Traditional advertising is not seen in a positive light with most GenY consumers. This generation doesn’t watch much TV or read many hard copy books. They ignore in-your-face advertising and block pop-ups on their computers. But, most of all GenY consumers hate to be told what is “cool”.
So how do advertisers reach the 71 million “Millennials” in GenY that spend over 200 billion dollars annually and will soon replace the baby boomer generation as the largest percentage of the workforce? The answer: Advertising can no longer be a group of old men deciding what is best for consumers.
According to the book, Trust Us, We’re Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future, Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber attack the 20th Century model of marketing and public relations for misusing their power as “experts” in the eyes of the consumer.
Products and services used to be validated using this “third-party technique”, where an industry would purchase the services of so-called independent experts (a.k.a. advertising agencies) to promote a message that would monetarily benefit a specific industry. The advertising spin-doctors would then shape a message to flatter the product or service, while simultaneously discrediting or attacking the competition. Sometimes they would even go so far as to suppress or manipulate problematic data about the product or service to make it “sell-able”.
But advertising has taken a turn – consumers no longer rely on the experts. Not only do they not want to be told what to buy, they don’t want to be pushed into what to think, who to vote for and how to raise their children.
Today’s advertising is about the consumer deciding what they want to see and buy. For example, according to a national survey from Arbitron and Edison Research, 48 percent of Americans 12 years and older have a profile on one or more social networking sites. On Facebook, the most visited website, consumers can “like” a note or post a page. Advertisers code the site to recognize those favorites and use this information to target the needs of consumers. All of the sudden on your Facebook page there is an ad for your favorite band on tour in your area or a new restaurant to try on your street. No more pop-up ads flashing shiny letters and “experts” selling you catchy phrases and manipulated data.
Advertisers finally realize that it’s not about how much spin they can put on a product or service to increase sales – it’s now all about YOU.
I’ve always had a creative itch, growing up in a family of artists and architects of all different specialties, so when I decided to pursue advertising, everyone wondered why I would choose an industry that bombards the media today with mediocre attempts to sell products and brands.
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