Most conference exhibitors have a stand with panelling depicting the corporate logo, a few pretty pictures, TV screen and giveaways…pens, stress balls, playing cards etc… the problem is that all the corporate exhibitors do the same thing! Unless a customer knows what you do and who you are, all exhibitions tend to blend into the same ol same ol pot! Where is the innovation? Why spend thousands of pounds trying to connect with customers at a conference but then create no unique or memorable connection?
The task of getting greater connection has become even more difficult as Generation X and Millennials become decision makers for corporate companies…mainly because people from these generations demand an experience out of your marketing…they understand the rules of the game, they know you are selling to them, so if you are going to take up their time their attitiude is you had better entertain me!
I’m at the IFP conference today at the Celtic Manor Hotel in Wales where my colleague Graeme Codrington is presenting our Mind the Gap presentation on the different generations. Two companies stand out as exhibitors who are connecting with their customers. Investec Private Bank has a virtual golf simulator…clever because the Celtic Manor Hotel is the host of the 2010 Ryder Cup and because allowing conference delegates to come and swing a club enables them to make a lasting and memorable connection, the selling is left until later.
The Santander Group is leveraging off of their sponsorship of the McLaren F1 team. They have part of a life size F1 racing car replica which you get to sit in and race Lewis Hamilton…neat…staff crewing the stand are also dressing in F1 t-shirts creating a relaxed atmosphere.
No clues for which of the two stands out of about 50 or so at the IFP conference are getting the most interest and the most people connections!
Gone are the days of pure technical training where the outcome is centered on learning a skill intended to directly improve performance on the job. The need for increased emotional intelligence in the workplace has brought about a far greater need for programmes that offer development in areas like assertiveness skills, negotiation and how to handle difficult conversations which are aimed at Engineers and Sales Consultants alike. So while course content needs to be relevant to the job at hand, it should also bear relevance to personal lives which are as, if not more, important.
- First published in the April 2008, Mortgage Solutions magazine
McCain is not a Boomer. The Boomers (born after World War II and into the 1960s) are old and aging (although they will hate to read that bald fact stated so bluntly). They’re now in their mid 40s to mid 60s. But, they feel 25. Or, at least 35! Any decent marketing efforts aimed at them cannot treat them (or show visual images of them) as they are - i.e. over 50, ageing individuals. Marketing efforts aimed at Boomers should think of 35-39 year olds, and use similar images, too.
I am a huge fan of Eric Chester, an American author, speaker and consultant who focuses on understanding what he calls “Generation Why” (what a cool title!! I wish I had thought of that first). You can see his excellent work at 
According to The Sunday Telegraph, April 20, 2008, David Cameron, the Conservative Leader is channelling considerable resources into targeting people between the ages of 29 to 40. The Tories see this group of 3 million voters as being key to their success in the 2010 general election. 
In the past six months, a slew of free online services has popped up to answer this question, offering widgets for budgeting, automatic bill pay, mobile alerts, and social networking. All are fighting to be the anti-Quicken. Although Intuit’s venerable personal-finance software commands 70% of the market, its $30 to $100 price tag, hundreds of features, and required hour or two a week of data entry are unlikely to appeal to a generation raised on Halo and diagnosed with ADD. Sure enough, Quicken’s 15 million users have an average age of 47. If personal finance for most folks is like personal hygiene–an unpleasant chore motivated by necessity–Quicken is Old Spice.
I get questions every month from businesspeople looking for something about the newest generation of workers. They’d like an updated version of Twentysomething or Beyond Generation X, books I wrote in 1991 and 1996. Along with Bruce Tulgan’s Managing Generation X, they’re the classics on managing and motivating young employees. The thing is, the young employees we were talking about in those three books are well established in the workplace today, and the next generation is showing up with a whole new perspective, a different set of values, a distinctive work ethic. They’re as different from Generation X as they can be. By and large, it’s the Gen-Xers who are managing them, and who are looking for help in understanding just what the Millennials are all about. Thus this article. I think you’ll find a fairly comprehensive treatment of Millennial employees.
Politics in America is hotting up and I’ve been curious to note that with all their charisma and pedigree the Clintons have started falling behind and even though Hillary did rally in New Hampshire primary they still trail Obama. Now I’m not into politics but what did interest me was what John Sviokla had to say on a new post in Harvard Business. He has identified that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama treat their supporters differently. Clinton considers her backers as “customers†while Obama sees his supporters as “members†
It’s 40 years later! Prepare yourself for a year (or at least a few weeks) of breathless nostalgia as the Baby Boomers put on their misty eyes and remember back to one of their most defining years as young people (and just when you think it’s over, the 30 year reunion of the “summer of ‘69″ will be upon us next year).
Boomers are variously defined as those people born from the mid 1940s to the mid 1960s around the world. Most researchers use the end of the Second World War as a reference point, which means that as of 2006, this group of people has started to turn 60. They are not old, though. Don’t be confused about that. This demographic tidal wave will have a greater effect on institutions and businesses than the aging of any previous generation. Because of the size and spending power of the boomers, mature values and trends will dominate marketplace realities.
Of course, the generational model is not applicable to every single individual everywhere (which model is?), but it IS exceptionally robust. And more and more research around the world is showing this to be true. The latest piece of research I picked up comes from one of the students my colleague Keith had contact with at the 
I was at a youth camp in a cozy little mountain campsite. The morning was cold, I remember, and as I sloped into the kitchen where the team were preparing breakfast, I was told that Princess Diana was dead. There was sense of disbelief. Except for that mind numbing piece of information, that youth camp may have slipped from memory forever. But the mist hovering mid tree height across the dull brown grass lawns, even the sound of the small stream that ran past the bottom of the camp - all these things are indelibly imprinted on my mind. Because that’s where I was when Diana died. It was 10 years ago exactly today!
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