10 Tips On Connecting With Gen C By Dan Pankraz

GENERATION C 10 TIPS ON CONNECTING WITH YOUTH Dan Pankraz January 2009

This presentation was developed to give youth marketers some perspective on how to best engage with Generation C and youth in general.

SOME KEY CHALLENGES FACING YOUTH BRANDS TODAY

How to best use social media

How to stand out with all the great content out there

How to create brand utility and ensure your ideas aren’t disposable

How to create infectious ideas

How to effectively spark conversations in culture infiltrating social networks

How to excite a hyper critical community of people

FIRSTLY, A WORD ON GEN C

… they’re NOT an age cohort, but a youth mindset of creators whose interests and behaviours are expressed across the technologically progressive backdrop of social media….

...these behaviours dictate how Gen C interact with each other and with brands.

GEN C’ERS ARE GETTING YOUNGER Aelita Andre’s artwork is being exhibited with adult work in Melbourne, Australia

C FOR ??

Digital Creatives Content Creators Connected Co-creation Customise Community Curious Control ‘C’

A GENERATION ADDICTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA

Video sharing phenomenon ‘15 seconds of fame’

100% of Gen C belong to a social networking site

Addiction to widgets and iphone apps

Remixing/mashing content normalised

Citizen journalism and life caching via blogs and microblogs

iTunes MP3 MMORPGs Avatars iMovie CGI YouTube iPod DV cam Blogs PSP BEBO Apps Wii AV remixes USB MySpace Chat rooms IM Camera phones Twitter Facebook Mash-ups Skype UGC Wordle Online profiles iPhone Flickr File sharing Twitter Wiki HD Widgets Torrent VOIP

FOR GEN C PURCHASE DECISION MAKING IS A TEAM SPORT

THEY’RE CONSTANTLY CONNECTED TO THEIR PEERS THROUGH ONLINE COMMUNITIES, RELYING ON THEIR ADVICE FOR EVERTHING …. SO BRAND CONTENT SHOULD TALK TO THE ‘COLLECTIVE’ RATHER THAN THE INDIVIDUAL

MOBILE IS ‘ME MEDIA’ - THEIR WHOLE LIVES WILL STREAM THROUGH THEIR IPHONES YOUR CONTENTS LITMUS TEST IS WHETHER IT MAKES IT ONTO THEIR IPHONE

GEN C WANT GLOBAL CHANGE, TO BELONG AND TO BELIEVE So create ideas/causes that allow them to be part of something bigger and attach their self identity to more worthy causes…

DON’T THINK OF GEN C AS THE DESTINATION POINT FOR YOUR MESSAGE THINK OF THEM AS MESSAGE CARRIERS

Who want to be constantly connected and PARTICIPATE in real and virtual culture

Their needs vary slightly between the sexes…

To compete within a community i.e: Nike +, MMORPG’s

To escape their daily routine and be entertained i.e: youtube viewing

To be someone else i.e: avatars

To laugh at themselves or their friends

To showoff their mastery or skill ie: gaming

To live the life of Vince and the boys from Entourage!!!!

GEN C MALES LOVE

To share with others i.e: social networks

To gossip and life cache i.e: Twitter

To foster their creativity i.e: Apple’s Genius Bar

To plan things

To get lifestyle advice i.e : blogs

GEN C FEMALES LOVE

SUCCESSFUL BRAND PARTICIPATION IS BUILT ON Ensuring your brands voice and how it behaves is in synch with the brand idea determines the level of participation Gen C have with your brand…..and then use social media to amplify

AXE/LYNX PRETTY MUCH ALWAYS STAYS TRUE TO THEIR BRAND IDEA ACROSS THEIR ENTIRE PORTFOLIO

AXE GIVES GUYS THE EDGE IN THE MATING GAME..UP TO THE BEDROOM DOOR…HENCE NO AXE CONDOMS AXE EFFECT - TO GIVE GUYS THE EDGE IN THE MATING GAME HELP GUYS ANYWHERE, ANYTIME WHEN GIRLS ARE AROUND…BUT STOP AT THE BEDROOM DOOR SWAGGER CONFIDENCE IRREVERENCE CHEEK

