Who are Generation Y and are they your customers?

You know when you hear someone talking and they are making an observation/point that you’ve had in the back of your mind for some time and you think, I AGREE!  Well I had a moment like that yesterday.

As marketers one of the most important things we need to understand is the thought process of our current and potential customers. In know, I’m stating the obvious, but how often is it just a statement. In it’s most simplistic terms for companies in the B2C market consumer behaviour can be broken down at the highest level by age or generation.

Generation Y – 13-30 years old

Generation X – 30 – 45 years old

Boomers – 45 – 60 years old

Depending on what you sell, understanding the behavioural characteristics of these three generations is critical to success.  I was listening to an interview with Kit Yarrow  yesterday,when the afore mention I AGREE happened, and she has managed to sum up these generations in one sentence, and here it is;

“Generation Y have a glass that’s half full, generation X have a glass that’s half empty and the boomer just see the glass as something else to wash up.” Brilliant!

If you are selling to generation Y you should seriously consider Kits, and co author Jayne O’Donnells book “Gen Buy”   because after listening to her talking about researching this subject and hearing some brilliant insights, it could be the best £12 you ever spent.