Generate Insight conducted a nationwide survey with 400 millennials between the ages of 13 and 29, in hopes to discover the truth behind this generations eco-enthusiasm.  What the findings show however, are that millennials are not truly the generation leading the green movement that all the articles say they are. The findings show that even though this generation is the most environmentally educated, they don’t take advantage of their knowledge and put it into action.  The results show that the millennials have an interest in being green, but they lack the knowledge of how.

Some additional findings include:

• 79% of millennials get most of their information from the web
• 76% of millennials emphasized the importance of brands being ecologically conscioius
• 64% of millennials said they would be willing to pay more for a product if they knew the brand was involved with an environmental cause

Some of the brands that are most recognized by the survey participants as being environmentally friendly are GreenWorks (by Clorox), Seventh Generation, Toyota, Whole Foods, Kashi, Pepsi, Honda, Method and Coke.

For the full article about the millennials, go to: http://adage.com/goodworks/post?article_id=136331

Well, Google Labs has come through with another extremely innovative product once again.  From the labs that gave us Google Talk, Google News and Google Earth, comes Similar Images.  Similar Images allows users to search for images using other images instead of descriptive words.  This product will take the work out of trying to figure out the best way to describe the image you are looking for.

This feature still makes the user do some work.  Users will have to use words to describe what type of image they are looking for, but once they find the image that is in the same realm of what they want there will be a link below it with similar images.

TinEye is a search engine with similar capabilities.  But with TinEye, the user uploads an image and then the program matches it to other images that are on the web, including those that have been highly distorted or edited.

A prime example of how Similar Images works, is when a user types in “Paris” photos of Paris the country, images of the Eiffel tower and even snapshots of the socialite Paris Hilton come up.  When users find the “Paris” they are looking for there will be a Similar Images link underneath the image you would like that will refine the results to give you the images you want.

Check out the new Google Labs technology at: http://similar-images.googlelabs.com/

Teens are usually a demographic that can be counted on to continue spending even in rough economic times.  But this downturn is different, teens are becoming quite tight-fisted, according to research from Piper Jaffray.

Teens generally have around $5,000 spending cash a year.  The research shows that they are spending about 14% less this spring than during the same period in 2008.  This new found teen savings model is really going to have an effect on the $125 billion teen spending industry.

Several factors are listed in this article as reasons for teens tightening their wallets, including a high unemployment picture for 16 to 19 year olds.

According to Piper Jaffray, teens have cut spending on apparel, beauty, food, movies, concerts and sporting events.  What they haven’t gone without is music, DVDs, video games and video game consoles.  Jaffray believes that Apple, Xbox, Electronic Arts, Nike and Starbucks don’t have to start worrying about the teens leaving them just yet.

For the full article about the new way teens are spending, go to: http://adage.com/article?article_id=136253

Coca Cola is trying to start an industry wide movement that enforces a “value based” compensation model.  This model clearly states that agencies would not get any monies if the product did not perform.  This is of course is a disadvantage to the agencies because they would not be allowed to project profits before their work is delivered, as they have done in years past.

Coke’s director of worldwide media and communication operations believes that this model forces agencies to earn their profitability.  The value-based compensation model has been a hot topic in the industry for the past decade but few marketers have actually gone through with it.  Coke on the other hand shifted from the flat fee based on hours worked model in five markets last year with plans for rolling it out in 35 more this year.  They want all of the company’s global ad and media agency relationships to adhere to this model by 2011.  With 3 billion in global advertising spend, Coca Cola may have the upper hand in this decision.

The agency is used to defining the value of the assignment by hours needed to finish the creative process but this new model will allow Coke to determine the value of the assignments based on the work’s strategic importance, the talent involved and whether or not other agencies could product the same work.

This model could definitely be a huge blow to agencies, especially those who put together brilliant campaigns that the public doesn’t necessarily respond to.

What are your thoughts, from an agency standpoint? From the client standpoint?

For the full article, go to: http://adage.com/article?article_id=136266

Grassroots marketing has always taken a backseat to traditional marketing.  But more and more companies are discovering how a successful campaign can be built with just a little innovation, some strategic planning and the absence of television or radio.

