Despite the fact that they reject traditional taste makers, eschew TV, radio and newspapers, and can't easily be reached by mainstream marketers, don't think for a minute that the Bubble Generation is out of synch with major pop trends. The truth is, they are two clicks ahead.
While they may be largely unaffected by what I call "dead tree media," BubbleGen consumers are remarkably plugged in to the bleeding edge of new currents. If anything, they are moving so quickly, their tastes morphing so nimbly, their brand preferences evolving so rapidly that it is the marketers themselves who are falling behind. This has several important implications.
First, the new connected consumer is hard to manipulate. By nature, the Bubble Generation is pragmatic, worldly, materialistic, driven by technology and optimistic about its future. There are very few chinks in their collective armor. They have a heightened sense of authenticity and intrinsic truth; what Hemingway used to call a built-in B.S. detector. To that end, they have a hard-wired mistrust of major brands, resent obvious ad campaigns targeting their generational zeitgeist, and on the whole, would rather not be bothered with imposition marketing. And, they have a secret handshake.
Propelled by email, IMS, texts and shopcasts, the BubbleGen consumers are able to detect emerging trends at the speed of light. Moreover, their ability to viralize new trends among themselves means that fads will soon come, grow and disappear in a highly time-compressed lifecycle. This puts enormous pressure on even the fastest manufacturers and retailers. Where once a Gap could spin inventory in eight or nine weeks, or Target could dabble in mass-niches and Nokia could issue a new mobile phone a couple of times a year, the emerging reality calls for the acceleration of everything. Nothing is fast enough for the new connected consumer.
What does this mean for mainstream marketers? Simply put: you are too slow. You have to rethink the consumer experience from a time-to-gratification standpoint. That means speeding up the entire ecosystem, from product development to distribution. After all, when you get used to discovering, test-driving and downloading what you want in a T1 instant, the analog world is just dumbed-down dial up by comparison.
A good example of using the web's inherent strengths to speed things up is BitTorrent. It allows for peer-to-peer movie downloads from many users as opposed to the hub and spoke model of say, Apple. That means movies can be downloaded in a fraction of the time. Message: use the unique properties of the web to deliver the goods faster than the next guy and you win. Remember, your customers are two clicks ahead of you already.
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