Marketing to Younger Millennials – the Misunderstood Consumers

Advertising is shifting its focus from mass media to the individual it is interactive and needs to be engaging it connects consumers directly to additional information and purchase it is being tracked on a microsecond by microsecond basis with patterns of behavior and marketing results far better understood and utilized it is mobile social and online advertising is global and hyperlocalRather than sending coupons en masse to millions of consumers through Sunday newspaper inserts or mailed coupon packets marketers will integrate special offers into online consumer conversations that are relevant to the product being marketed In addition to inserting commercials intrusively into massdistributed television programs marketers will shift budgets into curated content that relates to their product category and that engages consumers in an interactive relationshipThe shifts away from traditional advertising and marketing will be profound Most marketers are struggling to adjust to these radical and challenging shifts but to the Hooked Up generation of 18 to 24 year olds they are obvious realitiesNew Perspectives on Digital MarketingThe Internet and connected mobile devices will be the most important marketing tools for communicating with these quotInternet Pioneersquot and the generations of Internet Natives that follow them As Internet speeds accelerate exponentially over the next few years online and mobile video viewing will become the norm although traditional television network programming will continue to dominate the viewing experience All media will require applications and interactive twoway options for social interaction commerce and content enhancementsSecondscreen content synchronized with television and videos is tailormade for an already active online audience that39s primed to jump in if the content is worthwhile and the technology is simple This technology already exists and every leading television network is producing for multiple screen interplay As all content is becoming more social mobile and interactive the underlying principles that have guided media for the past five to six decades are being restructuredBack in the 1950s the introduction of the credit card dramatically changed marketing and retailing New technologies are making it even easier for example credit cardlinked deals that let consumers embed coupons and special offers directly on their credit cards to be applied at the point of purchase Discounts are automatically applied when the consumer buys the specified product or service But the credit card itself will disappear displaced by mobile devices with embedded RFID chips and visual scanning These radio frequency chips will have the capacity to connect directly with responsive chips attached to products billboards kiosks and products Discounts will be offered and accepted on mobile devices WiFi technology will link consumers39 mobile and other devices directly to television radio and online commercials Looking further ahead similar chips might be embedded in the body for communication or other applicationsamp8211amp8211similar to embedded identification chips already in use As chips and mobile devices become the primary distribution vehicle for coupons and special offers print media will become increasingly moot except as specialized upscale vehicles for enhanced content presentation and as parts of memorabilia collectionsNew Strategies for MarketersMarketers will require strategists creative teams and media experts who are truly immersed in the digital world and who understand the challenges of digital marketing Marketers will retain experts in traditional marketing as they transform their operations to emphasize digital strategies but the two distinct practices of legacy and digital marketing will be progressively intertwined and interdependentIn the United States digital marketing communications investments will increase from 52 billion 9 percent of marketers39 total communications budgets in 2011 to a projected 170 billion in 2020 30 percent of total budgetsBy 2030 when Internet Pioneers and Internet Natives are dominating the corporate world digital marketing will capture 60 to 70 percent of all spending That does not mean traditional media companies or agencies will disappear although many will Companies that thrive will be those that embrace digital media and hire Internet Natives Legacy media companies that make a quick and intelligent transition to socializing their content will thriveYet for the most part the advertising business remains entrenched in models and practices that are unchanged since television was introduced in the 1950s The industry still relies on systems that have been in place since the beginning of the newspaper business in the 19th century The industry is responding to digital expansion but not quickly enoughAn Adweek study of marketers finds that 77 percent believe the days of traditional media channels are numbered 68 percent say they need to shift their reliance on broadbased media to more of a onetoone focus and 73 percent believe the days of strategic consistency are over and that future marketing campaigns will need to emphasize inspiration and engagement Nevertheless their actual spending patterns are just beginning to reflect this strategic shiftVenture Capital has Built the Marketing