One of the biggest topics weighing on marketers’ minds today is effectively reaching and building a bonded relationship with Gen X and Gen Y consumers. How to understand, communicate, and market to these consumers—who ultimately represent the current and future success of almost all consumer businesses—is crucial.

Research on Gen X and Gen Y and the types of relationships they have with brands gives us actionable insights on how these consumers differ from prior generations, as well as each other, and helps explain the why behind their behaviors across different brands and media usage.

GfK approaches the task of analyzing consumers and their brands through the model of relationships. As humans, everything we understand inevitably has a human quality to it; that is the lens through which we see the world. Why do brand relationships matter? Because they lead directly to sales growth or decline.

For example, we have found that brands considered Best Friends by 20% of category users have an average of five times the “share of wallet” of brands with less than 10% Best Friends. And high-ranking Best Friend brands have three times more positive word of mouth and 2.5 times the recommendations, compared to those with low Best Friend rankings.

How can brands build committed relationships with Gen X and Gen Y?

Gen X (ages 35 to 48) are pragmatic and street smart, but also stressed with the challenges of juggling work, parenting, and personal life. They respond to a brand that reliably meets their needs, helps them get things done faster, and reduces stress.

For example, in purchasing deodorant, Gen X men focus on brands they can trust to understand their needs. Gen X women view high-end cosmetics brands more positively than Gen Y and Boomers, particularly on understanding and addressing their needs.

By contrast, Gen Y, also called the Millennial generation, are close to their Baby Boomer parents, who have been doting on them their whole lives. Gen Y (ages 18 to 34) relate well to brands that are saying and doing more than others, so social media is a key marketing component – not so much for short-term buzz, but ongoing, engaging and authentic presence.

For example, Gen Y is more likely than Gen X to be aware of shampoo brands in social media; so marketers should maintain a social media presence to be relevant to this generation of consumers.

In the facial skin care category, brands sold through department store and specialty channels are generating greater excitement with Gen Y than drugstore brands, as Gen Y appears to be already serious about the importance of long-term skin care. By contrast, when it comes to cosmetics, young women are happy to purchase drugstore brands.

An important finding from GfK’s research is that Gen Y often shares similar opinions about brands with Baby Boomers. Marketers have observed this dynamic from time to time – and it makes sense, since the Boomer/Gen Y parent-child relationship is an especially close one.

GfK’s research across 48 categories now quantifies how tightly linked Gen Y and Boomers are; they agree closely across 30 categories, parting ways significantly in only two.

Personal care and beauty products are categories where Gen Y and Boomers have similar opinions – both positive and negative – on brands. These include a variety of products, e.g., men’s deodorant, women’s cosmetics and facial skin care, and fine fragrances. Among both men and women, we see Gen Y and Boomers influence each other.

Here are some verbatim comments consumers have given us regarding why they use a brand:

• “My adult sons use this deodorant so I started using it.” (Boomer)
• “When my dad taught me to shave, he used this shaving cream.” (Gen Y)
• “My mom introduced me to this brand when I first started using makeup, and every product I’ve tried has been good and reliable quality.” (Gen Y)

• Leverage the passion of the Gen Y consumers who are most committed to your brand, to develop compelling creative and social content that connects with lower involvement consumers.


• Stay close to Gen Y consumers with a consistent and authentic presence in social media as well as offline. Providing useful and entertaining content around your category, without a sales message, should be a key component of your marketing investment. Keep your interactions authentic; Gen Y is the generation most active with social media, and their combination of passion and communication means they’ll spread both positive and negative messages if they detect phony words or actions from companies or brands.


• Market to pragmatic Gen X consumers with believable messages about how your brand will fit their needs and help solve problems, and be sure your brand can live up to its messaging.


• Use the close Gen Y/Boomer relationship and shared brand preferences to develop advertising that embeds your product in emotionally compelling contexts. This doesn’t mean you should use the same creative and media for Gen Y and Boomer audiences; these still need to be designed for optimal reach to each target.


• Don’t be afraid to target in-depth branded content to Gen Y consumers in categories like facial skin care, where long-term well-being or attractiveness is a benefit. They will respond positively to information and recommendations presented in an authentic way.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jo-Ann Osipow is executive vice president of GfK’s Brand and Customer Experience team. She can be reached at [email protected].