Lately I have been thinking a lot about Millenials and their influence in advertising, both as the targeted audience and the media creator. In the last several years as we have come out of the recession, this cohort has spilled into the workforce, getting both the marketing jobs that make up the messaging and having a little coin in their pocket, making them a valuable group to market to.
Although I’m right on the edge of this defined generation, more and more, it is undeniable that I am not a part of the millennial generation. I get the ads but they are not for me. Puppy Monkey Baby, anyone? You know how they say you are always young in your mind!? This is the first time, I haven’t felt like a part of the younger group.
No longer a slickly designed cover but a beautiful fleeting moment of our everyday life memorialized.
The publication that has struck me the most as a sign of the shift in advertising is the cover of the newly envisioned Playboy. In early 2016, Playboy announced they will no longer be featuring naked woman and are shifting more into the direction of a lifestyle brand. After 70 years as an iconic brand, this change is major. Last weekend at the bookstore (I know right, some still exist!), I was drawn to the magazine by the check stand. First of all, YES! By the check stand! No longer was playboy banished to the back of the men’s interest section, sheathed in plastic and protected by a black bar. I suppose to a society saturated with porn, who can see hardcore anything at the click clack of their keyboard, updated, suggestive, sexy but covered, photographs do become a lot more salacious to our imaginations.
The second and more important observation was the cover art. It was a snapchat. Not an actual snapchat, mind you, but ‘in the style’ of. An image designed to look like a selfie intended for an intimate partner. The design was no longer about strategically placed type that was kerned to the hilt and typeface on brand. But the iconic black transparent bar across the bottom with the text “heyyy ;)”. Fascinating. Here is the shift in thinking. Much like when photography moved from the world of single coveted object you can hold in your hand and feel the archival paper, to a digital commodity more likened to a pictographic language~ that is what this cover represents. This was no longer a slickly designed cover but a beautiful fleeting moment of our everyday life memorialized. The Gen X’ers definitely ushered in the technology age (Friendster anyone?) but the Millennials are going to majorly revolutionize our media messaging. This is just the beginning.
And… Just for fun 🙂
“Jurassic Park was awesome. Good job with that one.”
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