By Carol Phillips*

Financial services are waking up to the potential of Gen Y consumers. Millennials may not have a lot of money now, but they are determined to pay down their debt and conserve resources for the future.  Coming of age in an era of massive financial uncertainty, they may even come to be known as “Gen Frugal”.

That’s good news for community banks and credit unions which are all about helping moderate income people responsibly manage their own money.

Last week I was interviewed by Myriam DiGiovanni of the Credit Union Times.  She wrote an article titled “Forget the Cool Factor, Focus on Millennials’ Needs” based on our talk. Here the full article (bold face mine):

Looking to engage meaningfully with younger consumers? Then stop assuming and start connecting through a common interest rather than trying to sell credit unions. “I think the main difference in marketing to Millennials and other generations is that they have great filters–they only see what they want to see. If you want to engage them, the message can’t be about brand but rather something they care about,” said Carol Phillips, president of consulting firm, Brand Amplitude, LLC. “It’s not about being hip but providing services they find useful now, like finding a job, figuring out how to finance their education or new business. They are starting out their lives at a difficult time and credit unions should credibly speak to that.”

She added that credit unions shouldn’t fall for the stereotypical myths surrounding this group such as they are all tech savvy–they are in fact tech dependent. Another myth is that they have money–many don’t and those that do are in saving mode or paying down debt said Phillips.

Forget about making the luxury appeal. When pricier purchases are made they tend to rationalize it based on whether it’s a good investment. According to Philips, for example, moving in with their parents is not viewed as an admission of defeat. Rather they see it as a strategy for saving.

Don’t look to the exclusive use of social media as a guaranteed in either. While they are very social, Millennials have close bonds with their parents, often consulting them regarding financial matters or major life decisions. Phillips said it’s yet another challenge because typically you’d market to the buying group, which in this case would include their trusted board of advisors consisting of parents, family members and friends. The key is for credit union to reach out and be a part of their world, and Phillips said initiating a conversation is a good start. Given the age span of the group is from 16 to 30 years old, she also advised credit unions to segment by interests. From there, credit unions can figure out how to connect in interesting ways whether around careers, music, causes or even sponsoring events that matter to them rather than talking about the latest checking product.

“Meaningful connecting requires recognizing that they are not the same as their parents. They do not respond to marketing, and that is the definition of different,” said Phillips. “Take time to understand who they are as people and introduce your services in context of what is relevant to them. Social media is about a humanization of the brand but is still just a tool [and] not a strategy. So be interesting, have a conversation.”

She added their values are no different than previous generations-they care about family, leading a good life, finding a fulfilling job and they want to give back.

One bank that seems to be getting it right with young adults is UMPQUA, a fast growing regional community bank in California, Oregon and Washington.

Their web site looks more like an ecommerce site than a traditional bank and they call their branches ‘stores’.  The language is plain English and yet stylish. The checking account featured on the home page is called HIP( for High Interest Paperless Checking) and offers 2% APR on  deposits and returns ATM fees. Nothing tricky about that!  News is broken out locally and is called ‘murmurs’. There are quick links to ‘deals and steals’, ‘reorder checks and supplies’ and ‘attend a neighborhood event’.  The navigation is straightforward as well and feels like you could do everything you need to do from opening an account to managing it to taking a loan, right from the web. There are spam alerts and interesting discussions. The site is very sticky and feels quite local, despite being spread across three states.

The short, awareness-oriented TV spots featured on the home page are cheerful, and perky, and not very ‘bank-like’ — “Bank on the Bright Side“, “Optimists Unite“, “Pursue Hopefulness“,  ”You deposit your check in the Northwest economy, like a gentle rain in a garden of courage“, “Optimists are just realists ahead of their time“.  The graphics and the voice over work together to create a hopeful feeling. I feel better just listening to them!

The part of the website I like best is under the tab heading ‘UMPQUA Life”. The sub categories speak directly to Millennial lives – Support, Belong, Discover, Inspire. The sub-subcategories  further emphasize local charitable and volunteer opportunities, neighborhood events and community responsibility. There are links to social media like Twitter, but they are discreet. The site itself  already feels like a social media site.  Even the history page is fun, with just the right information about the banks’ origins with emphasis on what it is doing in the community with music, eco-friendly programs and being included in Fortune’s Best companies to work for.

