Photo by Shakirah Shakirah
Jim Nichols (aka @catalystjim) is an expert marketer and Senior Partner at Catalyst SF. On Monday, Jim gave me a flattering ’shout out’ on iMediaconnection. Now it’s my turn to return the favor. His insightful article, “Digital Demographics: 11 Brands That Are Doing It Right” spotlights eleven campaigns, six of which are targeted to Millennials.
Here are highlights of his descriptions and critique of the six Millennial-targeted campaigns:
(Hint: Jim included lots of video in his article, to see the campaigns, click on the numbered brand names)
1. The U.S. Military
“No organization has a greater interest in appealing to teens than the military. It’s certainly no accident that the imagery in many armed services ads shows great similarity to that of a first-person shooter game. Gaming might be a keystone in military marketing, but so too are social networking, video, mobile, and tailored peer-to-peer experiences that enable prospects to speak directly with soldiers and hear firsthand accounts of life in the military.
Believe it or not, values and ideals are the central themes in all of these executions. In the sponsored games, virtue triumphs over evil. In daily activities, soldiers are more likely to be shown as relief providers after tsunamis than street-to-street fighters. You might disagree with such portrayals for moral or political reasons, but make no mistake — they are central to virtually all of these communications. And that’s because they are central to the sensibilities of today’s teens.”
2. Axe
“I am now going to talk about Axe, for no other reason than to see if iMedia Connection will let me discuss a viral effort called “Clean Your Balls” on these hallowed pages. There’s certainly a seminal idea here..Some 200,000 people are also fans of Axe and the campaign on Facebook. Axe has heavily integrated mobile into the mix as well, most notably in its “Hair Crisis Alert” SMS campaign. Overseas, the Axe brand has appealed to teens with an IM-delivered spin-the-can game that encourages teens to reveal sex secrets. Since few teens have a high privacy threshold, it offers the brand a prime opportunity to get intimate.”
3. Ford Taurus
“Ford’s Taurus effort in partnership with car lifestyle magazine Dub reflects many of these characteristics. By talking to real millenials, not actors, Ford honestly addresses past image problems, thereby making the ultimate family car relevant to the new family values of millennials. The nice rims didn’t hurt, either. But that’s part of being a millennial too: Family? Flash? Doink! Let’s have both! There was a lot more than video to this effort, with digital outdoor, social media, and brand integration on the Dub site, to give just a few examples.”
4. eHarlequin.com
“Yes, Virginia, Harlequin romance novels are definitely not just for Grandma anymore. There are still pirates with hearts of gold and dusty but decidedly unstinky cowboys on some of the covers. But Harlequin is working hard to evolve and be culturally relevant to millennials. According to Book Business, Harlequin is at the forefront of e-publishing and “enhanced editions” that combine updated potboiler text with rich content, websites, and interactive experiences especially for Gen Y. Harlequin is a leader in ebooks, offering titles on all the major platforms. In addition, the publisher offers blogging support, widgets, and badges, and extensive online marketing programs designed for the demo. Now, there’s nothing to say that all this interactivity isn’t relevant for all ages, but its success at attracting millennials is getting significant attention.”
5. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
“From where I sit, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’s new campaign is genius. How do you do health product news for a not-health-obsessed target, on behalf of an irreverent brand? Cue Gloria Estefan song! This seems quintessentially Gen X to me both because of the vintage of the song the brand parodies, and the surreal nature of the whole darned thing. There’s also the ironic fun. A thankfully non-jail-baity boy band behind our faux everywoman female lead, Megan Mullally. Majestic lyrics to boot.”
6. FreeCreditReport.com
“The ad campaign for FreeCreditReport.com, based on the fear of mundane, menial jobs, seems to be pointed squarely at Gen X. I mean, the idea of having a McJob as a result of a bad credit rating — Douglas Coupland couldn’t have written it better. While the reality of low-paying jobs is sadly known to far more people than just unlucky Gen-Xers, one of the ads comes straight out of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
In Conclusion….
The article goes on to cover five additional campaigns each targeted to older cohorts, then draws this conclusion about the differences (or similarities) to the Millennial-targeted efforts:
“There is certainly evidence of demo-specific targeting across age cohorts in digital. But having witnessed hundreds of examples in the course of writing this article, I am struck by how the medium is less central than the messages and values. Which is as it should be. It’s apparent that digital has matured to a medium that begins with an idea rather than an executional form…. Teen campaign ideas should be different than senior campaign ideas. We should talk to millennials differently than we do to Gen X or boomers. But the tools we use can come from a common list.” – Jim Nichols
Amen. Generational marketing has a tendency to focus on the question of media choices and ‘how’ we reach each age group differently. But with the rapid adoption of social media by all ages, the question becomes less about the target-appropriate platform and more about target-appropriate content. It comes down to ideas.
The idea that the idea comes first, media second (what we used to call media-neutrality) is not new. Whether we were talking about radio, TV or billboards, or are now talking about Facebook, FourSquare, or text, the idea should come first. (Perhaps this should be called platform neutrality?)
Thanks for the shout out, the terrific article and especially the reminder of what’s most important, Jim.
Marketers and Anthropologists alike consider brands to be meaning systems. The brands we choose to display, wear or just call our own say a lot about who we are. While it’s a stretch to say ‘we are the sum of our brand choices‘, it’s not as far fetched as you might think.
