The Truth About What Customers Want

Chapter 40. Make millions on Millennials

In 1956, the label “teenage” entered the general American vocabulary when Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers became the first pop group to identify themselves with this new subculture. Believe it or not, the concept of a teenager is a fairly new idea. Throughout most of history, a person simply made the transition from child to adult, and many cultures marked this abrupt change in status with some sort of ritual or ceremony.

So-called Generation Y kids go by several names, including “Echo Boomers” and “Millennials.” They already make up nearly one-third of the U.S. population, and they spend $170 billion a year of their own and their parents’ money. They love brands like Sony, Patagonia, Gap, Aveda, and Apple. ...