It should be noted that UMPQUA’s products are not all that special.  But, they are presented in a relevant and very accessible way that speaks directly to the Millennial mindset.

I suspect UMPQUA has been successful in attracting a higher than usual percentage of young adults and people who want banking to be less stuffy and more a seamless part of their lives. Other banks and credit unions could learn from their example.

*Carol Phillips is the president and founder of the brand strategy consulting firm “Brand Amplitude.” She is also a Professor at the prestigious University of Notre Dame. Carol began her career as a market researcher and strategic planner at Leo Burnett. Later, as an Account Director, she led agency teams at four different agencies – Y&R, Leo Burnett, Mullen and JWT – for a variety of clients including Sprint, Nextel, Ameritech, Heinz, 7UP, and Philip Morris. She blogs at www.millennialmarketing.com.

This is a post that I have wanted to write for so long and no, I haven’t been procrastinating, I just needed to get an inside ticket, so to speak.

In the UK there are a few amazing companies that have been started by Gen X ( of Gen Jones for those of you who are into generations in a big way) that are walking and living examples of how to run companies that Generation Y want to work for. However, there is no company that has done it better then the guys at Innocent Drinks. I have already talked about this company before. They are living, breathing examples of building a business based on real values through and through and Gen Y fall over themselves to get a slice of the Innocent pie. Richard Reed, Adam Balloon, Jon Wright, now 36, started their business in 1998 with a clear goal to get fresh healthy drinks out to the public, and they did it in a very quirky way.

I have always had a sneaky suspicion that these wonderful, rebellious, middle class Gen Xs, determined to do everything a different way, had built a company that not only appealed to but valued Generation Y’s qualities and that they had managed to build something quite unique, a company that values above all else its young employees. However, this was all just hearsay; I needed to see for myself, so after a few years of trying I finally managed to get a ticket to their AGM (a grown up meeting) where I, along with loads of other people, spent the day with the crew at Innocent.

Among what I can tell you is that this company has got it when it comes to Gen Y, but what is the IT? Well simply, a culture that allows their Gen Y employees to thrive. Their employees are passionate, committed, loyal and very efficient, going totally against the grain of how we think of Gen Y employees. So what have they done?

Well, walk into Fruit Towers and you know this place is different, from being greeted by a town crier to seeing the astro turf vans to the bean bags that adorned the floor and the bunting all around the office. This is a Gen Y’s dream and mine too!

Employees of Innocent do not sit in departments, they are all mixed around and there are no offices with shut doors. Most meetings take place in the very large communal area that resembles more of a 5th year common room, while looking at a screen adorned with grass and daisies. Their board of directors are actually called the “bored” by the staff and they meet in the “bored room”, which has “blah” written all over the walls. They give employees grants to do things that they really want to do, which they all vote on, the most recent being a remake of Thriller aptly called Chiller. You just get the impression that this is a great place to work.

They don’t stick Gen Y in a box with a list of tasks, they instil in them vision and then expect the results. They care about their staff, having pictures of them all as babies on the wall. They have sports clubs for the staff, a gym masseur, breakfast for everyone, Fridays evenings out, all giving a valuable message to their employees that they care about them as people. They appeal to Gen Y’s need for balance and they haven’t missed out the families too, giving employees an extra 5 days off if they get married and extra tax free money towards childcare. It is a Gen Y dream.

However, ask them how they created this culture and they will clearly state that it is all down to their amazing staff, even turning down TV opportunities to talk about the Innocent culture because it is not their job to tell others what to do . To them, it’s all about the people and they choose their people based on whether they fit with the values of the company and have the capacity to do well before they even look at their experience.

While I was there, someone asked if the innocent culture could be adapted to another business, which was a great question. I began to wonder if it could and came up with the conclusion that it would take a grounded, egoless, innovative person who did not feel it was their job to control how and what others did. To portray a culture that Gen Y love and admire, I even heard one employee say that they would have gone back to New Zealand ages ago, but just couldn’t leave Innocent. You have to be a very special person who cares as much about making relationships as you do about making a successful business and above all, thinks work is fun. I don’t know about you, but most people just are not brave enough.

As you may or may not know, as I write this the UK is going through a political stalemate, with no stable government and all the parties trying to decide if and how they will form a government. The UK look on in disbelief, not quite knowing what to do. (We now know they have formed a coalition government)

This election was unprecedented in most of our lifetimes and has ended with a hung parliament, meaning that no party has an overall majority to run a stable government.

