By Sarah Newton – @sarahnewton

These are some tips I recently wrote for the retail sector and thought they would be useful to share.

Sterotype One -Teens are Lazy

Tip – resume - Ensure it looks professional and is all formatted and spelt correctly. Any gaps in your previous experience (like a gap year, for example), ensure you mention them and what you did and what the experience taught you. Include all and any hobbies, even baby-sitting that you may have done and link the hobby to the job, for example playing World of Warcraft teaching you a valuable skill of building a social team to support you.

Interview - Dress correctly, smart and professionally (you may think smart jeans are OK but most adults think that means you don’t care). Look people in the eye and smile, show them that you like people and are able to be engaging.

Sterotype Two -Teens feel entitled

Tip – resume – Ensure you write in your resume what you learnt from any previous experience or jobs you have done and how thankful you were for the experience.

Interview - Research the company on the internet; make sure you know their vision and values and how you can support them to achieve their aims. Thank them for taking the time to see them and on leaving shake their hands, thank them and let them know you hope they find the right person for the job.

Sterotype Three- Teens are really bad at face-to-face communication due to technology.

Resume – Make sure you write in your resume the things you have done face to face, like participating in debates, speaking, communicating with customers in a part time job. If you go to a social group in a face-to-face setting make sure you mention that.

Interview – Look people in the eye and smile and make sure your phone is switched off. Let them know how important you feel face-to-face interaction is to the customer experience and what that adds to the retail experience.

Sterotype Four-Teens are selfish and only care about themselves.

Resume – Include any volunteering work you have done, even volunteering to look after your little sister or brother so your parents can go out shows you care. State in your resume what you loved about working with the other companies you have worked in or how you loved learning about other cultures on your gap year, or maybe you were involved in something at school that helped others like an organising committee. Even helping another win a quest in an online game or showing your parents how to Facebook counts for something.

Interview – Research the company and let them know what you like about them and what you are so interested in working for them. Thank them for their time and let them now how much you appreciate them seeing you.

By Sarah Newton

I recently found this article talking about Gen Z and their entering the workforce. I thought it was interesting on two fronts; one because we are beginning to talk about Gen Z and two, because it appeared to be giving out the wrong information. So I thought I would share my counter thoughts here for you.

If Gen Y is most defined by their approach to social responsibility, then Gen Z is defined by their knowledge and use of technology. They’re the first generation exposed to being connected throughout their lives online.

An obvious one, don’t you think, but hold on. Are they really defined by technology or is it deeper? Is it what technology has done for them, the fact that it has made them creative, innovative and collaborative and has challenged and tipped traditional power structures. When we say they are defined by technology we miss the point; they are defined by what access to technology has allowed them to do and become.

Gen Z is more security conscious than Gen Y. “Gen Zs have been under house arrest by their Gen X parents.” said Dr. Paul Redmond, head of Careers and Employability at the University of Liverpool. “No longer playing outside and always chaperoned, there are concerns about their social, not to mention obesity, issues.”

I totally disagree with this one. They are no more security conscious from what I see, in fact the opposite; they don’t even remember events of 9/11 or July 7^th bombings. They feel really safe and they are not under house arrest at all, they are at home because they choose to be so. Many Gen X parents want their kids to go out more, but the kids want to stay in families. Their parents and their traditional values are hugely important to them.

Gen Z will be more switched on about the risks of social media and is unlikely to splash their personal lives on the net in the same way Gen Y so enthusiastically does. Employers will need to closely consider any social media strategies for this generation. However, they will be technological cosmopolitans and expect information quickly online.

Evidence form a lot of different sources is saying that this is not true at all. (Where does the information come from?) Gen Z will share more and for them, sharing will be the norm. Sorry guys, they will not now or ever, I feel, stop splashing their personal lives on the net; this is a trend that will not reverse. You only need to look at their streams and their social media activity to know this is not true. They may get slightly more selective about whom they let into their circle, but they will continue to share, share and share! Expect more videos and much more insight into their lives, not less.

Redmond warned, due to flitting from one technology to another, they’re likely to know little about a lot of topics, but not hold deep knowledge about a smaller number of subjects.

OK, I give you this one, and this is a concern. We may end up with a group of people who don’t really know a lot about anything. It is up to parents, teachers and future employees to step onto this one, I feel, and ensure we give the next generation the staying power they need.

