Of Two Generations

I am entering the final term in pursuit of my masters degree in marketing.  Understanding demographical information about particular market segments is a topic covered in each coarse taken.  Marketers looks at every aspect of consumer lives to better understand buying habits and possible interest levels.  As I have worked on projects one item I come across again and again are the generational distinction we use in the US to group together age groups.  This is particularly fun for me because  Josh and I are of two generations.

Josh is at the tale end of Generation X, while I am the first of the Millennials.  There are small differences that shaped how our childhoods were, even though we were raised in similar socioeconomic households.  We watched different TV shows, saw different movies, and were even part of different musical movements.  As adults we have different interests, however after 13 years there are few that don’t line up.

There was a computer in my 1st grade classroom, I had an email address is 7th grade, and MySpace was the greatest thing EVER.  Had my first cell phone at 16.  I’m not saying that Josh is not tech savvy but Millennials are able to embarrass the advances at a faster pace.  Technology is just the tip of the iceberg, there are also cultural differences.

Josh grew up with the hope and believe of change, a chance to make the world a better places.  Faced with a culture becoming quickly globally aware and accessible; they are the ones who felt the keen need to take part.  On the converse Millennials are disenfranchised, the recipients of participation trophies and parents who “only want the best”.  College is a right, not a privilege.  I graduated High School in 2000 and quite a fuss was put on that.  We were all supposed to do something and for many high expectations of what we would accomplish in the world came.  I just expected to graduate college, be handed a job, and be an executive in five years.  As you know that is not how things are going for Millennials.  I can’t really speak to this personally.  Upon graduating University in 2003 I did get a job immediately.  That initial experience and maturation made me a desirable candidate as I have worked forward in my career.  I have been given opportunities that someone five years younger will never see.

How can two people born so close together, or even those who graduated just a few years ahead of behind me be facing a different world.  Makes me feel privileged to work in marketing and know that my job is understand the people around me.