InfrastructureCompanies like Apple Google Amazon and Facebook have a decided advantage in marketing their products and services because of their brand equity which will continue to serve them well for years unless they suffer a colossal failureInvestments in building the infrastructure required for digital capabilities and marketing today also are distinctly different from the digital investments required even a decade ago Billions of dollars have been invested by venture capitalists in building out the infrastructure required for digital conversion Unlike any technological revolution that has come before the Internet Revolution is being funded through venture capital and is focused on supportingamp8211amp8211not dismantlingamp8211amp8211traditional corporations and their assets Established companies rather than needing to take the risk of building digital assets from scratch now have access to thousands of small companies that are ready willing and able to make infrastructure investments for them Digital bridges tunnels and roads are built Advanced digital tools and capabilities have been imagined created and developed mostly through venture investment and are available for lowcost installation and implementation It39s now an issue of whether corporate organizations can manage their own legacy hierarchies and the natural resistance of an inbred corporate culture and if they will act to embrace and adopt digital conversion and upgrades There are thousands of VCfunded companies that have fully developed Internetbased capabilities and tools available to traditional companies for the askingMarketing to Internet Pioneers Companies that market products geared toward young adults have always understood the importance of looking beyond traditional print and broadcast media campaigns to reach young consumers According to promotions firm ReFuel college students spent about 36 billion on items like clothing computers cell phones and food in the 2010amp82112011 school year But gaining share of this market is the tip of the iceberg for marketers who establish and build brand loyalty that may last for decades According to a USA Today article companies target young adult consumers because of their disposable income and the hopes of establishing them as lifelong customers whose income will grow over timeOver the past few years marketers have ramped up their efforts but they may not realize just how different the Hooked Up Generation is from earlier generations or how important understanding this emerging base of young consumers will be to their future While many companies are using digital media and shifting their creative marketing focus to target an Internetsavvy audience their strategies are often Internetenhanced 20th century campaigns that remain rooted in traditional advertising modelsWhy They Love Brands and AdvertisingMembers of the Hooked Up Gen are the most brandaware consumers in historyamp8211amp8211advertising is a distinctive form of content that39s always been a part of their livesAdvertising has had an enormous influence on Internet Pioneers They grew up watching commercials on Nickelodeon and accept commercials as content They39re accustomed to cable television and websites dedicated to their interests and ads specifically targeted to them Nevertheless they pay little active attention to advertising messages and tend to fastforward through commercials or occupy the time by texting friends A minority claims to like advertising while others regard it as a necessary evil that pays for free contentA nonstop wave of new products and aggressive advertising has left the Hooked Up Gen somewhat immune to their impact and relevance It39s estimated that more than three thousand brand message exposures bombard the average college student every day Most marketing communications simply disappear into the whitewash of irrelevant contentUnlike past generations whose brand loyalty started with the family39s product choices Internet Pioneers are more open to trying something new They have their own set of brand loyalties biases and perceptions Their brand preferences are transient but once committed they39re quick to become not only brand loyalists but brand activistsFashion HaulsBrand activists will actively quotlikequot a brand on Facebook evangelize a brand through blogs and share comments on consumer websites Many brand activists make YouTube videos of themselves testing and seamlessly promoting new products usually without payment Fans follow and watch for the latest video One of the biggest trends in the worlds of fashion social media and advertising is quotfashion haulingquot a practice referred to by NPR commentator Viet Le as quotPG pornquot for the young fashionista crowd In this game of showandtell 20 shoppers set up web cams in their bedrooms in order to proudly display their purchases for the masses Drawing items from their shopping bags one by one they offer commentary on their favorite details of the clothes and accessories along with their plans for wearing these pieces Some fashion haulers are big into designer outfits but many others do their shopping at discount stores such as Forever 21 J C Penney Target American Eagle and Urban Outfitters When displaying hauls from these stores the goal is to teach viewers how to look fashionable on a budget Fashion Hauls are at the foundation of a new trend that