The Generational Struggle From the Inside Out Blueprint for Success Brown Bag Session January 9, 2008 Kari S. Gabriel, M.Ed, APR VP of Communications Interact

The Generational Struggle

From the Inside Out

Blueprint for Success Brown Bag SessionJanuary 9, 2008

Kari S. Gabriel, M.Ed, APRVP of Communications

Interact Communications

Why It’s Important

• Multiple generations serving four generations in the marketplace

• We recruit, serve and depend on multiple generations

• Different values, experiences, styles, and attitudes create:

– Misunderstandings

– Frustrations

– Disconnects

• Our biggest mistake is marketing to OURSELVES

Workplace Effects

Increasing job pressure

Increasing complaints

“Vote with your feet” mentality

Outreach EffectsDisconnect between what you love and what your target audience loves

Difficult getting them to embrace the “Our Tools” (which are the correct tools)Frustration with media preparation & values

Frustration with messaging creation (how to make them care)

Part One

Who’s Who

The Generations

Traditionalists Born 1925-194575 Million

Baby Boomers Born 1946-196480 Million

Generation X Born 1965-198046 Million

Gen Y / Echo Boom

Millennial

Born 1980-200276 Million

The Generations

Gen Y 1981 – 2003 Ages 3 – 27

Gen X 1965 – 1980 Ages 28 - 43

Baby Boomers 1946-1964

Ages 44 - 62

Traditional 1925 - 1945

Age 63+

Critical Issues

You are being held prisoner by Traditionals and Boomers

You are being held prisoner by old concepts of communication

The “I AM the Audience” Syndrome

The “Field of Dreams” Syndrome

Who They Are

Traditional Boomer Gen X Millennial

Generation as Team

“We”

Generation as Icon“US”

Defining Generation

Generation as Individual

“I”Rebels/

Influencers

Generation as Philosophy

“ALL”Conscience

John Wayne Movies

(All of Them)

Star Trek(All of Them)

SeinfeldThe

Simpsons

BlossomDawson’s

Creek

What They ExperiencedTraditional Boomer Gen X Gen Y

World War IIKorean WarPandemicsCold War

Great Depression

Radio

Rock & RollProtests/Riots

Space exploration

Vietnam WarRacial Divides

Sexual revolution

Television

DivorceDriven to

independenceAIDS Era Maturity

Crack/Gangs/Violence

Downsized parents

Information explosion

Cell Phone

IntegrationUnderstand

Multi-layered information

Brought up in the era of brands

UnityOptimistic

Reared in the era of psychology

Recycling

The Web

What it Feels Like

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Part Two

Reaching Them

Traditionalists

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Traditionalists

Age 63+

Senior staff & management

Significant voting population

Parents/Grandparents

Major donors

Icons

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Iconic Sayings

“It’s not the easy thing, but it’s the right thing

“Do the Right Thing”

The Problem With Them Is:

They want it the way they want it.

They were raised in a waste-not want-not world so they don’t want things that are cheap, wild or edgy

Marketing Inside

Process, Protocol AND “Reasons” “Spelled Out”

Always keep them informed

Explain in terms of competition - they understand competition

Marketing OutsideIt’s for the children, the future

It’s not the “easy” thing

Pass it on - magnificent obsession

How to Reach Them

Television News

Opinion Leaders

Newspaper & Print

39% of the audience

2 out of 5 social/civic organizations

40% of the audience

Speak to Their Sense of HistoryQuickTime™ and a

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Speak to “It’s Not Too Late”

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Baby BoomersQuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor


Boomers

Ages 44 - 62

Senior management & staff

Rebels/Influencers

Largest purchasing power generation

The parents of Gen X & Y (49% of them)


Influential People






mailto:[email protected]



Iconic Saying

“Make a Difference”


They think everything should speak to them…they ARE the audience.

Many of them delude themselves with the idea that they are still “cool”

Marketing Inside

“New & Unique” - Individualistic

High ideals, setting the standard

Puts them in the know

Marketing Outside

Leaving a legacy

Still blazing trails, still rebels

The role model

How to Reach Them

Television News

Opinion Leaders

Newspaper & Print

Direct Mail

44% of the audience

2 out of 5 social/civic organizations

40% of the audience

Most likely generation to read their mail, & their kids’s

Speak to Their Rebel

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Recognize They Are TiredQuickTime™ and a


Influential People/Events




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Iconic Sayings

“Show me the money”“So not worth it”“Greed is good”


They don’t trust you, because it’s all baloney

They actually are still cool and they know the rest of us are not

They think most of us are chumps

Marketing Inside

“Ask their opinion” - and then do it

Give them unique opportunities

Use direct, clear communication

Reciprocity - You go first

Marketing Outside

Savvy, cynical messages

No hyperbole

Pragmatic- prove it

Sarcasm - throw stones at glass houses & talk to their inner monologue

How to Reach Them

Television News (On the Comedy Channel)

Lifestyle Events

Web

Permission Marketing

Gen X and Y are >78% of the audience

Family events & cultural currency events

>86% are web savvy

You deliver first

Speak to their world-weary, “get their own way” cynicQuickTime™ and a


Speak to their practical (take no prisoner) side



What They Like(87% of Gen X)

Broadband (50%)Surf for Content (Travel & Banking)Health (84%)IM (52%)TM (44%)Function not funContent consumersDropping landlines in record

numbers

Big Issue

Their lives are overly complex… so looking for simplification and function

Offer them products & services that simplify

Market Death

• Make them stand in lines

• Be condescending

• Warm fuzzy media

• No cookie trails in websites

Gen YQuickTime™ and a


How Different?Gen Y versus Gen X



How Different?Gen Y versus Boomer




Influential People/Events




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Iconic Sayings

“Been There. Done That. Got the T-Shirt”“Think Globally, Act Locally”“SNF” (hint: so not…….)“Seriously?” “Seriously.”


