Gen-Y Gives Up On Celebrities Hawking Crap

Before Chris Brown got all Mike Tyson, he was singing songs for Wrigley's Gum. There are 2 big problems with this scenario:
1. Do I/we believe that Chris Brown feels passionate about the gum? No.
2. Is Chris Brown (remember to think back before the last few weeks) going to make us rush out of our seats and buy the gum? Again No.

Celebrities no longer have the same affect on Gen-Y and youth culture as they once did. I attest a few reasons for this:
1. It seems like every teen can have their 15 minutes of fame - from YouTube to Myspace to Facebook Apps to whatever else, it has never been easier to display a talent, or non-talent an have the whole world notice.
2. We have seen celebrities dump brands and brands dump celebrities overnight - thus not allowing the 2 to grow together. When there is no brand loyalty, there is no reason to believe the person telling the message.
3. Ad campaigns are shorter than ever. With attention spans speeding up quicker than 10 year-olds on Riddlin, advertisers are launching new campaigns to get attention rather than growing story lines and initiating brand loyalty with young consumers.

Brands can overcome this position by being genuine with their younger audience. There are core influencers in the young demographic who are preaching for brands, who have a real affinity and pureness about them. The kids who throw brand names around in rap songs, the kids who race cars in the underground, the ones on forums who will tell Windows to shove it to every PC person in the room or the group that will time after time pay the extra dollar, two dollars to get a beer that makes them feel comfortable.

Right now I am in the middle of looking for a clothing sponsor. When I was in a band, I always thought it would be cool to get free clothes, and there are so many companies out there that will take care of musicians who take care of them. Now that I'm off one stage, I am in another. I have a great core audience here, a growing audience at Gen-Y Rock Stars, speaking engagements across the country and some really cool clients and partners. Representing an up and coming t-shirt designer would mean increased exposure for the company and confidence in myself that I am wearing a brand that I can be proud to show off.

But can the company expect to sell many shirts because of my association?
They will get some exposure, sure, but they will ultimately need to come in, have great products and find a group of core influencers who can extend their brand. Bloggers, musicians, pro athletes, etc can open the doors, but not sell the product. The youth with big wallets are not going to buy because someone like me told them to, they are going to buy because it will make them look cool on a date, give them confidence walking the halls, make them more money or make them drive faster.

As I am closing in a deal with a sponsor, the core values that I need in a brand sponsor are:
1. Growth potential from both parties. I want to play a factor in helping the brand grow, from marketing tips to utilizing my network to getting in front of people and wearing a logo I believe in. At the same time, they need to be ready to watch me grow. As my career grows, so will their need for support, swag, custom items and new initiatives.
2. Long term commitment. I'm not in this for a month, 6 months or even a year. I am looking for a brand that is in this for the long haul, to help create a brand image that is innovative, yet sustaining. Nike and Jordan are one of the only great examples of a partnership that has made sense over the past 20 years. No abandonment.
3. Great creative vision. I am a marketing guy and my design skills suck. Hopefully they won't be looking at me for design concepts!

As pockets get tighter, the young pockets are going to contract as well. This past weekend saw the lowest movie ticket sales of the year, down 16% from last year, and the Watchmen is only in week #2!

I found an interesting article from New Dheli in India that shared a similar perspective on young people:

They do not see celebrities as demonstrating what is either real or authentic, and that should serve as a blow to companies that spend a fortune on celebrity endorsements.

Only 6% identify with celebrities. Instead, they look up to real-life heroes and their parents. They appreciate companies and brands that are trustworthy and authentic and stay true to their values.

Even in a culture as different as apples and oranges from kids here in the states, core values and authenticity play a major roles in what kids buy, wear, feel and do.

If you are using a celebrity to promote your products, what do you expect from that person? If you are looking for advertisers, or sponsors for yourself or your business, what do you expect from the brand? Should they be different? I'm all ears.

-Greg Rollett

Don't Aim to Be the Next, Be the First

In the sports world, it is common place to talk about being the next somebody. Is Kobe the next Jordan? Is some high school kid the next Lebron?

