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Bill Hanifin
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I recently made a presentation at the Loyalty Expo in Orlando, Florida about Marketing to Millennials. Even though I was working from a research base that covered the past 12 months, I was unsure if my observations would gain traction with the audience.
You know the drill, everyone knows everything these days and original thoughts are as rare as the Blood Diamond. To my surprise, people put their forks down during lunch, set their Blackberry’s aside, and listened. From this experience I learned an important lesson, information circulates rapidly these days but the increasing velocity encourages razor thin subject matter expertise rather than depth of knowledge.
If there was ever a time when people were spinning towards identification as “jacks of all trades and masters of none”, it is now. I also embraced another reality, that I am not an expert on this topic, just the guy who is dedicating time and resource to understanding the space and trying to make connections between traditional customer loyalty best practices and the ways we must adapt to reach Gen Y.
A source of confidence for those of us trying to figure out how to reach the younger generation comes from Howard Lax, Sr. Consultant, Harris Interactive who stated: “the drivers of loyalty are not materially different across the generations – the difference is how we communicate and the impression we make”.
Every human being wants to be rewarded fairly for their brand patrongage and wishes to be recognized in a personal manner along the way. Customized interaction and personal service are concepts that cross generations.
I had a great coach who once told me that he could “train any monkey to finish an Ironman”. Though not the highest complement at the time, the message was clear. Follow the plan, do the work, be diligent and patient and you will reach your goal. The same holds true in the rapidly changing marketing world. The people who blend wisdom learned from experience with diligent study of new trends will reach the finish.
Oh yea, there is one more requirement – you have to possess the courage to do the training and step up to the starting line.