One of my favorite branding books is “The Culting of Brands: When Customers Become True Believers” by Douglas Atkin. The book explores the relationship between brand choice and identity. Atkins concludes that brand choice is about individual expression, not conforming. Atkin calls this the ‘central paradox of cult belonging‘.
“The common belief is that people join cults to conform. Actually, the very opposite is true. They join to become more individual. At the heart of the desire to join a cult, in fact any community to which you will become committed, is a paradox….As one cult member unequivocally put it, ‘Belonging allows the individual to become more himself.” – The Culting of Brands, page 4
Millennials know that the brands they choose to associate with telegraph who they are. As cultural ‘artifacts’, brands form a clear ‘language’ for Gen Y. It’s a language they understand and accept.
In November, Jason Potteiger wrote a post for The Next Great Generation Blog, titled, “15 Ways Millennials Think About Brands”. He begins with this observation: “For our entire lives brands have been everywhere and everything. The device of branding has become so pervasive in our lives that we now filter most things through that framework”. The last five ‘ways’ he lists speak directly to the symbolic meaning of brands and the importance of that meaning to the Millennial ’subculture’. It could be right out of Atkin’s book:
10. My brand associations are important to me, but ultimately a just one of many variables in my daily life/ equation of personal meaning and value. I dislike brands that do not understand their place in this equation.
11. Brands are used to self identify and create personal meaning. We seek out brands that represent who we are, or wish to be.
12. Individuals and groups identify similar people via their similar brand associations; this commonality creates a de facto community.
13. We are fluent in brands. We know the symbols, their messages, and the communities associated with them.
14. We speak a language of brands, we can easily construct other and larger meanings through the combination and layering of brands. (eg. Someone wearing a Red Sox hat, Converse shoes, North Face jacket, Starbucks coffee – add or subtract any element here and their brand equation or association map changes, and so does my understanding of them).
Marketers who want to appeal to Millennials need to ask themselves if they ‘Speak Brand’? This means more than just understanding image attributes; it means decoding the symbolic language of a generation.
To relate to Millennials, marketers need to be ‘culture sleuths’. Is your brand a cult? What does belonging to that cult mean to the participants? Do you understand how Millennials relate to brands in general. Do you understand how your brand and its strategic associations (celebrities, music, media, retailers) fit into this entire constellation?
Has the world finally woken up to Millennials?
Judging by the media attention focused on Gen Y yesterday, it seems we may finally have arrived at the tipping point. On Feb 24 alone, there were articles and segments that appeared around the country, sparked by the new Pew Report on Millennials:
Chicago Tribune: “Millennials Dubbed ‘Always Connected’ in Pew Report”
Washington Post: “Under 30 Americans: The Next New Dealers?”
Washington Post: “Story Lab: Quiz: How Millennial Are You?”
PBS News Hour: “Demographic Profile of a Generation”
Christian Science Monitor: “Great Recession Hits Millennials Hardest”
Huffington Post: “Our Generation: More Confident, Less Employed”
A quick Google search returned 56 ‘related articles’ for a search on “Pew Millennials“. I certainly welcome the attention on this remarkable demographic group, and I applaud Pew for its indepth coverage. But where are the marketing articles? The Pew data so far is mostly attended to by social scientists, political scientists, journalists and academics.
The marketing world, aside from youth-focused marketing firms, as yet are still fairly tone deaf about the coming shifts.
If you are interested in understanding how more mainstream marketers are reaching out successfully to Millennials, you have to dig a little deeper. MobileYouth’s profile of Ten Brands that connect with Gen Y is a good start for profiles of Ford Fiesta, Monster Energy drink and others. But once you get beyond these high profile stories the cases get a little harder to come by. Here are three less publicized, inspiring exceptions:
Houlihan’s: (Fast Company, March 1, 2010)
“Last summer, it created its own social-networking site, HQ, an invite-only “brand community” of 10,500 “Houlifans” to serve as a virtual comment card. Customers appended that a-little-too-cute prefix to all things Houli-, and they’ve helped the formerly stodgy Irish pub rebrand itself as a contemporary suburban lounge-style hangout.”
StarkSilverCreek Web Publication: (PR Web, February 17, 2010)
All Things West Coast, the company’s flagship brand, is one of the fastest growing digital media properties. Readers value inspired and thoughtful coverage of the west coast including arts (film, stage), wine country, travel, and technology. Alexa Internet, Inc. ranks starksilvercreek.com 93,401 in the US and 285,000 globally. According to Quantcast, readers are affluent (28% earn $100K+), highly educated (67% college/grad school). Generation X and Y (Millennials) account for 68% of visitors.
Herbal Essence: (Business Week, July 2008)
“The shampoo and conditioner bottles are curved so that they literally fit together on the shelf. The nesting shape not only helped Herbal Essences stand out from others on the shelf but also encouraged more young women to buy both products, driving up conditioner sales. To appeal to Millennials, the team also updated the language on the packaging. The ho-hum “dandruff” reference gave way to “no flaking away.” Names for different hair styles were changed to more youthful phrases such as “totally twisted” or “drama clean.” “We totally reframed the proposition,” says Lafley. ….soon after the shampoo was relaunched the brand was growing again, with sales growth rates in the high single digits.”
A lot is known now about how to build a more appealing brand that connects more directly with Millennials. It requires a different approach, because as anyone who reads this blog or the Pew Report knows, it’s a different kind of audience. Getting results like these requires a more collaborative approach to research and a more engaging approach to marketing.