For the first time in UK politics we had televised debates, which did really shake up politics and really woke the youth up when it came to political reform.

However what happened on Election Day was a real blow for Generation Y and may have been the first time they felt massively let down. After seeing the impact of the youth on the Obama election, they must have felt they had a chance to change things. And as they all rallied around the party that normally came third, they were devastated when an exit poll revealed that this party would lose seats and the party they despised the most would get the most seats. Furthermore, when the exit poll became true, twitter came alive with their displeasure.

Firstly, the fiasco of polling stations having to be shut with queues of people outside and some places running out of ballot papers put them up in arms. Was this really democracy? The challenge for them was that since most of them had gone to vote late, this mainly affected them.

A generation used to having a say, encouraged to have a say and used to being heard were suddenly helpless. And as the dust settled and they looked at the figures, they began to shout very loudly for political reform. How could a party that 64% of the public voted against and had no representation in Scotland and only a bit in Wales be representative of the United Kingdom? How could a party that only had 8% more of the vote have 200 more seats and how could people voting for a party go up yet their seats go down? How could this be fair?

And they were right, it is not fair. They quickly got the figures together and sent them around Twitter and Facebook.

Party Votes per seat – Conservative 34,989. Labour 33,350. Liberal Democrat 119,788

Seeing how unfair this was, they demonstrated and pleaded with the leader of the party they had adopted to push for electoral reform.

Way this election has empowered the youth is so evident. It has empowered them around fairness and equal rights and they are not staying quiet.

So, the message to businesses and people dealing with Gen Y is this.

Ensure your dealings, policies and rules are fair. Ensure that they are not based on outdated tradition and ensure they give the youth as much of a say as anyone else.

By Sarah Newton

Generation Y employees are always being discussed and yet again, more research has the papers saying yes, they do have a sense of entitlement.

There is a post that says:

“Gen Y workers get a bad rap in the workplace, with many a geezer complaining that their work ethic is less developed than their sense of entitlement.” But is that really fair?

Yes, according to new research that has yielded actual data to back up that notion.

In a series of studies using surveys that measure psychological entitlement and narcissism, University of New Hampshire management professor Paul Harvey found that Gen Y respondents scored 25 percent higher than respondents ages 40 to 60 and a whopping 50 percent higher than those over 61.

In addition, Gen Y’s were twice as likely to rank in the top 20 percent in their level of entitlement – the “highly entitled range” – as someone between 40 and 60, and four times more likely than a golden-ager.

And if you think the Gen Yers in your workplace are oversensitive as well as entitled, Harvey’s findings back that up, too. Today’s 20-somethings have an “automatic, knee-jerk reaction to criticism,” he says, and tend to dismiss it. ”

I do think however that the entitled label can send a very negative vibe to potential employees. I like to think of them as expecting the best and wanting more, which I think is a good thing for business and organisations, who so often get away with treating graduates very badly. I was talking to my Dad the other day, who used to train graduates at a top US company and the stories of how they used to make their youth work all the hours that God sent were painful to the ears!

I don’t think Gen Y are entitled, I just think they care about their free time and value themselves, which cannot be a bad thing.

However I think that what can seem an entitled attitude can be a challenge for most employees.

So how do you handle it? Well first, as I have mentioned before, I think you need youth-friendly places but I also think handling this problem can be as simple as using their strengths, for example, their spirit of collaboration.

If you present something as a problem that you need to solve as a team and ask them the best way to meet the objective, you are more likely to get their buy-in. So a “Right, this project needs to be completed for tomorrow, so we are all in for an all-nighter!” would become, “Right, we have an extremely tight deadline on this one, tomorrow morning. How can we work together to sort this out?”

If we focus on what is bad about Gen Y, then that is what we will get, but if we focus on their strengths of collaboration, innovation and creativity, we may just get the very best out of them.

By Sarah Newton*

I recently saw this post and it really got me thinking about how we can manage Gen Y better by taking lessons from video games.

And while, in my experience, I am not sure that Gen Y in the UK keeps score (as stated in the article), so to speak, I do think that bosses can certainly learn how to manage youth by pulling information from the gaming world. As for understanding youth by understanding gaming, well certainly that would apply to boys in the UK but for girls you need to understand social gaming, which is so different.

