One of the more gratifying aspects of blogging for nearly two years is the satisfaction of seeing predictions become reality.  Another is seeing Gen Y trends migrate to other age cohorts.  Gen Y, because of its size and influence, is a harbinger of trends. This alone makes them worth watching, as Campaign Obama and numerous other marketers have learned.

A new book,  featured yesterday in USA Today,  says Millennials have significantly impacted retailer practices in technology and merchandising. Titled  ‘Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail’, they call Gen Y “the taste-makers, influencers, and most enthusiastic buyers of today,” who will become “the mature, high-income purchasers of the future.”  The authors conducted surveys and focus groups, interviewed hundreds of Gen Yers, spoke with retail executives and spent lots of time in malls.  Here are some examples of how they say Gen Y has changed shopping for all consumers:

•More creative, technically advanced websites (50% of retailers redesigned their sites last year). 

•A wide availability of online customer reviews (Gen Y writes half of them). 

•A faster stream of product introductions (Gen Y gets bored fast). 

•Bigger, more comfortable dressing rooms (Gen Yers like to bring in friends to review outfits).

 Here are a few more examples of Millennial trends that jumped, or are jumping, to the mainstream:

1. Don’t Trust What you Hear in the Media or Ads:  I first wrote of this in Ad Age, based on direct observation from teaching marketing at Notre Dame. Students automatically dismissed any claim made by advertisers as self-serving and therefore untrustworthy.  For evidence check out the blog, The Marketing Student. Title of the latest post? “How Kit Kat Made Me Realize Marketing Is Evil”.  Now we have new research from Pew that says trust in the media has hit a new low. “Just 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate.”

2. Internet News. Two years ago when we asked young people what newspaapers they read, we were stunned to see most of them say ‘Yahoo’. I wrote: “Mobile viewing, sharing stories on social networks and video sites, e-mail and RSS all make it easier for consumers to customize their news. In becoming their own ‘news editors’ and ‘repackagers’ Millennials are leading the way. Social media offers a way for Millennials to control and shape their news by filtering it through friends or reporters they trust.” Today, Pew says  42% of people say they get their national and international news mostly from the Internet compared to 33% for newspapers.

3. Social Media Displaces Email for Communicating: Earlier this year, we noted that most Millennials only use email to register for online services and communicate with their parents, and rely on text messaging and social media for everything else. Now we see adults and businesses embracing Facebook in record numbers. For more incredible statistics on why Social media is not a youth driven fad, see this excellent 4 minute video by Socialnomics.

4. Fresh Food. Jamba Juice, Chipotle, Homemade Pizza and McDonald’s all got it right: Young people were early adopters of fresh food, and now  ‘freshness’ is the next big trend in food marketing.  Millennials choose fresh food as their ‘comfort foods’ and love visiting farmer’s markets, gourmet retail stores and recipe web sites. Now, sophistication in food is growing across the board, thanks in part to the interest of Millennials in gourmet food preferences and a desire for locally grown foods. They even have their own Food Network, Food2.0.

Here are some additional Gen Y marketing trends we have been watching and expect to migrate up:

• Environmentalism
• Frugality and moderated economic expectations
• Volunteerism
• Lifelong learning
• Experiences over materialism
• Multi-generational living
• Career-life balance
• Preference for authentic, iconic brands

(P.S.  For related insights on how Millennial research firm, Outlaw Consulting, makes trend predictions based on “What the Cool Kids Want” see my July 11 post.