01.26.2010 posted by Lisa Chen

Why Gen Y Women

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Lisa and I meet regularly with many nonprofits who tell us that increasing the number of 20-something donors — the next generation of philanthropists — is a major priority.

But how to reach them? A report by Radar Research and PopSugar Media that delves into the influence and consumer habits of Gen Y women sheds some light.

Many of the findings reinforce other research we’ve seen on why women are the #1 target audience, whether you’re selling a product or promoting a cause. Once Gen Y women believe in a brand, for example, 61% report they “share it with as many friends as possible.”

Gen Y women are also big on authenticity. They’re less likely be persuade by celebrities and “experts” and more inclined to trust friends, families, bloggers and others within their networked community (this may include tweeters they’ve never met) to be more unbiased and honest. In the words of one survey subject, “I like to see what everyday people like.”

Little wonder then, that:

• 2 in 5 Gen Y women rely on online user reviews to learn more about a brand.
• Gen Y women are twice as likely to use online social networks to share their recommendations than Gen X women.
• Twice as many Gen Y women say they discovered a new brand from a friend’s status update, compared to Gen X women.
• Gen Y women are twice as likely to rely on blogs to help them decide what to buy.

Establishing a dynamic presence on Facebook and connecting with influential bloggers are certainly ways for cause-driven organizations to walk the millennial walk. But even your web site can also be a place to showcase the voices and faces of funders who can provide real ‘yelp’-style testimonials about the work you do. (If you’re wondering if a yelp for nonprofit actually exists, it does: Greatnonprofits).

Is there an outreach tactic or campaign you’ve done that has successfully connected with Gen Y women? We’ve love to know about it.

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Dr. Bob Deutsch

May 18th, 2010 at 10:02 am

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Beyond Gen Y:
Discovering the Truth About “Post-1988” Females

Dr. Bob Deutsch and Heidi Dangelmaier

Even as we pull out the economic downturn, many people are still curtailing spending because a new meaning of “value” is taking hold. This shift is particularly prominent among what we call the “Post-88s” – females, age 22 and under – who have grown up with social media. Their story of self-identity and its impact on value is so distinct from the older half of the Gen Y population that they can no longer be considered as one market.

Count the Post-88s at the head of the pack when it comes to seeking to discover and express more of their true identity. For them to approve a product, it must reflect and expand these young women’s sense of authenticity. Everything else is simply lost in translation.

Internet, a collection of tools to expand self

While marketers regard the Internet as a sales tool, young women see it as a collection of tools to help them expand their sense of self. Social networks have provided them a way to find like-minded others, peers, who validate their identity and its idiosyncratic displays, even though it may be different than the norm.

Young women are no longer forced to subvert their inner truths to accommodate man-made mass media fantasies and expectations. The online experience has given young females permission to talk among themselves. Their access to validation, alternative viewpoints and support has expanded from local to global. They have at last been freed from consensually agreed upon, mass produced versions of reality.

All the musts, oughts and shoulds these females have been pressured by have been torn asunder by social media. All the superficial, sliced and diced definitions of gender, sexiness, fashion, style and design have become irrelevant. In the face of such notions, they are shouting, “That’s not right for ME.”

There is also an irony operating; the silver-lining to online is that without the intrusion of the body that inevitably gets in the way in face-to-face interactions, these young females are freer to explore their identity, beliefs and attachments. They establish a sense of self far beyond looks, economic standing, race or what brand of handbag they prefer.

Marketers Must Discover New Truths

To be successful tomorrow, marketers today must stop manufacturing and start discovering the needs and desires of the Post-88 female.

What is femaleness? What does it mean to want to be a girl? What does it mean to be comfortable being a young adult female? What is sexy to a girl? What does it mean to be true to oneself? Certainly the answers will not be found devoting one’s life to the pursuit of the perfect body, perfect hair, the perfect man and the perfect house – at least how marketers define “perfect” today. The post-1988 female knows these traditional pursuits do not necessarily lead to happiness.

The new complexity requires understanding how the Post-88 female rides the cusp between silly and serious; sexy and smart; pretty and powerful.

For example, make-up usage is now not usually put on to produce perfection, and cosmetics are best not signified and aspirationally portrayed by the mass acclaimed celebrity. Brittany or Cameron are not the base coin of the young female. Make-up to them is more fun and playful, as opposed to satisfying any pre-conceived ideal.

A similar dynamic is at work in what these post-88s want from their smart phones: function AND fun. And as far as business dress, the question is, what to wear when a suit doesn’t suit you?

Other product domains should also take heed. Even for the younger female, toys need not only to be cute, but also penetrating. For the older, young adult, who, for the first time might be furnishing an apartment, almost all of the furniture in their price range seems over-processed, instead of allowing for discovering one’s “look”. It’s not “new” and “more” that these girls are looking for as much as it is expressing themselves in the design of their environment, both self and sofa with a patina that gets better with age.

The Post-88 female wants to feel good about her choices, existential or mundane. If marketers want to increase the return on investment for their product development and advertising dollars, they will have to understand the identities of what this young adult calls “me.”

To create products that are not yet on the shelves that girls will approve of calls for a deeper understanding of this population than designers and marketers now exhibit. Every product aimed at the post-1988 female will have to demonstrate to these girls that “I get you”. Only then will the girls commit.

The “Post-1988s” who came of age at the dawn of social media want what makes her more of her and makes her female. She wants “me-as-me,” as an individual and as a way to belong. She’ll buy into that with her increasing purchasing power.

- – - 800 words

Dr. Bob Deutsch is a cognitive anthropologist, and founder and president of Brain Sells (www.Brain-Sells.com), a branding and strategic communications consultancy.

Heidi Dangelmaier is founder and president of 3iying (www.3iying.com) and Girlapproved, a company that invents products and brands that “get” the girl.

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What’s a Shespotter? It’s someone who gets that women vote, give, volunteer, spread the word and make more buying decisions than men do, which makes them the number #1 target audience if you’re working for change. We started this blog to continue the conversation we began in our book, The She Spot: Why Women are the Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them.... [more]

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Lisa Chen & Lisa Witter Lisa Chen and Lisa Witter are the authors of The She Spot: Why Women are the Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them. They are also both senior strategists at Fenton Communications, the nation’s largest public interest communications firm. [Read more about them here]