Wise & Young: The nuances of Gen-Y marketing, branding, advertising, trends, & more

I love what John Jay (Executive Creative Director and Partner of Wieden + Kennedy) had to say today in his blog about a recent retail experience:

Most marketers are not merchants, being a merchant is to be authentic and there is no more tell-taking aroma than the one of authenticity when you walk into a shop. That was my initial reaction when I walked into Self Edge on Valencia St. in San Francisco, but without even touching one piece of denim, there was already a sense of authenticity through a Japanese lens.

Self Edge is passionate about denim and the denim brands they sell. They house and display their products like your grandmother's fine china. They attack you with all five senses to conjure up the emotions and pride they have in their products. You can see right through them and their authenticity, passion, and knowledge latches on to your heart (and wallet!).

These are things small and large brands should be doing to attract Gen-Y. Start that blog, website, newsletter, store, etc., update it regularly, support your base, give away knowledge and ideas, elicit creativity and passions from your fans. It won't happen overnight, no detailed endeavors ever do, but if you continue to pound away on your project - your heart will shine through to others.

Mr. Jay finished up his post with:

No detail here is too small including the use of a vintage Union Special China stitching machine to create the proper puckered hem after a washing. Self-Edge is a love story, an emotional tryst between the owners, denim and Japan.

If you want to get inspired, visit the Alife headquarters on New York's Orchard Street. What looks like a shoe store is also the realization of the late-night plan that so many talk about, fewer attempt, and even fewer achieve. Rob Cristofaro, Arnaud De Le Colle, Tony Arcabascio, and Tammy Brainard (from left) met five years ago, saved and invested the same amount, and became equal partners in the venture that does what it likes, including art direction, curating (with artists like Shepard Fairey), book publishing (of Ryan McGuinness), a maiden shoe line called Rite Foot (to be carried at Colette in Paris and Los Angeles' KBond), and a lot of other stuff that there isn't room to mention. And they're all 30.

1. Collaborate with large brands (Puma, Reebok, Nike, Adidas, Levi's) on special products in a win-win situation for both
2. Support smaller creative musicians, cutting-edge artists, and filmmakers
3. Keep their products rare and limited, promote heavily
4. All their products/collaborations are in their creative control from start to finish (no outsiders)
5. Keep the product simple, but all details matter
6. Feature/distribute their product in only a handful of the coolest stores around the world

Yet as of last week, the income segment with the highest percentage of visitors to the iPhone site was 18 to 24 years of age, earning less than $30,000 per year. Could Steve Jobs have been aware of that when he lowered the price of the 8GB iPhone to $399 on Wednesday? We can only guess.

The problem is based in the fact that Gen Y is entering the stage where they're really creating pop culture for themselves and those younger than them. Anything that is really and truly pop, not artificial pop, is based on the work of people age 25 and under.

Because the Boomers and Gen X have such a death grip on upper management positions (and, truth be told, the desire to not listen to Gen Y OR to hear what they want to hear, what they know, and what's easy) mainstream pop culture in general is dying. There are no icons. There are no posters. Icons and posters require mainstream institutions. In fifteen years, Gen Y will a) have started to take control of those institutions that already exist (due to having finally worked their way up the ranks), and b) have built up their own mainstream pop institutions. But for now, we're stuck. All anyone can do is wait out the continuing period of trash culture created by old people for people they don't inherently "get."

Well it just seemed like the right thing to do. There's no clever science behind it - it's just an effort to make you smile, in exactly the same way Cadbury Dairy Milk does. And that's what we aim to continue to do; simply make you smile. So if a drumming gorilla's not enough, wait until you see what else we have up our sleeves.

I’m just as much as a Facebook addict as the next person.