are and to get comfortable within the setting. For example, in the film Dr. Rapaille was trying to uncover what the true drivers of “luxury” are for consumers. As such, in the first stage he would ask participants questions like what words are used whenever someone tries to sell “luxury” to them. Then, in the second stage the doctor seeks to reach into participants’ emotions. He does this by asking participants to tell intriguing stories. For example, in the film Dr. Rapaille asked participants to tell him a story as if they are a 5-year-old from another planet. After this phase of the experiment, participants start to become confused, and the doctor likes it that way. It allows him to proceed on to the third phase of the study in which Dr. Rapaille has participants lay on the floor, relax, and go back to the mindset they have upon first waking up in the morning. Dr. Rapaille claims that respondents can then remember things they had completely forgotten about, and he uses this to help him identify our primal urges, or what he calls “reptilian hot buttons.” Dr. Rapaille then says that he can use the “reptilian hot buttons” to develop the “code” for what is being studied. This “code” is the result of these primal urges, and it is what drives us to act as we do. For example, the “reptilian hot button” uncovered by Dr. Rapaille when studying cheese in America versus France allowed the doctor to assist a French cheese company break into the American market. According to the doctor, the “reptilian hot buttons” led to a “code” of “dead” for cheese in America, but in France, the “code” for cheese is “alive.” As such, cheese in America has to be marketed and sold very differently than it is in France. For example, Dr. Rapaille says that his uncovering of the “reptilian hot buttons” for cheese in America brought upon the necessity of storing cheese in plastic bags and then refrigerating that cheese. According to the doctor, the plastic bags represent body bags and the refrigerator represents a morgue, thus correctly matching the “code” of “dead” for cheese in America.

Personally, I think that Dr. Rapaille is doing an excellent job of ripping of large corporations. He analysis of cheese and comparisons of plastic bags as the “body bags” and refrigerators as morgues was enough to tip me off that he is running a huge scam. Additionally, I have never been one for the Freud school of thought regarding urges from the subconscious. I don’t think that what attracts me to cheese versus another is whether that cheese appears “dead” to me, and I am more than happy to purchases cheeses not refrigerated and overly packaged. In fact, I prefer it. Also, Dr. Rapaille claims that by the end of the third phase, participants are able to remember things for 30 years back that they have long since forgotten. I think that participants “remember” things because they feel pressured to, much in the same way that Freud absurdly convinced so many of his patients that they had been sexually assaulted. I believe that there certainly are underlying factors that influence our purchase decisions, but I think that a lot of it has to be examined on a more personal level. We all have our own perceptions of everything we come across. This is how we define our world. It’s also how we define what products and services are important to us. In my opinion, to truly understand what drives us, you have to begin by respecting that people are individuals, and our decisions are far too complex to be summed up by a “reptilian hot button” or simple “code” word.

“The Persuaders” also spent a good time covering a then-newly created airline called “Song.” Song Airlines was headed up by parent company Delta, but the creators and marketers of Song decided that they wanted to create something vastly different from the feel of Delta for Song. After conducting focus groups and evaluating its marketing research, the creators of Song decided that a very important segment was being overlooked in the airline industry: women. Now in theory, I think that Song had a fairly good idea; however, once put into place, Song Airlines essentially destroyed itself. To begin with, the idea of creating an airline targeted at women is intriguing, but I think that perhaps it was created too early. Women are becoming more educated and more independent. Their new levels of education and independency combine to give them the opportunity to spend more money and spend more solely on themselves. As such, an airline catered to women is in theory a good idea, but I think that it’s still a bit too early to make a move for this segment. Also, although Song might have been on to something in targeting women, Song was definitely targeting the wrong type of woman. The woman identified as Song’s target customer, or “Carrie,” sounds like she would be traveling almost exclusively with her family. She doesn’t sound like the kind of person who would be making frequent business trips and thus demanding services catered towards her specifically. In fact, Song defined “Carrie” as a married mother, and as such, she will need an airline that also caters to her husband’s and children’s needs. Additionally, even if they would have gotten it right by targeting the career-driven, independent woman, they would have had trouble finding a consistently loyal customer base. Airlines make a lot of revenue by striking deals with companies to provide their travel accommodations. However, such a deal could be very difficult for an airline like Song because companies would certainly not want to encourage, or even force, their male employees to use an airline designed specifically for women. And even if Song targeted predominantly female professions and companies, there will always be male employees who will need travel assistance as well.

