Life Among Millennials!

The ATL may be evolving more into NYC than we may think.

Between Christmas and New Years, I moved from a neighborhood that sat on top of hill overlooking Emory University and the CDC to a place right in the heart of Buckhead.

For those of you not from the ATL reading this, Buckhead is the ATL’s version of the Upper Westside… or at least the ATL’s attempt at it. 

The distance between the ‘hoods is about 4 miles.

Big difference is that there are more professional Millennials living up in Buckhead and less academic GenXers and Boomers. 

While there is smattering of diversity in Buckhead, it is not near the level found among my old neighbors. 

Earlier this week I met with an ad agency and presented different ethnographic exploratory options… ways to get into the day-to-day life of client consumer groups. 

I shared with them the story of how a colleague of mine went and lived for two weeks with an Hispanic family in San Antonio to better understand how a QSR chain could better reach out and expand their share of the Hispanic market.

My move into the place is in many ways an ongoing ethnographic observation of the emerging Millennial powerhouse…remember there are 72 million of these generational folks scattered across the U.S.

The leading edge of the Millennials turns 33 years old this year; the trailing edge turning 22 years old. 

If you want to get to know them more… go pick up a copy of DWELL Magazine.  Check out the ads as well as the editorial.

The challenge in tracking generational groups is that as an arm-chair observer, you have to separate out behavior sets that are driven by age and those that are genuinely driven by a generational perspective.

Now living among them… there are some observations I offer…

(1) Their teenage ADHD has traveled with them into Adulthood. 

Check out the few cable nets that they watch and check out the programming format.  You will see quickly (no pun intended) that the story sets are littered with snippets. 

Brand loyalty takes on new time parameters.  Marketing paradigms that are driven around brand loyalty need to be trashed.

P.S. Ask Obama about brand loyalty among Millennials. 

(2) There is no separation between leisure time and work time. 

It’s all woven together.  They have further extended work casual.  They not only fail to separate mobile social media from work… in some ways they cannot even define a difference. 

On the weekends, I see many of them dining out in their pajamas.  As W Hotels proclaims… Whatever / Whenever…Your Wish Is Our Command.

“Permanent” and “Long-term” are not words in their vocabulary… “Loyalty” has a different meaning.

(3) Me – We are not a polar opposites.

Many of my peers still preach that Millennials are the epitome of the Me Generation.  Many of my peers are Baby Boomers like me.

Without a question, Millennials were raised by parents…complete with day-care from infancy to after-school group activities through college.  Mall food courts replaced going across the street and having dinner with Mike and his family.

Millennials thrive in social media groups. 

Ownership of the conventional suburban home is less important… and now even owning a car is not a must. 

Zipcars are hip.  If you do not know what Zipcars are… Google it.

Being able to live in groups is cool.  Facebook may be the replacement of their parents’ desire to go live on a commune.

(4) Technology is a given.

I remember when restaurants made clean restrooms a differential point of claim. Back 50 years ago… if a restaurant had a restroom that you could access without walking outside and going around back was a point of difference.

Today…clean restrooms are a given. 

Millennials never knew a time when there wasn’t a PC in the house or mobile phone in the side pocket.  Most have difficulty remembering when there was no such thing as social media… remember they were weaned on MySpace.

(Get ready for the ZOOM Generation to ask: What is MySpace?)

Hotels claiming “Internet Access” and retailers promoting “Check out our new website” need to wake up to 2012.

(5) In search for a cause…a meaning.

The Millennial enchantment with the 60s is not just a fashion beat.  It’s also not a desire to experience their parent’s portrait of youth.

Millennials are in search for a cause of which they can claim ownership. 

Occupy Wall Street provides a rich glimpse into this search.  The vast majority of participants are not simply “college students”… they are the true representation of the Millennials. 

The media showcased the lack of definition around what Occupy Wall Street represented… but highlighted the desperate need for at least “something” to unite behind.

As much as Millennials clamored around Obama and Change, the reality of that aspiration quickly crashed … and certainly affected Millennials more than the crashes on Wall Street and the real estate on Main Street.

So… here are five observations, I am sure there are more to come. 

