Marketing to Millennials
BusinessWeek.com is running an eight-part series of Viewpoints by the author of Grown Up Digital, Don Tapscott. Tapscott explains how digital technology has affected the children of the baby boomers, a group he calls the Net Generation.
He talks about how the “Net Generation’s” arrival means that many of marketing’s fundamental tenets must change because of discoveries like “they (Millennials) spend a lot of time online, researching products they end up buying in stores. They always consult the Internet before making a purchase. This sort of behavior doesn’t show up in the cold, hard e-commerce data.”
He goes on to talk about how Millennials — born between 1980 and 2000 — are better able to filter out marketing than their older counterparts.
Tapscott:”I think the Net Generation will cause marketers to rewrite the rules of marketing for this generation, and ultimately for the future. Companies will play by ABCDE rules of marketing—Anyplace, Brand, Communication, Discovery, and Experience. Net Geners want to buy things Anyplace, where and when they want. They’ll help shape the Brand, and the product. And they won’t tolerate a lecture, however amiable. The standard ad will be replaced by Communication, a two-way conversation. As in any relationship, integrity will be one of the key building blocks of this new interactive brand. Since Net Geners research the product and its price online, they’ll negotiate the price. I call this the Discovery of Price. And finally, they expect products to be at the same time an Experience.”
“Net Gen Transforms Marketing” was posted today. The entire series is worth a read.