Aside from the target group the airline went after, the entire marketing campaign seemed to be a complete and total disaster. Worst of all were the terrible TV advertisements. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Andy Spade’s purse designs as much as the next woman. However, Andy is an expert when it comes to selling simple, classic purses and not airlines. His advertising idea to downplay Song’s features and instead search for the “soul” was awful. After all, a persistent theme in “The Persuaders” was that we as consumers are swarmed more than ever with a whole variety of advertisements. Add in the fact that we’re busier than ever and you have a bunch of consumers that just want advertisers to cut to the chase. The reality is that consumers are not going to expend the extra time and effort to research more into advertisements, and so you have to be up front with them. Also, asides from not articulating Song’s benefits, Andy’s advertisements didn’t even articulate what Song actually was. No one would have a clue from his ads that Song is an airline, and so how could the creators have anticipated anyone to seek out their services? The company even became aware of this a year into operations when it discovered that consumers recognized its advertisements, but had no idea what the advertisements were even supposed to be advertising for. Also, Song went after the wrong venues when it came to advertising for its airlines. The airline was supposedly created for a married mother that sounded like your typical run-of-the-mill housewife, and yet they were advertising at concerts and night clubs. As a marketer the most important part of your job is to assure that your marketing efforts are reaching the right target audience, and this failure to pick the right venue definitely helps explain why Song failed miserably. Additionally, the other vague and abstract marketing efforts were lost on me. For example, the book with the words “Cheer, Cry, Vomit, Bitch and Hope” printed up the spine in an effort to intrigue customers through stories that I suppose were once again aimed at showing the “soul” of Song was outrageous. As a female, I would never even be enticed to read such a book, not to mention the fact that I would never then use it when making my travel decisions. The bottom line is that Song was trying too hard. Its marketers and creators wanted to create something revolutionary, and they thought that they had to be completely revolutionary in all of their marketing efforts as well. However, in the end it was too out-there and just ended up getting lost on consumers.

Experience+Expertise=An Interesting Mix

The chapter from Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink entitled, “Kenna’s Dilemma: The Right-and Wrong-Way to Ask People What They Want” definitely contained some extremely useful marketing material, especially in the interest of customer insights. Malcolm Gladwell once again provided incredible insights into how people and all of the mysteries surrounding how we as consumers make our purchase decisions. And while I found all of his lessons to be highly intriguing, I especially noticed some important marketing implications in the lessons entitled “The Blind Leading the Blind” and “The Gift of Expertise”

In the lesson, “The Blind Leading the Blind,” Malcolm Gladwell discusses why even though consumers seemed to prefer Pepsi’s taste to that of Coke’s after just a couple of sips, Coke has still remained the market leader after all of these years. Initially, these results may shock people, but the fact is that our purchase decisions are determined by more than just one sip. The fact is, our purchase decisions center around the entire experience, not just the actual product itself. We want a product that we associate as being something bigger, and consumers just seem to love the packaging of Coke. For these consumers, it’s about what that cola represents, and how it makes you feel to consumer it. This exact lesson was also demonstrated in a book I read entitled “Chasing Cool.” This experiment also involved a taste test, but among vodkas with very different pricing strategies. The experiment had consumers taste Grey Goose’s vodka and Smirnoff’s vodka, and then consumers were asked which one they preferred. Interestingly enough, consumers preferred Smirnoff’s taste equally as often as they preferred Grey Goose’s. However, Grey Goose vodka is a lot more expensive than Smirnoff and was also the market leader in terms of sales. This experiment initially left marketers baffled. Vodka can only be distilled in one way, making all vodkas virtually equal, and yet the most expensive vodka was eating up most of the market share. It didn’t make any sense, until you took in the experience as a whole. Grey Goose vodka is made in France and shipped in wooden crates. Its bottle features frosted glass, suggesting elegance and luxury. So while although they may taste very similarly, Grey Goose’s creator has worked to create a different sort of experience for vodka drinkers, one of an exquisite and exclusive experience. This validates the idea that it’s not enough just to have a good product. You have to create the whole experience. It’s about going the full 9-yards and not coming up even an inch short. Every marketer would be smart to keep this in mind while designing marketing programs and working to promote products and services. Without the experience, you end up coming up generic.

