Since the release of the first edition of the book, the authors Joeri van den Berhg and Mattias Behrer  have been positively surprised by the amount of appreciation and interest they experienced from journalists (also bloggers), conference organizers and marketing and advertising practitioners from all around the world.

It seems that the timing of publishing a book on the subject of branding and marketing to the new generation of consumers was plain right. Their book is a valuable tool to help any one understand the attitude and habits of Generation Y.  The book is about understanding the spirit of that generation. And how these aspects translate in their relation to brands. It provides practical insights for building brands that aim to remain relevant for the forth coming years.

Looking back, the first edition of the book was published in 2011. Many marketing, design or communication professionals had to admit that they were not ready to create business with a new generation. As stated in the foreword: “Old structures are crumbling, but newer-structures are not clearly visible yet”.

Some of the insights of the book:

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• GEN Yers are children of the cyber revolution. And people resemble their times more than they resemble their parents.
• DIY is on its way back to the mainstream.
• Design be better part of your DNA.
• Other ways of collaboration and association.
• It is not about technology, stupid.
• It is aboyt collective peer wisdom and social connections.
• Successful youth brands CRUSH.
  • Coolness
  • Realness
  • Uniqueness
  • Self-identification
  • Happiness
• And most important, this generation will – on a global level – make or break your market success.

My score

What a lot of data and brilliant insights the authors share. One might discuss whether all is that relevant in 2013 but overall it delivers the insights of experts.

For design, marketing and communication professionals Generation Y will be much more difficult to reach than the more tradional Babyboomers or Generation X. In my point of view the arrival of Generation Y has disruptive effects on business, economics and society.

In an earlier post, written in Dutch  I wrote about some new words i learned from the Generation C. And again a new word will be part of my business vocabulary: commitment fobia

Assuming that the majority of the Generation Y will grow up (in their way) in the next decade, their impact on education, business and the workplace will be gigantic. This generation is not just educated in the complex skills of mass consumption, but also in collaborative consumption, co-creation and peer to peer networking.

As stated in the book: you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Branding to Generation Y
Authors: Joeri Van den Bergh, Mattias Behrer
Number of pages: 268
Language:  English
1st edition 2011, 2nd edition 2013
Publisher:  Kogan Page
ISBN: 978-0-7494-6804-0
Price: € 29,95