In music, this is common as well. Up and coming bands want to be the next somebody. Or fill in their shoes. Backstreet Boys had N'Sync. Eminem had Bubba Sparxxx (remember that comparison MTV threw on us). Think about boy bands and pop punk bands.

The thing is, if you are chasing a trend, no matter what business you are in, there is a high probability that you will lose. You will put all your eggs into an "autotuned" masterpiece only to realize that fans are ready to throw up if they hear someone use that damned plug in again.

All of the trends we are a part of today were started by visionaries, by people who were the 1st, not the next. Twitter is killing it right now because it was the first service to utilize SMS based technology and plug it into computers and cell phones, let the community drive its focus through the API and not try to be the "next" Facebook.

While the automakers in Detroit are "this close" to bankruptcy, they are running farther and farther away from the people that can help then innovate and stay away from the next Hybrid, next SUV, next waste of money and create the 1st Electrical Car, the 1st Hydrogen Car or the 1st Car that really changes the way we commute. I think America is ready for a 1st in that department and not another next.

Obama took the presidency by being the 1st President to utilize technology, leveraging young voters and embrace pop culture. The next presidential race will need to have more firsts, not a repeat of this election.

The Zune failed because it tried to be the next iPod. No one wanted another iPod, especially when Apple was making the 1st iPhone. Zune needed to be the 1st gadget to do something remarkable, not another MP3 player in a competitive market owned by a "cooler" company.

When you are plotting your "next" marketing campaign, don't be the next company to do the same thing, repackaged and on the market. Be the first to do something remarkable.

• Are you the first restaurant to take reservations via text message and do it great, so great in fact that all your reservations are now done via texting?
• Can you be the first musician to make more money through online streaming of your shows than income from your physical shows?
• Are you the 1st company to say screw the crappy online ad model and make a business model that will change the way this Web 2.0 bubble is bursting?

How are you being the first?

-Greg Rollett

Your Company is Stale Like Bread

photo by McBeth

Graham Brown of Mobile Youth (who I have grown quite fond of his little Slideshare presentations) pointed out the obvious is a not so obvious way.

• The most powerful man in the world is black.
• The biggest selling hip-hop artist is white.
• The richest golfer is black.
• The president of Iceland is a lesbian.
• The best Olympian likes to hit the bong.

The world is changing. More accepting and more diverse than ever before. More mobile and more connected goes without arguement. So why are you playing by the old rules?
Change is hard.
It is hard to accept and hard to measure. In times of recession and economic shit storming it is easy to look back at worked the last time and continue on the same path. Layoffs, cutting spending and ceasing to innovate + wait and see are the themes of corporate America right now. We are losing jobs at record pace, yet our products are still as good as they were yesterday and rent is the same price (if not higher) as it was last week.

How can innovation lead your organization today, in the midst of this recession to get you out ahead? How can listening to concerns of your employees, being more transparent to them and rewarding them help you thrive today.

5 Ways to Ignite Change in Your Business Today

1. Talk to your employees. They are the ones who are the faces, voices and future of your organization. Being transparent with them will only make them produce with greater results and give them the confidence that they are a part of something great. Besides, don't all employees talk shit about their boss, company, etc. What are yo scared of?
2. Give more than you take. In times like today organizations and businesses that find ways to give, whether it be information, education, products, resources and help their community grow will reap the benefits further than an organization that tries to squeeze every penny and resource out of their community before closing their doors.
3. Crowdsource. Whether it is from the mail clerk, the janitor, the CMO or a first time customer, look at the people that represent your company and see how they can add value to your business. Lego listens to their community and builds ideas and inspiration for fanatics, and then works with parents and gives them safe products for their kids. How can someone you don't know help your business grow?
4. Defy the norm. Like the examples above, dare to stand out. If you can rally troops to believe in your product, you will win, even if you are the orange in an apple game.
5. Go back to the start. I know I said innovate, but sometimes innovation happens when you get back to your core. Why did you create your business or product in the first place? If you run a job board, is your focus to nickel and dime or create relationships between companies and job seekers? If you make soda, your goal should be the smile and satisfaction your consumer has when they take their first sip. Do everything in your power to make that moment happen.