The second lesson that I found to be very insightful was “The Gift of Expertise.” This lesson talked about how we have to be careful not just to rely on how consumers react to a new product or service. The reason is that consumer often cannot articulate why they feel a certain way. As such, their “feelings” can be of limited usefulness to them if we are not careful. However, experts can easily identify their reactions to a new offering and can easily articulate why they feel the way that they do. This is why Kenna’s music was such a hit with industry experts while consumers found it unappealing in the least. Occasionally then, it becomes necessary that experts embrace their expertise and ignore the research. For instance, the movie Titianic was expected to be one of the biggest flops of all time. In fact, it was estimated that by the time the cast and crew were paid that the film would actually take on a loss. However, James Cameron knew that his film was brilliant. His expertise was enough to encourage him to take a chance, and as a result, he released one of the top grossing films of all time. This is why we have to be careful to not fully rely on marketing research results in deciding what will be big. Sometimes in taking a chance and trusting our expertise we really manage to strike it bit. However, by the same token this sort of groomed insightfulness may also lead experts to become too enthusiastic about offerings and forget to think like a consumer. For example, when Apple released the first ever PDA, it flopped big time. Industry experts were shocked because to them this was an incredible technological offering. However, what they were forgetting is that consumers are often hasty to take on a new offering, especially when that new offering is radically different and will require them to acquire new skills. As such, there became a discrepancy between the values experts placed on such an offering and the perceived value consumers associated with that same offering. This necessitates a certain degree of marketing research to gain insights. However, we have to be careful to really evaluate that research and to work harder to help consumers articulate their reactions in a more meaningful way.

While Malcolm Gladwell may not have directly intended for this chapter to relate so eloquently to marketing, he definitely did manage to incorporate a lot of deep insights into marketing’s most important aspect: people. Without a thorough knowledge of consumers and how they really think, feel and act, we cannot possibly expect to be able to successfully market anything from chewing gum to brand new high-tech electronics. It’s important to have insights enough to understand that often as consumers we cannot articulate why we feel the way that we do and that sometimes rapid change scares us. This necessitates us sometimes taking “baby steps” with consumers, especially when introducing rapidly different products and services. This also creates the necessity for further research into way consumers behave in the manner that they do and to always keep in mind that for consumers it is all about the EXPERIENCE. However, it is additionally important to remember that as consumers we are the driving forces for new products, ideas and industries. As such, it becomes increasingly important to sometimes be willing to take a chance, just like CBS did with The Mary Tyler Moore Show because it might just be that we have hit at a time when, as Bob Dylan would say, “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” and we don’t want to miss our shot.

Educated Women: A Marketing Force Not to be Reckoned With

For my research paper, I would like to thoroughly explore a segment that is growing at an unthinkable pace: the market of educated women. Over the last few decades when have begun to pursue higher levels of educational attainment at unprecedented rates, and this trend is expected only to continue to rise at an increasing rate. As such, there is a huge opportunity and market out there in need of goods and services tailored to their unique needs. Those marketers that tap into this segment first will reap in huge rewards, but those that isolate or fail to recognize this segment will find themselves struggling. I really want to research this segment because I’m actually approaching membership into this segment as I will be receiving my college degree next May. I think that as a member of this segment, I should be able to have an advantage in targeting this segment and uncovering some truly interesting insights.

