{"id":1936,"date":"2014-07-03T15:21:27","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T19:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/?p=1936"},"modified":"2014-07-03T15:21:27","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T19:21:27","slug":"engaging-gen-y-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/?p=1936","title":{"rendered":"Engaging Gen Y Customers"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Attracting Gen Ys to Your Brand<\/h2>\n<p>A few weeks ago I worked with a client to explore how their business and current product offering could be modified and enhanced to better attract and engage Gen Y customers. \u00a0For this organization, they recognize that if they don\u2019t engage a younger customer group their business will be at risk of not surviving.\u00a0 It is a serious business challenge for them and requires a new mindset to evaluate what they currently do and how it can be enhanced to tap into what Gen Ys value. It\u2019s important to understand this cohort if you want to engage them and build them as loyal customers.<\/p>\n<h3>Who are Gen Ys and What do They Want?<\/h3>\n<p>Generation Y makes up close to 30% of the population in both Canada and the US. Gen Ys represent a $200USD Billion dollar market in North America and influence over half of all economic spending.\u00a0 As a cohort, this generation is influencing brands by requiring not only functional and emotional benefits but also participative benefits (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hanoverresearch.com\/insights\/how-millennials-are-changing-the-face-of-retail-shopping\/?i=transportation-logistics\">Hanover Research<\/a>).\u00a0 What this means is that they expect to be engaged with the brands they purchase and be rewarded for their participation \/ interaction with that brand.\u00a0 Loyalty programs are one example of receiving a benefit for being a repeat customer.<\/p>\n<h3>What Gen Ys Value<\/h3>\n<p>Gen Ys expect brands to engage them just as much as their employers do.\u00a0 As a cohort, they have a strong desire for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Flexibility \/ choice<\/li>\n<li>Ability to contribute<\/li>\n<li>Fun<\/li>\n<li>Open communication<\/li>\n<li>Creativity and innovation<\/li>\n<li>Recognition<\/li>\n<li>Corporate social responsibility<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What this means for your organization\u2019s products and\/or services is that they need to provide younger customers with the ability to communicate with you, provide suggestions, be rewarded for purchasing your product and understand how you demonstrate corporate social responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>Younger customers are asking your brand to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Engage them through dialogue (online, social media, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Make it social \u2013 help them share the experience with their friends<\/li>\n<li>Reward them for being a customer<\/li>\n<li>Be true \u2013 deliver on your promises<\/li>\n<li>Act on their suggestions \u2013 solicit their feedback<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How Brands are Responding<\/h3>\n<p>There are several examples of how brands have responded to the expectations of Gen Ys by adjusting their products to tap into what motivates this cohort.\u00a0 For example,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lay\u2019s Potato Chips\n<ul>\n<li>They engaged younger customers online to create their own flavour, have others vote on it and the winner\u2019s choice goes to market.\u00a0 All entries received recognition and rewards (free product) for participating.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Chipotle\n<ul>\n<li>Focuses on local, fresh, organic ingredients with an emphasis on not being big business.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Red Bull\n<ul>\n<li>Supports high octane sporting events and uses articles, videos, games and music to appeal to younger audiences and accumulate social media likes and shares.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>ZipCar\n<ul>\n<li>Uses mobile apps to make it easy to pinpoint the location of other ZipCar users and simplify the sharing process between users. Focuses on how car sharing reduces a person\u2019s carbon footprint.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Engaging Gen Y<\/h3>\n<p>There are a number of ways to engage Gen Ys and attract them to your brand, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Shifting from traditional marketing and advertising to more social media<\/li>\n<li>Taking a collaborative approach, requesting feedback from customers and acting on this feedback<\/li>\n<li>Leveraging the vital marketing power of Gen Ys through websites, mobile apps, videos, social media, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Providing choices and options that are individualized<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attracting Gen Ys to Your Brand A few weeks ago I worked with a client to explore how their business and current product offering could be modified and enhanced to better attract and engage Gen Y customers. \u00a0For this organization, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/?p=1936\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[108,34,202],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1936"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1940,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936\/revisions\/1940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ngenperformance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}