This Wednesday (March 24) I will be speaking in San Antonio on a great panel, moderated by Dr. Tomorrow. I know, it is some kind of awesome. I went from playing Sega Genesis to this. In the spirit of the (almost) mythical @Faris I will steal something that I think is worthy of your attention–word for word. Since most of you will not be able to be live at the event below is are the hash tags to follow via Twitter. I will have audio and/or video of the panel and the fun surrounding bringing together four of the leading Millennial thought leaders in the U.S. #BELIEVE2010 #ACHIEVE2010 #KenjiSpeaks #CPGSummit

Cheers!

I‘m 24 years old – and at my age, I represent a demographic of individuals we so commonly refer to as “Generation Y” – or, if you prefer, the “Millennials”. We were born and raised during a period of technological innovation never before conceived. We sat up on AIM for hours chatting with our friends back in middle school – we downloaded illegal music on Napster – we “blogged” about our social lives on Xanga and Livejournal – we were the early adopters of Myspace until, well, it got totally lame and a hangout for creepy folks – we vividly remember when Facebook first hit our college campus, back in the day when everyone was friends with everyone and after that party on Saturday night, you went back the next day and added all those people you downed a shot with and vaguely recall from your half-drunk stupor, only to occasionally post “We should hang out some time” on their wall. You know what I’m talking about.

Raised on Tech

We’ve been there, we’ve been through it all (or at least a lot). We are the Millennial generation and we’re more in tune with technology and the online world than ever before. Can you even imagine a world without the Internet? The first thing that comes to my mind is all-out anarchy. People setting things on fire, looting retail stores and running naked through the streets. It’s unfathomable, really.

You already know all this – you understand where YOU stand in modern day “connected” world that we live in.

But a lot of folks don’t – we (collectively) present a hell of a challenge to companies and marketers everywhere. How does a business communicate with the people of our generation? Why are marketers making the shift from more traditional (TV, radio, print) mediums in favor of the Internet?

On Wednesday, I have the pleasure and honor of sharing the stage with three individuals who are doing big things and command a lot of respect at the CPG Retail Summit in San Antonio. Lauren Fernandez, Adrienne Waldo, Kenji Summers, and yours truly will be center stage in front of 1,000+ corporate executives, PR reps, and marketers who want to know ONE thing: “How do you market to a Millennial”?

The (Marketing) Game has Changed for Generation Y

The game has changed – that goes without saying. We live in a “sales” environment nowadays that is much less about sales and much more about influencing and making an impression. We (again, generalizing and referring to the “collective” Gen Y population) don’t want to be sold to – we don’t respond well to the generic sales pitch and in short, it’s a big turn off.

We have the tools at our disposal to make our own buying decisions easier than ever before. Think about what you do before you buy something online. More than likely you read reviews, sample it (music), and do significant research before dropping a dime.

The “old school” sales process is dead in the water – we’re making our own buying decisions. But that doesn’t mean we’re not influenced (sometimes VERY easily) especially by people we trust – friends – colleagues – other connections and people we respect. And that’s where the money’s at for the businesses out there – researching, listening, monitoring, and targeting the influencers out there – not (only) as a business, but as a friend, as a trusted resource, as someONE who is genuinely interested in making a connection and building a relationship.

How Do You Market to a Millennial?

On Wednesday I’ll be sharing the stage with a group of Gen Y influencers, hand picked to address this exact topic. I want to bring some of YOUR thoughts and ideas to the table – and would love for you to sound off below in the comments in response to the following questions:

• How often do you shop online?
• Has Social Media changed the way you shop?
• What are your biggest motivators when making (online) purchase decisions?
• How should marketers focus on “tapping into” our generation? What good (or bad) examples do you have of a company “selling” to you?

What causes YOU to become “loyal” to a particular brand?

via Matt Cheuvront’s Brazen Careerist – How Do You Market to a Millennial?

*Gucci Mane voice* “Well damn!” I was hoping that it was bright. Either way, Matt of Nooka is always a great person to listen and learn from. A week or so ago I visited the One Club for the ‘Evening With The Client’ event and was impressed by the Nooka presentation in addition to their responses to student questions.

Matt actually provided answers to questions that I still had of the brand. By the way, futurism plays a HUGE role in Nooka; and that I love. This is a company that has marketing #bakedin to the product. Nooka is the type of client that the One Club/One Show needs moving forward. Forget Long’s Horseradish. But don’t ever forget Berghs School of Communication.

via NOOKA blog

The 2009 ADCOLOR Awards took place October 4th in Phoenix, AZ and once again proved to be one of the best days/nights of my life. The resort. The energy. The people. The awards. The champagne. Did I mention the after party thrown by RD Global and GTM? Wow! I will always consider ADCOLOR to be like an extended family due to the love and support that the members have showed me. I went from a passionate, hungry, and naive young man with no agency experience into a passionate, hungry, and slightly wiser young man with growing agency experience. I was even able to serve as the Account Planner for this year’s ADCOLOR Awards’s ad campaign. Who knew I would ever have the opportunity to (indirectly) work with Benny Boom? TRW and T.Thompson really opened the doors for me to be able to engage an audience via my planning and connecting abilities. For that, I will forever rise up and reach back. I urge those that are interested in joining the ADCOLOR movement to visit the website to learn about who we are, what we do, and how it can benefit you. By the way, today I sat on a panel –next to an Olympic Medalist–for a Sports Symposium at the High School of Sports Management in Brooklyn. More about that in a later post.

