Peter Sheahan - Generation Y Blog

Are you up to speed?

The SMS king is here. 160 characters in just over 57 seconds. That is not typed on a key board. That is using SMS on a mobile phone. I wonder how long it will be before June Dally Watkins is teaching SMS'ing Skills? I wonder how long it will be before Julia Ross Hot are asking the candidates to have a Minimum SMS speed?

I worry though about how, with the huge amount of indormation passing via SMS and other Gen Y mediums of communication, Corporations intend to keep a record and retain their IP that passes through these forms of communications. Talk about a paperless office. We are heading for a record-less office. These are very interesting times indeed.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TEXT_MESSAGE_KING?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

www.petersheahan.com

Video on demand

I say to my clients. To be appealing to Generation Y, your products/services (or better still experiences) must be interactive. Gen Y are not into passive experiences. They ant user controlled experiences that give them what they want, when they ant it. Like always, the US are leading the race when it comes to meeting the needs of the Generation Y consumer. Video on demand. This is Foxtel Digital on Steroids. Shoose from over 1,500 hours of entertainment. It is like having a movie Ipod on your TV screen. Very Cool...

http://news.com.com/I+want+my+RipeTV%3F/2100-1025_3-5460662.html

www.petersheahan.com

Use Gen Y to market to gen Y

I have said it before, and I will say it again. The key to penetrating the Gen Y market is through the trend setters. Start with them. Convince them and they will do the rest. I am not sure if I advocate employing them to it, because this is manipulative and is usually not as effective, but hey it just proves my point. Use the market to understand the market and to market to the market.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2002095889_viral20.html

www.petersheahan.com

365,000 ads per day

Some recent research from the US, though not very vigorous is estomating that the average Generation Y teenager is exposed to 1000 ads every 24 hour period. Some more in depth research from a few years ago says it is more like 16. Whatever it is, it's lots. And you wonder why Generation Y are a little sceptical. It is because having been sold to voraciously from a very young age they have developed a BS Detector on their forehead that goes off whenever someone is selling them something that is either not in their best interest or has any hint of insincerity.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=306813&category=LIFE&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=11/21/2004&tacodalogin=no

www.petersheahan.com

The target is getting younger and younger!

It appears that post gen Y consumers are even more savvy than Gen Y themselves. According to this article girls as young as nine know their Chanel from their Clinique. Scary...

http://www.courier-journal.com/features/2004/11/20/makeup.html

www.petersheahan.com

Why Generation Y are the most powerful consumer group in the world...

The Baby Boomers have long been the apple of marketers eye because of their sheer size and market clout. Well that is changing as more and more research shows that the number one influence on Baby Boomer purchases nowadays is their teenager children. Philips Electronics in the US have just done research on this and found that almost half of teenagers aged 12 - 14 will be recommending what consumer electroics their parents should be buying. And that the frequency of this advice doubles with age.  Not only that but without these Gen Y'ers the clock on their devices would still be flashing 00:00 because it is Gen Y who are showing them how to use it as well.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20041123005117&newsLang=en

www.petersheahan.com

Generation Y aren't reading Newspapers

US newspapers are starting to worry. And according to the few Australian publications I have received calls from in the past few months, so are Australian Newspapers. Gen Y just aren't subscribing, or buying them at all. Why? Well why would they. They have been brought up most of their life seeing information as being free. They use google or online news portals, or just free to air TV to get their news. See some interesting comments from a series of focus groupd conducted in Washington.

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65813,00.html

www.petersheahan.com

Gen Y spending power.

According to new research fromn Harris Interactive in the US, 1 in every 3 consumer dollars spent is influence by someon under the age of 18. That is one third. HUGE!!! In a presentation this years ad:tech conference in New York Harris Interactive Vice President, John Geraci also noted that a teens influence is between 3 to 10 times that of their direct spending. This my friends is why Generation Y is a strategic imperative. The problem: you can't market to a generation you do not understand.

www.petersheahan.com

http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=31008

Bring on the cars...Thanks Mum and Dad!

A recent survey in the US found that 41% of teenagers (gen Y) between 16 - 19 had their own car, and 4 out of every 10 had it bought for them by their parents. That is compared to just 23% in 1985 when older Generation X'ers were the same age. Gen Y have consumer power, not just with their own disposable income (estimated at $118 per week for teens according to YouthScan 2004 in Australia) but they command significant influence on the spending habits of their Baby Boomer Parents.

www.petersheahan.com

Are you ready to be chipped?

It appears that the end of privacy is near. According to this short article club goers are already beginning to use technology in some very extreme ways. Namely, inserting and identification chip into their arm to ensure prompt service, and faster drink orders. Is this possible? Or is it from some sci-fi novel? No it is real. The Mexico Attorney General's office is already using similar "identification chips" to allow certified staff to enter secure parts of the building. This is the world Generation Y have been brought up in. It is littloe wonder they do not reisit technology

www.petersheahan.com

http://www.theshorthorn.com/archive/2004/fall/04-nov-09/sc110904-01.html