Once again, someone has the notion to do a report about how much of an economic impact the 18-25 year old demographic (affectionally called “Generation Y”) is going to have on business. Not only are Gen Y’s highly targeted for television, radio, movies, advertisements, and other assorted products, but according to the Colorado Springs Business Journal, now these businesses are catering and going out of their way to provide services to meet the needs of this segment, who is also quite tech-saavy.
Frankly, I think that’s fine because I’m at the end of that demographic and I think that it’s quite nice for companies to think about my needs for a change. Businesses definitely want to make things easier and more convenient for people to log into their system using their computers, laptops, cell phones, PDAs, and other handheld devices. With 60 million people fitting the description of a Generation Y’er, it’s a great audience to have, if you can attract their attention — and especially if you can grab them online (82% of them are Internet-connected, according to a 2005 Pew Internet and American Life Project study).
Two items that come to mind (one of which was listed in the article):
(1) How can you market a product to this highly marketable and influential segment and have them relate to it? In one part of this article, 23-year-old Brian Simms said “In order to be in the game, you have to offer something that people can genuinely relate to, and it has to be reputable…” I can imagine it’s like hanging out with an older generation family member and they want to be closer to you so they try and talk the same way as you do — how embarassing is that? Do you want to be seen near them after that? If they pull it off right and sound like they’re geniune and not trying too hard, then perhaps yes. And this can go the same way with companies who want to market their products to the Generation Y demographic — be geunine and create something this segment can relate to.
(2) As a result of this increase in marketing towards this economic powerhouse, what will be the increase in the number of phishing and internet fraud/identity theft cases throughout the United States? What about its impact on the world stage? As more banks are competing with their services and sending e-mails to their 18-25 year old market, what measures are they taking to ensure privacy and legitimacy? Are companies who post banners and/or advertisements on “hip and trendy” websites thinking about reputation and are catering towards this market?
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