Are Gen Y and Millennials really the same Generation? Looking at the Generation Gap.

Are Gen Y and Millennials really the same Generation? Looking at the Generation Gap.

When it comes to marketing one of the first things you need to consider is: Who is your demographic group?

More and more marketing is focusing on 18-35 year olds. Generation Y and Millennials are both terms given to this current age range. To more accurately define this group it is people born between 1980 and 2000. The challenge with the typical generation assignment is that the world is speeding up. Things are changing at a much faster rate than it ever has before. The assumption that someone who was raised pre-tech boom would have the same values, goals and self-identity focus as someone who has had access to technology their entire lives is inaccurate. 

Think about anyone you know who is 30-35. Now think about someone you know who is 20-25. How do they run their lives? What are their daily habits? Can you advertise to them the same? No. You need to understand the difference between the two. This is where I make the assertion that Gen Y is people born between 1980 and 1988 and Millennials are born between 1989 and 2000. 

CDs came out in 1981. Gaming consoles became more and more popular through the 1980s. In 1982 only 8.2% of households had in home computers. By 1989 that number had risen to 15%. In 2000 that number had jumped to 51% and internet use had gone from below 1% in 1982 to 50% of households in 2000. The changes that came with this increase in technology fundamentally changes these two groups of people. It separates them so that they are different enough at their core it seems unreasonable to put them into the 

same group. Technology isn’t slowing down. More than 80% of households now have a home computer and more children and teens are being given smartphones with access to the web at their fingertips at any moment of the day or night. 

Another factor to consider is globalization. The Twin Towers fell in 2001. Children under the age of 5 will not remember a time before that attack. Consider how that has changed America. What it has done to fears, values and priorities? Can children who never knew a world without this fact be put into the same group that remember watching the footage live? What about ISIS and their worldwide terror attacks? They are changing how we think and how we operate. What will the difference be between people who are adjusting to this

as a part of life compared to those who it will simply just be a part of life?

We may need to start looking at these changes and redefine the time frame that makes a generation. We may need to start digging deeper into major changes in culture that affect how groups think and operate. The more we have access to the world the faster everything changes. Businesses need to adjust to keep up.