For me, what they gain from gaming is not necessarily to keep score but to get a reward to keep going. In this modern day world it is a well known fact that young workers will not just go along for the ride as they use to, most want feedback and rewards to keep them going and they want to feel excited. As far as I can see, it goes far deeper than merely keeping score; it is about feeling the buzz of being alive.

So, if you manage lots of young employees, here is what I believe you can learn from their use of video games.

1. Instant feedback – a game gives instant feedback; you do something wrong, you die! You do something right, you move up a level, go further into the game, etc. Young employees want instant feedback, not a Sit down, how are you doing? once a month thing, but after the moment it happens. Ensure your on the ground managers know what to look for and how to correct and praise in an instant.

2. In a game the players know the objective, they know what they are supposed to achieve and when they reach that they get set another very clear task or goal. Make sure objectives you set youths are clear, concise, short-term, achievable goals and if you can link little perks to them, so much the better.

3. I know we all have this image that game play is very individual and people compete against each other or themselves, but that is simply not true anymore. Games are social and achieving something as a team or getting rewarded for helping another out are commonplace. How can you encourage collaboration rather than competition in your workplace and how can you reward helpful behavior?

4. Most games have rewards for achievement so, for example, in the popular Farmville when you gain more points and move up a level more options are open to you, such as things you can buy and how big your farm can be. How can you emulate something like these levels, which open up more privileges?

5. Above all see how you can install some fun into the day. It doesn’t have to mean that the work environment or day has to be interrupted, but the best way to get the most out of young employees is to keep it light, fun and exciting. Innocent in the UK do a great job of this and are seen as an aspirational company to work for. Their canteen has astro turf and their employees are encouraged to blog and share funny pictures. While this might not be appropriate for your company, I am sure that there is some way you could put some youthful energy into your everyday that will make everyone feel happier.

One of the biggest myths about Millennials is that they are all digital natives, blogging and tweeting their way through life. The truth is a bit more nuanced.

True, Millennials are some of the most avid USERS of mobile and Internet technology.

The age of first cell phone is dropping rapidly and now stands at about 9 or 10. Currently nearly six of every ten 12-year olds have their own cell phone, a figure that increases to 83% by age 17. On average, 75% of all 13-17 year olds have a mobile phone, 93% go online (76% with broadband), and 80% have a console gaming device (Pew Research).

It’s also true that Millennials rely heavily on digital media to manage their daily life activities, stay informed and stave off boredom.

Digital media so pervades their lives, they cannot imagine living without it. Digital content and communication literally enables their social lives. Some even refer to this dependency as ’addiction’.

A new study conducted at the University of Maryland asked 200 college students to give up digital media for 24 hours and write about the experience. The students’ journals, which amounted to the equivalent of a 400-page novel, were full of stories of deprivation and emotional angst. “We noticed that what they wrote at length about was how they hated losing their personal connections. Going without media meant, in their world, going without their friends and family.”

“I clearly am addicted and the dependency is sickening,” said one person in the study. “I feel like most people these days are in a similar situation, for between having a Blackberry, a laptop, a television, and an iPod, people have become unable to shed their media skin.”

“Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort,” wrote one student. “When I did not have those two luxuries, I felt quite alone and secluded from my life. Although I go to a school with thousands of students, the fact that I was not able to communicate with anyone via technology was almost unbearable.”

One student said he realized that he suddenly “had less information than everyone else, whether it be news, class information, scores, or what happened on Family Guy.”

The Maryland researchers concluded that “most college students are not just unwilling, but functionally unable to be without their media links to the world….Without digital ties, students feel unconnected even to those who are close by.”

Given this level of dependency, it follows that Millennials are adept at manipulating and adapting technology to their needs. However, this is not the case, at least for the majority of Gen Y.

The top six web sites by volume according to Experian’s Hitwise service are pretty mainstream: 1. Facebook 2. Google 3. Myspace 4. Yahoo 5. Yahoo Mail 6. Youtube. Although my students are adept at Facebook, and finding information, music and videos online, few make use of Twitter or maintain a blog. This is in line with statistics by Forrester, which shows only half of 18-24 year olds are what they classify as ’creators’. Few students make use of RSS feeds, wikispaces or other productivity enhancing tools.

