This article, by Christopher Scanlon, is a hoot. Talking about Generation Y (or any other generation come to that matter) he reveals the idiocy of the way the media and advertisers simplies, flatters and misrepresents the way generations of people behave. Really worth a read.
Here is a sample:
They are the generation that has slipped the marketers' net. Raised in a society saturated by media and technology, by age eight they've consumed more images and information than any previous generation before. They know the standard repertoires of the ad-men and can guess the punchline of an ad before it's finished.
With so much technology at their fingertips and so many screens vying for their attention, marketers simply don't know which way to jump. A single ad campaign with a single message simply won't wash with this generation of media savvy 20-somethings.
Their lifestyles are so complex, their tastes so diverse and fast-changing, that any marketer that does manage to corner them has their work cut out keeping them. They demand customised, individualised products to match their complex lifestyles and multiple identities. Patronise them and you can kiss them goodbye. Educated, media savvy and smart, they're beyond the range of the marketer's siren song. Such is the standard copy for generation Y, anyway.
The problem with this thumbnail sketch, which is regularly served up by advertisers and faithfully reported by the media - including a host of articles in recent years in this newspaper - is that pretty much the same things were said about generation X and, before them, the baby boomers.
If you want to read my take on the issue, which is pretty much the same, have a look at this article.
Dick Stroud
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