So, if you are a company already thinking about Gen Z and how you will recruit them, be careful what you read.

Gen Z will be welcomed into the workforce. They are steady, traditional, great at building structure and are less likely to cause as many upsets as their Gen Y counterparts. The older employees in particular will find them much easier to manage.

They are more likely to rebel by behaving better, so although you may have a few years yet, get ready to welcome them with open arms.

By Sarah Newton

I found this great post written by Josip Petrusa which was aimed at marketers, but I thought it would be also useful to share here with my thoughts.

Quick Ways to think like a Millennial

1. If it’s slower than a text message, it’s too slow.

Youth want quick feedback, not a long drawn out process. So instant feedback on the spot is better than a long meeting in the office.

2. We’re highly optimistic, seemingly regardless of the situation. Don’t deceive us, but do give us something to be optimistic about.

Let them know where their prospects are and where they could be heading without over exaggerating or lying. Also, tell them the truth as much as you can, they really value honesty. Make the work environment an enjoyable place as much as you can and have a Make Their Day policy; do something every day to make someone’s day.

3. We sleep with our smart phones. We eat with our smart phones. We go to the washroom with our smart phones. Well, you get the point.

Don’t ban mobiles unless you absolutely need to and don’t moan when they text all day, unless it really is interfering. Leave them to it or replace the old smoking breaks with phone breaks

4. There’s some great and cool technology out there. Use it.

Ask for their opinions; ask how you could do something quicker or better with technology. Use this experience; it is a valuable resource that is often untapped.

5. Any situation we’re in could possibly warrant us to tell someone else about it. Give us something good to talk about. And don’t worry; we’ll make sure to tell everyone about the bad.

Don’t expect them to be quiet about their day at work. If you are a good employee they will tell everyone and will get behind you and your company 100%. However, if the opposite is true, don’t expect them to hold back. See every moment with them as an exercise.

By Sarah Newton

It seems long gone are the days when as employers we can forget social media and how we can use it to connect with potential or new employees. However many employers are concerned about the information their employees are sharing on social media sites and there have been cases of employees been sacked for letting off steam about their job on Facebook. But is that really fair? Can we expect this digital generation not to share information and should we judge them for it?

A recent Pew research stated that Gen Y is set to continue to share information.

It looks like this is to become a very hot topic.

“Generation Y Millennials will continue their current habit of sharing large amounts of personal information online as they age, according to the recent “Future of the Internet” study from the Centre’s Internet & American Life Project and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Centre.

Sixty-seven percent of technology experts and 69% of total survey respondents agreed with a statement that said in part, “By 2020, members of Generation Y will continue to be ambient broadcasters who disclose a great deal of personal information in order to stay connected and take advantage of social, economic, and political opportunities.”

And knowing youth the way I do, I have to agree the trend will continue. Generation Z are at an early age showing more openness and willingness to share much more information than we ever have before. Where will it end? Well I have to say it won’t. I don’t think so and while I think users may get much more choosy about who they share with and what and think.

With Facebook recently reaching the grand total of 500 million and Mark Zuckerberg halting any please make certain things more private due to his belief that we all have one identity and we should be able to just be that, where does this leave us older generations. Well confused mostly.
Most employers are at a total loss to understand this need for sharing especially if it may get them into trouble at work or heaven forbid they say something bad about them as a employer. And with a mindset not brought up in a digital world we can’t. Aleks Krotoski (presenter of The Virtual Revolution) was recently asked on a programme should we be concerned about the digital imprint youth are leaving and what that may say to a potential employer. Alex said no, as an employer we should be more concerned if we can’t find a digital imprint. I hope I got this right Alex, I am paraphrasing.

In essence what she was saying was that it is now normal for us to see pictures of our employees having a good time dressed up for the last fancy dress party and to see a few status updates of how bad their job went today. This is not going away and we need to get used to it and find strategies to deal with it.

As employers we should ask how fair it is to delve into the private lives of our employees, even if they have invited us and as employees, we need to ask if it is a good idea to be friends with our boss.

I do think these are areas that need to be looked at and people need to give serious consideration to. As an employer you either friend none of your employees or you friend all of them under the proviso that anything you see, read etc. will not affect their work.

And as employees we need to decide what we want to do. Do we never friend our boss/work colleagues or do we friend them and know we may need to edit or moderate some of our posts?

I’m not sure what the answer is, I just know there has to be one. What do you think?

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.