A 2007 study by Northwestern professor, Hargittai on web use among so-called ‘digital natives’ reached the conclusion that there is a wide range of web use and skill levels among young adults. Over 1000 college freshman were surveyed on the frequency and diversity of their web use as well as indexed for skill on 27 variables. The study found a range of skill and use and concluded, ”web-use skill is not randomly distributed among a group of young adults who have grown up with digital media.” While some of the diversity could be explained via socio-economic status and ethnicity, much could be attributed to what the authors called ‘context of use’, which included the number of years online, the time spent online, access to a laptop and more. ”Overall, these findings suggest that familiarity with the medium is very much related to how people use the Internet and user savvy mediates some of the otherwise observed relationships of user background and online activities.”

A recent article in The Economist also questioned the assumption that all Gen Y’ers are Internet-savvy (“The Net Generation Unplugged”, March 2010).

“Michael Wesch, who pioneered the use of new media in his cultural anthropology classes at Kansas State University, is also sceptical, saying that many of his incoming students have only a superficial familiarity with the digital tools that they use regularly, especially when it comes to the tools’ social and political potential. Only a small fraction of students may count as true digital natives, in other words. The rest are no better or worse at using technology than the rest of the population.”

The article goes on to point out that according to Pew Research, “internet users aged 18-24 were the least likely of all age groups to e-mail a public official or make an online political donation. But when it came to using the web to share political news or join political causes on social networks, they were far ahead of everyone else. Rather than genuinely being more politically engaged, they may simply wish to broadcast their activism to their peers.”

For marketers, this diversity of use is a caution not to confuse digital dependency with digital savviness. Not all Millennials will be jumping up and down to respond to your latest crowd-sourced campaign, app or contest.

Many of the popular digital marketing tactics require a level of involvement and expertise may be beyond the skills of many Gen Y members on the far side of the digital divide. Far safer, and more broadly appealing, are approaches where the call to action is easy and intuitive, requiring nothing more than a working knowledge of how to use XBox, text messages, Facebook or Youtube.

*Carol Phillips is the president and founder of the brand strategy consulting firm “Brand Amplitude.” She is also a Professor at the prestigious University of Notre Dame. Carol began her career as a market researcher and strategic planner at Leo Burnett. Later, as an Account Director, she led agency teams at four different agencies – Y&R, Leo Burnett, Mullen and JWT – for a variety of clients including Sprint, Nextel, Ameritech, Heinz, 7UP, and Philip Morris. She blogs at www.millennialmarketing.com.

By Sarah Newton*

I have noticed a rather worrying trend among young employees that I coach and that is their lack of resilience. Their inability to deal with the stress that can occur in a chaotic work environment, their inability to deal with negative comments from customers and colleagues and the worrying length of time it takes them to bounce back and recover their spirits, strength and good humour.

Seeing a trend, I thought this had to be more than pure coincidence so I began to investigate (I can never really shake those police officer habits). For those that know me, you know that the questions I ask myself are always different and the question I pondered around this was, as a society how are we failing to produce young people with resilience? My investigation led me to interview the amazing author of Toxic Childhood.

What Sue Palmer discussed with me really made sense… she noted that children who were given less freedom, did not have much face-to-face contact and were never allowed to make mistakes ended up becoming less resilient and less able to make decisions. With more and more children not being allowed out by themselves, communicating only via MSN and being rescued by their parents rather then being allowed to get on with it, employers are suffering. Some young people coming into the workforce are lacking essential skills that their parents should have taught them and hence as an employer, you can find yourself being more of a parent, increasingly frustrated by what is essentially very childish behaviour.

So what do you do when your business relies mostly on young employees?

1. Set very clear rules and guidelines and stick consistently to them. Yes, Gen Y’s want involvement and want to be equal, but if you manage a young workforce believe me, you need to get clear and consistent in your non-negotiable standards.
2. Nip any arguments in the bud as quick as you can; don’t assume that your employees can work things out themselves. Use conflict resolution strategies that allow both to get a say and come up with win-win alternatives. If you can make an older, more senior member of staff responsible for this, then so much the better. You will be teaching your employees great skills for later on.
3. Give positive feedback in terms of who they are. This doesn’t have to be in lights, all singing and dancing, however it must be targeted at an ability rather than an action. Rather than complimenting them on dealing well with a customer complaint, focus on them showing patience and compassion when dealing with the customer.
4. Hand it over to them. When they ask questions, ask them what they think, what will be the best solution. This will give them freedom and support them in developing there decision-making process.
5. See failures as good things. When they fail, which they will at some point, don’t chastise them, but ask what they learnt and what they would do differently next time. This may be the first time they have not had someone pick up the pieces, so be gentle and support them in working through it.

