By age 20, kids will have spent 20,000 hours online –the same amount of time a professional piano player would have spent practicing –Dr. Urs Gasser

In a recent post on his blog, Jeremiah Owyang draws some key characteristics of the Digital Natives or generation Y. This generation is the one that has had access to digital technologies since an early age and uses digital technology intuitively. This generation is also the main target group for every Action Sports brand.

Understanding the behavior, the needs and the expectations of the Gen Y is fundamental.
Group Y for example is an organization that brings together Action Sports brands and youth marketing experts to discuss, understand and prepare for these important shifts.

• Always online: By age 20, kids will have spent 20,000 hours online
• They interact with the peers across the globe: This impacts employers, brands, teachers, parents, as this first generation enters the workforce.
• Multiple identities, personal and social, shared online and offline (blurring): Online representation is the same as physical representation: what your clothes, friends, vehicles say about you.
• Extensive disclosure of personal data: 35% of girls in US are writing a blog vs 20% boys.
• Culture of sharing: The default behavior is information sharing, not only do they have the right to speak, but to be heard. Risk: breach of confidentiality is hip, digital natives are fans of wikileaks.
• Creators, no longer passive users: This generation creates their own content and shares their opinion online
• Information processing habits: Pointed out that the second most popular social network was YouTube. They often ‘graze’ the headlines and don’t often read the full article. Opportunities: companies should allow natives to increase creativity to rip, mix, burn content to encourage interaction.
• Peer collaboration, online activism: They often experience work with community builders, and are responsive to intrinsic motizations.
• Learning through browsing: Yes wrestles with amount & quality of information, generational “multitakers”. They may not be able to identify qualified and expert sources. “If it’s online, it must be true!”

Action Sports brands need to anticipate these changes and adapt right now their marketing strategies, communication/conversation strategies, online presence to make sure they will have the right tools and approach to connect with the Gen Y.
These are fields where our passion and understanding of Action Sports lifestyle combined with our strategic, creative Social Media skills, can help your brand get on the right tracks.

Today’s social experience is disjointed because consumers have separate identities in each social network they visit. A simple set of technologies that enable a portable identity will soon empower consumers to bring their identities with them — transforming marketing, eCommerce, CRM, and advertising. IDs are just the beginning of this transformation, in which the Web will evolve step by step from separate social sites into a shared social experience. Consumers will rely on their peers as they make online decisions, whether or not brands choose to participate. Socially connected consumers will strengthen communities and shift power away from brands and CRM systems; eventually this will result in empowered communities defining the next generation of products.

The research goes on with following advices on how brands should prepare for this shift:

What’s interesting isn’t this vision for the future, but what it holds in store for brands, as a result, companies should prepare by:
* Don’t Hesitate: These changes are coming at a rapid pace, and we’re in three of these eras by end of year. Brands should prepare by factoring in these eras into their near term plans. Don’t be left behind and let competitors connect with your community before you do.
* Prepare For Transparency: People will be able to surf the web with their friends, as a result you must have a plan. Prepare for every webpage and product to be reviewed by your customers and seen by prospects –even if you choose not to participate.
* Connect with Advocates: Focus on customer advocates, they will sway over prospects, and could defend against detractors. Their opinion is trusted more than yours, and when the power shifts to community, and they start to define what products should be, they become more important than ever.
* Evolve your Enterprise Systems: Your enterprise systems will need to connect to the social web. Social networks and their partners are quickly becoming a source of customer information and lead generation beyond your CRM system. CMS systems will need to inherit social features –pressure your vendors to offer this, or find a community platform.
* Shatter your Corporate Website: In the most radical future, content will come to consumers –rather than them chasing it– prepare to fragment your corporate website and let it distribute to the social web. Let the most important information go and spread to communities where they exist; fish where the fish are.

This research illustrates the urgency brands are facing in engaging in Social Media. At BROADER we have the expertise to help you define and implement a strong Social Media strategy. We know who the advocates for your brand are and how we can connect you to them. Want to talk about it? Drop us an email.