Are you still living in the past? We voted for change but haven't changed ourselves. What will it take to get to that point?

-Greg Rollett

Authenticity in Youth Product Placement

Sitting at MPlanet last week (interview with Mary Dillon from McDonald's here) gave me subjects and topics to ponder for months. While listening to Steve Battista from Under Armour, I thought about a recent product placement for the athletic apparel brand on Friday Night Lights. The Dillon High Panthers were in full game mode when a close up of quarterback Matt Saracen revealed a nice and shiny UA logo on his undershirt.

The authenticity that this brand placement has is peak for the youth market. For 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. It was not out of context for the team to be decked out in the gear and using it on the field as they run up the score on some poor Texas team.

Ford is not an Idol
Sitting to Steve's right was Anne Belec from Ford. She was extremely excited for her brand's product placement on youth heavy American Idol. Authenticity fail. The show is known for being a cash cow and will put products any and everywhere to keep their bottom line growing. What place does a car have in a karaoke contest? Exactly, none.

Anne did say that they promotion was a smash, but didn't have many metrics to back it up (not much was asked of it as a disclaimer). I would be interested to see how the young viewers responded to the add (Ford, let me know.)

The CW
One of the top networks capitalizing on this is the CW and their music placements. At the end of every episode they have a brief recap of music that was featured in the show and points viewers to the cw.com to find out more, listen to the tracks and download them. Labels have been eating this up for a few years now and bands have found success on teen heavy shows One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Smallville and others.

The Solution
Teens and young adults can see right though advertising these days and product placement is no exception. When drafting up ways to get your brand into the eyeballs of youth viewers, think about the context in how your brand and product will be used and work it into the script naturally. The best product placements are the ones that would have occurred without you spending money to put it there.

What do you think? How can brands appeal to young viewers in their favorite shows and still remain true to the script?

-Greg Rollett

Still Dressin to Impress

photo by mon of the loin on flickr

Like everyone else in the world I was at the mall the day after Christmas looking for sales. You dig through piles of Jeans and returned tees, sift through video games that didn't sell in time for Christmas and check out shoes that are never in the right size.

And I spent money. I spent on even the non sale items. Apparently so did many young consumers. And they didn't just spend it on that day either. From Black Friday to Cyber Monday through the holiday season and well, really through most of the year Gen-Y was still shelling out $100+ for jeans and shoes and buying tees that can ring in upwards of $30-40.

But who is having a field day, because numbers don't lie and Abercrombie sales are down 24% from last year and Gap is down 14%.

One study proclaims that young spenders are moving to more affordable, anti-luxury and everyday savings. The 2009 Consumer Shopping Intentions Study suggests that close to 60% of those aged 18-24 expect to spend at least as much as they did last year.

Good news, but again for who?

Target recently launched a very successful campaign with Fast Company cover star and X Games phenom Shaun White that proved you don't need to spend Volcom money to look the part.
Threadless continues to make strides in the crowd sourcing tee shirt arena and has launched 9 shirts just this week.
PleaseDress.me is another site that is doing well to showcase the ever popular with young folk tee shirt culture and acts as an aggregator between many of the large online tee shirt players.
Nike is always innovating and is their best when you get into customization. From mash-ups with countless indie culture players to the oh, so playful Nike ID, they are showing no signs of stopping their dominance in the youth fashion market.
American Apparel is still is leader and it may have to do with the fact that they pay good wages, produce goods right in California and have real life sex appeal.

What is going to sell?
Being young is about having fun and I see youth culture and Gen-Y going back to this. With budgets tightening, there is going to be more emphasis on fit and feel vs. exclusive and expensive. Customization is also going to play a big part in getting young people to open their pockets.

Aaron Crowe has this to say about thriving youth fashion house, the Buckle:

The clothing market is always a fickle one, especially among young shoppers, but Buckle has found its niche by staying on top of hot labels and using a "shallow and wide" inventory strategy. It stocks dozens of hot brands, but in just a few sizes for each style. New merchandise arrives daily in different colors or design as the items it replaces, preventing the social faux pas of seeing a friend in the same outfit.