The BIG question is whether or not the marketing boardrooms stocked with the MBA-management teams are absorbing what is evolving among Millennials or dismissing it.

My bet is that in 2012 more will have come to the realization that what is happening out there is not only here to stay…but is demanding change in brand platforms and marketing paradigms.

If you are interested to learn more… come join me for a Starbucks in my new ATL 'hood and listen to the table talk around us!

The Race Is On!

The Race Is On!

While the best bowl games have yet to be played, 2012 has arrived as the here and now. 

I celebrate the arrival of a new year and embrace the changes we will encounter moving forward. 

No question that 2012 promises to be a watershed year. 

No matter where you sit along the political spectrum, the outcome of the election this year will shape the future of state of the economy, how consumers perceive it and how consumers will spend their money.

Technology will advance further in 2012 as well.  Everything from laptops to game consoles to smart phones commanded top slot in purchases.

In fact, according to digitaltreands.com, iPads drove the highest increase ever in Holiday electronic sales in 20112.

This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that for the first time ever, the workforce in the U.S. spans the spectrum across FIVE generational groups. 

Go into your local mom & pop grocery store and you may very well see a Millennial just now entering puberty packing your bag and a Mature Generation 70-something ringing up the sale on the register. 

As generational groups interact together in-person and online, be prepared to see each one attempting to carve out their niche of personality and culture.

From the perspective of the glass half empty, the housing market will stumble through another year of stagnant sales and perhaps even further declined value…

From the perspective of the glass half full, current home re-design, refreshing the décor and room re-purposing will hit high drive.

Furthermore, the Millennials will take on the new challenge of home making…literally!

Just this morning, I did something that I never thought I would ever do again… I re-subscribed to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  Not the physical newspaper delivered to the front door…but the electronic look-alike version that I will be able to log-into and read on my iPad each morning. 

Newspaper and magazine circulation will be on the rise in 2012. 

Brands that embrace the changes will be staged for a great positive run once the election is decided on November 6, 2012. 

In the meantime, there are some cool trends to capitalize on as well.

Back in 2003 when I started my own consulting group, I published the first TRENDCAST citing from my “on-the-street” perspective, what I envisioned as the top trends likely to impact the marketplace. 

Here are the Top 10 Trends cited in the 2012 TRENDCAST…

1.  Digital First

2.  Interactive Expectation

3.  Customer Bonding

4.  The Merger of Reality with Reality

5.  The New Culture of Influence

6.  Adoption of Generation ZOOM

7.  Food Eco-ology

8.  Millennial Home Making

9.  The Rise of the Senior Class

10.  The “Publishing” Come-back

Over the course of the last week, I had a chance to break bread with a few of my friends and colleagues. 

I heard more than half bitch about their relationship with their telecommunications provider.

And then heard about how much they got to know some cool brands over the holiday shopping experiences and interacted with their top management.

Great to see the EXPERIENCE TRENDCAST coming to life!

Check out the EXPERIENCE website.  On the home page is a link to the 2012 TRENDCAST and you can read more about each one of these trends.

Also… keep me posted on what you observe as you and your brands encounter these market dynamics during 2012.

No question that 2012 promises to be a wild ride… buckle those belts and gear up for the journey…

The Race Is On!

A 2012 Premiere!

Okay.

It started one morning when I was shaving.

My boss was staring me down.

I had just presented the previous day to a large regional bank.

My presentation was all about the re-positioning of their brand and the cultivation of a new brand culture driven by the touch-points of the brand experience.

My talk was part strategic; part marketing, but mostly evangelical.

Do what I say… not as I do.

Often times, it’s the evangelists that commit the worst sins.

In 2003 when I chose NOT to renew my contract with Omnicom, my peers encouraged me to start up my own account planning group.

Not sure where my head was at, but I let my first few clients craft my brand name, BRANDVenture.

Okay… they were all MBAs and I was on a mission to convert them…

But they were my customers and I am a strong advocate that customers define reality… not the marketer.

They all said I was a brand-man that had a pretty good track record launching new ideas and recharging the bottomline performance of brands in need of renewal.

So I launched my group with BRANDVenture and tried my best to make the name work.

I had some fun early on with the words like “discovery,” “ignition” and “combustion.”