disintermediates traditional advertising models by directly connecting brands brand evangelists and consumers through YouTube video blogs although YouTube is not itself monetizing these videosAlthough fashion hauls began popping up as soon as YouTube was released they burst more prominently on the scene in late 2008 Of course the economic recession also came into full force at the same time One common explanation for the explosion of haul videos is that unable to go on big shopping trips themselves users were able to live vicariously through their favorite fashion vloggers Time magazine went so far as to say that quot millions of girls were watching the videos the same way that they watched Justin Bieber videosquot Even more importantly retailers have seen sales increase when a product is highlighted in a haul video A Forbes article reported that a Guess watch that was featured in a haul video sold out in record timeJCPenney has used haul videos as a cornerstone promotion for teen backtoschool shopping the past two years In 2011 the retailer encouraged customers to create their own haul videos of the store39s products by hosting an online vote for the best video with prizes such as a trip to New York and an iPad quotWe39re inspired by the confidence and influence of today39s teens They are true evangelists sharing their individual style and encouraging others to take the latest trends and make them their ownquot Bill Gentner interim chief marketing officer of JCPenney said The retailer39s Haul Nation campaign has been a leader in the use of haul videos and sparked many individuals to create their own on YouTubeHigh school and college students were the first to jump on the fashion hauling trend Sisters Elle and Blair Fowler led the way with their YouTube channels both of which attracted millions of views from fashionforward teens Selfprofessed as ordinary girls with a love for fashion the two began sharing tips on finding the trendiest looks without breaking the bank As their videos grew in popularity the girls began receiving free products from a wide range of beauty and fashion companies all with the simple request of having their items appear on Elle and Blair39s channels While the two girls39 lives have changed they continue making affordable fashion a priorityBlair has more than 16 million subscribers and Elle has over 12 million subscribers to their respective YouTube channels A video of Blair39s in which she described her favorite television shows and shampoo in painstaking detail generated over 692000 views in a few weeksSimilar quotunboxing videosquot share the process of opening configuring and activating hightech gadgetsMaking Emotional ConnectionsMore than any other generation the Hooked Up Gen understands the value of their advocacy and they are very sophisticated in the understanding and knowledge of the nuances of product marketingInternet Pioneers do take notice of effective advertising but they39re highly selective in their choices They value and reward advertising that connects emotionally shares valuable insights and that informs them about new products and services targeted to their interests But they39re just as likely to respond in a deeply negative way to advertising that strikes the wrong chordMarketers and agencies are trying to find the right chord by using nontraditional marketing strategies to gain market share Unfortunately marketers and agencies are not yet up to the task But they are tryingThe New Challenges for College MarketersHundreds of companies are battling it out with nontraditional marketing strategies to gain market share and share of mind with Internet Pioneers To reach Internet Pioneers on college campuses and beyond companies must be innovative in finding new ways to integrate their products into the Internet Pioneer lifestyle and culture Among other things offline experiential and event programs smartphone apps online videos interactive and twoscreen television will be increasingly important marketing toolsquotTraditional marketing techniquesamp8211amp8211like national advertising campaigns on MTV or in Rolling Stoneamp8211amp8211don39t resonate with college students the way they used to Nowadays companies need student ambassadors to create marketing events like mural painting or video contests that are relevant to their particular schoolsamp8230Students who participate tend to promulgate brand messages quotMatt Britton Chief ExecutiveMr Youth Marketing AgencyNew York TimesAccording to the New York Times article marketers are hiring an estimated ten thousand American college students to represent them on campus Red Bull HewlettPackard PCs Nike Microsoft Ford American Eagle Target Pepsi CocaCola and Ben ampamp Jerry39s all have sophisticated oncampus marketing efforts Apple has dedicated stores on large campuses and has space in many college bookstoresA Wall St Journal article April 4 2012 headlined quotBig Marketers on Campusquot reports that tech startups are enlisting college students to engage their social networks and campus relationships on behalf of the brands quotFor startupsquot writes reporter Katherine Rosman quotcollege students are marketing gold They love web products and tell friends real and virtual about everything they do see and buy They will work free at a time when even nonpaying internships are harder to landquotVending machines remain ubiquitous on