Dressing Online
Shopping online is also another big player that has impacts on everything from malls staying open to skate shops carrying expensive gear with small margins. A key factor for brick and mortar clothing shops is to let Gen-Y and young people become part of your brand. If you listen and interact with them on their court, you can get them to come into yours, but you need to build that trust first.

Incorporate Youth Lifestyle
I have seen DJ's now in Bloomingdale's, G by Guess, Macy's and Nordstroms. I think by these brands reaching out to youth culture through lifestyle implications is an important move, however finding someone that resonates with youth culture and your corporate aesthetics is a bit of a challenge. In this case of Bloomingdale's it was a posh techno DJ in an urban section of the store. This can hurt your brand as much as it helps.

Teaming up with influential brands and creating awareness of your product and clothing lines is another aspect to consider. What about free Monster Energy Drinks with every pair of jeans? The No Fear store in a local mall gives away their energy drink with a minimum purchase and they kill 2 birds with one stone. Purchase in the store and a taste at a drink that continues the brand outside of the store.
Brands to Watch
I am no mind reader and instead of some brands to watch I will give you some blogs and sites to watch to find the clothing brands to watch! How about that for a turn of events.
HypebeastVapors Mag
Please Dress Me
PSFK - They are hosting a Good Ideas Saloon in London on Jan 30th - please go and tell me how it is! Tell them you heard about it from me and maybe they'll let me speak at the one in the states!
Kayne West - yess the rapper/auto tune abuser

So, now I turn the ball into your court. How are you going to be spending money on clothes, fashion and styles in 2009? Are you taking the budget route or maybe the expensive route with less trips to the mall? Will you be buying direct from designers, from big shops or from online dealers? Please sound off in the comments.

-Greg Rollett

You're So Ugly

Minnesota indie hip-hop wonder kids Atmosphere have just launched a new site called You're So Ugly that is based on their album 'God Loves Ugly.' The site is perfect for a quick viral fix and the tools they used are seamless to promote the re-release of this classic album.

The premise is simple, you upload your photo and your face is inserted onto the cover of 'God Loves Ugly.' You can then share the photo with friends, download it to use as your Myspace, Facebook or Twitter profile photo. You can Digg it, submit it to Sumbleupon or Tweet about your ugly mug. Then you can view the gallery of everyone who has cropped their mug to take over from a young Slug.

How they made it easy

• 2 Steps
• Upload a photo from your computer or take one from your web cam
• Easy to share
• Got label mates to pose as well (Murs, Brother Ali, others)
• Show everyone's mug
• Memorable URL
• Rank people's photos from 1-5 stars

If a small indie label from a city with current sub zero temperatures can turn out this site on a budget and get kids to feel a part of the movement, what can you do?

You can leave a link to your ugly mug in the comments so everyone can see it.

Oh, and here's my mean mug!
-Greg Rollett

Orlando Youth Trending Sessions

For the past few weeks I have been toying with throwing a small gathering of a select group of Orlando's finest and most influential trendsetters from the under 30 crowd. I wanted to do it informally, but not in a bar or at a networking happy hour. I wanted to do it in an intimate setting, fire up a mic and have really great thought provoking shit come out of some talented people.

Well I finally have some of the details worked out and am aiming for 10-12 Gen-Y'ers in Orlando that will initially be handpicked to join this event. I have the major players in mind and you will all be getting formal invites this week. Once I have you confirmed, I will be writing some short posts on how you influence people in Orlando and essentially youth culture.

So what will we do
We will chat and record a Podcast on youth trends, branding, music, fashion, school, business, technology and everything in between. It will be very informal, we'll crack open a beer, sip some wine and explore the future of the world from our perspective. The research will then be available for anyone to see, download and use in their marketing. Remember that we are not a trend, we are trendsetters.

Now here is where I hope it gets fun. I want to this every month, maybe every other month. And I also want it to grow. So we are going to grow Fight Club style, kinda. Everyone that attends the 1st session is allowed to invite 1 new guest to session 2. Every new person from session 2 will be allowed to invite 1 new guest to session 3 and so on. Essentially every new session will grow by 10-12 people.

