The first marketers to clearly understand the needs of baby boomers have become enormously successful. Starbucks is a prime example. The company capitalized on the fact that boomers had generally become isolated adults who had left the community life that they loved so dearly in the 60’s, pursued material wealth, and yearned for community life (without any commitment) once again. Starbucks also figured out that boomers love being catered to and will pay dearly for it. Voila! $4 cup of coffee to schmooze with people you don’t know for 20 minutes!
I predict that the marketers who tap the needs of Generation Y (those born between 1977 and 1997), will also do very well. I’m not sure exactly what that looks like within real estate, but let’s look at some characteristics of this age group and see if it reveals some clues. The following was garnered from an article in Suite 101.
“Generation Y is extremely comfortable with technology. This is the first generation that has no real memory of life without computers, cell phones, and digital music, and members of Generation Y laugh at people who don’t have these technologies. Walk around any college campus between classes, and you might see half of the students talking on their phones or listening to their iPods (or doing this during class, which drives professors crazy).
Generation Y is cynical. Baby boomers started out optimistic and politically involved, but became disillusioned during the turbulent 1960s. Generation Y started out disillusioned. They came of age during events such as 9/11 and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and have little trust in government or other authority figures.
Generation Y has a non-existent attention span. College students have always gotten bored easily, but the attention span of this group is especially low. This is a generation of remote controls, hyperlinks, MTV, Facebook, and endless hi-tech college student distractions. Professors have their work cut out for them.
Generation Y loves consumerism. Advertisers love Generation Y because they are such a large demographic group, and because young people are easier to market to than older ones. Thus, Generation Y has grown up accustomed to businesses trying to win their favor. In the U.S., this is the first generation who grew up with advertisements all over their high schools and fast food in the school cafeteria.
Generation Y is more diverse than previous generations. Throughout much of the world, young people have grown up accustomed to racial and religious integration, and more and more people are of mixed race or ethnicity. This generation grew up watching Will and Grace, and homosexuality has won more acceptance than ever before.
Generation Y is used to chaos. Young people today expect they will have to deal with a confusing global economy, political crises, and social transformations. But unlike previous generations, they are used to this. They expect to have multiple careers, homes, and social circles throughout their lifetimes. This generation follows the REM motto: ‘It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.’“
Ponder the above for a while and let me know if you figure out ways that this information will impact real estate and business in general. Also, think about how to best recruit and retain Generation Y agents.
Editor’s Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you’re an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the “comments” link below.
