This video has been floating around my office and the twitter and blogosphere now for a few weeks. It's one of the most beautifully done/packaged research bits I've seen. Informative and easy to watch.
Here are the points I found most interesting and why:
1. Gen X was the boss of their bedroom. This wasn't a huge point in the video and you could have missed it easily. But just this past weekend as I was visiting my parents for Turkey Day, I read an article in my hometown newspaper, The Richmond Times Dispatch from The Wall Street Journal titled, "Who's the Boss? Sorry, Kids. It Isn't You." by Jeff D. Opdyke. It was about the power today's tweens have.... more and more they are empowered key decision makers among their family. Perhaps then, if Gen X was the boss of their own bedroom, Gen Y is now the boss of the entire house. An interesting shift. This car commercial for the 2011 Highlander really gets at the driving the new TWEEN decision making paradigm. "Just because you're a parent, doesn't mean you have to be lame."
2. Gen Y is more hyperbolic. It's never been easier to fit in but it's certainly never been harder to stand out. It's an interesting balance that continues to be difficult for teens/tweens to deal with. But is this true? Or is it that there have always been hyperbolic tweens/teens and now, more than ever, they are getting our attention through various forms of media... Is it a certain type of kid that seeks out the attention of media and thus has that innate capacity for hyperbole and "acting."
3. Gen X was more competitive. The web has arguably taught us the importance of and power in collaboration. I think the West Coast Jerkin' movement proved that Gen Y really understands the concept of collaboration.
4. Being normal has become boring. I guess they will all become advertisers huh? Kiiidddding. I'm not exactly sure what normal ever really meant but I guess in many ways it meant being conventional (however that was prescribed by your geographic region or high school cliques). It is interesting and fascinating that Gen Y is exposed to more ideas, more people, more concepts, more cultures, etc. etc. And as a result, as the video said, their identities transcend where they are from and it's now cool to know and be various things at the same time. That isn't just Gen Y though. Technically I am Gen Y and that certainly wasn't the case when I was in high school. Also, this concept makes me wonder what does that mean for tribes. While out of vogue, are they dead forevermore? They say things are cyclical. Is this another instance of that? Or do they still exist in certain capacities? Still thinking through this one through...
5. Gen Y is uniting work and pleasure. This is so true. We did a Brooklyn field trip at work and people are seriously making things. With platforms like etsy and the web at large, it's never been easier to combine work and pleasure. Levi's and Jeep got it right in their recent campaigns (we are all workers and the things we make, make us). PBS has a special I accidentally watched one night called Roadtrip Nation that calls itself a movement designed to inspire teens/tweens to "define your own road in life." Here is a video about it but the point is, you see this spirit everywhere right now. I think Gen Y grew up being told they could do anything and be anything if they worked hard and put their mind to it. Only seems natural that they would want and seek to blur the line between pleasure and play.
People have opinions and they aren't afraid to share them. This Lebron Nike spot and consumer generated response is the perfect example of the power of social media... Note the consumer generated piece has garnered about as many impressions as the original spot. I think this is a good thing for Nike and Lebron. They've started a dialogue, which can be hard to do although the situation makes it a modern day drama and let's be honest - people love and are attracted to drama (it's why reality shows do so well of course). In this case, Nike has instigated a conversation and now I'm wondering how Lebron/Nike will keep the conversation rolling... or if they even will. Can't wait to see what comes next. Better than a soap opera I say.
Americans are currently engaged in a Food Revolution. We think about the sourcing, the ingredients, the environmental impact, the health impact. We are curious. We are tired of our frozen dinner, lunches and on the go everything. We want to learn about foods and food systems, we want to oogle at beautiful food displays and preparations and we want to be the artists of our plates at home. Chefs are the new celebrities. Urban farmers are the new trend masters.
It's fun to see it happening all at once. I think we're at the tipping point. Sierra Mist is even changing it's formula to be more, natural, more real, more like food.
Barney's is in on the trend too. It's such a diversion for high fashion to talk about food. Their holiday campaign is called, "Have a Foodies Holiday." YUM! This NYTimes article explains it all but I love this explanation of the concept by Barney's Creative Director:
“I’m interested in the dissonance between fashion and food. Whenever we do an event, the fashion people say, ‘No food please. Let’s just serve vodka.’ But our customers are much more interested in Bobby Flay and Keith McNally than in Lindsay Lohan or the Kardashians. Chefs are definitely the new celebrities.”
There's a new mini-documentary that's been released online called Influencers. It's all about trend setters. People who express themselves in ways that others want to listen to, react to and engage in. As one of the interviewees put it influencers emerge from places where people assemble based on passion.
Here's trend that takes the Pioneers concept that Levi's is touting to the extreme: RE-WILDING.
Here's a write up about it (more can be found at Green Anarchy)
Rewilding and reconnecting with the earth is a life project. It is not limited to intellectual comprehension or the practice of primitive skills, but instead, it is a deep understanding of the pervasive ways in which we are domesticated, fractured, and dislocated from our selves, each other, and the world, and the enormous and daily undertaking to be whole again. ... Rewilding is the process of becoming uncivilized.
Supposedly Re-Wilding communities are popping up all over like this one called Wildroots in NC.
The photographs are bye Lucas Foglia and I found them through the blog Animal.
I think it's an interesting concept that reflects the desire that we all sometimes feel to get away from the hub bub and hectic lifestyle. To unplug from it all and escape. A pro-active choice to live a simple kind of life. Perhaps not too far from the urban gardening trend. These groups just took that desire and multiplied it by 1000.
What I find amusing is that they use the Internet and other modern technology to promote themselves. Ohhhh the irony.
Fascinating non-the-less. And even more importantly, a very raw glimpse at an innate human need, a very real, even if suppressed desire to get back to nature to rediscover simplicity. Something that society at large is aching for, even if only now and again, in our ever advanced, complex world today.
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