Getting creative: How to know when you need outside help
Posted On May 23, 2018
What is creativity? The answer to that question will be different depending upon who you ask. But to Rich Sullivan, CEO of Red Square Agency in Mobile, it’s really quite simple. “Really, creativity to me is the ability to adapt,” Sullivan says, “the ability to take what’s happened — facts and experiences and trends that you can draw a backwards line on — and be able to look what’s going to happen and predict something or literally influence what the future is.” Influencing the future is what Sullivan’s clients would like him to do – particularly, influencing their future sales…. Read More
Categories: Advertising, Podcast, Product Design
From classic movies to Chick-fil-A: Millennial reaction videos reach critical mass
Posted On May 19, 2018
Just when you thought there wasn’t anything else that millennials could try while their reactions are filmed for a cheesy video, Business Insider has found a new one: Chick-fil-A. That’s right: Somewhere in this country are 10 millennials who apparently had never tried Chick-fil-A until Business Insider stuck a camera in their faces and shoved a chicken sandwich in front of them. One said she grew up in Europe. One was from Montana. One was a former vegetarian. One just said “the lines are always really long.” This worn-out trope has come in many forms, perhaps the best of which… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Generation Y / Millennials
Are Millennials, online shopping taking a bite out of Black Friday?
Posted On November 29, 2017
Is Black Friday fading? It depends on who you ask. Anecdotal evidence around the country seemed to indicate that the traditional Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopping spree wasn’t as big a free-for-all as in past years, but Forbes cited numbers from the National Retail Federation and Prospect Insights & Analytics that showed turnout to be higher than expected. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that online spending on Black Friday was a record $5.03 billion, according to Adobe Systems Inc. — up nearly 17 percent over last year. We didn’t even wait for Cyber Monday. The ease of online shopping has taken a bite out of… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Generation Y / Millennials, Wealth
Next on millennials’ hit list: Beer?
Posted On August 1, 2017
You may have read that millennials may be the death of chain restaurants. Or that their news consumption habits have made newspapers endangered species. What are millennials killing next? Beer, apparently. CNBC reported recently that millennials are drinking more wine and spirits and less beer. Goldman Sachs recently downgraded Boston Beer Company, makers of Sam Adams, and Constellation Brands, which brews Corona and Modelo, amid reports of sluggish sales. Business Insider, which has made a cottage industry of identifying industries that millennials are supposedly destroying, aggregated CNBC’s report with the headline: “Millennials are killing the beer industry.” Nielsen panel data… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Generation Y / Millennials
Your brand don’t matter. You better bring it.
Posted On August 17, 2016
Generation X is, in many ways, the forgotten generation. Its numbers lag well behind Baby Boomers and millennials. It has not yet reached the concentration of wealth amassed, as a group, by the Baby Boomers. And it no longer gets to decide what’s cool, as it has passed that torch to the millennials. But Generation X is still a valuable and sought-after market. And they apparently like to drive SUVs. Companies like Ford, whose Explorer Sport is a top-seller among Gen-Xers, are aggressively targeting the latchkey kid generation, Forbes automotive contributor Dale Buss found, and they have solid reasons for… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Automotive, Generation X
You Can’t Judge Every Individual By His Generation
Posted On April 28, 2015
We live in a digital age, so it only stands to reason that Millennials will be quicker to adapt and integrate new technologies into their everyday lives than Baby Boomers and Generation Xers. The folks at Millward Brown Digital set out to test that theory, but instead found something far more elemental: You can’t judge every individual by his or her generation. A survey conducted by the company found that while Millennials are the first generation to really embrace mobile shopping, they – like their Gen X parents and Baby Boomer grandparents – still fall back on the trusty old… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Generations
How are brands adjusting to new generations?
Posted On September 2, 2014
Much of my work consists of helping people connect. Whether it is businesses with consumers or employers with employees, the underlying need is for individuals or groups to find a common ground for authentic communication. Sometimes, however, the conversation goes meta and we’re talking about how a brand can make that connection to the individual. It’s growing beyond human relationships to marketing, and the bias a generation can bring to how they receive that marketing. This article in Canada’s Globe and Mail discusses how Generation Y may (or may not) change branding. It’s an interesting dialogue with a marketing executive… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Product Design
Want good Millennials workers? Do good.
Posted On July 1, 2014
Corporate foundations, social responsibility committees, paid volunteer days – these may seem like “nice to haves” to many business leaders. For Millennials in the workforce, however, they are increasingly important to overall interest in working for company and job satisfaction once employed. The 2014 Millennial Impact Report surveyed Millennials about their interests and expectations around cause-related work and charitable giving associated with the workplace. The results indicate that companies that put an emphasis on doing good are more likely to appeal to Millennial workers. It is not enough to give generously – underwriting a board chair position at the university… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Generation Y / Millennials, Succession Planning
It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights…
Posted On April 22, 2014
Sorry for the Muppets earworm, Xers – it was either that or Sesame Street’s “Sunny day, sweepin’ the clouds away…” And now they are both stuck in your head, aren’t they? Me too, thanks to a great read from Salon.com. In her article, Millennials just don’t get it! How the Muppets created Generation X, Elizabeth Hyde Stevens takes Xers on a tour back in time, uncovers tons of subtle (and not so subtle) influences Jim Henson has had on the entire psyche of 70s and 80s kids, and brings it all home with connections to today’s business and media legends…. Read More
Categories: Advertising, Blog, Generation XRethinking the Baby Boomer market
Posted On October 3, 2013
Businesses spend quite a bit of time trying to understand what’s next…from the workplace demands of the next generation of superstars to the buying habits of the famed “18-24 target market” of potential brand loyalists. However, demographics tell us that “what’s next” may well be what just was. That is, the power of last generation’s new target market—Baby Boomers—is still the most powerful consumer market, and the older Gen Xers are right on their tails. Businesses need to keep up. By 2017, nearly half the US population will be 50 or older. They will have the more purchasing power than… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Baby Boomers