I know readers may think that this post strays away from my general posts which usually consist of inspiration that applies to other areas of culture, business, and creativity; however; I must give recognition to AAF Most Promising Minority Student Alumni, Shane B. Santiago for creating the 2009 ADCOLOR Award’s Microsite. It looks great, and is a reminder of how great utilizing diverse suppliers can be. It all boils down to the WORK. Work –which in this case– that is exceptional.

Hopefully today will inspire me to share more of my soul with the readers of this blog. As always, keep in mind that The Future is Bright!

This written piece by me and colleague Richie Cruz was finished the day before 9/11. Does it need more exposure? Yes. Do I stick to my argument? Yes. Did Richie bring some heat with his argument? Yes.

However, I believe I made an appeal based on logic and emotion. I will stay away from Jay-Z’s ethos due to the complexities of the issue.

I would love to know how this blog’s audience feels about the issue. First, a little about the authors.

A little about the writers:
Richie Cruz is a Digital Strategist at AgencyNet, an award-winning digital marketing agency in NYC, and an emerging thought leader with a special interest in Youth, Urban, and Multicultural consumers. He is also the author of http://www.suitsiswatching.com/ a blog focused on the marriage of culture and marketing, and has provided lifestyle marketing consultation services for the likes of Lenovo and AXE.

Kenji Summers is a digital strategist at OMD NY. Prior to OMD he worked at Mediaedge:cia under the Group M umbrella. In addition to time spent in the office, Kenji is an AdColor Awards Steering Committee, Branding Committee and PR Committee Member; One Club Events Committee Member; One Club-Adversity New Media Committee Chair; and author of a blog titled The Future is Bright . With less than 3 years of agency experience Kenji brings his fresh perspective as a proud member of the millennial generation.

» Read the rest of this entry «

Offline, @WilliamYan started out writing tweets on sheets of paper and has now stepped it up to tweeting on the streets. The convergence of online and offline media will be a story of 2010. This is just plain creative. My social experiment aligns with this perfectly. Check back at the end of the week to get the story on my (Twitter) social experiment. Shouts to  @aimeehustle @ladychellez @keefwasheretoo

Visit WilliamYan.com for more

via William Yan’s Twitpic

A few months ago I was fortunate enough to be asked to do the brief for the 2009 ADCOLOR Awards. I’ve been around the ‘magic’ that is ADCOLOR, thus taking on a roll of account planner was a ‘no brainer’. 2009 marks the third year of the awards, and is the first year it will be held at a location outside of the east coast. The award show has reached a critical mass and the client wanted to create a call to action while taking into consideration the emotion that is felt by partaking in the award show. Below is my favorite spot that was created.

“The Catch”

Credits

Groups CDs: Sallie Mars
Art Director: John Nguyen
Copywriter: Mikal Cook
Planner: Kenji Summers
Producer: Beny Ashburn, Co-Produced by Eric Tao
Production Assistant: Chandler Simms
Business Manager: Ken Krausgill

PRODUCTION – PICTURE PARK:
Director: Benny Boom
Executive Producer: Mark Hankey
Line Producer: Roger Ubina

POST FACILITY:
Post: Jon Grover (editor), Cut & Run
Mixed: Steve Rosen, Sonic Union
Transfer: Lex, Nice Shoes
Graphics: Charlex & Gary Mack, NBA
Music: Akintayo Adewole of Akande Music + Publishing LLC

I apologize for sleeping on this press release–6 days late. However, Pharrell and Rob have begun the search for creative strategists for their new shop. Recently, I mentioned Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business feature that lists Pharrell as #36. On June 10th I attended Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business event located at a space in NYC. Have you connected the dots, yet? 

Read the rest below:

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http://dean.som.umass.edu/where_we_been.html

You never know what you might find. Personal brand management is an enjoyable past time that has become an integral piece of my recent success. Understanding which individuals and entities are mentioning you on the world wide web is vital to knowing what your perception looks like to the public. I suggest googling your name once a week. For those that are a little more famous and successful than others, I suggest having a virtual assistant manage your online brand–for the fraction of the cost of a PR professional. Good luck on your quest to personal brand excellence.

Watch the video when you have a couple of few minutes. Tell me what you think. It was recorded in 2007 during my senior semester. If not for Google I wouldn’t have discovered I was featured on the UMass Isenberg School of Management’s website. Thanks UMass!

We made it a year! Thank you for all those that have been visiting from the start or joined the journey later on. I appreciate you for any and everything. The development of the site can be seen from each and every post. Maybe I’ll dig up some old layouts, that will really show the blog’s progression (maybe not lol).