We're Not Listening

Trying to reach my generation?  Great, we are all ears when we're interested and pretty savvy too.  Thing is, most of the time we aren't paying attention.  This doesn't make us rude or more glazed over than a Krispy Kreme--it just means we have a lot in our face.  In order to survive the clutter, we've tuned out.  When we go online, we don't read the pop-ups or side banners.  We read our Facebook newsfeed and Tweet about it.  Endlessly.  We catch the headlines in quick blips, only clicking through if the blurb speaks to us.  My generation is quick-witted...and bored with tradition.

Yet, once you get through to us, once we approve of you and your brand, we become your advocates.  Light our interest on fire and we'll tell the world about you.  We make videos go viral and trends explode.  We may even "Like" you.  If this happens to you, congratulations, you've broke through the clutter.  But be careful...treat us well.  If you don't, we won't let you get away with it.  We'll become your anti-advocates, Tweeting to the world our dismay.  We have good reach too.  So play nice.

So how does a brand get through, make us look up from our screens and smart phones?  Study the brands we do sport.  My generation appreciates clean, concise, and to-the-point marketing.  We like to be involved through interactivity.  Ask us our opinions, odds are we'll tell you.  Do it right and we'll even suggest marketing tactics for you to try.  Reach us in our territories of the social media realm.  And, above all, be flexible, be open to risk, and respect us.  Now we're listening.