Even had some graphic icons that indicated the pace of change and challenge.

But when my boss was staring me down that morning, I knew that the time had come to make a change.

It was in the shower the next morning when inspiration hit.

I preach that brands are neither physical products nor service deliverables.

Customers do not make purchases based on rational thought.

Customers are driven by the emotional context of interacting with the product or service.

They seek out interaction that is further fueled by the right side of their brain.

Successful brands get it.

Many, many MBA brand teams simply don’t.

And that's good because deep down they really covet insight others have not year discovered... implementing strategy that delivers results... and building dialogue and engagement with customers and prospects.

So on January 1st 2012, BRANDVenture will be no more, replaced by…

EXPERIENCE
INSIGHT + STRATEGY + ENGAGEMENT

It’s a living, breathing, changing and adapting brand.

Check out our new website that also will soon premiere at www.experiencediscovery.com

My boss is feeling good.

Maybe I will buy that girl a martini on New Years Eve to toast the passion that drives brand success 24/7.

Cheers!

Occupy Entrepreneurship!

I am sitting here in a coffee shop reading my WSJ and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

When I got up at 6am, I shaved while watching FOX News.

A lot of the news coverage is focused around the Wall Street demonstrators; other coverage about the stalled economy.

At the table next to me in the coffee shop there are two Millennials engaging in a job interview.

The interviewer is a young lady. The applicant is young gentleman.

They are each wearing business dress. In fact, the young gentleman is outfitted in a full suit and tie.

The young lady interviewing the candidate is reading a set of questions from a printed sheet.

The young gentleman quickly responds with scripted answers.

My guess is that they are both MBA graduates.

I would also guess that the firm doing the interview is either…
(a) Coke, Georgia Pacific or AT&T
(b) A law, accounting or engineering firm

Now shift over to what the press labels as “occupy Wall Street.”

I just asked my CNN coffee house buddy what the press calls the folks… his reply sums it up best… “The press calls it occupy Wall Street, but they are really dumb, stupid nimwits.”

My coffee house buddy leans strongly to the left.

Here we have another glimpse of the Millennial 20-somethings walking the streets protesting the difficulties of finding a job – or should I say their vision of a job.

Their anger at what they perceive to be the 1% of the populace has functioned like fly paper.

From the American communists to the drug freaks to the outcasts… all have joined up with the young Millennials squatting and claiming what they believe to be their God-granted right.

Of course, I am always reminded by colleagues that these are the kids of the 60s “Peace, Love, Sex” Boomer parents.

And the kids whose social framework is woven together through Facebook.

These are also the same Millennials who elected the current person occupying the White House and after the election shifted their attention over to the next generation of Wii.

I have a strong feeling that their movement will dwindle more because of the ADHA than anything that happens to the economy and their job prospects.

Now let’s travel back to the MBAs still engaged in the well-scripted interview.

Here the challenge is that the scripts fail to work when the on-stage curtains rise.

The questions are scripted.

The answers are scripted.

The roles are scripted.

The market ain’t.

Any of you who have followed this blog, have read about the passion I have for entrepreneurship and innovation… driven by a consumer-built brand foundation.

A large number of Corporate America firms fail to do it. But those that actually do it celebrate success.

At least these two Millennials are interviewing in a coffee house… even a locally owned one… and not a corporate office pod.

Maybe someday the young lady doing the interview will get laid off.

Maybe someday the young gentleman will wake up and come out of his corporate career dream closet.

Maybe they will have a born-again experience and accept entrepreneurship as their goal and savior.

Amen.

Getting Ready For The Big Bang!

According to many in the scientific community, that is how we all got here.

A massively concentrated, high-energy conglomerate finally had enough… and exploded creating the stars, the planets and the moons.

I lay no claims to being an astronomer nor a physicist, but as an observer of the marketplace, the theory has some validity.

Whether its consumer packaged goods, transportation, video entertainment, travel tourism, home goods, healthcare or even the government offices of Uncle Sam, the big bang theory is taking place right before us.

Consumer packaged good giants like Kraft and Sara Lee are splitting up.

Merck Pharmaceuticals is selling off groups to get more focused on the simple business dynamic of making money.

Netflix is no longer cohabiting with its mail-order videos sibling.

