Maybe it's because I live in a university town and have watched my college-aged friends become incredible young adults. I love talking with this group - so you are bound to see further reports on them in the coming months.

Keep listening & learning,

Lisa

P.S. Andrea and I have taken a little break from our regular writing schedule as summer winds down, so you'll notice that this is a combined Aug/Sept issue.

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A Generation of Independent Young Women
By Lisa Johnson

Let’s start with some numbers: According to a 2001 Packaged Facts report, young adults are becoming an increasingly positive economic force. The 37 million 25- to 34-year-olds have an aggregate income that exceeds $1.1 trillion, and they have a substantial influence on a wide variety of sectors. For example, research shows that the rate of homeownership in this age group is higher than that of the Baby Boom generation at an equivalent age. As a result, Generation X consumers are having a major impact on the furniture, housewares, and home improvement industry. -- (Packaged Facts, 7/1/2001, The Young Adult Market: Generation X Grows Up, available at: http://www.marketresearch.com)

1. REACHWOMEN LISTENS TO YOUNG WOMEN

General numbers in hand, we decided to talk with a sampling of women in their mid to late 20s across the country. Overall, those we surveyed had purchasing behaviors and consumer attitudes that reflected their independence from traditional influencers. Two points that filtered out particularly quickly were:

• Brand loyalty is not a given
• They are influenced by a wider variety of media

On Being Brand Loyal or Not:

 “I am so not a brand person. I like things for the way they are and what they do for me. It has nothing to do with brand. ”

 “Unique. I like things to be unique. I don’t like to just do whatever everyone else is doing.”

“How practical it is and if I need it. Today I am much more careful about my spending and think more about whether it is something I want or need.”

“Quality. I can’t stand things that are cheaply made or appear cheaply made.”

“Honestly, I like the service on Amazon.com and other websites that says: ‘we notice you bought XX. Other people who have bought XX have also purchased YY.’ I've bought several CDs and books this way, and it's a great way to expand out of my comfort zone and try new things.”

On Media and Other Purchase Influencers:

“When I see things in the media, women are often portrayed as juggling their busy life, frantically trying to do everything. I don’t really relate to the juggler. It is true that my life is busy, but I don’t find that stereotypical image very compelling.”

“I am not easily influenced. I am a skeptic about the media and ad campaigns. I am constantly dissecting it, thinking ‘Oh they are just trying to do this or that.’”

“I really connect with music. If I am watching a commercial, or watching a movie preview and they have a great song playing, that can completely suck me in.”

"I love independent films these days--so much more relevant and "real" to me than the big blockbusters. Even when I don't *love* them, certain scenes always speak to me."

“I am very affected by design, architecture and space layout. I love the interiors of Banana Republic, for example. They are very clean and sparse and there is not too much coming at you. Nothing distracting from the product. It like being in a well-designed environment that I can really connect with.”

“I like free samples, ads that show down-to-earth people instead of perfect models, magazines are my primary choice of media. I like dogs in ads too.”

2. GIRL-ON-THE-STREET TAPS INTO YOUNG WOMEN

After we’d talked with our sampling of young women, we also checked in with Chauncey Zalkin, a trend-spotting, creative consultant who polls and observes young adult women consumers through her business, Girl-on-the-Street (http://www.girlonthestreet.com) (Andrea’ll share more of our interview with her in an upcoming fall issue of Reaching Women Online). 

Here are a few of Chauncey’s top line observations:

Not cool to be hip: “Young women are moving away from the overly, marketed, overly manufactured, silly aesthetic. There is a rebellion against things that are supposed to be hip and cool.”

Strong, singular voice: “These women are drawn to a strong, singular voice. A face, a story and a compelling and true narrative will resonate much more than a brand with mass consumer identity.”

Humanize the brand: “Don’t be afraid to share the grit – your mistakes and how you got back up after them. Avoid the spin and tell the true stuff.”

Small and organically grown: “This generation gravitates toward smaller, lesser known brands, designers and artists. Even the music industry is struggling as young people search out and download music by little known grass roots bands and artists.”

3. YOUR TAKEAWAY FOR REACHING YOUNG WOMEN

As we’ve noted in our discussion of these women, we’re looking at a demographic that was in front of a computer and using the Internet from a very early age, and that have always been exposed to mass media saturation. And, now that these women are grown, we’ve found that they are tending to remain single a bit further into their lives than their mothers did.

That fact further supports what ReachWomen and Chauncey Zalkin have noticed in our recent research - that the consuming behavior of these women may be hard to peg, but there are still ways to resonate with them. For example, “The Solo Female,” a late 2001 marketresearch.com study found that “Single women respond to advertising messages that respect their intelligence, honor a myriad of lifestyle choices, and affirm their self-esteem and independent spirit. (See Andrea’s ClickZ.com article on the topic for more information: http://www.reachwomen.com/archive/clickz11.28.01.htm).

We haven't yet seen the end of the trend of putting off marriage, so we may as well dig in to serve these bold, independent women.

So, can we come up with a way to simply categorize them? No. Have we helped you get closer to understanding this group of women? I hope so. If there is one overriding theme to all of this, maybe it is:

Whatever channel, wherever you go to connect with them, just make the stories you present through your marketing efforts authentic and applicable to the way these women live their lives.