Top 5 Things Marketers & Advertisers Need to Do To Succeed with the Next Generation

As a young marketer, I grew up in the age of the “spin”. When you wrote copy, you weren’t just writing about products and features, you were turning them into magic and endless possibilities.  You took ordinary products and sensationalized them, making them glitter and glow in the hopes of hooking someone in need of something shiny.  It was a lot of smoke and mirrors with just enough truth sprinkled in to make it credible. However, as most everyone in the biz should know, things have changed.  The “spin” and hard-selling mentality doesn’t work anymore with much of anyone.  The older generations have heard it all and the younger generations just don’t care about how shiny something is, they just want to know that they can do great things with it. So, the question is,  if the old strategies don't work anymore, what does?

McCann Worldgroup recently released “The Truth About Youth” study where they polled 7000 young people between the ages of 16-30. They refer to this age group as the Millenial generation and found that their core values are commune, justice and authenticity. When it comes to brands, McCann found that they look for the same values in their brands as they do in their friends: truthfulness, genuineness, sociability, maturity and humility (I kind of like this group!). The other important thing to note is that they experience much of this world and these values through their technology, so much so that McCann refers to technology as their fifth sense. Lastly, most likely because they’ve been inundated with advertising since birth (if only there was a way to advertise in vitro), they don’t like businesses that crowd cyberspace with useless information.

For marketers and advertisers this means sensationalism is finally dead (Hallelujah!) and it’s about time we get real with those we are advertising and marketing to.  Which leads to a number of big changes for everyone that I'll just touch on here:

1.       Do more research:  It has never been more important.  These guys want hard facts about what it is you are asking them to invest in. Yeah, they want to know the benefits, but real benefits- the status stuff we played to, the dream fulfillment, the frivolity isn’t going to be effective. If your product doesn’t offer a real, tangible benefit that adds value to their life, it’s time to look for another product.

2.       Get ahead in technology:  Because this is the lens through which so many of them see their world, this is key.  Get current then get ahead on new emerging technologies. Learn about how they are using it in their day-to-day activities so you can insert yourself in their routine, without interrupting it. Then use it with mastery. Earn their respect by showing them something they don’t already know.

3.       Do business with a conscience: These guys are activists out to better the world.  Play to these sensibilities by publicly supporting causes, showing you support issues that are important to them.  Maybe create your own in-house non-profit that has a cause of its own so they know you are all about giving back. And none of this fake, half-assed stuff- these guys are softies but they aren’t stupid- they want to see you are dedicated.

4.       Be real with content: Their life is one big community and they are connected to everyone.  They value personal relationships more than anything.  Gone are the days of stuffy, impersonal information spewed out like robot generated words on a page. Your content needs to feel personal.  You need to look and sound like their best friend if you want to connect with them.

5.       Use their currency: This is a new, social economy.  They value their world and the people in it more than they value things. While this may also have a profound affect on lead-laden imports from third world countries, it means big things for us as marketers too.   We need to re-think incentives and the way we brand (BTW- BRAND strength has never been more important either!).  We aren’t creating client bases; we are creating communities and life experiences.  I could spend days on all the implications of this.  I just don’t have the time yet, just know, big changes are involved here.  Understand their values and then give them the world they are asking for in everything you do.  

Hornitos Tequila Ad Gone Wrong: The Importance of Getting a Female Perspective

As a feminist and an advertiser, I had to weigh in on this ad. Here’s the link if you haven’t already seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RqUa3Q_W2k

The ad is about two twin brothers.  While Twin A is out of town, Twin B poses as Twin A and is about to get it on with his brothers girlfriend. Then the narrator says “Hornitos, purer than your intentions”. Funny premise, right?  Well, ask a rape victim if this is funny and they will look you squarely in the eye and say there is nothing funny about it. And, as a result, this ad is now being bashed all over the internet and some women are P-I-S-S-E-D. By the time I caught wind of it from Ms. Magazine it had already been around the twittersphere. This national magazine got it from a Blog called ForHarriet http://goo.gl/KNlAa . Here’s a quote from the blog to give you an idea of how people are feeling:

“Not only is this a sickening wink and nod to the "boys will be boys" mindset that excuses sexual assault as a normal expression of masculinity, but put the ad in the context of a proposed GOP amendment that would have narrowed the scope of what legally constitutes rape and it's clear we're fighting against more poorly executed commercial.” 

