What is Generation-C? Unlike any of the other descriptors and labels we apply to society, such as post-baby boomers, Generation X, Generation C does not reside in any particular slice of time but in a state of mind and an ethos that describes an ever-growing section of society.
Generation C members require Content. They want to create it, curate it, consume it, collaborate and communicate using original content at all times.
They are constantly connected and communicating with other like-minded individuals and they are shaping the future of our world and our businesses. This is Generation C.
Over 65% of Generation C members are more typically under 35. Not only are they difficult to reach by more traditional means of marketing and communication they are growing into the new workforce, the new consumers and business leaders of our society.
More and more purchasing decisions are going to be made differently as this culture of “C” grows and matures. So we as growing businesses, need to shape up to this new challenge and realise that how we market, communicate and attract new business has changed forever.
It might be that your business is metaphorically further inland and you may not yet have felt the force of this wave of creative, content creating communicators crash over you yet. Beware, brace yourself, it is coming.
Look at the huge growth of YouTube, Netflix and other on-demand platforms. The majority of this content is consumed on small personal devices narrowcast to one – not broadcast to a room of many – at a time that suits and inspires them.
Reaching them has become much harder, communicating with them when you are outside their sphere of influence is tough and becoming a trusted adviser is almost impossible.
The advantage of Gen-C types is that they are massive curators of content. Not only do they like to create and comment, they love to share. So if they find something shareworthy they will distribute it to their peers, regardless of its source. If they find it funny and or informative and they believe it will enhance not only the lives of those they are sharing it with but their status within their community, then it will be shared.
This results in them being time poor; constantly seeking and creating content and consuming the content that is pushed to them. They are very discerning in what they do consume so meaningless clutter and noise will always fall by the wayside.
This means that they are the ones that set the trends and they decide what content works and what doesn’t, they decide what the next product fad is and for them decision making is a collaborative effort that relies on peer support for this process.
To businesses, this represents a different and significant challenge. Not only is reaching them difficult, but influencing them is impossible without the support of peers. Creating the content that engages them is a difficult and time-consuming in itself. Get it wrong and you can get egg on your face!
All you have to do is look at the success of the Ice Bucket Challenge, Starbuck’s Secret Menu or even the social platforms ‘Vine’ and ‘Instagram’ to see that these people are creators of incredibly appealing, but also very engaging content.
In my next blog I will examine strategies that can help your business get traction in this new world of marketing.
If you have any questions on how to reach your target audiences, feel free to Contact Us.