| Analyzing the Marketing Environment 73

Chapter 3 | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 73

are done or almost done with child rearing and lean toward more exotic travel loca- tions farther from home, “the Generation Xers are new families who need new experi- ences close to home,” says Alisa Bailey, CEO and president of VTC. “They want beaches, good places to relax, warm, friendly people. They love amusement and theme parks, and they want places that are good for what we call soft adventure, like canoe- ing, and hiking.” Don’t worry; the slogan won’t change. “What will change,” explains Bailey, “is our strategy toward the younger market. We will be showing more Gen X families in our marketing. It will be a more family-oriented campaign.” VTC plans to use Facebook, Twitter, and blogs to help reach Generation X households.

Millennials. Both the baby boomers and Gen Xers will one day be passing the reins to the

Millennials (or Generation Y)

Millennials (also called Generation Y or the echo boomers). Born between 1977 and 2000,

The 83 million children of the baby these children of the baby boomers number 83 million, dwarfing the Gen Xers and larger boomers, born between 1977 and 2000.

even than the baby boomer segment. This group includes several age cohorts: tweens (ages 10–12), teens (13–18), and young adults (19–33). With total purchasing power of more than $733 billion, the Millennials are a huge and attractive market. 18

One thing that all the Millennials have in common is their utter fluency and comfort with digital technology. They don’t just embrace technology; it’s a way of life. The Millen- nials were the first generation to grow up in a world filled with computers, cell phones, satellite TV, iPods, and online social networks. A recent study found that 91 percent of Mil- lennials are on the Web, making up 32 percent of all U.S. Internet users. According to an- other study, 77 percent of Millennials frequent social-networking sites, and 71 percent use instant messaging. “All generations are comfortable with technology, but this is the genera- tion that’s been formed by technology,” says a Yahoo! executive. For them, “it’s not some- thing separate. It’s just something they do.” 19

Marketers of all kinds now target the Millennials segment, from automakers to political campaigns. The Millennials are bombarded with marketing messages coming at them from all directions. However, rather than having mass marketing messages pushed at them, they pre- fer to seek out information and engage in two-way brand conversations. Thus, reaching these message-saturated consumers effectively requires creative marketing approaches.

Con- sider how the Barack Obama presidential campaign succeeded in reaching this group: 20

“Barack Obama was the first presidential candidate to be marketed like a high-end con- sumer brand,” observed a Newsweek reporter. His rising-sun logo echoes the one-world

icons of PepsiCo, AT&T, and Apple. But what really set the Obama campaign apart was its immense appeal to Millennials, the country’s youngest voters. The campaign’s mastery of cutting-edge social media, such as the www.my.barackobama.com Web site, was optimized for Millennial appeal. For this generation, “the new pronoun is me, my,” says a marketing expert. “Young people want to be in control of their relationship with a brand. They want to customize and personalize.” The Obama campaign site allowed just that, with its use of tagging, dis- cussion boards, photo uploads, and other interactive elements.

In addition, Obama enlisted eight million volunteers using social- networking sites, attracted two million friends on Facebook, and drew

90 million viewers to his video presentations on YouTube. On Election Day, the Obama team sent text messages to millions of young support- ers. The Obama campaign didn’t merely use young volunteers, as most campaigns do. It created a campaign specifically designed by and for today’s tech-happy Millennial generation, using the communication tools young people rely on and trust. The result? Young people turned out at the polls in record numbers, with fully 66 percent favoring Obama, turning the tide his way in several key states.

Reaching Millennials: The Barack Obama presidential campaign’s mastery of cutting-edge social media, such as www.my.barackobama.com, was optimized for

Generational Marketing. Do marketers need to create separate prod-

Millennial appeal. It still is. You can connect with

ucts and marketing programs for each generation? Some experts warn that

“Obama everywhere.”

marketers need to be careful about turning off one generation each time