The digital generation: anti-brand or misunderstood?

“Lot of people who are not part of this generation bemoan what is happening to this generation,” Ian Calvert, Instant Grass co-founder, said late last week at the Digital Lab workshop held at the University of Johannesburg in conjunction with Dion Chang's 2010 Flux Trend Review conference.

Who are they?

But who are ‘these people'?

Calvert quoted New York-based Emily Nussbaum, who said of this generation: “They have no sense of shame. They have no sense of privacy. They are show-offs, fame whores, pornographic little loons who post their diaries, their phone numbers, their stupid poetry - for God's sake, their dirty photos - online.

She added: “They have virtual friends instead of real ones. They talk in illiterate instant messages. They are interested only in attention—and yet they have zero attention span, flitting like hummingbirds from one virtual stage to another.”

Some say these people are anti-brand, fringe, socially inept, thieves, loners, schizophrenic, egocentric and don't understand privacy, Calvert said.

Refutes accusation

However, Calvert refutes the accusation that digital junkies are anti-brand, citing an Instant Grass study that reveals the following: 52% have blogged about a brand, 69% have provided feedback on brand's website, 77% watched a TV commercial on YouTube, and 69% have read a corporate blog post.

Furthermore, 73% have posted a product or brand review, 40% befriended a brand, while 26% follow a brand on Twitter.

To Calvert's understanding, ‘these people', whom he called a bunch of informed and opinionated people and vocal extroverts, are simply being misunderstood.

Instead of brands bemoaning and wondering, Calvert said they should start a ‘digilogue' (digital dialogue), which consists of listening, participating, influencing and collaborating.

“Brands created in boardrooms will not survive the streets of today,” he said, adding that the easiest way to get consumers to notice your content is to get them to create it.

Ten key drivers

Calvert revealed 10 key drivers which he said drive the digital generation:

1. freedom

2. customisation
   
3. ‘FOMO' (fear of missing out)
   
4. gravanity
   
5. transparency
   
6. integrity
   
7. entertainment
   
8. collaboration
   
9. speed and
   
10. innovation.
    

According to Calvert, the 10 key drivers could be translated into the following:

1. Freedom: I can get anything I want from the Internet.
   
2. Customisation: I need to be able to make things ‘me'.
   
3. Transparency: if I don't know what car to buy, I can just ask my friends on Facebook and get hundreds of honest opinions.
   
4. Integrity: a brand must respect in order to earn my respect. They can't hide anymore. They will be found out.
   
5. Entertainment: I can keep myself busy for hours when connected the Internet; there are just so many clips and cool websites or even friends' profiles to see.
   
6. Collaboration: if a brand wants my attention, then they must ask for it before they start trying to sell to me.
   
7. Speed: I want things now; I hate waiting, that's why Internet banking rocks. I can check my balance hassle free, no standing in queues. Imagine the days before online banking and ATMs... horror.
   
8. Innovation: I got so happy when FNB added cellphone banking; it makes so much sense.
   
9. FOMO: I need to know what is happening all times. When Facebook is under construction, I get nervous... it is weird but true, like a junky.
   
10. Gravanity': I have this need to heard, can't really explain it. That is why I am constantly updating my blog. It feels good to get things off my chest.
    

The Digital Lab was organised by Studio 4332 (formerly proximity#ttp) in association with Flux Trend Review. For more, go to www.instantgrass.com, www.studio4332.com and www.fluxtrends.com. Bizcommunity.com is a media partner.