Generation Y is the up-and-coming generation that most marketers seek in today’s market. As a member of Generation Y I can tell you that the more you become a trend the more I will pay attention to what it is your company has to offer in regards to products and services. As a current MBA student and recent graduate, I get bombarded with multiple emails and letters from credit cards, universities, and insurance companies on a regular basis. However, my roommate and I throw a lot of that stuff away or it gets deleted because it doesn’t engage us.

I thought this topic would be relevant to the blog because my roommate and I were just discussing our lack of engagement with all the emails and white envelopes we’ve been getting. We avoid the television commercials, because we can fast forward through them. My roommate, who also works for a marketing firm, agrees that for companies to get our attention they need to be different in their approach or, technically, we don’t care. Some of you may be reading this and thinking, “is he saying Generation Y is unreachable?” We are reachable.

When I open the mail I do pay attention to certain things like weight, color, and/or bulkiness (as discussed in my previous blog). I’m not interested in a boring envelope that every credit card or university has already sent me. I’m looking for the things that will engage me. Give me some color or texture, and get my attention. I want to be excited. It means more to me for a company to send me something personal rather than just sending an email or ordinary envelope.

If you can make an impact on my generation “we” could make you the next biggest trend. So next time you decide to send a run of the mill email or unexciting direct mail piece think about this post and ask yourself how can I stand out from the rest?