And if your are one of those employers who thinks that, because they are just seasonal or temporary staff that you shouldn’t bother, shame on you! To not put this extra effort in will be foolish as every employee, whether they work 60 or 6 hours is important to your business. They all have an impact on your customers and future employees. And think of society as a whole and the good you have done by forming a young person into an adult.

Pliny the Elder said, what we do to our children they do to society. I say, what you do to your young employees, they will do to your business, so if you want respect, be prepared to give it first.

Thanks to strong pre-order rates, Apple’s manufacturing partners now expect to ship 2.5 million iPads between March and May.  Device sales are only the beginning for Apple of course. As with iTunes, the real money is in the ‘after sales’ – in this case revenue from content providers and advertising. Apple just announced its mobile ‘iAd’ platform for the iPad, which will bring Google and Apple face to face in mobile advertising. Things are starting to get interesting….

I am doubtful Millennials will be among the early adopters.

My students at Notre Dame show no interest. They have all the devices they need to listen to music or access the Internet.  The $499 to $829 price is also a significant barrier. On the other hand, they may not be all that representative. Focus group research by Frank Magid suggests the appeal knows no demographic bounds. Consumers of all ages expressed enthusiasm.  Even stronger evidence of Millennial appeal comes from a study by NPD, which suggests the iPad enjoys its strongest appeal among young adults and Apple owners.

NPD’s Apple iPad: Consumers’ Perceptions and Attitudes report found that awareness is highest among current Apple owners, (82 percent), consumers with $100,000 or greater income (80 percent), and 18-34 year olds (78 percent).  Those demographic groups are the ones with the most interest in buying an iPad. Only 18 percent of all consumers surveyed expressed a real interest in owning an iPad while 27 percent of 18-34 year olds and 24 percent of Apple owners said they were extremely or very interested.

A lot depends on how much new functionality the iPad brings. If it just allows you do to more of what you already do, why invest in a new device and ongoing data plan?

Smart phone penetration is growing smartly. Penetration of smart phones like the Blackberry and iPhone was just 21% in Q4 ‘09 according to Nielsen, but is expected to reach 33% by the end of Q4 ‘10 and be half of all cell phones by Q4 ‘11. With that kind of mobility in your pocket, many will certainly find another device superfluous.

There are suggestions, however, that the iPad will be ‘transformational’. I am especially intrigued by the announcement from MTV this week of a co-viewing app developed specifically for the iPad and mobile phones.  They observed that 59% of people multi-task when watching TV, and are betting that tablet devices and mobile phones will be easier to play with while watching TV than laptop or desktop computers.  This would mean true ‘interactive’ TV – you interact with friends while watching.  IPad apps for “Beavis and Butthead”, “MTV News” and “VH1toGo” are due in April.  I’m sure this is just the first of many ‘firsts’ we will see from the iPad (social shopping anyone?!)

Integration of interactive ads, social networks and cool, fast visuals could make the iPad a ‘must have’ for Gen Y, especially after the price comes down.

According to the NPD research, price is currently the main barrier.  Among the 18-34 year old demographic, 57 percent of those survyed by NPD cited price as the number one reason they aren’t ready to buy, 25 percent more than the overall percentage of non-interested buyers.  That discrepancy suggests there may be pent up demand that can be tapped by lowering the price. Given the pattern of start high, end low followed by the iPhone and iTouch, Millennials may in fact be the main sales driver for the iPad.

By Grace Boyle*

If you know someone who lives in the United States, you should have probably already heard about the 2010 U.S. Census. I felt like a real adult opening the envelope, ready to “offer” my household information, ballpoint pen in hand.

Looks like I’m a small percentage of eager participants in my generation this year.

As of March 10th, the struggle the U.S. Census was experiencing especially in the online realm is evident – they have fewer than 3,000 Twitter followers and 14,900 friends on Facebook.

Gen Y financial author, Peter Dunn humorously scoffs at the lack of interaction from the Census in his MediaPost column, “Are you kidding me? A grilled cheese sandwich with the image of the Virgin Mary has more followers. On top of that, the official U.S. Census website is both aesthetically abysmal and hard to navigate, not to mention that you can’t fill out your Census form online.”