I would like to approach this report by splitting it up into specific segments, addressing how women are changing these areas and then providing recommendations for organizations that could potentially profit from these changes. For examples, I have so far that I want to focus on the dating/relationships, parenting, large ticket-item consumer (i.e. the purchasing of homes and cars), and entertainment catered specifically to the new-age strong, independent, and educated woman.

One of the articles that has inspired me to pursue this topic is actually a chapter entitled “Car-Buying Soccer Moms” from the book Microtrends by Mark J. Penn. This chapter reveals some truly insightful information regarding car buyers, including the shocking statistic that women are actually the largest segment of car buyers. And, with more and more women putting off or abstaining from marriage altogether, this segment is only expected to increase. However, the car industry has been slow to realize this fact, and it is apparent in nearly every car commercial out there. We’re constantly faced with men billowing down rocky mountains and rugged terrain in massive trucks with tires designed to crush anything smaller than 10 feet. It’s a testosterone fest, but unfortunately it’s completely alienating the largest segment of car buyers and their vastly differing car needs. Women today care more about reliability than speed. We don’t want something that’s going to require a lot of repairs, and we want to ensure that it will safely get us from Point A to Point B. Women also have different preferences in car brands then men do, and we are much more likely to be interested in a Hybrid car than a high-tech sports car. Thus far, only Volvo has really seemed to “jump the gun” on this one. In 2004, they released a concept car designed completely by women and for women, with a campaign focused on the unique car needs most women have. For instance, the car was set up so that there were very little maintenance concerns for women, including the absence of a hood and an automated messenger designed to let the dealer know when it needed to be inspected. These findings are huge, and if car companies could learn to focus on designs similar to this one, they may just find their days of pleading for governmental funding would be over.

"Metro" or "Retro"? How About Neither.

Last Saturday a couple of my friends and I decided that we would bravely venture into the heavily “estrogenated” world that we are supposedly a part of by going to see the newest chick-flick, “He’s Just Not that Into You.” Now admittedly, I got a huge kick out of it and found the film to actually provide some pretty interesting points of view. However, what I truly found interesting was that this movie very clearly articulated the dilemma illustrated in the “Secrets of the Male Shopper” article. The entire film perfectly grouped men into one of two categories. They were either depicted as 1. the “metrosexual”, or 2. the “retrosexual.” Talk about type-casting. I couldn’t help but reflect back to this article and become seemingly annoyed at just how black and white the men were being portrayed. In doing so, the writers showed that they too suffer from a lack of knowledge about the true diversity of the “male” market, thus paralleling the struggles facing modern day marketing. Consequently, my lone guy friend that decided to venture to see the film with us was left unable to identify with any of the male actors in the film as he falls into the strikingly broad “middle of the road” male market segment. After gauging his feeling of isolation, I began to realize just how important it will be for me as a marketer to get a better grip on the male market; a market divided into more than just “metrosexual” and “retrosexual” men.

To begin with, male shoppers vary greatly in their purchasing behavior depending upon what age segment they fall into. “Secrets of the Male Shopper” continually highlighted the younger male’s segment as being more willing to venture into product categories not previously purchased readily by their older counterparts. For example, boomer dads are a lot more likely to shop for diapers and groceries then their dads ever were, and today’s teen boys are more willing to shop for specialized hygiene products then their dads have ever been. I have grown up with two brothers, and watching their purchasing patterns in contrast with my father’s never ceases to amaze me. Whereas my dad is much more likely to make a run to the store for milk than my grandfather ever was, my brothers are much more likely to shop for and buy their own clothes then my dad has ever been. My brother also uses a specialized scented “Axe” body wash in the shower, but my father would sooner die than go near the words “body wash.” My brother actually cares enough to schedule his own haircut and you will never find him with dirty nails. And yet it is important to note that my brother loves his baseball, and there is nothing cooler than “Medal of Honor” on Playstation thus clearing him altogether from the threat of “metrosexuality”. He’s a more “modern male,” and his purchasing interests differ greatly from our father and grandfather’s, but he is certainly not “girly.”