Motorola is splitting up with home entertainment seeking shelter away from the communications gear company.

Fortune Brands Inc., ITT Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. have all announced they will split into pieces.

While music groups are known for break-ups, R.E.M. announced last week that their beat will no longer be united on the same stage.

Is this spawned by new romance and side affairs?

Or is this all part of a major new wave of change that is going to capitalize on a soon-to-be re-energized economy and marketplace?

When I retreat to my country house in Athens, Georgia, I channel my breakfast caffeine cravings to two very different coffee houses.

Neither is Starbucks.

One is a national bakery chain. The other one is an independent doughnut joint.

The national bakery chain is driven by a business paradigm that thrives on the delivery of a common experience no matter if I visit a location in Athens, Atlanta, Jacksonville or Dallas.

Embracing change is not easy.

Managers come and go as they rotate and get field training.

The other one is run by a late 20-something Millennial generation couple… a male-female couple.

They do very creative things with doughnuts.

They know customers by name and get very creative with their weekly promotions… like dance and sing a Broadway hit to get 10% off.

Now I know that Athens, Georgia is not Wall Street. In fact, in many ways, its not even Main Street.

But it does offer a glimpse into what I believe is going to become the Tsunami of business growth.

Companies, organizations, entrepreneurs, for-profits and non-profits are embracing the fact that innovation and change combined with rolling up their sleeves and screaming from rooftops…

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH…

BLOW UP THE BUSINESS MODEL AND GIVE ME BACK THE REINS.

I AM SIMPLY GOING TO JUST DO IT.

Big is no longer better.

State politicians and local community leadership is jumping on board.

Whether you agree or not agree with Alabama and Arizona, the states have said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH in terms of immigration control.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a bank that is scrapping the drive-throughs and designing a new stage of a combination bank and coffee house.

No question that demand is building up and will soon seek release.

No question that big behemoth corporate giants will be unable to re-engineer quick enough.

And so the book documenting what is about to happen will begin…

A massively concentrated, high-energy conglomerate finally had enough… and exploded creating the stars, the brands and the new ventures that finally did what was critically needed across the landscape of the Planet Earth.

Re-Acquisition of Self-destiny

It was a combination of spending a lot of time last week speaking with business leadership combined with having my house broken into where I finally said, “okay its time for a drink.”

It was when I was sipping on that margarita that I was hit by the high-tide wave of change… and not one of those churned by Hurricane Irene.

It’s the Trend Wave posted on the BRANDVenture website that highlights how individuals, businesses, brands, social groups and cultural groups are giving up reliance on others, other organizations and other elements of the market-at-large.

Simply said… they are fed up.

Fed up with an economy, political promises, trade association support and industry leadership guidelines.

Over the course of the last six weeks I have spoken to more than 80 business owners, CEOs and CFOs.

The study was for a bank.

I’m glad that BRANDVenture is not client dependent on banks.

Business leadership literally hates banks. As one CEO put it, “they are evil, but an evil I have sleep with.”

Top management’s business and economic expectations over the next 12-18 months are not positive.

And for my fellow Atlantans, their expectation of Georgia and Atlanta is even lower than Washington and the US.

But here is what is surprising.

They too have reached a level of a re-awakening… they too have been hit by the Trend Wave…they too are finally declaring…

I HAVE HAD ENOUGH AND I AM GOING TO TAKE CHARGE!

My bank client has already communicated that they want to reach beyond entrepreneurs; they want to expand their reach of mid-size businesses.

As they say, entrepreneurs are too risky.

I remember the book that came out a few years about “unleashing the child within us.”

Regardless of how large the company, the connection level with “the entrepreneurial drive” is the MBA version of unleashing the child within us.

Now I have taught Entrepreneurship at the university level and also have worked with departments of economic development in designing entrepreneur workshops.

The focus of those courses and sessions is how to take the passion of an idea and use that passion, marry it with the market need/desire for the idea and use it to drive the organization and bring-to-market strategy.

The business leadership I spoke with is taking control of their destiny. They are rethinking and reorganizing their business approach. They are re-engineering their service mix and how they process business leads.

However, most importantly, they are refocusing on their customers. They are taking them out to lunch or grabbing a morning coffee with them.

