Does Gen Y Really Impact Your Industry?

Generation Y is the largest workforce since the baby-boomers. They are also the economy’s replacements as the baby-boomers retire. It’s not a new strategy for retailers or brands to create specific marketing geared towards a specific generation. How much of an impact does Gen Y hold on a singular market such as food?

In an MSNBC article it seems that Gen Y’s eating habits are different than predecessors. In a report from the Center for Culinary Development and Packaged Facts, they conclude Gen Y wants food and beverage brands to be “customized” for their generation. The question is: “How will a retailer or brand know if their in-store marketing or branding campaign was successful with Gen Y?”

You could actually extend that question across the board to all marketing and promotion campaigns. What metrics are your company using to determine if the in-store promotion was effective? Is your packaging attractive? If Gen Y is going to push the envelope with the food and beverage industry, there will need to be some measurement of success to understand the generation’s impact on marketing.