This alone demonstrates the sheer vastness of differences among men just based on their ages. You then have to start considering differences in levels of education, income and marital status. As a result of more women pursuing higher levels of education, the traditional age at which people marry has been pushed back significantly. As such, there is now a large market for late 20-early 30-year-old males that never existed before. These men need homes, furniture and neighborhoods targeted to their needs. They’re less likely to care about the number of kids in the neighborhood and more likely to care about access to pools, parks and other recreational activities when looking for a home. They also tend to care more about garage size and spend more time in the living room than the kitchen. With this in mind, home builders and land developers would be smart to vary up their offerings to cater to such male shopper needs. They’re also more likely to want access to activities and facilities that allow them the opportunity to meet women but also hang out with “the guys.” Also, this could open up a whole new segment for the house cleaning segment to target. These single, “fab” guys will likely have a 1000 other things they’d rather do then tidy up, and the cleaning industry would be smart to tap into that.

Additionally, it will be important for grocery stores to start catering more to male needs. For example, perhaps they will want to consider adding a “tools” section along with beauty products largely targeted exclusively towards female shoppers. It would also be a good idea for makers of baby suppliers and parenting products to start taking a more proactive approach in targeting men. Today’s men are more involved in the family life than ever before, and with an increase in women working full-time, they’re going to have to be. Parenting magazines should look into featuring ads and articles targeting both sexes, and Gerber should consider featuring more dads feeding children on their commercials.

All in all, the acknowledgment of the existence of such a diverse market will open up marketers to countless possibilities. We just have to be careful not to shut out a segment that may help us rise to the top.

"Everything was Better Back when Everything was Worse."

The week before I came back to UT for the start of this semester, I made a trip to my hometown HEB to pick up some groceries for school and in the end left empty-handed and frustrated. Why you ask? Well, after listening to Barry Schwartz’s “The Paradox of Choice” podcast, I figured out that I made a huge consumer mistake…I started in the bottled water section. It used to be that one would enter the bottle watered section and pick up whichever water was the best deal. But not anymore. Oh no. There are now entire AISLES dedicated solely to water. Why? Because it would be humanly impossible to display the now innumerous bottled water options on a few meters of shelf space (as used to be the case). To my utter astonishment, I was greeted by every type of imaginable so-called “water” concoction. There was kiwi-strawberry, mango peach, lemon, and chocolate-mint flavored water (not even kidding!); there were vitamin and mineral enhanced options, special filtered options and even options claiming to enhance energy and performance levels. Add to that your plain-Jane options and throw in new packaging options (seriously?!) and you have a consumers worst nightmare. All that was missing were speed and strength enhancement water, and even the average Joe could have claimed Superman-like powers. I felt overwhelmed and could no longer use my same criteria to evaluate my water purchases. Disgruntled, I left empty-handed and decided to put off my purchase until I had time to clear my head.

