How Cool Brands Stay Hot: Branding to Generation Y

by Joeri Van Den Bergh, Mattias Behrer

Generation Y are the most marketing-savvy and advertising-critical generation ever. Three times the size of Generation X, they have a much bigger impact on society and business. In How Cool Brands Stay Hot , Joeri Van den Bergh and Mattias Behrer address what drives Generation Y as consumers and how marketers can develop the right brand strategies to reach this generation of 16-33 year olds.

The authors' insights on what drives the consumer preferences of this new "Dot-com" generation are based on interviews with 5,000 Generation Y consumers. This new research provides understanding of the consumer psychology and behavior of the generation also known as the "Millennials." It helps marketers connect with the new generation of consumers by understanding their likes and dislikes, and guides them on advertising, marketing, and branding relevant to them.

How Cool Brands Stay Hot contains guidance and checklists for marketing plans and campaigns, as well as case studies of Nokia, Nivea, PlayStation, Coca Cola, Volkswagen, Smirnoff, Red Bull, H&M, and Levi's. It offers creative and effective ideas on how to position, develop and promote brands to one of the largest and most influential generations of consumers today.

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Genres: Business, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Tibo De Coker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the CRUSH-principle still stands today, but the examples used are outdated.

[Sebastiano Semen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly insightful

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Japan and Singapore, we have this trend called "aging population". In other words, the biggest market is/is going to be the slightly older folks. Well, I hear in other parts of the world, it's different and that youngsters are the target market. This book is written to show people how exactly to capture this market.

It turns out that the way to capture this market is through the mnemonic CRUSH:

Coolness
Realness
Uniqueness
Self-identification with the brand
Happiness

The book then procedes to explain each element of CRUSH in detail, with lots of case studies and a summary at the end of each chapter. I must admit, I was impressed by how much evidence the book presents, and how understandable it is.

Well, you may be thinking "If I'm not a business student, I don't really need to read this book." Well, this may be true, but if you're a Gen Y baby, you might want to read this. Because no matter how special you think you are, this book will prove to you that you're not, and that companies are finding ways to persuade you to buy their products.

And before I end up digressing into some "we are all brainwashed by advertising" spiral, let me say that this book stresses that brands must stay true to their brand DNA (what makes them them). So I guess, marketing is not just brainwashing, it's also about finding the brand that fits your personality best.

This book is reccomended for those with an interest in marketing, or for those who want to know why they buy what they buy; remember "know thine enemy"(;

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

This review was first posted to Inside the mind of a Bibliophile

[Raluca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Innovative market research agency InSites Consulting has been studying Generation Y (roughly 13-to-25-year-olds, though definitions vary) and put out this book with their findings. And though I did enjoy the book, I'm not sure they needed to write it.
The core of the book is the branding model the authors developed for brands wanting to target Gen Y. Under the only-slightly-forced acronym CRUSH, they speak of:
- Coolness - being ahead of the times, innovative and playful
- Realness - being true to their legacies and marketing claims
- Uniqueness - standing out from the crown, being unmistakably linked to a set of core propositions
- Self-identification - becoming consumers' friend and aid in personal branding
- Happiness - evoking joy and surprise through products and communication.
The model is backed by a (hopefully solid) statistical model and interesting examples from categories that youngsters get thoroughly involved with (fashion, technology, food and drink, entertainment).
So it's worth a read, definitely. But I maintain that the book is ultimately unnecessary, at least in book form, because it essentially reads as a series of (connected) blog posts. And who needs a book when there's a blog - this one, to be exact?

[Jake Goretzki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent, grounded synthesis of Gen Y's outlook and needs, built around their fairly credible 'CRUSH' model. Less obnoxious than your usual Millennial fare, which tends to wildly overstate the sophistication, creativity and ethical consumption of Gen Y consumers. It's better too for not suffering from US-marketing-book syndrome and endlessly previewing what you are going to be reading ten pages ahead anyway.

Could do with a bit of editing, though: Thomas Cook didn't discover the tattoo in 18th century Polynesia (wrong Cook, chaps!). He invented the 19th century package holiday.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool book on youth and brands and very relevant for anyone involved in international marketing and branding practice. The book is about connecting with a new generation who will determine how consumer markets evolve in the next three decades: the Millenials or so called the generation Y, term refering to those born between 1980 and 1996.

[Braden Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book if you know nothing.

As a millennial who read this book as part of his master's degree coursework, I must say it is very insightful if you know nothing about Gen Y. If you are a member of Gen Y though, you will be bored as you probably already know much of this information. Still don't know what "Jumpstyle Hardcore Geezer" is though.

[Tony Moze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keeps me in the loop as to what a business should be doing with marketing for teens and young adults. It's all about building trust, consistent, grabbing emotion and learning what each tribe or consumer demographic loves in their lifestyle.

[Perttu Paloheimo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Markkinointikirjanakin hyvä mutta parasta antia on yhteenveto Y-sukupolven arvoista ja toimintatavoista.

[Ali]

I like the most the mnemonic acronym ‘CRUSH’ that structured the five success factors of Gen Y brands. Also, I like how the authors explains each elements of Cool, Real, Unique, Self-brand identification and Happiness where they support each element with example, story or perceptional mapping.

However, It wasn’t clear how the authors did link in the “CRUSH” model between Cool, Self-brand identification and Happiness and the “brand leverage”. Little and unclear explanation in the book appendix was done with regards to the regression based technique, that wasn’t sufficient to visualize and understand the correlation between the “CRUSH” model and the “brand leverage” for the simple readers.