campus but fast food chains are acquiring rights to open within student centers As the Times39 Natasha Singer commented quotCorporations have been pitching college students for decades on products from cars to credit cards But what is happening on campuses today is without rival in terms of commercializing everyday college lifequotRedefining Creative SuccessSoon ad agency creative teams will wake up to the shift of commercials from intrusive forcedfeeding of messages Instead of simply creating awareness and retention commercials will motivate consumers to opt in both to viewing and to take some form of action Every commercial will have a Facebook quotlikequot and quotdislikequot icon and creative success will be defined by viral distribution and consumer feedback Traditional 30second intrusive commercials with little viral interest will fade into oblivion Independent and documentary filmmakers whose messages resonate with consumers will be funded by corporations that want to be associated with those messages and who will benefit as viewers pass along those videos with their feedbackCase Study Unilever Dove for Women CampaignUnilever has been at the forefront of the digital marketing trend bringing its message to the college market through provocative YouTube videos product placement in video games and Apple39s iAd marketing platform The company integrates product promotions with college sports and other events of interest to Internet PioneersUnilever39s Dove brand both the men39s and women39s product lines has enjoyed particular marketing success with Internet Pioneers Unilever39s most successful campaign ever the Dove Real Beauty campaign was launched in 2004 Unilever describes the campaign as quotpromoting the idea that beauty comes in all shapes sizes and agesquot In addition to promoting the brand and products the campaign made a positive impact on the public by offering alternative ways of thinking about beauty and helping parents to discuss ideas about beauty with their daughters The campaign included a 75second online video Evolution that demonstrates how professional stylists and computer photoediting are used to transform ordinarylooking women into fashion modelsThe video cost the company almost nothing to produce but the payoff was huge The video gained tremendous online exposure The result was over 35 million YouTube views and prominent play on mainstream television news shows including The View and CNNMarketing Vox estimated that the company39s initial exposure in the weeks after the video was triple that of a Super Bowl ad for the same product line Unilever followed up on the success of Evolution by releasing additional online videosOnslaught and AmyAccording to Unilever research the Dove campaign was among the most successful in historyamp8211amp8211affecting not only brand perception but also affecting consumers39 perceptions of themselves and their friendsWhy did the campaign succeed When the campaign was introduced Internet Pioneers were in their early to midteens the most formative years for bodily selfperception In a culture that had positioned inhumanly thin models as the pinnacle of beauty the Dove message may have been the most influential in the lives of these young womenWhile models remain tall and thin and television series like America39s Next Top Model glamorize traditional symbols of beauty Internet Pioneers are more likely than previous generations to embrace beauty in all shapes and sizes It39s a lesson they learned while watching NickelodeonquotKids in Nick shows like 39All That39 were not skinny Hannah Montana lookalikes they were all shapes sizes and looks and not so gorgeousquotGeraldine LaybourneFormer Nickelodeon ChairmanInternet Pioneers form a small generation whose members while fashionsavvy and into makeup are less likely to fall into unhealthy eating habits emotional disorders and antisocial behavior patterns based on their own appearance or the appearance of others While Nickelodeon and Dove39s quotReal Beautyquot campaign cannot claim all of the credit they played an important part in communicating a message to young women that can influence their longterm healthCase Study Dove for Men CampaignThe Dove for Men product line has also developed several innovative marketing campaignsDuring the March 2011 NCAA Division I Men39s Basketball Championship Unilever launched an iAD campaign for the Dove for Men line with advertising delivered through iPad By integrating the campaign with a sporting event important to college students with the innovative technology of the iPad Unilever was able to deliver its message successfully to the audienceIn 2011 Unilever combined a highprofile sports event with innovative technology to launch the Dove for Men line In a variation of the Real Beauty message the campaign focused on supporting young men as they establish their identity and gain selfesteem Or in Dove39s words helping young men to be quotcomfortable in their own skinquotThe Dove video series presents former football player and ESPN commentator Kirk Herbstreit known as quotHerbiequot to fans sharing personal experiences that have helped him become comfortable in his own skin The Dove MenCare Journey to Comfort uses the online video series to share stories from respected men whom young men can quotrelate to on their journey to becoming comfortable with themselvesquot The stories