Marketers will be wise to begin now. The rewards for early movers in categories like banking, wine, leisure travel, retailing, and media will be great, both in immediate sales lifts (like Houlihans) as well as in better positioning for future consumers. Gen Y trends have a way of migrating up the generations.
Soon it will be more than just the wine industry that is experiencing ‘classic market disruption’, it will be most industries as this 75-million strong demographic recovers from the Recession, and gets about the business of creating homes and careers. Will your brand be ready?
Meanwhile, we are launching a new page on our MillennialMarketing.wikispaces.com wiki to aggregate successful Gen Y marketing case studies. Check it out and feel free to contribute your stories.
It would be hard to find three more different brands in three more diverse categories than Google, Under Armour and Trader Joe’s. Yet each appeals strongly to Gen Y.
Google: According to blogger, Sam McRoberts, aka Samantics, Google is the ‘Millennial deity’. “While search engines in general have had a major impact, Google is very nearly the deity of Gen Y. They are dedicated to providing as much information and tools as possible, absolutely free. Sure, they charge for some things, but they have done more to bring down the cost of music, news, movies, games, and data in general than any other company.”
Under Armour: Under Armour is the brand my students pick most consistently for their semester marketing projects. According to Gen Y blogger, Greg Rollett, “those that play (or played) high school sports, or college for that matter, know that the majority of players choose Under Armour as their performance wear.”
Trader Joe’s: Trader Joe’s was one of the 15 brands named by Outlaw Consulting’s trendsetter panel as being loved precisely because they do not fit the conventions of being hip. Like Napoleon Dynamite, it is an unapologetically “dorky alternative to cool”. Other brands that fit this description? In N’ Out Burger and Jet Blue.
What makes their appeal even more remarkable is that they have accomplished it by rejecting the usual trappings of big brand marketing.
None of these big brands has a significant advertising presence. All of them are famous for not behaving like, well, a ‘big brand’. What characteristics do these three brands share that can help marketers understand what gives a brand “Millennial Appeal”?
For starters, there are qualities all three are not!
- They are not known for their overt sexiness. Is there anything less sexy than a search engine, a Hawaiian shirt or a hoodie?
- They are not known for Apple-like bleeding edge design. Trader Joe’s signs and web site have a homely, handmade appearance. Google’s simple home page has been more or less the same since day one.
- They do not have an irreverent attitude. None of these brands are known for their youthful sass.
In each case the foundation of the appeal lies more in who they are, and how they deliver value rather than what they do or their clever youthful take on marketing. Here are three qualities they all share:
1. They Are All ‘Trailblazers’.
All three brands creatively tried to do something that had not been done before. And each continues to go its own way, with little acknowledgement that they even have competition. They are originals, with a one of a kind identity. Millennials resonate with this go-your-own-way individualism. They do not feel a need to respect tradition. Here’s Sam McRoberts again:
“We detest mindless tradition. If you want us to do something, you better have a very good reason, not to mention the good sense to get out of our way and let us innovate and improve the process…”just because” doesn’t work for us, and neither does inefficiency.We epitomize creativity.”
2. They All Exhibit a Low Key Style of Marketing
Google just ran its first television commercial in the 2010 Super Bowl. Until now, it has relied almost entirely on word of mouth to support its consumer-facing and largely free services.
Likewise Trader Joe’s does little advertising and sells nothing online. It’s web site is purely informational.
Under Armour relies heavily on product placement for publicity. Despite its presence on the athletic apparel at the Olympics, it is not running Olympics-themed advertising.
The absence of overt marketing serves to heighten credibility with Gen Y. According to Outlaw’s Strategic Analyst, Holly Brickley,“Generation Y trendsetters are more drawn to brands that speak to them in a straightforward and stripped-down way, use plain packaging, and avoid excess,and stripped-down way, use plain packaging, and avoid excess.” Not shouting their message allows Gen Y to feel as if they discovered the brand on their own, enhancing their sense of ‘ownership’. Discovery is a key part of the appeal of each of these brands.
3. They All Have Strong Gen Y ‘Lifestyle Relevance’
While each brand has a pedestrian side (sports apparel, non-branded groceries, search engine), each transcends its category and has come to symbolize a way of life and a system of values that resonates with Millennials. These brands’ values are strongly aligned with Millennial values of simplicity and appreciation for the ‘non-corporate’.
Google famously strives to ‘do no evil’. Its services make life easier and more efficient, a core Gen Y value. What’s more, Google provides its services free of charge.
Trader Joe’s web site talks about itself as ‘your neighborhood grocery store. It emphasizes that its products are ‘unbranded’, ‘unconventional’ and ‘a shopping adventure’. It has a designated person in every store to handle charitable donations.
“At Trader Joe’s, you won’t find a lot of branded items. Instead, you’ll find unconventional and interesting products in the Trader Joe’s label as well as everyday basics. We buy products we think are winners and that’ll find a following among our customers. Sometimes it’s a product we intend to stock as long as it sells well; and sometimes we buy a product which is in limited supply, sell through it, and you won’t find it again. It’s all part of the shopping adventure at Trader Joe’s.”
Under Armour relied on the authenticity of real players wearing its products from its earliest days. According to Business Week, Kevin Plank, UA’s young founder spent four years tireless pitching his product to college and NFL teams.
“We convinced these big tough football players to start wearing tight-fitting synthetic shirts, which was completely new and different,” he says. In addition to stars such as Jeff George, Jerry Rice, and Plank’s Maryland teammate Frank Wycheck, big names in other sports, such as pitcher Roger Clemens, became Under Armour fans. The pros’ acceptance brings Under Armour an authenticity that advertising alone can’t create.”