They trust you, but they HAVE to go where their friends are going.

They are partly passive and party assertive… think light switch

Marketing Inside

Group events focusing on the herd - think social

Digital communication - rather than F2F

Make it FUN

Marketing Outside

Two-fers & Value

No hyperbole

Fun, clever, authentic

Build on cool and control

Experiential versus safe

How to Reach Them

Television

Web

Permission Marketing

Absolutely target (By cable/by show)

<10% are not web-dependent

Offer value in groups

Digital WorldThey are the leading producers of digital content

Speak to their “Imagination”QuickTime™ and a


Big Issue

Their brains are wired for ….

complexity

What They Like(87% of Gen Y)

Y-rlessSurf for fun (younger = greater)Integrate web & cellIM (75% do it & 66% do it daily)TM (54% do it & 60% do it daily)Interactivity (games)Instant gratificationSelf expression &

personalizationMales are mobile and hard to

reach

What They Like (Specifically)

47% download music15% maintain a blog71% online banking9% pod or vod cast68% have multiple emails42% keep their .edu active64% look for viral video73% prefer an email/web alumni

NL2005 Y2M

Market Death

• No web service or web based messaging

• No complexity in website

• Traditional media

• One2One messaging that ignores the group

Mindset List

Beloit College - Wisconsinwww.beloit.edu~pubaff/mindset/

The Class of 2011…• The Berlin Wall - what’s that?

• There has always been Diet Coke

• They have always had cable

• Thongs no longer come in pairs and slide between

the toes

• Michael Jackson has always been white.

• They have always had email

• Nelson Mandela has always been free

• Stores have always had scanners at the check out

• Jack Nicholson is mainly known as “The Joker”

• Bill Gates has always been worth a billion dollars (or

so)

Your Dilemmas

• Marketing to multiple generations

• Consistent messages across multi-generations

Strategic ambiguity

Cross-Generational Marketing Elements

Identity is based on existing attitudes in audience

Differentiation is based on reframing

It must inspire internally

It must stick - in different dark minds

Constructive ambiguity

Convince the insider Boomers to listen (and be fair)

Segment your message and media

Make your website using POD’s

Be strategically & constructively ambiguous

How to Rule

Statistics on Media Usage From Interact’s Annual Media Preferences Study

www.interactcom.com

Recommended Reading

Wise Up to Teens: Insigh t into Marketing and Advertising to Teenagers, 2nd edition, by Peter Zollo,; New Strategist Publications, Inc. 1999; ISBN: 1-88507020-9 Generations: The History of America’s Future 1584 - 2069, by William Strauss & Neil Howe; William & Morrow & Company 1991; ISBN: 0-688-11912-3 The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy, by William Strauss & Neil Howe; Broadway Books 1997; ISBN: 0-553-06682-X Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled – And More Miserable – Than Ever Before, by Jean M. Twenge; Free Press 2006; ISBN -13: 978-0-7432-7697-9 Generation Debt, by Anya Kamenetz; Penguin Books 2006; ISBN: 1-59448-907-6 The Millennials: Americans Under Age 25, 1st edition, by The New Strategist Editors; New Strategist Publications, Inc. 2001, ISBN: 1-885070-40-3 Gen X keen on the ABCs of raising gen Y, by Caroline Overington, www.theage.com, July 24, 2004 Managing Generation Y: Global Citizens Born in the Late 70’s & Early 80’s, by Carolyn A. Martin, Ph.D. & Bruce Tulgan, Rainmaker Thinking, Inc. 2001; ISBN: 0-87425-6224

Managing Generation X: How to Bring Out the Best in Young Talent, by Bruce Tulgan, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2000; ISBN: 0-393-32075-8 Managing The Generation Mix: From Collision to Collaboration, by Carolyn A. Martin & Bruce Tulgan, Rainmaker Thinking, Inc. 2001; ISBN: 0-87425-659-3 Chips & Pop: Decoding the Nexus Generation, by Robert Barnard, Malcom Lester Books 1998; ISBN-10: 1894121082 Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, by Neil Howe, William Strauss & R.J. Matson, Vintage Books 2000; ISBN: 0-375-70719-0 When Generations Collide: Who They Are. Why They Clash. How to Solve the Generational Puzzle at Work, by Lynne C. Lancaster & David Stillman, Harper Collins 2003; ISBN: 0-06-662107-0 The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community & Everyday Life, by Richard Florida, Basic Books 2004; ISBN-10: 0465024777 Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in You r Workplace, by Ron Zemke, Claire Raines & Bob Filipczak, AMACON/Performance Research Associates, Inc. 2000; ISBN: 0-8144-0480-4

Thank You!

Kari S. Gabriel, M.Ed., APRVice President of Communications

Interact [email protected]

406.257.4213 - o406.249.7800 - c

www.interactcom.com

Roberta Smith (Traditionalist) is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and Supervisor for the State of Montana, DPHHS. She has been with the Department for 3.5 years, but in the Rehabilitation field for 23 years, since obtaining CRC. Her specialty is providing services for hearing impaired/deaf individuals.

Ron Pilsch (Traditionalist/Baby Boomer) is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for the State of Montana and has provided his expertise for 20+ years. For the past 30 years he has owned and operated an excavation company and is also a Vietnam era veteran.

Chanda Hermanson (Generation Xer) is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for the State of Montana and has worked in that capacity for the past 2 years. She recently completed her Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Utah State University. She works with individuals in Flathead and Lake Counties who have disabilities and barriers in regards to employment.

Panelists

Documents

The Generational Struggle From the Inside Out Blueprint for Success Brown Bag Session January 9, 2008 Kari S. Gabriel, M.Ed, APR VP of Communications Interact