It's hard to believe that the demographic that made Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Marilyn Manson and The Blair Witch Project culture-changing hits is about ready to buy homes, but believe it. If you can't help Buffy and her contemporaries shop for a home the fly way, she'll drive a stake through your heart. But all ribbing aside, the GenY's aren't as scary as they look if you are willing to take a second look.

The first wave of GenY's are already armed with college degrees and a life plan that doesn't include knocking on doors to open or paying their dues. Because the GenY's are the most materially affluent of any generation previously, they are heavily targeted by marketers, including Realtors. But reaching this group of potential first-time homebuyers isn't as easy as it may look. Just because they think like Boomers, doesn't mean that middle-aged Realtors will be able to easily relate to the GenY home buyer.

This new generation is clannish, no mean feat for an international, multicultural community which communicates in its own vernacular and its own medium - the Web. While the GenX's waited for grants to provide more than one computer per schoolroom, this generation grew up with a computer in the bedroom. Like the hippies of the 60s and 70s, the GenY's are bonded in their age and their medium of choice - the Internet. They are one of the briefest demographic groups on record, currently aged 13-22. They don't trust anyone over 30, just like their parents didn't. Weaned on stories about the Social Security crisis of the new Millennium, the GenY's feel the government and anyone else over 30 has let them down. Like their Vietnam War-protesting parents, they don't trust the establishment. They feel entitled, and they want it now. They aren't going to wait for their rewards.

So how does the Realtor market to this new demographic? It's going to be a challenge, according to Chris Thompson, marketing coordinator for CACI Marketing Systems, a consumer information/demographic research company.

To bridge the age gap, Thompson advises getting to know this fascinating generation on their turf - the Internet. "There are 12.4 million surfers between the ages of 16-22, but it has proven a difficult task to tap this market. In order to reach this market, you have to think like them and be able to relate to them, yet most companies don't have staff on hand that match those requirements."

Look at the lesson Hollywood learned from The Blair Witch Project. Made for $135,000 (the budget it took to get to the Sundance Film Festival,) this underground film has grossed well over $100 million, not including video sales. The five producers/directors built a Web site, networked links, and found an audience by developing the legend of the Blair Witch online. By the time the movie opened with an $11 million marketing campaign, the audience was ready. Critics were polarized. Older viewers hated the shaky camera action, and the young crowd loved it, making Blair Witch the single largest grossing (cost of film to tickets sold ratio) independent film ever made.

Realtors don't have to learn the same lesson twice. By anticipating this young, independent-minded market, the industry could repackage and market its services to be embraced by this demographic.

The Blair Witch Project can teach Realtors the following:

Lesson #1."They don't have brand loyalty like older generations," says Thompson. "They like underground, independent brands." That could pose a threat to the tradition-rich real estate community. Better be prepared for challenges to traditional home buying means, including new threats from small, independent companies. Be ready to communicate more over the Internet than in person. Be ready to market to non-traditional households.

Lesson #2 - "You have to get them now, before they are into the home buying scenario," says Thompson. "One VP of strategy for a popular GenY site is only 22, and he believes that if you can build their trust now, they will be your champions." Start your marketing strategies on rental sites, give these future home buyers an idea of home buying programs that are available, and add plenty of links to other sites for information.

Lesson #3 - "The secret remains in the content mixture," says Thompson. "Develop a Web site for that age group, make it content friendly. They like the grass roots approach. The Internet is the wave of the future, and the GenY home buyer is going to be making purchases and contracting for services by researching the Web first." Include in your real estate site all the information for first-time home buyers will need.

Don't let this generation leave you standing in the corner. Get the GenY Internet whisper campaign going in your favor like it did for the summer's biggest hit movie. And if you need a reminder that this new generation really isn't as different as they seem just dig your old Kiss or Alice Cooper t-shirt out of the attic and rent a copy of your old favorite screamfest - The Night of the Living Dead. You see? The generations aren't that far apart....

What are your experiences bridging the generations gap? Any suggestions for what works/doesn't work for you?

Published: September 8, 1999

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