Sponsors, Locations and Date Stuff
The first session is going to be held at Endagon Headquarters on Tuesday, February 17th at 7pm. I will sponsor the 1st session with some beer and wine and maybe some crackers or cookies (real fancy stuff). For future sessions I will be reaching out and looking for group members to reach out to companies that are looking to get into the Gen-Y and Youth crowd to sponsor the Podcast and session and provide some light drinks and snacks. As it grows I also see moving outside our offices. That is TBD. There will be no cost to attend, but those that do not participate will not be asked back.

Rules
You must be invited
You must participate
You must be under 30
No computers
No phones

If you would like to be involved in these sessions, please send me an email at greg.rollett@endagon.com or @g_ro.

-Greg Rollett

Go Beyond Your Products To Get Gen-Y

What does your company stand for?
We know you make t-shirts or soda or burgers, but what do you stand for? What makes your company stand apart beyond your product? That's a lot of questions, but before you can start making changes and gathering youth advocacy, you need to answer them.

Dig deep for the answer and you will see how you will succeed in 2009.

An example
Hyundai will sell a few more cars than some of their price based competition due to their new assurance program. Essentially you can return your car if you get laid off after you purchase the car. How is that for economic support. They realize that helping people is just as important as selling cars and the end result will be more cars sold. (hat tip to Ryan Healy)

Another one
Jones Soda is kicking ass and taking Coke and Pepsi down, well not exactly, but they are in the heads of younger consumers as Jones Soda makes them feel a part of their brand, from the names of the drinks to custom bottles to getting in on Gen-Y politics with the "Orange You Glad For Change" Flavor.

Gen-Y loves that you make a killer product, but how does it relate to their life? Scion created a culture. Red Bull created a tribe. Tim Ferris created a lifestyle. What did you do?

Me, I am creating conversation. Between brands, entertainers and the kids that buy their "stuff." I live it, therefore I can talk about it. Check my iPod, full of Wale, Gym Class Heroes and There For Tomorrow. Look in my closet and find Threadless, Nike, Diesel and Kenneth Cole. I'll stop.

What about you?

DNA Energy Drinks Their Way Into Gen-Y

Energy drink mania has taken over Gen-Y and youth culture over the last few years. From Red Bull starting the craze and their smart marketing into youth culture to Monster and then Lil Jon's Crunk Juice and everything in between, playing on the fact that kids love extreme has been a major selling point for the drinks.

A few hours south is an energy drink company built in the grass roots action sports arena that is focused on building brand awareness as well as a long term brand recognition program for their consumers. DNA Energy Drink is a small team of motivated individuals in South Florida making big strides into personalizing their experience not only with consumers at events, but also the stores that carry their products. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Geoff Armstrong, the VP of Marketing, on Youth Marketing, the Action Sports Scene and how the economy was hitting their operation. (The following has been edited to make it an easy read, but no context has been changed)

Greg: You guys target the Extreme Sports Market, which has a very large Gen-Y and Youth Following, do you see that as your target consumer as well?
Geoff: Our roots are in the action/extreme sports but were finding that the demographics of energy drink "drinkers" has changed over the past couple years. It used to be just the teens or young crowd but now I see guys on my fathers softball team in their late 50's drinking them as well so that's not our only focus. Our roots will always be in the action sports so that is a high priority. The youth tend to be very loyal once they accept a brand and as you know, its tougher to get an older person who's set in their ways to try something new then someone in their teens.

Greg: Does DNA give away free samples at events? How do you get feedback from these types of promotions?
Geoff: Yes, we only do events if we can sample. For feedback, our field reps get people's opinions/feedback when they taste the drink if they can, depending on the event. We also use our sales data in each area to see if doing the events equates to direct sales increases at the area accounts.

Greg: Have you seen any return from sponsoring events, as it relates to the youth demographic?
Geoff: Yes. We have pretty deep ties into the action sports community so we have a good grasp on what works and what doesn't. We have pretty strict guidelines for "sponsoring" or holding an event and will not do that unless our objectives are met. There are many companies though that think just having their banner up or logo on a flyer will sell product on its own. Considering how small our budgets are compared to the red bulls and monsters, our numbers in 7 eleven and circle K are solid. We feel this is a direct result of our grass roots marketing efforts. Nobody is going to buy a DNA unless they have heard about it or more importantly have tried it. There are too many drinks in the coolers for that to happen without leading people to DNA.

