The questions plague every marketer at some point in his or her career. What do consumers really want? How do we earn their trust and loyalty? How do we know when we are strategically moving in the right direction in our campaigns, media buys and new product or service launches?
On a fundamental level, the answers should be easy. We are all, after all, consumers in our own rights, so shouldn't we have some level of natural insight as to what motivates people to connect, click, engage and purchase one product vs. another?
Of course the answer to that is yes. And no.
Digital media's ability to personalize messages has complicated the right-message-at-the-right-time equation, and generational differences in consumption habits has added dimensions that media buyers never dreamed of before. Furthermore, certain demographics are particularly tricky when it comes to delivering messages to them. In particular, those comprising Generation Y -- who currently are enjoying their teens and twenties -- have been distinguished from their generational predecessors by their reported reluctance to be marketed to. It's not that they don't want to use digital media to learn about new products -- they just want to be part of the marketing dialogue and to select where, when and how they are pitched to.
Helping to build this dialogue is a company called Peanut Labs. Through survey applications integrated with the social networks that these segments live and breathe for, Peanut Labs provides direct access into the minds of Generation X, Generation Y, Boomers and other highly targeted custom consumer segments.
With this consumer mind-reading tool available, I decided to ask some industry experts what they wanted to know about media consumption habits of the under-30 set, and then get a sample of how these targets view media's role in their lives.
Essential media
John Durham, managing general partner at Catalyst asked what one key media platform could this demographic not live without. It turns out that while both television and mobile phones have a tight grasp on young consumers, it's the internet that is indispensable to 56 percent of the 309 survey respondents.
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