Other brands with similar bases for appeal among Millennials include Zappos, Jet Blue, In N’ Out Burger, Red Bull, Target, Vitamin Water, and more. All of these brands rely less on advertising — network or viral — and more on their innate authenticity to connect with Gen Y. They don’t do things ‘by the big brand book’ and ironically that is their secret to becoming big brands.
The lessons of these three brands? Becoming ‘big’ with Gen Y is more about restraint than overt action. By avoiding many of the trappings of a mainstream brand, they become mainstream. This may be the ultimate paradox of Millennial Marketing.
Ten days ago, Coke released a video for its ‘Open Happiness’ campaign that it hopes will become a global viral sensation. The video, titled “Happiness Machine” has so far had over 1,110,000 Youtube viewings. The effort is part of a global effort on the ‘Open Happiness’ theme that includes other social media efforts, including teams sent all over the world to identify ’stories of happiness’.
Here is how Mediapost described the effort last week.
The video, shot on the Queens, N.Y., campus of St. John’s University, concludes with a title asking: “Where will happiness strike next?” and a message encouraging viewers to “Share the happiness, share the video.”
A.J. Brustein, global senior brand manager, Coca-Cola, says the video was conceived as a way to connect with teens and young adults outside of TV ads and online games. “We wanted to give them something that would spread a bit of happiness and something they could pass on to their friends to keep the happiness flowing,” he sums up.
Coke acknowledges that the effort is an experiment and future videos will depend on the success of this one.
So I asked my MBA students for their opinion via our class blog, whether or not this is a good approach for a powerful brand like Coke to use to connect with younger drinkers? Three out of four liked it and thought it was a great effort. Nearly all said it had viral potential. They especially enjoyed the essential kindness of delighting others without expecting anything in return. Here’s a sample of what they had to say.
Kathryn: “This video was an absolute delight to watch. I could not help smiling throughout the whole thing! Without getting far too philosophical, I think our society has somewhat forgotten that a small deed of good and happiness has powerful ramifications for people and how they feel. This campaign plays on that emotion very nicely, and in a way that connects that feeling with the product. Free Coke in a fun way = Happiness.”
Jack: “I think this campaign from coke is a great strategy for connecting with consumers. From an imaginative stand point I think it would be hard for someone to watch this video without wondering what else they were passing out, how they rigged that machine, or if they were going to do it again (hopefully at Notre Dame).”
Lindsay: “I enjoyed this commercial. It’s heartwarming to see how the unexpected presence of simple, pleasant things—extra cokes, pizza, flowers, balloon animals—can bring people together. It’s fun to watch a shared laugh become a celebration.”
Matt: “Coke = Good! (or happy) That’s all I could think of after watching this commercial… I think it does a great job of spreading the happiness vibe that Coke is trying to convey, particularly when you see the huge smiles of all of the college student’s faces. I think the video will go ‘viral’. It has that ‘wow’ factor that a lot of people (I know a lot of my friends will) share on social websites like facebook or twitter. Pure entertainment always sells. Go Coke! Keep entertaining me! I like it!”
Katie: “Loved it! The premise reminded me of a funnier version of the Liberty Mutual ads from a couple years ago – the ones showing people helping out strangers and other people seeing the “good Samaritanism” and in turn helping out someone themselves. I think that “feel good” aspect can really go far in our society…”
Suzy: “Super fun video! I think Coke did a great job creating an enjoyable, happy sentiment amongst viewers – a sentiment that can easily be associated with their brand after watching the clips and reactions of students.”
Robert: “The gratitude of the random act of kindness is innate in most of us, and this ad taps into that about as well as a large company could ever hope to. I am not cynical about this being unable to convince people to buy, no doubt in my mind this will have a significant impact on the buying habits of shoppers unconsciously.”
This effort reminds me of VW’s recent “FunTheory” viral campaign in its simplicity and appeal. The “Piano Stairs” video has already experienced over 10 million views on YouTube. Given the relatively low cost of production and media, if the Coke video is as successful, I think we can expect to see other big brands follow suit. It certainly isn’t a replacement for an ad campaign but offers a great way to amplify the message via social media.
This week we’ve been discussing iconic brands in our MBA Brand Strategy class at University of Notre Dame. We considered questions like What makes a brand ‘iconic? How do brands become icons? Why do brands sometimes lose iconic status?
I asked students to reflect specifically on why there are so few Millennial-specific iconic brands, and what brands do you think have the potential to become iconic for adults currently 18-29? This led to a lively discussion on our class blog, BrandStrategyMBA. Here are some of the highlights:
1. Many said it will take time to know which brands will stand the test of time, or which values will come to define this generation.
Jack: “This is a difficult topic to talk about since most iconic figures and brands don’t get that title until years after their time. When the Beatles first appeared did their fans truely feel that they were icons or did that title form over the decades that followed?”
Michelle: “I believe that in today’s culture, the so-called ‘popular’ brand is too quickly replaced by the ‘next best thing’ to even reach the beginning of iconic status. In fifteen years we will be able to identify those brands that are the past generation’s icons but it is very difficult to identify those at this moment. “
Kathryn: “Our generation seems to value instantaneous information and “the opportunity for everyone’s brand to be infamous.” When considering something in our society that does this, I immediately thought of Urbandictionary.com. It’s tagline was written to resonate with our generation: “Urban Dictionary is the dictionary you wrote. Define your world.” It doesn’t get much more appealing to our generation than that.”