Greg: The Internet plays a large role in youth culture, how does DNA reach out to kids online and does DNA have any policies on how you do that? From reading blogs to monitoring twitter or other sites to video promotion and so on.
Geoff: We are currently working on making a very hard push with internet this year. We have the myspace, etc stuff but as a small company the first 2 years many of us were wearing many different hats and time had to be split for different projects. We now have someone who is going to attack it hard. We are not nationally distributed yet, and we are only in a few key states so our efforts have been concentrated on those regions. I feel the internet piece is very tricky too. The Myspace's and stuff are sort of played out. Again, its a very important piece to the puzzle but we want to focus our efforts in the streets more then anything else. That's were the brand awareness and loyalty are made.

Greg: With the economy the way it is, what is DNA going to do in '09 to build brand strength and grow market share?
Geoff: Our philosophy from day 1 is being grass roots and will always be so, no matter how large DNA becomes. Many of our large competitors have lost sight of this and many others do not realize the importance of it, especially in this economic crisis. We do not agree to sponsor events and then just drop product or some T shirts and expect that to sell our product. Our reps are very educated on our product and are at every single event we do to educate and meet the kids/people along with sampling the product. This goes a long way for our customers and accounts and shows we care.

On the corporate level, with the 7 elevens and such, we are working programs with them to help drive business to their stores. They are hurting as is everyone else right now. We have already done successful athlete tours/campaigns with Circle K and 7 Eleven in Florida and California and both have told us we are the ONLY brand to do this with them. We also have a program that launches this next week that will put us next to monster in the coolers at 7 eleven and almost be a dollar cheaper. We are giving the chains the same profit margins as our competitors but at a better value for their customers.

We have beaten many of the odds in just these few short years we have been going and we will continue to stay on course. We are always brainstorming to come up with stuff nobody has done or put our own twist on things. Its hard to reinvent the wheel but we want to make our own path. Sometimes you have to follow certain paths but we are always looking beyond that. With the economy the way it is, people will have every penny under the microscope. We will continue with our grass roots marketing efforts to forge long term relationships as well as value pricing for our customers.

My response
I love what DNA is doing as far as branding their culture. I think they need to get into the online and mobile spaces fast as kids are picking these things up. It could also be a great way to interact and get better feedback at events. Having a kid text in his favorite flavor during the taste test to get a free video download of one of their riders or something. This would get them the feedback, promote their athletes and build a database that can be broken down by region.

Geoff is another to admit that Myspace has lost a step, and although we know that, then brand needs to take the time to realize what they are doing online and what their kids/consumers are doing online. DNA is very authentic and takes a great route to personalization, and the great thing is that there are tools out there to help them continue to be personal, open up communication and grow their brand!

What do you think about DNA, the energy drink scene and how marketing can play in the action sports world?

-Greg Rollett

Nike Realizes a Brand Advocate

Brands are reaching out to hip-hop stars by the dozen to help them shell out products and 2009 will be no different. 2008 saw its share of good hip-hop branding (Boost Mobile) and its so-so (Common and Zune) and then awful (the Holiday Inn freestyle).

I saw the Music Video for 'Nike Boots' by Wale a few days ago and thought it was a great song by one of XXL's class of 2009. As I was doing some research I found out that the song was from 2007 and Wale's Mixtape '100 Miles and Running' that was distributed free online. Digging deeper I saw that Nike actually tapped Wale to play a Nike Boots event called DC Stand Up at Ibiza Nightclub in DC on January 15, 2008 which was sponsored by Nike and Footaction.

Here is the video for 'Nike Boots.'

Aside from Wale having an understanding of the power of online and social marketing, I wanted to tap into Nike acknowledging the fact that having a brand advocate like Wale is good for business. Wale's signature logo is a string of a lace looped to spell out his name. He has a blog site, Elitaste, that features a Nike shoe collection and brokerage.