That being said, I found this podcast extremely insightful. I couldn’t agree more with Barry Schwartz that we as consumers are constantly overwhelmed in the marketplace. With the sheer volume of options allowed to us, the capability to get the best products/service increases, but it also leaves too much room for us to make mistakes in choosing. With that knowledge, we become incredibly uncomfortable making purchase decisions and can never truly enjoy the consumption of our goods and services. Instead, we are constantly left to fight with our contradicting thoughts as to whether we made the best choice. This could explain why Gen Yers (the generation that’s the youngest to be exposed to such a large selection of similar offerings) tends to be the most skeptical of advertisements and marketing efforts. Perhaps Gen Yers have just been exposed to so much frustration over actual points of differences among offerings that we are quick to distrust advertisements and the like. After all, we have been battling this pattern of consumer doubt and frustration pretty much since the time we first had money to spend. Additionally, we now have to expend even more time and energy just to make simple purchasing choices (have you seen the variety of toothpastes these days?) often causing us to avoid new purchases altogether. This very idea was articulated by the Endowment Effect in the “Eager Sellers and Stony Buyers” article. All too often, marketers and product developers assume that more is better, but perhaps we’d be smarter to focus more of breadth of available products and services as opposed to depth. This would allow businesses to focus more on being truly innovative and perhaps open up whole new marketing ventures and industry opportunities.

On a separate but similar note, I believe that it’s this wide array of choosing that essentially forces us to form an identity. When buying bottled waters offers seemingly limitless possibilities, just imagine the variety offered in fashion and lifestyle choices. Even the variety of majors available at universities is rapidly expanding. And while these nearly limitless choices allow us to more clearly define our preferences and thus allow us the opportunity at individuality, it also creates the very consumer paralysis described by Barry Schwartz. My water bottle incidence is proof of just that. Additionally, to be quite honest, the whole reason I initially selected business as a major was for its generalness. I couldn’t seem to be specific enough to focus on Radio, Television, Film or Corporate Communications. I wasn’t ready to make such a significant choice and so I chose one that offered some extra insulation. In the end, I was pretty lucky that I get so much enjoyment out of marketing because as it turns out, I essentially hate every other aspect of the business profession. Along this line, I predict that as marketers, we can expect this similar type of decision making pattern among consumers in a whole array of areas. As marketers, communication efforts will become even more important as we actively work to articulate our position in the market and why consumers should feel assured that our offers are best then any previous or current offers out there. Additionally, when it comes to products and services, we may want to operate by the simple principle that sometimes, “less is more.”

Generation Y...Who are we?

Last Sunday at a barbeque with some friends, we began reminiscing about the good ‘ole days…the 90’s. As we looked back upon the decade in which many Gen Yers were just starting to make their mark, I couldn’t help but realize that we are coming of age as a generation and are fixing to have a phenomenal impact on what exactly defines this decade and many more to come. I then began to think about how our generation was shaping up the 2000s and what trends, styles, etc. would come to make up us as a generation. Our parents had The Beatles, bell-bottoms and T-Birds, but how in the world do you possibly define the tastes of the Gen Yers? Truly, if VH1 tried to create “I Love the 2000s,” what in the world would they use to back up such a title. As a marketing major, it occurred to me that the influence that many of our parents had during the revolutionary 60s will now be ours in the early 2000s, but what are we doing with it, and how can we truly be defined as a market? Additionally, it is beyond imperative that businesses begin to take our generation a little more seriously, realizing that we’re not going anywhere for a while and our numbers rival those of the Baby Boomers. We are quickly becoming the newest era in purchasing power, and we’re going to demand that companies tailor themselves to our needs and wants. That being said, I began to panic. Are we such a disjointed generation that marketers will never be able to effectively reach us, or are we too flighty to ever have our attentions captured for any true amount of time? And will we ever succeed at creating a generation riveted with the creation of classics popular and respected long into the future?