Joe: “Iconic brands are things of the past. No, really. It takes a lot of time for anything to become iconic – we don’t see airports named after living presidents (do we?) and we won’t see iconic brands until they’ve at least had a solid opportunity to die. The ones that don’t – they’ll be icons someday. GE is an icon not because it’s a great company, but because it has weathered so many storms.”
Dan: “One of my first thoughts before this year would have been Tiger Woods, but now I definitely do not think he will be known as clearly as an icon. To become an icon in my opinion, you have to stand the test of time, which will only be known in time.”
2. A second theme was that Gen y is too individualistic to crown any particular brand as ‘iconic’.
Brian: “Pegging Gen Y to a single, overarching culture is difficult…and risky. In our modern age of social media and globalization, many different cultures can easily exist within the same geographic space. I believe there are many cultures within Gen Y, each currently with their own “mini icons.”
Sarah Louise: “First, I agree that we will have to take the wait and see approach with this generation’s iconic brands. Many years will have to pass before the ripple effects of today’s celebrities, politicians, etc will be completely felt. Who knew how much Michael Jackson meant to the generation until he was gone? …Second, because we have so often been told to be individuals, this generation looks to role models less. We are told be innovators, not imitators. We are segmented so much, down to the single person, that brands will have difficulty appealing to this generation as a mass market.”
3. Some students ventured that brands like Google, Apple and Facebook would become iconic by representing this generation’s relationship to readily available information.
Chris: “…at least one of the iconic brands for adults 18-29 would be the iPod. This generation feels the same way about information accessible on the internet that some people feel about the weather in the Midwest and that is if you don’t like it wait 5 mins and it will change. … They can provide information and if it proves wrong they can just as easily provide a retraction. For that reason I feel that blogging brands will be iconic. Most specifically I feel that blogspot with the backing of Google will remain one of the more identifiable/iconic brands.”
Mauricio: “… GOOGLE with only 12 years of life the brand is used for the 90% of Internet users and still growing. In 2005 It became the 38th brand in the world (Interbrand), but in 2009 ranking is the 7th brand in the world just behind Coke, IBM, Microsoft, GE, Nokia and McDonalds. My second brand will be FACEBOOK…“
Katie: “I’d have to agree with Chris that the iPod – or, more broadly, Apple – will end up being an iconic brand. …One more to just throw out there is Target. While it was not founded during this generation, the big expansion and huge gain in popularity was a more recent occurrence. Maybe it’s just because I shop there ALL the time, but to me, Target has definite iconic brand potential!”
Forrest: “From my observation, the Gen Y people hope they can been treated as special and important. So they really want to have their own personalities and want to be different from others. So we can expect the brands expressing uniqueness and individuality will become their icons, like Iphone, Itouch, Ipod….. The word “I” can really make them feel special.”
4. Others ventured that the personal brand or social networks would become the iconic ideals of this generation.
Sarah: “Who needs icons when we have a rotating cast of the Jersey Shore or The Bachelor?? =) I remember that Time Magazine that came out and declared that our generation is our own brand. I do agree but I don’t think that lends itself to a culture or a time period that creates icons although I guess time will tell. If I had to add someone to the list, I’d add Obama.”
Kate: “As for iconic brands for our generation, we are ourselves our most iconic brand, and not just because Time Magazine told us so in 2006 with You: as the Person of the Year. Who better for us to be the first to ‘discover’ our brands? …We now like Lady Gaga because there’s no one else like her, and shun N Sync and boy bands because there are a million copy cats.”
Lindsay: “It’s difficult to pinpoint an iconic brand for Generation Y because we have become our own icons. Armed with a sense of self-efficacy and self-definition, members of Generation Y define their ideals and values individualistically rather than as a collective whole. We clamor for attention; we are the generation of “me”… which is not necessarily a negative. Mes are doers. They have confidence in themselves and their ideas. They believe that they can accomplish and some have/will eventually achieve something that renders them worthy of iconic status. Still, considering this “generation me” perspective, I think that what may be the iconic brand of our generation is, in fact, the social network. The collective set of venues through which we become our beloved “mes”.
Cole: “As others have mentioned, the rapid changes in technology are not limited to the newest electronic devices but rather change the way we live and interact with one another. … In this regard, iconic brands are affected as well, and as speed and efficiency become more and more important I believe iconic brands will rise and fall more rapidly as well.”
5. Some students challenged the whole notion of generation-specific brand icons.
Amy: “I do think that the strongest iconic brands are able to transcend multiple generations, continuously reinventing themselves to remain relevant to the current culture. Along with Coke, I would say Nike is another iconic brand and one that really took off with our generation. I don’t recall owning another brand of tennis shoes from about the third to twelfth grade. But, Nike is so much more than shoes and has been able to integrate its products into other iconic brands of our generation, such as through its Apple ipod partnership. Nike has also helped define many of the iconic athletes of our generation – Jordan, Tiger, the Williams’ sisters, Lance.”
Mathew: “Bono is an ironic choice, but still relevant. However, I do think the choice is relevant, since he has transformed himself into a credible celebrity humanitarian activist. Building on this theme of transformation, I actually remember being referred to as the Nintendo Generation in the ’80s. Now, Nintendo has reinvented itself as an interactive gaming juggernaut with the Wii that appeals oddly to every generation…Perhaps many of the icons of Generation Y will be reinventions of past icons. Madonna laid the foundation, Lady Gaga seems to be the next generation. A few more examples would be: Lord of the Rings replacing Star Wars, Twilight replacing The Lost Boys, American Idol replacing Star Search, The Prius replacing the Metro, The Killers replacing New Order, Coachella replacing Lollapolooza, and Facebook replacing Myspace.
