#25 Mini Series – How to influence Generation C “5″
November 30, 2009 by Jake Pearce
Welcome to the fifth in our mini series exploring how to influence Generation C – ageless, digital natives.
In Mini Series “1″ we explored Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point” as a way to get a few influencing ‘the many’ with Mavens, Connectors and Sales people.
In Mini Series “2″ I identified that Connectors are only half of the picture when it comes to broadcasting a message – you also need Conductors,which I define in overview.
In Mini Series “3″ I broke down the four types of Conductors briefly to start to understand how they can influence people – naturally including Generation C
In Mini Series “4″ we investigated further the key differences between Connectors and Conductors and their relative regularity and visibility of influence
So – watch this video (4 minutes 35 seconds long) and consider:
- The four types of Conductor (Information, Debate, Social and Debate Conductors)
- What kind of people they are and how they influence their core network
To build an understanding of the eco systems of influence with a view to knowing how to influence Generation C itself.
What kind of Conductor influenced you this week?
#24 Mini Series – How to influence Generation C “4″
November 21, 2009 by Jake Pearce
Welcome to the fourth in our mini series exploring how to influence Generation C – ageless, digital natives.
In Mini Series “1″ we explored Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point” as a way to get a few influencing ‘the many’ with Mavens, Connectors and Sales people.
In Mini Series “2″ I identified that Connectors are only half of the picture when it comes to broadcasting a message – you also need Conductors,which I define in overview.
In Mini Series “3″ I broke down the four types of Conductors briefly to start to understand how they can influence people – naturally including Generation C
In this (the 4th of our Mini Series on how to influence Generation C) we investigate further the key differences between Connectors and Conductors.
So – watch this video (3 minutes 30 seconds long) and understand:
- the relative regularity with which Connectors and Conductors influence Generation C; and
- the relative visibility of either type of influencer to Generation C
So – were you influenced by a Connector and/or a Conductor this week? Let us know!
And – if you want a laugh – check out this blooper when I was videoing the VLOG 
#23 Mini series – how to influence Generation C “3″
November 13, 2009 by Jake Pearce
Welcome to the third in our mini series exploring how to influence Generation C – ageless, digital natives.
In Mini Series “1″ we explored Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point” as a way to get a few influencing ‘the many’ with Mavens, Connectors and Sales people.
In Mini Series “2″ I identified that Connectors are only half of the picture when it comes to broadcasting a message – you also need Conductors,which I define in overview.
In today’s video, I break down the 4 types of Conductor that exist to explain how they can influence people in their sphere in different ways.
The video is about 4 minutes long…
What kind of conductors have influenced you to take action in the last 3 months?
Until next time….
#22 Mini series – how to influence Generation C “2″
November 6, 2009 by Jake Pearce
In last week’s VLOG we looked at Malcolm Gladwell’s model from the Tipping point of how the few can influence the many and I concluded that it’s more complicated than that.
In this video (the second in this mini series on digital influencers) I identify and explain the difference between Connectors and what I call Conductors and why the latter are critical in solving how to influence Generation C – namely, adopted or born ageless digital natives.
Check out the video – it’s about 4 minutes long.
Who are your Conductors and how have they influenced you to take action in any sphere of you life?
#21 Mini Series – how to influence Generation C “1″
October 30, 2009 by Jake Pearce
After a wee delay, I’m back. I’ve been overseas and then got sick, so I’m very sorry I haven’t been blogging regularly – however it’s back to normal now!
So, today I begin a ‘mini series’ of VLOGS talking about Digital Influencers.
Why? Well, Generation C is a psychographic, ageless generation which is typified by a love of the digital media (whether that is full on internet involvement or just texting) and a desire for control in the digital environment. And to discover how to engage Generation C, digital natives, we must understand how to identify Digital Influencers to help achieve that engagement.
To begin this exploration I sum up Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’ which showed that you don’t need many people to grow a movement/influence lots of people.
Check out the video - less than 4 minutes…
In summary there are 3 types of people necessary to spread the word on any particular matter per Malcolm Gladwell:
- Mavens: these people know loads of stuff about areas they are interested in and really enjoy passing on information e.g. where to find the cheapest deal on a car, whether the new release from Microsoft is any good. Then Mavens pass on information to…
- Connectors: they are people who are socially very networked and can be famous, and/or thought leaders and/or just very well connected in a wide range of spheres. And Connectors know…
- Sales people: these are very persuasive people who are great at passing on information in a highly engaging way that ignites action in the people they tell.
While this is a very powerful overview of how the few engage the many, it misses something vital which we will be exploring.
Namely, that Connectors have huge networks and usually don’t see/connect with all those people in their huge networks regularly. So how do we get the word out to people more regularly that Connectors can? Who do we need to influence Generation C – digital natives more immediately/immediately?