Haagen-Dazs is a company who has recently ventured into the grassroots world with their product sampling parties called SheSpeaks.  SheSpeaks is a program where Haagen-Daz is using a sampling party to launch their new all natural, five-ingredient flavor line called, FIVE.  Haagen-Daz is hoping that these SheSpeaks sampling parties create the word-of-mouth buzz that help make the brand well-known, even before the official launch.  The ice cream company believes this strategy will be beneficial because not only are they getting the product in front of the consumer, but they are also able to collect feedback from the samplers.

Haagen-Daz had a virtual press conference in March with a group of bloggers, which spread the word about the sampling parties.  The company introduced the product, they had one of their product developers talk about creating the receipes and then there was a question and answer section.  Haagen-Daz believes this online dialogue was a success as they had real candid discussions with the consumers.

For the full article describing the Haagen-Daz SheSpeaks sampling campaign, go to: http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/direct/e3icedfa0459d43b0755382e074b652d5d7?imw=Y

The cosmetics industry is also seeing success with grassroots marketing.  A recent customer response survey showed that in-store beauty demonstrations are a hit with consumers.

This isn’t a new relevation though.  Think about it ladies, wouldn’t you be more prone to buy a beauty product that you have tried and liked than just picking something up random off the shelf.  Personally, I think that if more cosmetics companies took the time to organize demostrations and shuffled some of their money away from their celebrity spokespersons to sample their products they would be much more successful.  Especially because research is showing that even in these economic times, cosmetics is not suffering or slowing down.

For the full article about cosmetic companies raising awareness via in-store demos, go to: http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/shopper-marketing/e3i47013cc613835ebc17f3c6f3b616bf81?imw=Y

The NHL is just one of many brands that is taking to social-networking sites to organize groups of people.  Most recently, the NHL held playoff parties, via Tweetups, in 23 U.S. and Canadian cities.  Some of the parties were 350 strong and some had only 10 people show up.  In any case, the use of Twitter to organize these parties shows just how powerful the online web tool can be.

Ford, Pepsi, Panasonic and Cisco are also using Tweetups to get their messages out.  Zipcar, utilized Twitter for it’s Earth Day promotion in New York, where people could air their “green confessions” from the gathering place via Twitter.

Of course, Twitter isn’t the only social network that brands are using (though it is the hottest of late).  House Party, an alternate online platform, has helped throw tens of thousands of “brand” parties over the past two years.  House Party works with brand to recruit hosts who fit their target markets, then the organizer will use the custom online networking site to recruit members, post materials and build excitement for the parties.  For example, Ziploc wanted to build awareness of their storage bags and containers.  House Party recruited hosts for nearly 1,000 “home organization” parties and more that 14,000 people attended.

Meetups, Tweetups, House Parties, or however you name them seem to be working.  It’s a great way for a brand to get their product in front of consumers who are actually interested in their product.  For more information about these parties, including additional companies who host similar events, go to: http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/digital/e3id6133b258de563ea28a3f76c14b0819e?pn=1

Oprah made her debut on Twitter today.  As of 8:15am PST, Oprah already has over 90,000 followers.

If you would like to follow “The Big O” you can find her at @oprah.

Are you interested in following Oprah?

For the article about her first “tweet,” go to: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090417/tc_afp/entertainmentusittelevisioninternettwitter_20090417031404

The latest studies by Retail Forward research company are showing that Gen X and the Boomers are the ones making the more conscious changes in their spending, while Gen Y and Seniors are not showing big changes in their spending behavior.  A few assumptions as to why Gen Y and Seniors are not as concerned with changing their behavior is because they don’t have homes or large investments to worry about yet, therefore alleviating some of the pressure that Gen X and the Boomers are dealing with.

ShopperScape created a survey and polled 4,000 respondents about what they are doing to save money, and which of these tactics do they think they will retain when the economy starts to shift.  Forty-eight percent of people say their biggest money saver is no longer buying on impulse.  The second way, at 47%, that people are saving money is to not buy expensive food and coming in third with 40% of respondents was they are switching to more affordable restaurants.  Which habits would stick: 36% they will still avoid purchasing pricey food items, 36% will watch their impulse shopping and 31% will continue to use coupons more frequently even when the economy starts to get better.

For the full article, go to:http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=104093