Personally, I saw no marketing (to my generation in particular) for the 2010 Census. In fact, I received my form and really was surprised. That’s bad outreach. If they knew the statistics for online-use (especially in Generation Y) the Census would make an easy form to fill out, online. It’s painless, environmentally friendly and cost-effective.

The census results are important – it allows our tax dollars and government programs to reach the right communities, with specific needs gathered from the census. I only know this, because I’ve done my research. Poll a Generation Y group and they might shrug their shoulders or mention, “Why should I fill out the Census form?”

I agree with Dunn, that the Census should have focused less on Boomers as engaging Gen Y “will lead to a legion of brand advocates.” The Census is an “uptight” and “stodgy” program already, but anyone knows that properly targeted marketing can create anything to be powerful, exciting and executable.

Looks like the 2010 U.S. Census missed the mark this year with Gen Y. Better luck next year?

* Grace Boyle, is a 20-something adventurista. She lives in Boulder, CO and is the Publisher Services Manager for the tech startup, Lijit. She blogs at Small Hands, Big Ideas and tweets while she writes about the startup world, relationships, career and daily inspirations.

Grace Boyle*

I grew up listening to stories from my father, who against his will was sent to fight in Vietnam, grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, saw the fight for civil rights and often disagreed against conventionalism from his parents. During that time there was a large uproar for change and the generation (Baby Boomers) challenging their parents thoughts, traditions and beliefs.

I however, get along with my Baby Boomers parents wonderfully. A survey titled, “Forty Years After Woodstock, A Gentler Generation Gap,” from the Pew Research Center backs up my (for the most part) glowing relationship with my parents while also touching on our inevitable differences.

Parenting Ties:

Let’s start from the beginning. In terms of parenting, only 10% of survey respondents with a child over 16 say they’ve often had major disagreements with the child in his or her late teens or early 20s. But 19% of parents say they had major disagreements with their parents.

Furthermore, there’s a connection of actually spending more times with their Generation Y children. Nearly half (48%) of all parents with children 16 or younger say they are spending more time with their children than their parents spent with them, up from 42% in a survey conducted for Newsweek magazine in 1993.

Greatest Generation Divide:

Despite positive parenting reviews, we still disagree. The greatest gap and difference the Pew studied showed was the technology divide. My mother often complains that it’s so hard and challenging for her to write a blog post on Blogger, navigate her new cell phone or even work the television. I don’t think twice, when fiddling with wires, playing with a new gadget or the online world. I live and breathe it, because I know no other way. Generation Y grew up with it and quite honestly, it’s second nature.

Here’s where the differences lie between Boomer’s and Generation Y. The percentage of those surveyed who say younger and older people are “very” different in:

• The way they use computers and new technologies: 73%
• The music they like: 69%
• Their work ethic: 58%
• Their moral values: 54%
• The respect they show others: 53%
• Their political views: 43%
• Their religious beliefs: 41%
• Their attitudes toward different races and groups: 34%

Despite Differences, We “Get” Each Other:

As my father and mother questioned their parent’s conservative World War II era lifestyle and “old-fashioned” beliefs I have less to challenge and stand up to my parents about. They did much of the molding. My progressive and open-mind is largely because of them. Sure I disagree (oh teenage years) but finding common ground with them isn’t hard.

Tracing back, “part of Baby Boomers challenging the status quo might have played more into the fact that they were challenging their parents,” says Matt Heineman, 26, a freelance filmmaker in New York. “We’re not necessarily challenging our parents. We’re trying to figure out what challenges of the world to take on.”

This is a comparison I never considered before. Now that I think of my relationship with my parents and for the most part, my friends’ and their parents, I see the similarities. No doubt, there will always be differences between generations and my family isn’t everyone else’s family, but ultimately both groups have a strong connection.

David Morrison, 41, of Twentysomething Inc., a Philadelphia consulting and research firm agrees, “Generation Y gets their Boomer parents. They fully understand where they’re coming from. And Boomer parents, in part, get Generation Y.”

How do you feel about your relationship with your parents? Do you find more of a divide or do you agree that you’re able to find common ground and get along?

* Grace Boyle is a 23 year-old adventurist. She lives in Boulder, CO and does Business Development for startup called Lijit. She blogs at Small Hands, Big Ideasinteract by meeting new people (regardless of their generation). and loves to interact by meeting new people (regardless of their generation).