They then go on to list the companies name and are distributing the VP’s name all over the internet.  Ouch!

I know they say no publicity is bad publicity, but that theory came out long before Twitter & Facebook existed. I can guarantee that all the publicity Hornitos is going to get as a result of being known as an advocate for rape certainly isn’t going to help their brand.  There are woman all around the world boycotting Hornitos and writing nasty hate mail as I write. 

So what went wrong?  It seemed like such a good idea at the time, right?  Obviously, when making this commercial, they should have considered all the possible implications. Whenever I write an ad, I make sure it translates correctly and doesn’t offend any potential audience.  That’s just common sense when you’re blowing gobs of money on a spot that millions of diverse people are going to see. 

Secondly, they should have gotten feedback from both men AND women….and LISTENED to it all. Having been in the industry awhile, I know ad shops are often male dominated and can have a bit of the good ol’ boy infrastructure and this is a perfect example of why that is a problem.  When it comes to any kind of advertising, both men and women should be included in the creative process.  While it was just a funny commercial to a guy, a woman with freedom of voice could have seen the other darker side of this ad.  

Shoulda, woulda, coulda,  I know.  Next time Hornitos (and everyone else) get both genders to weigh in on your ads………  You’ll produce better work and could avoid being labeled as an advocate of rape.

Leveraging Twitter to Build Customer Evangelists

I’m not going to lie, Twitter and I have historically had a love/hate relationship and as a marketer I have often questioned its value as a lead and revenue driving tool.  However, with so many raving Twitter fans, I thought I must be missing something. So, I experimented.  First I tried being funny- surely my clever sense of humor (gag) would attract a few followers.  Yeah, that got me a few fans and on a list or two, but whoopty doo- that wasn’t going to build a business.

Next I experimented with complaining about bad service as I had heard stories of companies that bent over backwards to make Twitter-complainers happy. I got about a 50% response rate as a result of my rantings.  No bending over backwards though. Yes, I was impressed that they cared enough to tweet, but that didn’t solve my problem and really only temporarily numbed the pain when my infected sore of disappointment really needed an anti-biotic.  And let’s face it; if a customer is complaining into the Twittersphere, the damage has been done- as marketer that’s when you’re thinking about apologizing, cutting your losses and taking notes for next time. The Twitter Complaint Brigade holds little value when you’re BUILDING business.

I then proceeded to mess with posting and re-tweeting, all with only a modicum of success. Twitter still wasn’t making enough of a case for me to support it as a marketer or invest so much time with it.  Then, last night, the sweet dental hygienist from my dentist’s office changed my mind.   Here’s how:

 Just by the nature of who she was, she took an interest in me as a person while in for some routine dental work.  She found me on Twitter and on occasion would send me a cute personal message in response to something I posted or follow-up on our brief conversation from the last time I was in.  So sweet that she actually remembered what we talked about!  She’s sort of become a Twitter friend.  Then last night, I told her to find me on Facebook.  She tweeted that she would and that I should come into the office.  I thought- yeah, I totally should!  What she didn’t know was that while I always received great dental work, I was thinking about moving to an office closer to my home and had been postponing my six month visit.  Of course, after this personal interaction I was thinking I would be stupid to transfer my business over distance when I could go to a dentist that provided good work and actually knew me as a person and cared about me beyond my business with them.   

It was then when it hit me, if I could replicate this organic experience as a marketer, how powerful would that be?  Twitter stocks just hit payload for me.  While Twitter is only slightly valuable to me in all the other ways I discussed, it could be invaluable when building and maintaining relationships with customers. And I’m not talking about impersonal tweet blasts that go out to everyone but meaningful, personal tweets created for them individually that are infrequently distributed at key points during the buying cycle. Depending on the size of your business, you’d only need a CRM system, time allotment for staff and you’d have to collect Twitter profiles like you do emails.  Sure it’d be a small investment, but the pay-off just might be a loyal, evangelistic customer base you could bank your money on.

 Let’s face it, customers and prospects are over-marketed, over-emailed, and over-Twittered. They are numb to our messages half of the time, leaving us licking our lips in anticipation of a measly click through.    The opportunity that Twitter gives us to communicate with our customers in a personal way that is not intrusive gives us a whole new way to build loyalty and attract new business. I’M SOLD!