We’ll start to look at that next week J
Do you have a system to find Maven’s, Connectors and Sales people? If not, why not? What tools do you need and do you want some help
#20 More on marketing to Generation C
September 21, 2009 by Jake Pearce
Here’s video 2 of of Abe Dew talking about Generation C – more thought provoking stuff.
To repeat a key quote from Abe:
“We in advertising love things in boxes…it’s incredibly dangerous with Gen C it’s the fringes that are important…you see wave after wave of new ideas coming forward and it scares people witless… Marketing will move to be more like jazz and less like precise orchestral piece.”
Abe’s 2 videos are real thought twisterd and really makes you think, here are some key points.
Here’s the key points from Video 2 of 2:
- Community is the content – all technology is an extension of the human mind – community is the need behind technology.
- People are more complex than ‘boxed stereotypes’ – we need to engage community to ‘get people’ properly again.
- Academic studies show that the more collective a culture is the less they go online – so social media’s explosion is a function of less happy societies!
- If Generation C want control we need to surrender it!
- Apple get this. Apple’s new apps – only 5% survive – they rely on open source creativity to provide new apps and the street to weed them out – in other words they let go of control.
Do you think you’re brave enough to let go of control when marketing to Generation C?
#19 Think outside the box to market to Generation C
September 11, 2009 by Jake Pearce
Sorry folks – been overseas and my blog plan melted badly!
So – I’ve been meaning to share this video of Abe Dew on Generation C – there are some great thoughts here.
“We in advertising love things in boxes…it’s incredibly dangerous with Gen C it’s the fringes that are important…you see wave after wave of new ideas coming forward and it scares people witless… Marketing will move to be more like jazz and less like precise orchestral piece.”
Abe’s 2 videos are real thought twisterd and really makes you think, here are some key points.
Here’s the key points from Video 1 of 2:
- Déjà-vu now vu-jade – representing existing things You Tube really aggregated things that were all there.
- David Shrigley – Glaswegian cartoonist shows a cartoon with a bit missing. People don’t know what they want all the time – the gaps are where the new futures are: http://www.davidshrigley.com/thingstobuy/thingstobuy.html
- Don’t pretend to know all the answers – brands need to move from being a ‘fixed’ idea to a narrative – like a book it’s the ‘unsaid’ that say a lot. The same is true of brands.
- Marketing will move to be more like jazz and less like precise orchestral piece.
How do you think we should market effectively to Generation C?
#19 Sarah Newton on the differences between Generation Y and Generation C
August 12, 2009 by Jake Pearce
Sarah Newton, Generation Y expert and writer of GenYGuide comments on the differences between Generation Y and Generation C.
In summary Sarah covers:
- A clear rebuttal of the ‘selfish’ label for Generation Y
- An exploration of how Generation Y is a product of its upbringing – e.g. embracing a more balanced life where work is less important
- Generation Y are not ‘all into digital’ media
My thoughts are:
- I have a different view on the social implications of Generation C
- Essentially Generation C have become the ‘leaders’ of Generation Y in terms of an online opinion and have a significant social and marketing impact on our world.
- Technology is a key factor in Generation C’s profile and leadership is a defining characteristic, hence Generation C is the 10% who leave a comment etc
Thanks again to Sarah Newton for taking the time to do this video for us – we really welcome the conversation.
So – what do you think are the key differences between Generation Y and Generation C?
#17 Generational motivations – Baby Boomers and Generation X, Y and C
July 25, 2009 by Jake Pearce
Today we are talking about the motivations of generations and talking about why it’s important to look at what motivates a generation (as human beings) rather than what their behaviour is (as human doings).
This video is 3 minutes 46 seconds long and covers the following:
- A quick definition of Generation C
- Why we need to understand the motivations of different Generations – Baby Boomers, Generation X, Y and C in order to be target generations effectively
- A summary of the motivations of Baby Boomers, Generation X, Y and C
What do you think are the motivations of these generations and does it matter?
#16 Why Generational stereotypes are incorrect
July 21, 2009 by Jake Pearce
This week I’m looking at why generational stereotypes are incorrect.
Generational studies usually focus on a demographic or age based analysis and define each generation by what they do.
For example when thinking about the Boomer generation, they talk about their activities – music, protests, hippy movement etc.
The key is that they are missing the point – to understand a generation the key is to look at the motivation that defines them. After all we are human beings not human doings
For Boomers it’s all about freedom or being free and they demonstrate this by the music, hippy movement, political protests that their generation are noted for.
So Generation C isall about Control and show this by wanting to have the power to choose how to define their environment, be heard and share with other people in the digital world.
The video is 3 mins 48 seconds. Hope you find it useful.
How do you think generations should be defined?