No Guts No Glory: What Apple Can Teach Us About Appealing To Gen Y
Gen Y is a new type of consumer. Old marketing strategies won’t work on them. Your marketing plan needs to grab their attention. In this information age, these socially connected times, anyone can reach Millennials; and they know how to filter out the noise. To get Gen Y’s attention, you need to be bold.
Gen Y is a new type of consumer. Old marketing strategies won’t work on them. Your marketing plan needs to grab their attention. In this information age, these socially connected times, anyone can reach Millennials; and they know how to filter out the noise. To get Gen Y’s attention, you need to be bold.
In Mad Men, Don Draper states that “Clients don’t understand their success is reliant on standing out, not fitting in.” Mad Men might be set in the 1960s, but that’s still true today, especially when it comes to reaching Millennial consumers. They don’t want to fit in and you shouldn’t either.
Once you have their attention, Gen Y wants authenticity. A bold campaign can show them you’ve got guts, are willing to put it all out on the line, and take a risk for your product.
WANT YOUR MARKETING TO WORK ON GEN Y? BE BOLD, AUTHENTIC AND CREATE AN EXPERIENCE.
It’s been working for Apple. Apple has been around longer than the Millennials (those born between 1982 and 1995), but they were creating advertising campaigns to appeal to the next generation since before that generation was old enough to pay attention.
Tech-savvy Gen Y seems drawn to Apple products. According to a recent Forrester survey, Gen Y is the leading age group behind purchases of Apples iPhones. Why is that? Apple does a remarkable job using bold advertising campaigns that reach the Millennial consumer. Apple understands the shifting role of technology in our changing lifestyles, and they know how to market it.
Bold advertising has been working for Apple since 1984 when they introduced their new Macintosh computer in a commercial directed by Ridley Scott that didn’t even show the product. Apple understood then how to sell an experience. And they’re still doing it.
Apple does it again with their “Get a Mac” campaign that talked about products in a completely new way. Apple humanized the products and used funny conversation and information to sell their products while boldly mocking the competition.
In both cases, Apple focuses on the experience the product provides the user. They get your attention and make it memorable without showing their products. The campaigns are bold and simple with a feeling of authenticity. The trend continues with the latest iPhone commercials. And Gen Y will continue to buy Apple products.
You don’t need to be a flashy new technology to get Millennials to notice your products, but you do need to be bold, authentic and create an experience. When it comes to reaching Gen Y, getting them to buy, it’s no guts no glory. What have you got to lose, besides that 200 billion dollars Millennial consumers are spending annually?