Need to understand Gen Y? Ask Mr. Youth

Gen Y. Otherwise known as "Generation Next," "Millenials" or my personal favorite "Echo Boomers." The demographic is typically made up of 20- and 30-somethings who are very comfortable with technology. This generation is worlds apart from previous generations (such as Gen X), who were "immigrants" to many technological advances, while my generation seems to be made up of the "natives."

Shouldn't it be a piece of cake to target Gen Y? We are eager and open to new things. We're big on multi-tasking. We take risks and aren't afraid to get our hands a little dirty.

Well, apparently it's not.

It seems that the question of, "how do we reach Gen Y?" is continually on the minds of today's advertising professionals.

To get some more insightful and in-depth answers, I decided to dig a little deeper to figure out what makes this demographic 'tick.' To my surprise (and delight), there are actually agencies built around the premise that my generation (and future generations) need to be marketed to in a very different way. These agencies really seem to grasp what these tech-saavy generations are all about.

Take Mr. Youth, an innovative social media agency headquartered in New York City. This agency is based around the fact that consumers (specifically those in the younger generations) need to better engaged with brands. How does one do that? Presenting Five Rules to Engaging a New Breed of Consumer. Partnered with RepNation Media, Mr. Youth relays five new rules to remember when marketing to "Consumer 2.0" and how to apply these rules to your strategy. I've included a small synopsis/excerpt below as a 'teaser' into their insights:

The rule that I found the most intriguing had to be Rule #5, specifically Insight #2. Chamath Palihapitiya, Vice President-Product Marketing and Operations for Facebook is quoted as saying "We are putting advertising back in the hands of the people, so ads are less like ads and more like content and information."

Why do I find this intriguing? Because it is 100% spot on. Gen Y is a generation of non-stop "voting" for the brand you like the most. We join groups on Facebook, "Tweet" about it on Twitter, check-in at certain places on Four Square -- we (as consumers) are a brand's best ambassadors. We have all of the information to influence or change people's opinions, right at the click of a button.

What are your thoughts after reading the above article? Do you think that Mr. Youth has it right -- do these five rules apply when marketing to Gen Y? Or is there another way to really hit home with the Millenials?