Just as I was getting over the sting of being called “old” because I use e-mail…
Hey, in my day it was innovative 😉
This morning I hear a great piece on the radio about the 25th anniversary of MTV. Just as that catchy tune, “I Want My MTV” starts ringing in my head, the host warns, “Don’t expect MTV to celebrate the anniversary much, the success of MTV rides on the latest fad.”
I shouldn’t be surprised. My generation, often called Generation X is pretty nebulous in its influence. The wikipedia entry can’t even definitively give start and end dates for the generation. It only manages to say, “The generation's influence over pop culture began in the 1980s and may have peaked in the 1990s.” In other words has-beens, washed up!
What we couldn't manage to muster in the shadow of the enourmous Baby Boom generation, it seems Generation Y, those now between 10 and 19 years old, will make up for in spades.
According to David Rosenberg, chief North American economist for Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc
Generation Y is bigger (42 million people) than the current 65-plus age group (37 million).
Here are some other characteristics of Generation Y according to Rosenberg as quoted in Kiplinger and the Globeandmail:
- They represent more than 14 percent of the U.S. population and the United States has more 10- to 19-year-olds than Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and France combined.
- Six million are Hispanic today and that ethnic group is increasing at six times the rate of the overall age group
- They spend around $120 billion annually, with the growth rate in spending running at about 4 per cent a year.
- They have a median income from $1,500 among 12-year-olds to $4,500 among 17-year-olds.
- Top-purchased items are clothes, CDs, electronics, video games, jewelry, entertainment, fast food, soft drinks, cosmetics and magazines
- Their spending is influenced more by magazine advertising media sources such as television, radio and the Internet
- Ninety percent of 17-year-olds plan to go to college, compared to 30 percent of people over 65 who attended college and less than 60 percent of people aged 25 to 54
All I can say is, as communicators we better start listening to teens today in order to prepare for tomorrow. MySpace anyone? Oh, and, ¿Habla usted español?
(Update: John Wagner writes more about the 25th anniversary of MTV, and includes a link to a timeline)
Photo by special
