I have my gripes about my generation. We’re not perfect for sure. But it seems like marketers (presumably from a few generations before mine) have an overly simplified, negative view about us that they back up with studies that they conducted.

I know we’re not the first generation to experience this pre-conceived “generationism.” The Baby Boomers weren’t too popular in their time. But that doesn’t make it right.

The article on AdAge.com that prompted me to write this post is titled “Want to Reach the Millennial Market? Start with Snooki.”

Really?

The article itself is a recap of a panel made up entirely of MTV employees. To paraphrase the article in one sentence, we Millennials are superficial, self-entitled, sluts who deeply value “reality” and humor, and are only accessible via interactive media like social networks.

Again, really?

So, here’s an open letter to my fellow marketers:

Dear Marketers,

STOP IT.

I know my generation has its flaws. I’m the first to admit it. Are we a little self-entitled? Yes. But you can blame the child psychologists of the ‘70s and 80’s and yourselves, for believing them, for that one. Through college, we were in a little self-esteem building bubble where nothing was ever our fault because we, your children, were perfect. You told us as much. But then, you released us into the world, and we learned the hard way we can’t be winners all the time. This reality smacked us in the face and hard.

Now here’s where you get lost on us. There are those of us that dealt with this realization well and there are those that didn’t. Those that didn’t are the ones you focus so intently on and make your generalizations off of. This group is so tiny, though, there’s no way you can accurately judge us all.

The kicker? You’re alienating a majority of the market segment you so desperately want to reach.

As a Millennial and a friend to many other Millennials, I can tell you the picture you have so tediously painted of us is inaccurate.

Yes, we value authenticity and humor. They are our coping mechanisms. But we’re not mindless drones that will buy anything you put in front of us because the message you used to sell it made us giggle. We don’t want to be your brand’s friend. And we certainly won’t buy your product just because some MTV “reality” star says your product is the best thing since sliced bread.

Talk to your co-workers and employees in our age bracket. Ask them about their interests or what they plan to do over the weekend. You’ll get to know us better that way than through overly simplified studies that tell you what you already believe about us.

We like things sophisticated. We like things smart. We value honesty. At the end of the day, we’re people. If you can market to us using these values, it won’t matter if your message is digital or in print. We’ll hear you.

Sincerely,

ST

It got so bad, in fact, Gap switched back to their classic logo in a matter of a week from releasing the new one.

So, what exactly was wrong with their new logo? As an art director, I can tell you where the design community took issue.

Their new logo didn’t exude the Gap brand. When you think Gap, you think classic, safe and somewhat affordable attire. The typeface of their old/now-again-current logo shows that with the light, clean, simple serif font. The new/now abandoned logo used a common typeface, Helvetica, and a heavy, almost gaudy version of it on top of it all. Essentially, Gap tried to go modern, but really just lost their brand identity.

The second, and maybe larger, issue was that nasty little blue square with the gradient. What’s so wrong with it, you may ask? Well, I can see that the design firm was trying to call reference to the old logo, which would be the correct thing to do in a brand evolution. However, it wasn’t handled well. Their biggest mistake was adding the gradient. Aside from the technical issues of printing a gradient correctly, it just looks…cheap. When programs like Adobe Illustrator and (I can’t believe I’m going to reference this ancient software) Freehand came out in the early 90′s, there were prepackaged gradients. Well, designers of the time thought this was the bees knees and added them EVERYWHERE. Don’t believe me? Dig up some old design pieces from back-in-the-day. You’ll see what I’m talking about. Gradients then were like the glossy buttons of today. Tired and overused. But people love them.

Ultimately, while neither of these two issues are particularly bad on their own, combined they were a cluster storm of WTF. Go back and take a good, long look at that new logo. Try to erase every bit of knowledge you have of Gap, the company. What do you think that new Gap does? My first impression: start-up tech or software company. Not good for a hip clothing company.

