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The Amplifier
Ideas for Brand Marketers
April 2008
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In this issue..
-- Millennials: Don't Tell Them They're Sensitive
-- Our Brand Strategy: Our People
-- Featured Case: Giving a Wrench to Big Box Stores.

When our feature articles, "Clued In or Clueless: What Millennials Don't Know About Marketing" and "Get the Best Out of Millennials by Tweaking Habits", appeared in Ad Age, little did we know what a stir it would make. For fun, we've compiled the feedback. Read on to see what Boomers, X'ers and Gen Y have to say.

Our most popular articles feature client projects. This month we feature a new case that shows how we used laddering research to help a retailer position itself relative to big box home centers. Laddering helped us get inside consumers' heads and think about decision drivers, not just brand attributes.

Judy Hopelain has joined our consulting team. Judy brings great brand strategy experience from Prophet, BCG, Accenture, Patagonia and Illuminations. Read more about Judy below. Welcome, Judy!


Millennials: Don't Tell Them They're Sensitive
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 Millennials were offended. Boomers were offended. Sensing controversy, Ad Age responded with a poll: 'Do you think special consideration must be made for Millennials entering the workplace?' The answer was a resounding 'No!' (80%)

Here's a sample of what readers had to say:

"I'm an 'X'er' and remember entering the workplace with the Boomers as my guides. We learned that hard work and results are what really matters in competition, and I would guess that Millennials will learn this too if they want to get ahead in whatever industry they choose. If they have to include Kleenex in their project plan, let that be their problem. -San Mateo, CA

"Having recently managed an entire department of Millennials, I know the author is spot on. There was never a day when someone was not in tears. "-O FALLON, MO

"Millennials are no different than other students that waited until the last minute and then stay up all night working on a project. Any worth hiring understand that things will be different in the professional world and ones that don't should not be catered to". -Greenville, SC

"Why don't you just had them the keys to the corporate jet while you're at it?" -Columbia, SC

"I pity all the people (including the author of this article) who so severely underestimate us. I think those who assume we will curl up in a ball crying every time we don't get handed a cookie for good behavior are in for a big surprise in the years to come." -New York, NY

"How do you explain Millennials being sensitive and in need of Kleenex on hand? You can't. What you CAN do is recognize that we were educated well, expected (to excel) in extra-curriculars, and praised for our efforts. That doesn't mean that we'll curl up in a ball if we don't get praise every day, but it does mean that when we do something right, we assume we will be told so."- Richmond, VA

"I am a 25 year old who is only one year out of an entry-level position, and I feel some resentment towards this article. My generation does need a reality check on what we "deserve," we do not need softened edges. This only contributes to spoiling the young workers. What happens 20 years from now when the person who needs the Kleenex and finishes a project at 5 a.m. is managing a group of people and a clients expectations? I think a bit of firm discipline will go a long way. "-Dearborn, MI

Click here to read the original article, Get the Best Out of Millennials by Tweaking Habits


Our Brand Strategy: Our People
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 What's our brand strategy? That's simple: direct access to branding experts, the kind of senior talent that shows up at new business pitches at larger firms, but is difficult to access every day at those firms. Judy Hopelain has a string of large firm successes on her resume. She joins us from Prophet Brand Strategy firm where she was managing partner of the San Francisco office. Judy's consulting background also includes Accenture, Boston Consulting Group, and Swander Pace & Company. Judy has a special gift for insights that lead to business and brand building impact.

Read more about her by clicking here. Or better yet, read her terrific article on how to establish meaningful metrics for tracking brand performance through the purchase funnel by clicking the link below.

"On Track: Next Generation Brand Tracking", by Judy Hopelain, Marketing Management, September 2005.


Featured Case: Giving a Wrench to Big Box Stores.
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 How does the little guy beat the big bad BIG BOX STORE? With a smarter positioning of course. Big boxes are vulnerable -- their very size is often their biggest weakness. The key to winning against Goliath is helping David with his aim.

Our approach combined a customer survey, in-depth laddering interviews with 60 of our client's best customers and an n=1200 market research survey -- all efficiently executed online. Together, these studies provided all the insights needed to provide our client with a comprehensive brand strategy for winning. To learn more about what we learned about the occasions and reasons customers choose to go to big box home improvement stores, click the link below.

Big Box Retailer Laddering Case Study


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