Kristin: “I have definitely been a Bachelor follower for some time. But I really didnt jump on the Jersey Shore bandwagon til a few weeks ago. It is shows like this that get so many people talking, tweeting, facebooking, and blogging about them which then cause people who normally wouldnt watch to go watch and be part of hype. Now I am not sure if either show at this point are iconic. I do agree with the previous comments that time will tell if things become iconic. But I do think social media will certainly speed up the process of determining what is iconic.”
Jonathan: “I agree …iconic brands in the traditional sense have gone the way of the dodo, simply because of the fractured nature of consumer experiences in the new millenium. Just as we’ll never see another Michael Jackson or Rolling Stones, and just as we’ll never see NBC or the other broadcast networks have the kind of ratings dominance they once had, the era of mass popular appeal has come to an end as digital technologies have allowed people to form their own communities around their own interests and establish their own dominant brands within their different social circles.”
Ali: “Most of the technology related brands mentioned above may be hugely popular amongst 18-29 year olds, but most all of them are also popular beyond just this demographic. Hence, in my mind, these brands pass more as icons for the period in which they are popular rather than for a specific demographic. Youtube for example is a recent phenomenon. So is Gmail, the iphone, ebay, and the internet in general. But do these ‘brands’ represent 18-29 year olds any more than they do current 29-35 year olds? I think not! What about the Obama brand? While Obama won the election largely on the strength of 18-29 year olds, is his brand an icon for this demographic, or is it more an icon for the post-bush sentiment for something different?”
Rob: “The biggest part of an icon is that it has to transcend just the product, and companies simply don’t control that. For that reason, I would agree that the idea of a generation-specific iconic brand is inconsistent with being an icon. It’s the difference between, say, Google and Intel. Google has more or less come to represent the combined benevolent power of the internet. .. Intel has been a brand I have been a lot more exposed to it, but it lacks the same resonance with our generation that Google encompasses.”
Suzy: “One reason why I think that it has become more challenging for brands to become icons in our time is that we are a very instant gratification generation. We know what we want, (which is usually the newest, best innovation) and we want it now, if not, yesterday. As a result, our attention span is also a lot shorter and we may not give brands the time and thought that they would have otherwise received generations ago.”
6. Nevertheless, a few names did emerge as potential generational icons, especially the idea that celebrities or people brands would be the most likely to endure:
Laura: “Red Bull / Rockstar / Other awful tasting energy drinks – Okay I am a little biased on this one, but here is another opportunity to create an iconic brand. Red Bull did not make a huge appearance into mainstream culture until the 18-29 age group was an ideal target market. Because of this, they have a product that currently associates with this generation.”
Matt: “I’d have to agree with Sarah that Obama has to be what I would call an ‘instant icon’ for our generation. Up to the time of the election, our generation has been known for being less than productive, and thus associated with the negative economic aspects of recent years…and so when Obama came on the scene as an ‘agent of change’ (I believe that’s what he ran on), it stuck to our generation as an instant icon. Hopefully if things turn out okay with Obama’s years in office, hopefully we can be known as the generation that restored our nation to greatness and prosperity.”
Paul: “Traditional brands and products have extremely short life-cycles now Very few brands stay in the public’s consciousness long enough to turn a profit let alone turn into icons for a generation. When I think about the icons of my childhood, I think about people and memorable events. I remember Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk while performing Billie Jean. I remember Michael Jordan taking off from the free-throw line. People, regardless of their attention span, will remember transcendent people and performances. No technological development can replicate the feeling of awe we feel when we witness a spectacular act, even if it’s in something as mundane as music or sports. This is why the icons for our generation will come from “people brands”.”
The unaptly named “Spring” semester has commenced at The University of Notre Dame, where I teach marketing. The standard issue apparel is, without a doubt, North Face. North Face puff jackets, shiny coats and fuzzy fleeces are everywhere. The logo is nearly as ubiquitous as ND’s own. (Yes, I am wearing North Face, as well. Why not? They are WARM and South Bend in January is NOT).
With this kind of popularity, one would think the North Face brand could relax a bit. But no, they are suing an enterprising Missouri teen for trademark infringement.
Jimmy Winkelman, 18, has been making and selling his “South Butt” logo-wear for two years. It was a side job. Winkelmann told ABC News he turned a profit of about $4,000 the first year, selling about 200 items in total. “I was like, ‘How did they even find me?’” Winkelmann said. “It was ridiculous.”
With the advent of the North Face suit, his ‘ridiculous’ company and parody products have garnered so much publicity (NPR Marketplace, etc.), he now makes in a day what he made in years. In fact, he seems to have funded his entire college education.
As a marketer, I certainly can appreciate the damage done by knockoff and counterfeit brands. But this is clearly a parody, only made possible by the enormous popularity of North Face. (Apparently Patagonia suffered something similar with Ratagonia-labeled products in the past). It is more of a compliment than a threat. No one who sees this brand could possibly think it was related to North Face. And the idea that it is damaging the incredible equity of the North Face brand or diminishing its sales is simply ‘ridiculous’. Here is the ‘disclaimer’ on the South Butt web site, in case there are any lingering doubts of its non-affliliation with North Face:
“We are not in any fashion related to nor do we want to be confused with The North Face Apparel Corp. or its products sold under “The North Face” brand. If you are unable to discern the difference between a face and a butt, we encourage you to buy North Face products.”