were shown throughout the college football season including the Bowl Championship Series BCS ESPN39s quotYear of the Quarterbackquot and at dovemencarecom as part of a seasonlong Unilever sponsorshipUnilever39s Axe product line has also successfully pushed the envelope in creating intriguing campaigns that have helped to create the topselling male personal care product line A Business Insider article describes how Unilever decided to target a specific type of male and designed ads that would send the message to the quotInsecure Novicequot that Axe products would help him attract the attention of attractive womenAxe Body Spray used this strategy in a highly successful campaign aimed at teens and college males Introduced in 2007 the campaign was primarily web and video based It featured the Bom Chicka Wah Wahs a fictional female rock band Andrew Adam Newman New York Times Oct 2007 described the appeal girls in lingerie and stilettos singing the promise quotIf you have that aroma on you can have our whole bandquot The campaign was a success with its emphasis on sexuality and appeal to the male desire to be more attractive to women The campaign helped to establish brand identity and drove up the sales of the productIn summary Unilever39s marketing toward college students has been successful in both profit and exposure By using media that39s already integrated into the daily lives of students and keeping the content provocative Unilever has tapped into the buying power and probable product loyalty of Internet Pioneers And by staying on the cutting edge of delivery and content Unilever has set a benchmark for other marketersCase Study Coke vs PepsiThe longest war ever waged hasn39t been fought on battlefields Rather it39s been conducted between Coca Cola and Pepsi two iconic brands with a similar anchor product cola the beverage that has defined America since the beginning of the 20th century Established respectively in 1886 and 1903 Coke and Pepsi have historically competed for consumers and shelf space Today they have almost equal shares of the beverage marketIn the first half of 2011 Coca Cola garnered 35 percent of beverage consumers a slightly larger share than Pepsi39s 329 percent This was largely the result of aggressive marketing campaigns many of them aimed at young consumers who have yet to establish brand loyaltyThese consumers include the 212 million Internet Pioneers and the 15 million college students who have especially high demand for the highenergy caffeine beverages that are the forte of both Coca Cola and PepsiThe idea that Pepsi and Coke are brands with different appeal has roots in the Pepsi Generation a themed advertising campaign that began in 1963 Rather than claiming that Pepsi was just as good as Coke the campaign set out to convince consumers that Pepsi drinkers were differentamp8211amp8211and more forwardthinkingamp8211amp8211than the older more traditional folks who bought Coke For a long time the image of Pepsi drinkers being younger at heart prevailed in the media from the revitalization of the Pepsi Generation campaign in the 1980s to the commercials starring Michael Jackson and Madonna in the 1990s In the mid2000s Britney Spears resuscitated the phrase quotFor Those Who Think Youngquot in her retro commercials for PepsiBoth Coca Cola and Pepsi have significantly altered their marketing strategies to target young consumers focusing on creating inexpensive content to be disseminated via social media rather than on traditional advertising campaigns In many ways these campaigns provide marketing lessons for the futureamp8211amp8211successful tactics that will be copied and unsuccessful strategies that marketers will avoidCoca Cola39s digital strategies for college students aim toward a global market while remaining locally relevant Pepsi39s campaigns have shifted heavily toward celebrity endorsements and music campaigns In the last four years Coke has amassed nearly three times as many media mentions as PepsiCoke39s success in the digital realm is due in large part to quotThe Happiness Machinequot a viral video initiative Coca Cola representatives travel to college campuses around the world and install Coke vending machines that are far more than beverage dispensers Rather than ejecting the expectedamp8211amp8211a single Coke bottleamp8211amp8211these machines dispense multiple sodas pizzas and in some cases 20foot subs Hidden compartments are custombuilt into the machineRecipients react with shock and amazement giggling and calling out to friends as hands appear in the slot bearing unlikely and magical gifts A hidden camera records their reactions which are then used in creating videos The first video recorded at St John39s University New York City was released on YouTube on January 1 2010 It went wildly viral getting over 700 thousand hits in the next five days Within a week it had one million views taking it to the top of the viral video chart Several more videos have been distributed and their success has contributed to the corporation39s ability to cut back on marketing expenditures by almost 45 millionThe success of Coca Cola39s quotHappinessquot campaign among Internet Pioneers lies in the simplicity of its core concept Rather than being about consumerism the videos are simple feelgood productions that echo Coke39s traditionally wholesome NormanRockwellesque ads of jolly Santas