It should come as no surprise that Gen Y’s are great consumers of social media and content. In fact, according to our latest research nearly 90% of Gen Y’s reported they watch videos, 68% reported they read blogs/vlogs/forums and 65% reported reading customer ratings/reviews. At 70 million plus strong, Gen Y represents a marketing tsunami as these consumers not only become great consumers of social media but creators and powerful influencers that will fundamentally change the way people buy and how we as marketers market.

No doubt, it’s a critical time for marketers as we learn the skills necessary to attract consumers, engage them in conversations and encourage them to participate with our brand(s). Advertising in its pure “push” sense is being questioned, as it should be, due to its diminishing impact. Marketing attention is turning as we see the emergence and growth of new powerful brands, like Zappos who built a brand on great products, exceptional service and powerful word of mouth. It is an evolving marketplace for sure and it highlighted most effectively in Steve Rubel’s recent interview with Jeff Jarvis, author of What Would Google Do? - “In an age when competition and pricing are opened up online and when your product is your ad, you need to spend your first dollar on the quality of your product or service. If you're Zappos, you spend the next dollar on customer service and call that marketing. If the next dollar goes to advertising, there has to be a reason -- and if the product is good enough, that reason may fade away.”

The customer brand dynamic is changing and that will become increasingly dramatic as Gen Y’s purchasing power continues to grow. To survive and thrive, CMOs will have to figure out what strategies and tactics to deploy to encourage participation and loyalty. One of those strategies will be centered around how we manage customer interactions and support customer service. That’s why we invited social media guru Steve Rubel to lead the PMN Webinar entitled “The New Rules Of Customer Service – Participate Or Perish”. In this free Webinar, Steve will address the strategies and tactics to increase customer service satisfaction using social media and the tips, tactics and tools to mange, track and monitor your customer interactions. There are few topics as important as this one, as brands attempt to reinvent their marketing in order to gain their fair share of what will become the biggest wave of consumer purchasing power and influence this country and the world have ever seen. Are you ready? Join us and Steve in June for the Webinar and stay tuned as the PMN leads the way with new research, more informative webinars and new live discussions with the folks that really matter…your future power purchasers and influences - Gen Y. To register for Steve’s webinar click here.