Nike hasn't sponsored Wale like they would Jordan or LeBron, but they have given Wale some attention and opened the door to further communication. Something that Louis Vuitton did not do with T.I.

Brands that accept their position with youth culture and use brand advocates as marketing tactics have a supreme upper hand. Getting word of mouth promotions from high profile spokespeople, at no cost for the brand, will always have more authenticity than a big budget attempt at reaching kids and wallets.

So how does a brand find a Wale?
Wale is an exceptional talent. He is young, has the heart, desire and swagger that will make him a superstar within the next 365. For the most part he is clean and not trying to cause trouble, except for the credit cards of kids on iTunes.

Brands looking to find a Wale are in for a culture shock. You can't. You can't force a trend on an influencer. They seek it out. Brands need to be authentic to their culture. Nike has the luxury of being a basketball powerhouse, ad having a strong hold on urban culture. This makes hip-hop a great influence on the brand. It is not a stretch.

For something like an energy drink, playing into the extreme sports realm is a no-brainer. The problem is they know nothing about the culture and throw a hot chick in a bikini and give out free samples at events. Kids read right through it.

Finding authenticity is hard.
Or so most brands would have you think. When you are in your next brainstorm session, have a talk about what makes you excited. What music, tv shows and cultures get your blood going, not the ones that music mags say are hot. The sooner you do this the sooner an artist like Wale will pay attention and write a song like 'Nike Boots.'

And you are going to like it.

For more on Wale -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wale_(rapper)
http://www.walemusic.com/
http://www.elitaste.com/blog/

-Greg Rollett

43 Ways to Engage Gen-Y and Youth Culture

(photo by Zabowski)

This year I have immersed myself in learning, studying and working on awesome projects that involve youth and Gen-Y marketing. Every company wants a piece of this market and their supreme buying power and spending habits. The number will vary and always changes depending on where you get the stats from, but somewhere to the tune of 5.5 million Gen-Y's and $50 billion a year is where we stand to make our mark in the world. That's not a bad crowd to hang with!

Working with large, small and "just right" brands and talking with many others I thought I'd lend some thoughts as to how to engage with this crowd through marketing, Social Media and branding endeavors as you focus on your 2009 plans and initiatives. It's also a good year end kinda post or wrap up of things that I have learned throughout the year. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

1. When getting into Social Media, have a reason to get into it. It's not for every business and that is ok.
2. Do not interrupt what Gen-Y is already doing.
3. Create a product that is truly amazing and unique. Or one that is better and shinier than your competition.
4. When creating your web site, remember the people who are going to read it, and look at it and have to figure out how to navigate it.
5. Know that if it is a trend, it is not a branding strategy, but rather something that will have a short shelf life.
6. If it's a trend and you are just realizing it, you missed it. Let it go and look for something else.
7. Don't look for the next trend, create the next trend. Don't make Myspace 2, make Twitter.
   
8. Don't be the Zune and play catch up, find an iPod and let people catch up to you.
9. As soon as they come close to catching up, create the iPhone and kick everyone else in the balls.
10. Hire people that care about your brand. They are your advocates first and foremost. If they hate your clothes, products, etc how can they turn a window shopper into a fan?
11. Hire people that aspire to have your job and beyond. Passion trumps skills in Gen-Y, we can learn anything, we cannot, however, get excited for something we dislike.
12. Find the next celebrity, not the "IT" celebrity. Case studies - JUNO and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
13. Surprise people by helping the little guy, the small nonprofit that can do more with your donation and will become advocates of yours forever vs the large nonprofits who only care about your bank account. Gen-Y will appreciate that.
14. Get people to answer your phones. You are losing more business than money you are by having that shitty automated system.
15. When a young person learns about your product at a concert or event, and they go to your site, say something about that event.
    