nuclear families polar bears and dewfaced youths They associate the brand not with fame or unobtainable goals but rather with an emotion that anyoneamp8211amp8211despite their religious affiliation language capabilities ethnicity or belief systemamp8212can relate to on a visceral levelquotWhat Coke really gave away was a sense of happiness that created an emotional connection with the brandquot explained Paul Iannacchino the creative director of Definition 6 the agency that conceived of the quotHappiness Machinequot campaign quotStudents involved in this video were caught up in their everyday lives and this little moment touched them We used free stuff to surprise people but what we gave away was happiness and a smile The key is engagement whether you were there or just watching free stuff was just the catalystquotCoke also engages in more traditional forms of marketing to Internet Pioneers signaling the importance of the generation to the brand including Coca Cola Music which promotes emerging artists by recording them singing Coke39s advertising jingle quotCan You Feel Itquot In 2010 the brand launched Expedition 206 a program that sponsored three 20something adventurers39 travels around the world reporting on Coke and its effect on people in 206 countries The company also resorts to less tasteful forms of sponsorship which include the quotCoca Cola Beachquot a party spot for Spring Break on South Padre Island in Texas Free trips to the event are given away through a college campus quotTextToWinquot campaign which offers other prizes such as gift cards from Target and VisaPepsi and Social ResponsibilityWhile Coke has actively targeted college students Pepsi has staged campaigns that target a socially engaged audience in general These campaigns included Pepsi Refresh the company39s main marketing initiative introduced in 2010 The campaign invites people to submit ideas that they think will change the world These include fundraising campaigns to buy uniforms for Special Olympics contenders and raising money to purchase books for local libraries to name just two An Internet audience then votes on which idea they like best Whoever wins the vote gets funding from Pepsi to bring their ideas to lifeWhen Pepsi went digital they shifted their focus to being a socially responsible brand Then backpedaling they aggressively veered back toward being a lifestyle brand by focusing on music Pepsi39s campaigns include Pepsi Pulse a realtime visualization of social media conversations going on about Pepsi initiatives Pepsi XFactor a sponsorship website in collaboration withXFactor Simon Cowell39s popular Fox program that competes with the Cokesponsored American Idol and Pepsi SoundOff a program that aims to create a virtual community based on social standing Together these disparate campaigns form a message that is difficult to discernIn 2011 the marketing team quotmade a conscious decision to go aggressively back into musicquot says Frank Cooper chief global consumer engagement officer at PepsiCo Beverages quotWe have a rightful place in musicquotInternet Pioneers live in a digital world where they are constantly inundated with lifestyle marketing guised as creative content Being introduced to more of the same from a brand like Pepsi makes the brand39s marketing efforts less memorable and engagingBoth brands share wellestablished scholarship programs that award millions of dollars every year to worthy candidates The Coca Cola Scholars Foundation which gives annually to 1400 College students also has a Coca Cola Community College Academic Team signaling their commitment to enable students of different backgrounds to succeed in the postcollege world Pepsi partners with institutions such as UNC City College in New York and Penn State to offer 10000 scholarships to deserving studentsWhat is rare for Internet Pioneers and Internet Natives is having an experience that evokes innocent unadulterated emotions the best of which is happiness With its quotHappiness Machinequot Coke manages to harness joy in their advertisements while at the same time speaking intimately with a very diverse audience The brand39s focus on core values along with Pepsi39s inability to stay on course with a coherent brand identity gives Coke the upper hand in the campus cola war The lessons offer guidance for all marketers seeking to communicate with Internet Pioneers today and into the future arguing for more emotionallybased campaigns and fewer traditional lifestyle marketing programsHazards of College Marketing One of the hazards of being a large company with many brands and a different marketing strategy for each product is the potential for values and messages in one campaign to contradict the messages of a sister brand39s marketingIn 2007 the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood CCFC denounced Unilever39s Axe Campaign and pointed out the mixed messages that Unilever was sending to teens and young adults through the creatively conflicted Dove Real Beauty and Axe campaignsquotEven as Unilever basks in praise for its Dove Real Beauty campaign they are profiting from Axe marketing that blatantly objectifies and degrades young womenquot Dr Susan LinnDirector and Cofounder CCFCUnilever spokesperson Anita Larson defended the company in a New York Times article by saying that each marketing campaign is geared toward the specific brand and said