My advice to North Face? Lighten up, else they find themselves apologizing ‘for being a butt’.
Is Colbert a brand icon for Gen Y?
I was recently asked, “what question would I most want to ask Millennials?”
As a professional market researcher (my ‘real’ job is President of Brand Amplitude, a market research and consulting firm) that’s easy to answer: my biggest question is how they relate to brands.
More specifically, I am curious why there aren’t more Millennial-specific ‘iconic’ brands? Gen Y likes pretty much the same brands everyone likes — Coca-Cola, Apple, Trader Joe’s, Nike, Vogue, Facebook, Google, Zappos, etc.
Brands are relationships. If Millennials are really different from the rest of us, shouldn’t they want, even demand, their owniconic brands?
Let me first define what I mean by ‘brand icon’. Doug Holt’s terrific book, How Brands Become Icons, says brands are the consequence of successful ‘mythmaking’. Iconic brands are durable because their myths transcend prevailing fads and tap into something more enduring. But myths need to be updated. Brands that endure for decades find ways to make their myths relevant to the cultural conversations of the day. This is what is meant by successful ‘brand stewardship’.
Cultural icons are exemplary symbols that people accept as shorthand to represent important ideas. The crux of iconicity is that the person or the thing is widely regarded as the most compelling symbol of a set of ideas or values that a society deems important. Icons come to represent a particular kind of story — an identity myth — that their consumers use to address identity desires and anxieties. Icons have extraordinary value because they carry a heavy symbolic load for their most enthusiastic consumers. – Doug Holt, How Brands Become Icons
By this standard, very few brands, if any, qualify as ‘icons’ for Millennials. The commercial product brand closest to being an icon would probably be Apple. Apple has managed with its brilliant PCGuy-MacGuy spots, experiential retail stores and astonishing history of relevant innovation to represent the values of the Millennial generation. Studies have shown most Millennials identifywith Mac Guy. Today’s Wall Street Journal blog, Digits, features an article titled, “Apple’s Significant Store Strategy“. Apple is slated to open as many as 40 more stores this year. It just opened its fourth New York location and has been overwhelmed with applications to work there; nearly 10,000 people submitted applications for 220 positions. From the beginning Apple viewed stores and the Genius Bar as an extension of its brand strategy. Today their biggest problem is that they can’t build enough of them or big enough to satisfy the demand.
The only other brands I can think of that meet Holts’ qualification for iconic status for Gen Y are people brands. Millennials famously projected their hopes and optimism onto Barack Obama (and his marriage with Michelle), which made him a generational icon. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert could easily become iconic, if they aren’t already. A thoughtful brandchannel post explains how Colbert has ‘mastered TV2.0′, involving his audiences in ’stunts’ that increase their engagement with Brand Colbert. They go so ar as to cal lhim a ‘branding genius’.
The Emmy- and Peabody-winning satirist, author of I Am America (And So Can You!), has a cult following for a reason. His blend of over-the-top caricature and pastiche is the sugar that makes the medicine go down. His biggest stunts — shaving his head while broadcasting from Iraq; running for president in 2007 in his home state of South Carolina (“First to Secede. First to Succeed!”); his mock tribute to George Bush at the 2006 White House Correspondents dinner — are what reaches the wider audience. But what really makes Colbert popular, and wherein lies his branding genius, is that he is a master practitioner of TV 2.0: broadcasting that engages his own audience as participants in his stunts.
For example, using his show, Colbert motivated his “Colbert Nation” to swarm online polls and vote to rename a bridge in Hungary as The Stephen Colbert Bridge, or to name part of a NASA space module “Colbert.” (It was the toilet. Both were successful.)
He called on viewers to toy with Wikipedia, and launched a Star Wars green screen challenge in which his audience uploaded videos into which they had edited themselves, eventually enlisting George Lucas himself.
These stunts engage Colbert’s audience and makes them feel like they are a genuine part of the show. Each victory is lauded by Colbert on air, which embraces his audience. In the end, the audience feels as if it is a genuine part of the Colbert brand, which of course it is.
Colbert latest audience-engaging brand-expanding stunt? To sponsor the U.S. speed skating team. No joke. Colbert is pushing fans to donate online so that the United States speed skating team ends up wearing Colbert-branded uniforms during competition.
Brand marketers aspiring to be iconic Millennial brands could do well to study, Obama, Stewart and Colbert. These celebrities have endeared themselves by tapping into the zeitgeist of Millennial values and myths.
This week, Miracle Whip brought attention to its ‘We-will-not be ignored’ Millennial-targeted campaign by smartly leveraging Colbert’s recent attacks (mayo should be slathered not slandered). Miracle Whip sent a funny letter to Colbert (“Mr. Colbert, we found your attacks a little harsh, occasionally funny and at times wholly inacurate – our target is 18-35 not 34″) and purchased commercial time on his show.
What brands do you think have the potential to be icons for Gen Y? Why aren’t there more already?
One of the basic tenets of generational marketing is that each generation is uniquely defined by the culture and events of their growing up years. My generation grew up in the golden age of dramatic TV series and sitcoms. We knew the prime time line ups and talked about them at school. We can still recite the Gilligan’s Island song at the drop of a hat. Farrah Fawcett’s passing was mourned by many women who aspired to be Jill on Charlie’s Angels.