OK, SO 10 POINTERS FOR ENGAGING WITH GEN C

1. CREATE DIGITAL TOOLS THAT HELP GEN C DO STUFF…LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA RATHER THAN TRY TO BUILD WEBSITES FROM SCRATCH

2. BE PROVOCATIVE TAKE AT LEAST 1 BIG RISK A YEAR

LIKE DIESEL’S SFW XXX PORN PARTY INVITE WHICH STAYED TRUE TO THEIR PROVOCATEUR POSITIONING

OR ZOO YORK’S ‘SPREAD THE WORD’ CAMPAIGN CAUSING HAVOC IN NYC

3. CREATE CULTURE.. DON’T MIRROR IT

NIKE DOESN’T CREATE CAMPAIGNS, THEY CREATE CULTURAL PHENOMENON…AND DELIVER IT FOR FREE

DON’T HOLD UP A ‘MIRROR’ TO THEIR LIVES

Coke is a serial offender in boring Gen C by ‘mirror-ing’ their lifestyle

They try to own ‘Summer’ in Australia but do they ever actually add any value to their lives????

INSTEAD, PROVIDE A ‘LENS’ INTO SOMETHING NEW AND A DIFFERENT BRAND EXPERIENCE samedisays.com

Channeling a voodoo spirit (Baron Samedi) in New Orleans to launch a ‘supernatural energy’ drink bearing his name.

4. LIGHT LOTS OF FIRES, AND FAN THEM

5. PLAN FOR CONTENT YOU DON’T CREATE

Poke and prod youth in social media and allow

them to add their own take on your idea, and watch

as youth passion grows.

INVITE MANIPULATION OF YOUR CONTENT..GET IT UP ON A TORRENT

6. LISTEN TO YOUR BRAND FANS

Spend time listening to what your brand fans are saying about you…

….Then surprise them with pro-active ideas, content, widgets etc that entertain them and make their life more interesting

LIKE EA SPORTS CREATING A COMMERCIAL IN RESPONSE TO A YOUTUBE USER COMMENT ABOUT A ‘GLITCH’ IN THE PGA ‘WALK ON WATER’ VIDEO GAME

OR ADDING VALUE TO THEIR EXPERIENCES

Wrangler Jeans has created laundromats at music festivals across the USA and Europe where Gen C can get their clothes washed – a great example of brand activation that has utility.

7. GEN C RESPECT ( GOOD ) PEER CREATED CONTENT THAT’S REAL AND DOWN TO EARTH

SPRITE ‘Truth Hunters’ thirstfortruth.com.au

Sprite bringing their ‘Brutal Honest Truth’ brand idea to life via the ‘Truthhunters’ video content series

AOL BEBO’S ‘MEET THE FRESHERS’

‘ Meet the Freshers’ is a new video series on Bebo exploring what ‘Freshers’ (Freshman) are up to during their 1 st semester at college. The weekly series is hosted by teen publishing tycoon, Tom Thurlow

8. CREATE BRAND PROPERTIES THAT CAN ENTER THE VERNACULAR

AXE CREATED THE WORLDS BEST BRAND PROPERTY IN ‘GAMEKILLERS’ GAMEKILLER LANGUAGE HAS INFILTRATED YOUTH SPEAK..VISIT ANY COLLEGE IN THE USA TO FIND GAMEKILLERS AT WORK

9. BE EXPERIMENTAL AN ALWAYS BETA MODE APPROACH (Evolving, experimenting, engaging)

10. TAKE GEN C ON AN ADVENTURE… LET THEM DISCOVER “Youth are hardwired for risky behaviour, 60% of risk taking behaviour is genetically pre – determined” Dr Marvin Zuckerman, University of Delaware on ‘Sensation Seeking Behaviour”

NOKIA’S N82 ‘URBANISTA DIARIES’ WAS A TRANSMEDIA IDEA BUILT OVER VARYING CHANNELS Four intrepid bloggers sent round the world with a Nokia N82, recording their journey. The whole project is a Nokia sponsored global relay race, where each contestant is placed 'somewhere in the world' and will encounter situations and challenges where they can use the N82 to document and share their experiences, as well as locate the next blogger to pass the baton/phone on to.

10 THINGS TO TAKEAWAY