They are asking investing in what drives the customer and what they can do to fuel that drive.

Business leadership is fed up with the automation of banks.

And we are not talking about the ATM or online account management.

And they are smart enough to know that the automation of business relationships doesn’t work in lifting business out of the hole.

The re-acquisition of self-destiny is a Trend Wave because it is something that is impacting a wide scope of our marketplace and society at-large.

Smart marketers, driven by a re-acquisition of self and the entrepreneurial spirit will revive both their brands and the economy at large.

Automated, systematized, mass marketers will fade from the scene.

Good Ole Boys Just Cannot Get Beyond It

I was all ready to write about the economic forecasts for the remainder of 2011; then I came across a news story this morning that I quickly realized was much more fun.

Fun because it exemplifies why a company like BRANDVenture is in business.

I stand proud as an American every day the sunrises. Despite all the turmoil going on in Washington and on Wall Street, I remain sold on what makes up the American brand culture.

I would be willing to put a $100 bet on the table that nearly all of you reading this blog have a story you can recall about a fun time eating a hot dog.

Could have been at an iconic brand experience like a parade, campfire, baseball game or picnic. Could have been back in college days when that’s all you could afford.

Hot dogs transcend income, age and urban-rural American culture.

So what was the news story that warranted a shift from the GDP to the good ole dogs?

Sara Lee Corp and Kraft Foods are suing one another in the US District Court over brand advertising claims of being the “top dog” (that’s the editorial term used by AP in the article).

The war between the brands dates back to 2009 when Kraft’s Oscar Meyer ads claim to be the best tasting franks beating out Sara Lee’s Ball Park brand.

Of course Ball Park immediately launched a counter campaign citing another taste test survey in which they were the better tasting brand.

The article showcases how each company is discrediting the other brand’s methodology like Sara Lee complaining that the Oscar Meyer test served the franks sans the buns on a white paper plate.

Last blog I wrote about the “crash and grab” marketing mentality; the hot dog fight is a great example of the good ole boy mentality of “mine is bigger than yours.”

And the hot dog scenario is only the latest example.

Over the weekend, I saw one of the Verizon coverage spots raise its head again claiming to have more coverage than AT&T.

That good ole boy brawl also made its way to the courts.

Coke and Pepsi are famous for their “taste better” campaigns too. But at least Coke made light of the “taste better” campaigns with Coke Zero taking on Diet Coke.

A few months ago, one of the brands that I work with on a periphery level decided to test out their product against the lead competitor to see which one consumers preferred.

This client had an ongoing panic-attack through much of the three-day one-on-ones because there really wasn’t much of a clear winner.

Outside of Indra Nooyi, Pepsico’s CEO, I would wager another bet that the leadership behind these brands are male.

Males are hell-bent on “strutting their stuff” and claiming superiority.

As my book title I am writing observes… All Men Are Pigs… but, the real issue at heart is that the leadership of these brands fail to hear the consumers screaming out there… “I DON”T CARE ABOUT YOU…TELL ME ABOUT ME!”

The Avis “We Try Harder” campaign might be dated, but at least Avis leadership was smart enough to know that it wasn’t about being #1 or #2 that matters to the business guy (or gal)… it was which car rental brand was dedicated to delivering the best brand experience.

Think about this… Can you imagine where Apple would be today if they elected to all of a sudden take on the “mine is bigger than yours” marketing mentality and change their brand claim to “the largest tech brand in the world.”

Apple not only could do that… but also say that they are now beating out EXXON for the highest valued company in the world.

Steve Jobs does “think different” than the CEOs at Sara Lee and Kraft.

Its truly a shame that neither of those hot dog marketing teams (including their ad agencies) don’t sit back and think about the fun and memorable experiences of eating and marketing their brands around that experience.

Its also too bad that they cannot have fun and passion in doing what they do and perhaps even make us laugh with a set of parody spots about good ole boys touting the “mine is bigger than yours.”

Perhaps as Ad Age noted in its online news release yesterday, “consumers brace for downturn,” that the hot dog boys understand that they actually might have a product opportunity.

(And back in those college days when I had little to spend on meals, I have some fond memories of grilling out the franks!)