For those coming of age in the 70’s and 80’s, Star Wars movies defined their childhood and teen entertainment. And for Millennials, Harry Potter perfectly spanned, and in many ways defines, their growing up years.
As this mega-media dynasty grinds to its conclusion next summer, it will mark the end of an era. A child born in 1987 was 11 when 11-year old Harry received his owl-post admission letter to Hogwarts, and will be 22 when the 17-year old Harry finally vanquishes Voldemort. Little wonder Millennials consider Harry Potter to be their own, despite its cross generational appeal. My daughter can’t remember a time when she wasn’t waiting for the next book or movie. She even dressed up for the midnight showing this week, much as she has for each event of the past 10 years.
There’s more to this than coincident timing. Harry was as much shaped by Millennials and their times as they were shaped by him. Just as J.K. Rowling set out to create an archetype of timeless values, set in a totally novel world, so too Millennials espouse what used to be universal values as their own: Multi-culturalism, heroicism, teamwork, learning, contributing to the greater good.
The simultaneous increase in Internet penetration made it easy for Harry Potter to transfer its fantasy world to the web and become one of the first truly multi-media franchises. No sooner did the book become a movie, than it also spawned video games, trivia games, Internet memes, mugglecasts, Harry Potter Puppet pals videos, music acts (Wrock) and more. As the first to ‘discover’ Harry Potter, Millennials feel a special affinity to the ‘boy who lived’. It provides a shared bond and culture. Just start chanting Snape, snape, severus snape – DUMBLEORE! in a college dorm and you may be surprised to see what happens. That puppet pals episode has over 65 million views on YouTube. Finally, Harry Potter is a global phenomenon; it was an experience shared by Millennials all over the world, and may even have contributed their remarkably similar values.
I’m not sure what the parallel would be for my generation, but I am quite sure that Gen Z will not have the same relationship with HP as my 15 and 18-year old Millennial kids. The question is, what will take its place?
I found a post today on a financial analysis blog, SeekingAlpha.com, It is so provocative and insightful, I am going to share it in (nearly) its entirety.
The basic question is whether Millennials will find Wal-Mart’s value proposition appealing — and if they don’t, what are the implications for Wal-Mart’s future? I don’t know whether or not Millennials will or will not embrace Wal-Mart, but as Ken Gronbach, the author of this post points out, it’s not a slam dunk. In fact, after I posted the link on Twitter, one of my Gen Y followers replied to the question, “I hope not!”
“(Wal-Mart’s) retail concept is not about selection or breadth of assortment and it is certainly not about short runs of anything. This concept, therefore, would struggle with the fashion tastes of a new market and therein lies the problem. Generation Y, born 1985-2004 and currently between the ages of 5-24 and the biggest generation in U.S. history is the new market. And new markets generally have very fickle tastes. If they don’t want something, it doesn’t matter if it is free–they just don’t want it. Wal-Mart is very used to dictating what their customers should buy–large quantities of very cheap retailer’s choice items.”
“Wal-Mart is a Baby Boomer-based company. Boomers were born 1945 to 1964, and Wal-Mart has decades of experience catering to the clearly defined tastes of this generation who are currently 45- to 64-years-old. Wal-Mart has figured out what the mature Boomer market buys. They have also refined this demand to the narrowest selection possible, almost telling Boomers what they will buy. Boomers in turn are okay with this because when you are between 45- and 64-years-old you have pretty defined tastes and preferences that influence your buying of stuff. If Wal-Mart does not have what a Boomer really wants, but does have something close at a very low price, the Boomer will buy it.”
“So where is the rub? It’s simple. When consumers hit about 50 years old, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, their demand for stuff begins to subside. At 60 years old a person pretty much has all the stuff he or she needs and then some. At 60, one’s body has stopped changing so one can wear clothes longer, a lot longer. If you want to see what was fashionable thirty years ago go to a Miami retirement community. The point here is that the bloom is off the rose of the Boomers’ consumption of things. The Boomer population is a huge bell shaped curve with many Boomers turning sixty at its leading edge and with its very top cresting at 50-years-old in 2007. All of this means that Wal-Mart needs to find a new market fast if it wants to continue doing business.”
“But where does Wal-Mart turn? The two U.S. generations over 60 do not have the critical mass to serve their infrastructure, and besides, for the most part they have stopped consuming. The U.S. population now 25- to 44-years-old is a non-homogeneous combination of the small native born Gen. X (nine million fewer than the Boomers) and the free standing market of Latino immigrants.”
“So who’s left? It is Gen. Y, the largest and most powerful generation of consumers this nation has ever seen. Will they be the solution to Wal-Mart’s sales problems?”
“No. Gen. Y is an emerging market, a huge bell-shaped curve with its peak at age 19. They are inhaling entertainment products, fashion, food, electronics and transportation. Selection is everything to them. They do not care about low price unless it is exactly the item they want. Their tastes change daily. They don’t know what they will want six months from now. Wal-Mart’s limited selection, low price offering to the Boomer will not and cannot translate to Gen. Y.”
“Oh yes, and one more thing. Gen. Y is on track to become the greenest and most humanitarian generation in U.S. history. If one wants to do business with them they had better be very green and very nice to their fellow mankind. And popular perception is that Wal-Mart has a dismal record on both accounts. Perception is reality. This fact could seriously injure Wal-Mart’s business all by itself.”
