HellaFrank

As you can tell by the date of my last blogpost, HellaFrank posting has been, umm, “light” recently. So, who better than my girlfriend, Jenn, author of Project Jenny, to spice things up a little bit. Here is her first guest post, enjoy!

First I’d like to thank HellaFrank for letting me write a guest post. One of these days I will have my own blog, but for now I will live vicariously through the rest of you who do.

The purpose of this post is to share my answer to a question I was asked last week that really got me thinking: how can brand marketers find Gen Y online?

I’ve outlined below the first 5 areas that came to mind when I started thinking about my response.

Social Networking

My response started with the obvious, which is, if brand marketers want to reach Gen Y they need to have a presence on social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, a blog, etc.). Not just any presence though. If they really want to reach consumers they need to make a splash online in a way that engages people to join in the conversations. Brand marketers need to create viral campaigns that will generate online buzz and they need to do it in a custom way.

Product Placement

Another way to reach Gen Y is through product placement. I keep seeing brands integrating their products or names into popular TV shows (i.e. American Idol and Vitamin Water) and music videos (i.e Lady Gaga’s “telephone”) all which can be viewed online. If these placements are done right they can be effective, if not, it can be a massive turn-off.

Online Shopping

Discounted shopping sites such as Gilt Groupe, Ru La La and Swirl have become huge destinations for Gen Y shoppers. Given the economy, shoppers look to these websites to find their favorite prestige brands at lower prices. There is also the whole convenience factor. Shopping online, for many people, is simply more convenient.  If marketers want to reach consumers looking to shop, they need to be present on these platforms. Group buying and daily deals sites are other areas that are becoming more and more popular. Sites such as Groupon, Scoop St, Social Living, and the newest one I’ve come across, Gilt City, are offering massive limited time discounts, giving shoppers major incentive to purchase. Gen Y likes deals and discounts, and brand marketers need to find a way to be present.

Email

Email newsletters are another area in which brand marketers need to be present. (This may sound biased since I work for DailyCandy, but I truly believe if you want to reach Gen Y, email is an important channel). Email is a great way for brands to reach niche Gen Y audiences. There are lots of newsletters in every category – food, travel, fashion, weddings, city guides, tech and celebrity gossip that can bring great value into your inbox. If brands align themselves with quality content and if campaigns are implemented in an integrated and custom way, they will be highly effective.

Mobile

Brands need to have a mobile web presence as well as an iPhone/Android/Blackberry application in order to reach Gen Y. If done right, brands can get ahead of the curve and make a statement on these mobile platforms and I think these efforts can resonate well with Gen Y. I know it’s not always easy to do, but I have a lot of respect for brands who keep up with industry trends and create compelling campaigns on these emerging media platforms.

Lastly, to put it  in simple terms, brand marketers need to be where the consumers are online (and if possible take a 360 degree approach using TV, online, and mobile) and understand that Gen Y dislikes in-your-face advertising. They (we) are looking for engagement, convenience, customization and an up-to-date brand image.

If you are like me and you spend a lot of time online it’s not hard to think of ways to answer this question. In fact, I think the answers are obvious and unlimited. So, I’d love to hear more ideas from you guys and I thought HellaFrank was a good place to ask. Having all of that said — how do you think brand marketers can effectively reach Gen Y online?

Thanks everyone! Ciao for now. - JennyCandy

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