Platt Retail Institute: Reaching Generation Y through Digital Networks
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt of a current article from the Platt Retail Institute’s Quarterly Retail Analytics report.
Online video usage has exploded over the last few years, with more than 400 million people watching internet video today, and some one billion predicted by 2012. In communicating with Generation Ys, video content should be carefully considered in retail digital signage environments.
Gen-Y's members are the first generation to have grown up on the internet. Hard to reach, yet free-spending, Gen Y people are adapters of the latest technology and trends. Civic-minded and socially responsible, they value open communication and are socially networked. They resist reading and increasingly avoid television in lieu of immediate access to digested information. They are constantly online:
- 34 percent use websites as their primary source of news.
- 28 percent own a blog and 44 percent read blogs.
- 49 percent download music using peer-to-peer file sharing.
- 75 percent of college students have a Facebook account.
- 60 percent own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod.
It is therefore increasingly difficult to market and advertise to this audience through traditional models. Broadband provides fast load times, thus limiting messaging placement. On-demand services facilitate skipping or fast-forwarding through commercials. This is further complicated through an inherent desire of Gen Ys to make purchase decisions on their own terms by getting information first and making a decision later.
So how do we reach this seemingly "unreachable" audience?
Marketers are exploring the use of rich media and specifically in-store video as an effective way to draw in this audience, and present messaging in a manner acceptable to Gen Y. The principle at work is speaking "with" rather than "to" Gen Ys to quickly establish trust. Once engaged, the marketer should attempt to build on that trust in a way that respects the Gen Y value set and follows its decision-making criteria. By "framing" a message within video the idea is to draw Gen Ys in, and present entertaining and on-point information efficiently.
Among the key considerations for content:
- Highlighting what truly differentiates your company, not just products.
- Providing real, useful, relevant and up-to-date information.
- Considering multiple/alternative media to share additional information.
- Creating an integrated plan that reinforces messaging across multiple media and events.
- Repurposing interesting marketing content.
- Looking for opportunities to show your company’s personality.
- Demonstrating social culture.
Retailers considering the use of in-store video are advised to invest in content tailored to Gen Y, as well as provide a network to carefully target audiences with appropriate messaging and frequency of updates.
Discussion Questions: How would you rate in-store video as a way to communicate with Gen-Y consumers? What considerations do you think are critical when "framing" a message within video to reach the Gen-Y generation?