Gen Y has spoken once again. In the latest PMN and Pace University survey we explored Gen Y’s usage and attitudes toward texting, mobile marketing, email, social networks and more. The results were enlightening. While Generation Yers do indeed spend considerable time on social networks, when asked what they would least like to give up for one week, only nine percent said social networks! In fact, the media Gen Y apparently can’t live without was…drum roll please….yup, old-fashioned email and texting.



So what’s going on here? Could it be that there is a clear division across media that includes “nice to have” non-essential sites (like Twitter and facebook) and “must have” productivity and communication tools (like email and texting)? Should Twitter and facebook be worried given they are considered less of a necessity? While no one is asking Gen Y to choose, the question is an important one for every social network and/or community player – what should you be doing now to avoid becoming just another community causality like GeoCities. For more information about our latest survey, visit the PMN website or check out some of the news coverage and let me know what you think.

Gen Y Holds Tight To Email And Texting
eMarketer: November 4, 2009 

Probing GenY'ers
MediaPost: October 27, 2009

Tech Additions: Email and Texting Top Social Media In Gen Y [Study]
Mashable: October 20, 2009

‘Til Next Time

I’m in Boston this week getting ready to speak at the Internet Retail Conference and Exhibition with a few members from the PMN’s Gen Y panel. Our session, “The Email Immune Generation: Getting Your Message to Gen Y,” is going to be interesting to say the least. We’ll be previewing some preliminary results from our next study with attendees. In fact, I spent most of my Acela trip up here building the slides for Thursday’s presentation and pondering my next blog. After checking in at the Westin Boston Waterfront the topic was quickly settled.

When we started the Participatory Marketing Network we made a conscious decision not to name the association or focus its efforts on one medium. What we wanted to do is talk more about what we think is a movement from push and permission marketing to participatory marketing. As we’ve said before, participatory marketing is really about marketing with your customers rather than at them. It’s about people getting actively involved with your brand, engaging them in a dialogue and encouraging them to become advocates for your brand. We also made a point of stressing that participatory marketing is any marketing that encourages participation including contests, print ads, TV and social media. Over the course of the last 8 months, we’ve highlighted nearly 20 brands who have built some really innovative programs. Some of the most successful programs reviewed have also managed to reinforce the brand promise and value proposition.

However, taking it one step further is Westin Hotels. What Westin is doing at the Westin Boston Waterfront serves as an example of how a brand can build a participatory marketing program and even operationalize it to build a truly differentiated customer experience. The program doing just that is Westin’s “running concierge” program. Within minutes of arriving in my room I received a voicemail for Westin’s “running concierge,” Paul Dryer, inviting me to join him and other guests on a 3 mile run to familiarize myself with the city and refresh my mind and body with a great morning workout. What this program does so well and different in my mind is that it is not just about using customer data, it is about using public-facing employees to help engage customers to participate with its brand. At the same time, the program reinforces Westin’s core positioning and marketing messages (relax, renew, refresh, etc.) and provides a level of service and value one would expect at five star hotels.

Hats off to the Westin Boston Waterfront! In fact, I can't wait to come back. The only thing that will be different next time is that I’ll be sure to bring my running shoes.

 

Part two of our exclusive research is out and the results confirm what a lot of us in email have felt for a long time – email is in desperate need of an overhaul. Look, email has changed very little over the last 15 years, despite the evolution of the Internet into a social gathering place. In fact, what little innovation there has been over the last 8 years has been protectionist in nature in order to save the medium from spam. At the same time, the shifting online paradigm and rise of social networks are challenging email for the attention of the online consumer. In fact, according to a recent study by Nielsen, "member communities" now exceed email participation by 67 percent to 65 percent – and that difference is even more pronounced with Gen Y users. So we asked our Gen Y panel about email and the social internet and here is what they had to say:

- Marketing email is not relevant according to Gen Y consumers – only 28 percent of those surveyed believe the email they get from companies is relevant

- Gen Y consumers are eager to see “innovative services” that allow them to better control, organization and manage email coming from brands. Specifically, 
    o 78 percent would like their email client to automatically categorize and delete expired promotional messages 
    o 62 percent would like to communicate directly with retailers about their favorite products in exchange for getting the best prices from them 
    o 44 percent say they’d subscribe to an email service that collected and summarized multiple offers of interest to them     
    o 32 percent say they’d share promotional email offers with members inside a social network and open emails from others

- More than half of Gen Y consumers (51 percent) say they’d join a separate social network dedicated to managing brand interactions

It seems to me Gen Y is not asking a lot from email, especially in today’s semantically intelligent digital world – or are they? Let us know what you think.

PMN members interested in getting a copy of the complete survey can email info@thepmn.org.

Yesterday we officially released the results from our first Gen Y research study in partnership with Pace University’s Lubin School of Business’ Interactive and Direct marketing (IDM) Lab. The study conducted among 220 PMN panel members and consumers between the ages of 18-24 explored Generation Y behaviors within social networks. Highlights underscore that fact that brands continue to not only struggle connecting with Generation Y in Social Networks but advertising remains a tough sell in these environments. Specifically:

- 62 percent of Gen Y’s have visited a brand or fan page on a social network, but only 48 percent have joined
- 84 percent noticed ads on social networks, 74 percent say they click infrequently/never (36 percent saying they don’t click on ads at all).
- Only 19 percent say they find ads on social networks relevant.
- 51 percent say they’d prefer a separate social network to manage their brand interactions.

While the research doesn’t suggest social networks are a lost cause, it does indicate marketers and brands need to work harder to understand what drives participation and engagement within social networks. When asked about their reasons for joining a brand or fan group on a social network, the top 5 reasons included: to “get news or product updates” (67 percent), “view promotions” (64 percent), “view or download music or videos”(41 percent), “submit opinions” (36 percent), and “connect with other customers” (33 percent). Social media is about making connections and igniting participation and our findings validate the incredible role social networks can play in that process. Let's hope that facebook's forthcoming changes to fan pages (which will be announced today) and marketer's increased attention to building programs that encourage participation grow these numbers.

The study, including additional results will be released and available to members only over the next several weeks. To download your copy, visit the members section of the PMN. If you are not a member yet and would like to join, click here.