To Be About To Be

American Demographics, Sept 1, 2003

Toyota thought it had a better idea with Scion, its first new nameplate in 14 years. The car, introduced this spring, was for young shoppers who wouldn't want to be caught dead in their father's Camry, America's best-selling car. Recognizing the power of the 21-year-old consumer in the marketplace, Toyota declared its audience for Scions to be thirtysomethings, although it launched an advertising campaign targeting 21-year-olds - "because they have more influence on the 30-year-olds," says James Farley, vice president of Scion. "We're going after a mind-set, the trendsetter within that group, for the heavy lifting." That meant a stealth marketing campaign: displaying the car outside coffee shops and raves, and offering test drives to the writers at hip-hop magazines like Yellow Rat Bastard. But early reviews of the car have been mixed - one called it "a cross between a skateboard and a toaster oven" - and even Farley admits that it's an uphill climb to move 21-year-old consumers who spend more time in the virtual world than the real one. "We started a whole new company just for Gen Yers," he says. "But we're going to have to be fluid."

In the tricky business of selling the trappings of adulthood to this particular set, no one is ready to claim victory.

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INSIDE THE HEAD OF A 21-YEAR-OLD

Born in 1982, today's 21-year olds are barely old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan was president. Yet in their lifetimes, American society has changed dramatically. Immigration has made the country much more diverse: 1 in 3 21-year-olds are not Caucasian. Family structures have also changed: 1 in 4 21-year olds were raised by a single parent; 3 in 4 have working mothers. And while their parents are still prone to view the Internet and mobile phones as novelties, 21-year-olds have literally grown up with them and incorporated them into every aspect of their lives. "They're more sophisticated than their parents' generation," says Edward Winter, founder of Knoxville-based consulting firm U30 Group, which specializes in the under-30 market. "Boomers like to talk about being tolerant of racial diversity, but 21-year-olds live it." Winter, now the CEO of U30 owner Tracy Locke Partnership, observes that a common denominator among these ethnically diverse 21-year-olds is their urban sensibility, reflecting the influences of hip-hop and singers like Eminem and J. Lo. He recalls one focus group he conducted in which twentysomethings dismissed their ethnic heritage: "One young man said, 'My father describes himself as a fourth-generation Jamaican. I think of myself as a first-generation urban.'"

Though Generation Y is often compared with the Baby Boom - which is slightly larger, at 78 million people - today's 21-year-olds are much different in temperament. Young Boomers challenged authority, but in the patriotic wake of 9/11, current 21-year-olds aren't itching for upheaval. Where young Boomers rebelled against their parents, today's Yers want to connect with theirs. An online survey, conducted last year by job search firm MonsterTRAK.com, found that 60 percent of college students planned to move home after graduation. "They're close to their parents, both physically and emotionally," says Angela Weltman, a Los Angeles-based psychologist whose expertise is in consumer motivational behavior. "They admire their parents." Weltman, who has served as a marketing consultant to automotive companies, observes that both young motorists and their Boomer parents now buy motorcycles once popularized by rebellious teens. "They ride together these days," she says.