that the Axe campaign was a spoof quotUnilever is a large global company with many brands in our portfolioquot she said quotEach brand effort is tailored to reflect the unique interests and needs of its audiencequotWhile the Axe campaign has been criticized the outcome was successful The campaign effectively captured the psyche of the target audience and it communicated a positive message of enhanced selfesteem and confidence to young menWith social media pervasive marketers must be sensitive to new challenges created by social media and instant global communications Coca Cola39s successes have not been without setbacks many of which have stemmed from social media campaigns questioning Coke39s business dealings in countries where the company produces its products College students across America have become involved in a campaign called quotKiller Cokequot which protests the corporation39s actions Launched on campuses in 2007 the campaign petitioned Smith Oxford Oberlin Bard Michigan State and over 25 other colleges to terminate major contracts with Coke in favor of introducing Pepsi onto campuses On a few of the campuses Coke products were banned entirely The victory was especially sweet for Pepsi which had been engaged in campus pouring wars since the early 1990s In 2000 they had even filed an antitrust lawsuit against Coca Cola for monopolizing the market for fountaindispensed drinks in the United States A federal judge dismissed the caseIn the highly politicized environment of early 2012 social media campaigns led Coca Cola Pepsi Kraft and other corporations to withdraw funding from the ALEC American Legislative Exchange Council which finances rightwing political organizations and initiatives Social media will increasingly be a weapon used by Internet Pioneers to clearly communicateamp8211amp8211and make purchase decisions based onamp8211amp8211their political moral and ethical beliefs Marketers will need to be aware that their actions and policies domestically and around the world are an integral part of their brand messagingThe Future Internet Pioneers as MarketersThe single greatest threat to the traditional advertising business will be a failure to attract Internet Pioneers into the ad business Members of the MyersBizNet industry cooperative underwrite Women in Media Mentoring Initiative and Media Village both of which focus on improving the diversity of the business attracting Internet Pioneers to the media and advertising community supporting them in their career development and establishing a dual mentoring model to capitalize on their knowledge and experienceThe advertising and marketing business needs a radical overhaul and the Hooked Up Gen can provide the necessary leadership Internet Pioneers will be the first generation to enter the media and advertising businesses with the Internet in their DNA and with an inherent understanding of how to reach consumers and communicate effectively via online mobile and socially connected programs Over the next two decades new innovative tactics that truly exploit the potential of the Internet will evolve as Internet Pioneers gain control over the marketing of major corporations ad agencies and media companies These tactics will move the ad business in a different direction They will focus on creative strategies tuned to online and mobile communications and Internetbased technologies rather than strategies designed for traditional media and especially for mass televisionIt39s a direction that will be more social and interactive more engaging more emotional and more focused on building connections between the advertising messages and the content environment in which they appear Marketing campaigns will depend on data and databases to target the right messages to the most receptive and potentially responsive audiencesAdvertising will travel from friend to friend as a part of recommendation engines and advertising will be organized curated and shared in the same way YouTube videos are today TEDcom has created the Ads Worth Sharing global initiative to identify and distribute messages that the curators at TED believe are worthy of attention for their creativity message relevance controversy etcAdvertising will have direct commerce options embedded and activated instantly or when the consumer appears at a point of sale where the offer can be redeemed Advertising will translate smoothly across multiple communications platformsAdvertising will become more global as marketers recognize the potential of Internet communications yet it will also serve consumers where they live shop and travel New digital strategies will displace local pennysavers and ValPak coupon mailers Local blog sites that serve their communities will expand and consolidate These sites and apps will eventually dominate the market for consumer access to local information services merchant and restaurant recommendations and special offersAs marketers begin to focus more on the Internet Native audiences and hire Internet Pioneers to manage advertising and marketing programs completely new and unimagined relationships between marketers and consumers will evolve altering the fundamental nature of advertising and communicationsChapter 24The Future of the World as We Donamp8217t Know It

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Jack Myers

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