16. Better yet, make a mobile site or microsite based solely on that event and how they can get involved, buy your product or learn more.
17. Train your event staff and hourly employees better than the spokesperson in your commercials, they are the ones interacting with kids at the mall.
18. Find local trends. The internet makes this possible. What teens like in Orlando is different than teens in Paducah, KY.
19. Listen, don't respond, listen some more.
20. Gen-Y doesn't buy cars based on your commercials. Car commercials are some of the worst commercials ever made for turning anyone into a brand advocate.
21. Phones that do everything are the future, if you do not have a way for kids to access you on the go, you will lose to the company that is.
22. When advertising on a Social Network, make the ad relate to what we are doing. If you advertise on Pandora, make us a cool playlist or introduce us to an artist that you care about.
23. Stop hiding. We do not like walls.
24. Get us involved. Email the cool blogger and invite them to brainstorm for your next ad, blog post or podcast. Find a great photograph on Flickr and ask the person to do a shoot for you. You will get results that are not so cookie cutter like every other ad agency.
25. Seek out great talent. Don't wait for that great resume to find you, find the next great person in your organization through building relationships, and knowing your ideal candidate.
26. Be transparent. Lying is for George Bush and we see right through his crap.
27. Do not place products in music videos if it doesn't work. It makes us hate the band too and that doens't help you out in the long run.
28. Find the thing that makes your brand GRAB our attention in between the millions of logos, interruptions, commercials and brand names we hear every day.
29. When the youth grab your product and make it part of their culture, find a way to keep the momentum withouth chastizing every last penny out of it to make quarterly goals. Instead, grow organically and you will see long-term success and a brand that grows for generations. Look at Levi's or Dickie's.
30. Realize that just because you gave away some cool free swag at Warped Tour or the X Games, it does not make you cool. How did that product relate to Gen-Y, make their experience better? How can they get back in touch with you when they need what you offer?
31. Myspace is dead, sorry. Again if you are just getting on the train, you missed the one with the cool kids.
32. There are going to be more smaller groups that make an impact with Gen-Y, than one big group. How can your brand be a part of many groups without ruining your image?
33. Realize that kids are going to talk about your brand in ways you never imagined. They will pick on you, call you names and ignore you on the shelf. How you bounce back the next season is important. Think the not so cute girl who grows up a bit over the summer and comes back to get the QB.
34. Mash-ups are a great way to grab an audience that you want.
35. Create a culture, not a logo.
36. The co-sign is dying. Co-signing is term that was used in hip-hop when an artist came into the game on the strength of an aquaintence. Basically, it boils down to the fact that you need to stand on your own feet and get respect without that of major backing. Think Scion, it would survive to Gen-Y without Toyota's name due to the culture it built.
37. Free is not a solution. We will pay for things that we believe in, but if we can find it for free, more than likely we will use that price point. What is so awesome about your business that is going to make me BUY.
38. There is more competition than ever. Optimize your enite business plan. The youth search for things any and everywhere and way. Optimize your content to show up everywhere that we are, ahve an RSS Feed, Twitter account, Facebook page, mobile site, iPhone and gPhone app, SEO for Google, etc.
39. Get back to basics. Why do you want to reach the youth? What do you gain by focusing on them? What do you lose if you miss?
40. Get back to focus groups. Again the Internet makes this easy and powerful. Mercedes did a good job of getting teens involved in their brand focus and it seems to be working.
41. Get offline. Sponsor events that matter, but don't just cut a check, get involved and really be passionate about the things you invest in.
42. Educate your staff. If you have an iPhone app and your employees have no idea it exists, then why have it?
43. Care about what you are doing.
    

I hope some of this resonates and lets a light go off. It is only a fraction of what we are doing to help brands in Gen-Y marketing. It's also what every other brand is going to be doing in '09. How you position yourself in this economic climate will determine how and when you get out of it.

For even better ideas than mine, head over to Mobile Youth, where Graham Brown has introduced 50 ideas to tap into the Mobile Youth in 2009 and was part of the inspiration for me to make this list as well. Graham is also a nice guy in the fact that he named ths blog a top 20 Youth Marketing Blog. Thanks!

Throw your tips in the comments and anything that I fall in love with will make its way back into this post with a link to you and your site. There are so many great ideas and opinions out there, no one is right or wrong, and the mroe uniqueness we get, the better we can deliver great results for our businesses, our clients and really for the youth who are buying them.

-Greg Rollett