To begin with, the “Generation Y” article intrigued me in many ways, and although it was written quite a while back, I saw many important insights expressed in it. I couldn’t agree more that Gen Yers are more practical than our predecessors have been. We don’t tend to have a happy-go-lucky version of the world, and it affects our views of the world, aka perceptions. Any knowledgeable marketer know that in the end, what matters most is perception, and so Gen Yers differing perception of the world will greatly affect how we respond to marketing efforts. As was said, we don’t respond well to overly done advertisements with annoying tag lines that fail to get to the point. We are the busiest young adults to ever walk this planet, and we just want for you to get to the point. I recently saw a Diet Coke commercial that said, “Just for the taste of it,” and I thought “brilliant.” Informative, catchy, brief. Additionally our practicalities also make us a bit more skeptical, and we are not very likely to trust your campaigns stating that you’ve got the “world’s best product” if you can’t back it up with hardcore facts. You also can’t pull one on us, especially when it comes to fake “free goodies.” I’m always comparing my reactions to infomercials to those of my mom’s. My mom simply cannot pass up the word “free,” and so all those wonderful infomercials that promise you free goodies so long as you order within “x” amount of time get the best of her. I and my friends however are skeptical and were brought up in the era that truly recognizes that there’s “no such thing as a free lunch.” We are quality conscious, and we expect to pay for what were going to get. This leads into the reasoning for why we are the most brand conscious generation ever, and we present an opportunity to marketers to truly focus on this up-coming idea of “total quality.” We’re willing to pay the price for goods and services that we consider well worth it.

However, that being said, I did find some alarming assumptions and ideas presented in this particular idea. To begin with, it seemed to me that the writer was far too willing to simply say that successful companies of the past are just that…companies of the past. The quick dismissal of such brands as Nike and Converse through me off. Admittedly, both brands did semi-disappear for a while, but for the very reason articulated in the article. Businesses have long suffered from the problem of failing to see Gen Yers as more than just children. A lot of us are all grown up or growing up and want fashions and items that reflect this. That being said, I think that both Nike and Converse have recently managed to realize this and come back as top brands among my generation. Whoever said Nike is out has obviously not come across a sorority girl recently (Hello? Nike athletic shorts anyone?). Also, Target has recently begun caring a large line of Converse shoes and fashions. So I think that’s important to realize that Gen Yers haven’t phased out brands of the past just because their old but because they have failed to recognize the force we are as a nation and the mature beings that we are coming to be.

Secondly, after listening the “MySpace Generation” podcast, I was once again struck by the opinions and information expressed. No one will contest that social networking sites have become the telephone of our generation. Such sites have almost become a necessity in keeping up with friends (near and far), planning activities and events and keeping up with what’s going on in and around your community. As a college student, we all simply assume that everyone has a Facebook, and even companies are now jumping on to such networks to reach Gen Yers (a smart move in my opinion). However, I disagree that social networks will serve as a replacement for actual physical human contact and meetings. I think that virtual worlds will never be able to create the same type of deep relationships fostered through actual interaction with people on a day-to-day basis. In fact, I know many Gen Yers that are actually seemingly revolting to the notion of a purely technological future. I have some friends who have recently deleted their Facebook accounts or chosen not to subscribe to one because they are sick of such sites substiting for the real thing when it comes to relationships. I myself refused to ever start up a MySpace page, and I hardly ever get on Facebook anymore because I’d much rather meet up for coffee then have a virtual IM-fest.

With all of the above in mind, I began to revert back to my initial frustrations and confusions over what sort of mark this generation will leave. I began to again worry that we would never produce or catch on to something more substantial than the Spice Girls to be remembered for (like, oh I don’t know…The Beatles!). And if we can’t produce icons, trends, etc. that last, then how in the world are marketers supposed to reach us. And then it hit me. Perhaps we will be the most exciting target market of all time. We are a most diverse market of all time and can’t all be grouped together easily. We have very vast desires, and we demand that they all be filled. Customization is the order of the day, and it will continue to be. It’s this very diversity that is opening the door to marketers for endless possibilities. Who knows what means will be used to capture our attentions or how marketing programs will become truly revolutionized. That will be for the marketers of this day and age to discover. Going back to my intro and reminiscing of the 90’s, I now think I understand why it’s so hard to define what makes up this generation and our experiences. We value of differences and turn away from trends almost as soon as they pop up and not because we’re flighty but because we want to be defined as something more than atypical. Perhaps we may never have a VH1 episode of “I Love the 2000s” because just one episode would never suffice to capture just all of what makes this generation who we are. That will be every marketers greatest task.