Generation Y, also known as Generation Einstein 3.0, has become too intelligent to be effectively marketed to through traditional advertising methods. They have been inundated with media messages and advertisements their whole lives, and have learned to tune them out. To successfully engage this demographic, brands need to move from marketing to youths to marketing with youths by having genuine conversations and understanding what they want rather than assuming they know. Attention has become the biggest cost in youth marketing.

1. Generation Einstein 3.0
“A deeper look into Generation
Y, how we think, and key
aspects that brands are
overlooking. Welcome to our
world, Generation Einstein 3.0
Benassi, 24 Mel, 21 Fad, 20

2. “Any intelligent fool can make things
bigger, more complex, and more
violent. It takes a touch of genius --
and a lot of courage -- to move in the
opposite direction."
-Albert Einstein

3. An entire generation, brought up
with television, the internet, and
now, smartphones. Blasted with
constant messages by the media,
being advertised to left, right,
and centre, this is a generation
that is smart enough to figure
out what’s real, what matters,
and what doesn’t.
Nature changes
along with us.

4. What is “Generation Einstein, 3.0”?
“Generation Einstein 3.0” is a nickname given
to Generation Y (17 – 27 year-old youths).
They are called “Generation Einstein”,
because of their extreme intelligence, when it
comes to day-to-day life.
We’re not talking about advanced physics or
rocket science here.
But rather, they are intelligent enough to
digest and process all the information that
the media is forcing onto them, and they can
tell the difference between a gimmick, and
something genuine.
It has become extremely hard to sell anything
to Generation Einstein.

5. “The greatest power that Generation
Einstein possesses, is the power to
collectively block out whatever you’re
saying. They couldn’t care less”.
Bernard Hor, 28, 2011
Leading Youth Specialist.

6. Whenever we’re bombarded by
advertisements, these are probably the
messages that marketers think they’re
giving us:
# “Come and look at us, we’re
# “Don’t you think you’d look better
interesting.”
wearing this?”
# “Check this out, it’s cool.”
# “All the cool kids are using us”
# “We’re probably better than whatever
# “You’re missing out if you don’t use us”
you’re currently using.”
# “With enough good behavior, your
parents will definitely get this for you.”

7. THIS is what we actually hear:
# “Blah Blah Blah”.
# “Like, whatever”.
# “Same old story”.
# “We just want you to
# “Same thing, different buy our stuff”
brand”.
# “You’re just another
# “Pleeeease make us cool”. statistic to us”.
# “Blah blah blah”. # “ Yeah, you’re
important. As long as
# “We’re no different from the you buy our stuff!”
1000 other advertisements
you’ve seen today”.

8. After decades of being bombarded
with advertisements left, right, and
centre…
… Generation Y has simply learnt
how to block out whatever they
deem as “Unimportant”.
Advertisements just fade into the
darkness, along with thousands of
their counterparts that we see on a
daily basis.

9. “Nowadays, nobody ever wakes up
thinking about a particular brand. Brands
are like, the last thing on our minds, unless
they’re important to us, and help us
achieve things that otherwise we wouldn’t
be able to do without them”.
“We don’t hate advertisements. We just
don’t really care about them”.
“We’ve been watching TV and tuning in to
the radio for decades. We’ve learned how
to tune out all the unnecessary stuff. Like
whenever I have the time to catch House
MD on TV, the minute it cuts to
commercials, I flip the channel”.
“Everyone does it”.
-Zhen Cui, 24
Youth Specialist

10. Generation Einstein is getting too
smart to continue being advertised
too.
Let’s face the facts.

11. The time has come, where
marketing to youths is no longer
enough. It’s time to engage them.
Stop marketing TO. Start marketing WITH.

12. “I’m waiting for the day when a brand will
actually come and ask me what I want,
instead of thinking that they have me all
figured out”.
“Every member of our generation has a story
to tell, and in my experience, the brands that
help us tell our stories are the ones that we
stick with for a good few years”.
“Nowadays, it’s not just about engaging
Generation Einstein, it’s about removing the
barriers that prevent that engagement”.
Advertisements don’t work on me and my
mates anymore, we’re looking for something
real.
Otherwise, it’s the same old thing, different
day.
-Melody Bendindang
Youth Specialist

13. If Generation Einstein is your key
demographic, then you need to
pay attention very closely.

14. “Generation Einstein understands the
difference between brands being real, and
brands SAYING that they’re real”.
-Peter Van Stolk

15. “When you’re marketing without money,
you need to stay true to the fact that you
need to make an emotional connection”
-CEO of Jones Soda

16. “Our competition spends over a billion
dollars a year on marketing. We can’t afford
to, so we can’t play by their rules”
-Peter Van Stolk.
“If you only follow the rules of
business, then you’re always
going to follow what your
competitors do”.

17. “We’re not in the business of
keeping media companies alive.
We’re in the business of
connecting with our customers”.
-Trevor Edwards
VP Global Brand Nike

18. “We’re moving from an era of
finding customers for our
products, to an era of finding
products for our customers”
-Seth Godin
In youth Marketing, being safe is the
riskiest thing you can do.
-Henrik Habberstad

19. “When it comes to
Youth Marketing,
Attention is your
biggest cost”
-Graham Brown

20. Let’s put the scales, matrices
and statistics on hold, for just a
little while.
Let’s sit down and have a real
conversation. An entire Generation is
dying to talk. You just have to listen.

21. “Not everything that counts can be
counted, and not everything that
can be counted, counts”.
-Albert Einstein