But, what can we learn from Gap in all of this? Here’s my list of lessons:

1. Listen to your design team – they know what they are talking about. I’m willing to put large sums of money down that the design firm Gap hired had tried to steer them down a different path many times before the Gap marketing team picked this logo. Marketers tend to go the safe route, which ultimately kills creativity. Designers, however, take your brand identity and your target customer in consideration for every design. They do things for reasons. Just ask them what their reasoning was if you are unsure.
2. Remember your brand. In the end, Gap forgot who they are and what their unique selling proposition was. Your brand is like your company’s face. If you want to jive with the younger crowd, don’t dress like a geek from 20 years ago. It’s that simple.
3. Test groups are key. Had Gap done the proper procedure of running test groups with their target audience of their new logo, they could have saved face. Ultimately, your target audience will be the judge of your company, so include them early in the re-branding stages.

Hopefully, other large companies have learned these valuable lessons, which apply to more than just a brand refresh. I think they can apply to almost every marketing effort they do. And if they didn’t, their audiences are more than happy to put them in their place.

For a good distraction, take a look at this Ad Freak reflection on some other companies that have re-branded themselves with either awesome or terrifying outcomes.

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2010/10/a-look-at-30-other-corporate-logo-redesigns.html

ST

Since I was a kid, I wanted to be in movies. Now not necessarily “in” movies like an actor, but involved in movies in some way. That later manifested into wanting to make a difference in the world with film etc, etc.

Now finally after all those years of preparing and working long late hours for free, I’ve been given a chance to work in the agency world as an assistant producer. The proverbial dream come true of my life.

So at this moment, I’m lying down at the London Hotel in Los Angeles, and all I can think is, you have to find your niche in life. Once you do, go for it. Do everything you can (morally) to get and stay there, and do the best that you can while it lasts. You are given so few opportunities in life, and sometimes you don’t even know that it’s an opportunity until it passes you by.

I don’t know if I’m in the right field, but I do know that I am going to work my hardest and try my best at every moment because I have no idea where this is going to leave me. I feel like my life has been a series of bricks, building a wall. Without one brick, the whole thing would come tumbling down. If it weren’t for that one class, or that one internship I wouldn’t have met this person, or gotten this job, which lead to this other job, and another and another…

After all this rambling I guess all I can say is, life passes you by if you don’t search out and seize every opportunity. If you want something, if you know you belong somewhere, it’s entirely in your power to make it happen; it’s only a matter of time.

The report from private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson predicts that, by 2014, spending on PR will reach $4.4 billion, up from an estimated $3.4 billion this year.\

To read the full article visit: http://www.prweekus.com/pr-spend-set-to-hit-44bn-by-2014/article/176849/

However, traditional and digital agencies alike are finding it difficult to pin what department is responsible for managing these technologies. Should media or creative handle this new medium? Both departments have their pros and their cons in regards to the management of this technology.

In a recent AdAge article posted by Kunur Patel, several top execs at both traditional and digital agencies tackle the different issues with housing the responsibility of mobile marketing with a single department. It seems the shops are going a few different routes with this. 1. They make a whole new department that is totally responsible for dealing with mobile marketing in collaboration with the creative department. 2. They outsource their mobile marketing work to digital shops that specialize in this field…or they simply buy them out and fold them into their shop. Or 3. they bounce around responsibilities between the departments until the dust will settle.

I’m always amazed by the versatility and flexibility of our industry. You throw a new technology into the mix, and we’ll find a way to advertise on it. But, at the same time, I’m intrigued by the sloppiness of our handling of mobile advertising. At my agency, our mantra is that advertising is a team sport, and we’re all players on the field. Like any other medium, mobile advertising needs to be a collaborative effort between the departments to make this form of marketing really stick and be successful for our clients. But this is just my most humble opinion.

We’d love to get your opinion on the subject in the comments section.

For the AdAge article, you can find it here.

Any conversation of unhappiness or unrest among my employees pertaining to this will mean immediate termination.

See all of the amazingly ridiculous memos from the Tiger Oil Company here.

http://thechive.com/2010/08/10/girl-quits-her-job-on-dry-erase-board-emails-entire-office-33-photos/

But the best part is that the whole thing was hoax

http://thechive.com/2010/08/11/a-word-from-jenny-16-photos/

This is no reason to be discouraged, but instead to be inspired to creatively come up with a way to get into the creative industry. Massage that brain, group with friends, apply apply apply. Someone will give you a chance if you don’t give up. What one agency considers “spooky” another sees as the next big thing (personal experience).

If no one sees your talent, employ yourself. Create something that you believe in and others will follow.