Gen Y reinvents itself as Gen S: 'Generation Sensible'
MEDIA RELEASE
UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 00.01 WEDNESDAY 21 AUGUST 2013
Gen Y reinvents itself as Gen S: ‘Generation Sensible’ - Fun and games give way to savings and security for Future Leaders
94% of Australia’s Future Leaders (average age 22.5) plan to buy a property in the next five years 85% are planning on getting married or starting a family (86%) in the next few years 80% are considering taking a career break to travel before settling down For our Future Leaders, Mum ranks highest as ‘most inspiring person’ In terms of current lifestyle, 56% state that social media takes up too much of their day Over half (54%) agree they find technology ‘distracting’ 65% state they are ‘very bored’ with Facebook, while more than 7 in 10 (71%) think they’ll be using it far less in the coming years Popularity for brands like MySpace, Telstra, Vodafone, Instagram and Pepsi appear to be waning too – more than half (53%) think Instagram will be a passing fad. Male Future Leaders think brands like Qantas and Telstra have seen their best days, whereas females are less optimistic about brands like Red Bull and Pepsi
Move over Gen Y – Gen S has officially arrived. A report released today reveals that Australia’s Future Leaders are sacrificing a carefree youth for more sensible, long-term plans, with planning and tradition trumping the populist view of Gen Y living large and fancy-free. The comprehensive Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper, the second in a three-part series and the first of its kind in Australia, provides an unrivalled look at the nation’s young, tertiary educated minds - otherwise known as Australia’s Future Leaders - and confirms that they are a generation of planners with inherently traditional values. Dubbed Gen S or ‘Generation Sensible’, the report has indicated that our Future Leaders are a cohesive group with specific and targeted life goals. Almost all (94%) Future Leaders stated their plans to buy a house, flat or apartment in approximately five and a half years time, while 85% plan on getting married in approximately six and a half years time, and almost 9 in 10 (86%) plan on having a family in approximately eight years. Chief Marketing Officer at the Co-op, Greg Smith, Australia’s most innovative omni-channel retailer and the go-to voice for Australia’s Future Leaders, said: “The findings of the Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper have really challenged the common notion that Gen Y are happy to sacrifice living in the moment for saving for the future.”
“In reality, Gen Y has evolved into Gen S. Buying a home, getting married and starting a family are all high on the list of priorities for Gen S. Given the average age of participants in the survey was 22.5 years, the findings broadly suggest a first house purchase by 28, marriage by 29 and the first baby on the way at 30. “Although almost 8 in 10 stated that they do want to take a career break to travel overseas, they intend for this to happen within the next four and a half years – just before they start to settle down,” he said. Gen S also appear to be financially cautious, with their main components of spend being on essentials such as housing, food, transport and bills. “Almost 7 in 10 (69%) Future Leaders work and the majority of what they spend each month is on practical ‘have-to-haves’ rather than on discretionary ‘nice to haves’. Interestingly, the findings also show that Mum and Dad are key inspirational figures for Future Leaders, with Mum ranking as number one on the list. It’s possible that our Future Leaders are behaving more sensibly because ‘practical’ Mum and Dad are figuring as a more central guiding force in their lives. “Overall it seems they are heavily influenced by their parents and family and are willing to make lifestyle sacrifices to achieve their dreams of a fairly traditional life,” Mr Smith said. The findings of the second paper also unearthed a common understanding amongst Gen S that technology is saturating their lives – and not necessarily in a positive way. 65% of respondents indicated that they are bored with Facebook and more than half (54%) said they find technology distracting. “Most respondents indicated that they were finding themselves distracted by technology at times when they should be sleeping, and more than half admitted social media is taking up too much of their time. Again, that notion of behaving sensibly is paramount. The research indicates that overall, our Future Leaders – or Gen S are a mature and thoughtful generation,” Mr Smith said. The Co-op Future Leaders Index also investigated the Future Leaders’ thoughts on brands and popularity longevity. Popularity for brands such as MySpace, Vodafone, Instagram and Pepsi appears to be on the wane. More than half (53%) of Future Leaders think Instagram will have less appeal by 2020, while around 9 in 10 (89%) believe that the MySpace brand has peaked. In terms of gender based opinions towards brands, it seems male Future Leaders believe ‘bricks and mortar’ companies such as Qantas and Telstra have seen their best days, whereas females are less optimistic about brands like Red Bull and Pepsi – perhaps because of their focus on extreme sports. For more information on the Co-op visit http://www.coop.com.au/media/white-paper-august-2013.pdf. -ENDSFor further information or to request an interview with CMO, Greg Smith, please contact: Roxane Farley at Magnum PR
Phone: 02 9211 4322 / 0429 698 913 (Roxane) Email: [email protected]
Notes to Editor: * About The Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper: The Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper is a comprehensive sentiment index that analysed the opinions of over 2,000 university students, aged between 17 – 29 years old, to uncover the needs and aspirations of the nation’s Future Leaders Participants from across Australia completed a 24 minute quantitative survey The Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper will be released in three parts, each detailing different research from the report. The first phase was released in June, with a third White Paper scheduled for release in October Based on a wide-ranging market research program involving interviews with more than 2,000 young Australians nationwide, this paper breaks new ground in providing a validated understanding of Australia’s youth in 2013
About The Co-op: Australia’s largest member owned retailer with over 1.75 million members Australia’s most innovative omni-channel retailer Australians preeminent source of knowledge for future leaders Formed in 1958, owned by members for members Australia’s oldest online retailer (since 1996) and now one of Australia’s largest e-commerce sites www.coop.com.au 52 stores nationwide and growing Lifetime membership ($20 once off) open to everyone - extensive member benefits Multi product retailer (includes computers, tablets, tech gear, apparel, fiction, non-fiction, gadgets and games)
UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 00.01 WEDNESDAY 21 AUGUST 2013
Gen Y reinvents itself as Gen S: ‘Generation Sensible’ - Fun and games give way to savings and security for Future Leaders
94% of Australia’s Future Leaders (average age 22.5) plan to buy a property in the next five years 85% are planning on getting married or starting a family (86%) in the next few years 80% are considering taking a career break to travel before settling down For our Future Leaders, Mum ranks highest as ‘most inspiring person’ In terms of current lifestyle, 56% state that social media takes up too much of their day Over half (54%) agree they find technology ‘distracting’ 65% state they are ‘very bored’ with Facebook, while more than 7 in 10 (71%) think they’ll be using it far less in the coming years Popularity for brands like MySpace, Telstra, Vodafone, Instagram and Pepsi appear to be waning too – more than half (53%) think Instagram will be a passing fad. Male Future Leaders think brands like Qantas and Telstra have seen their best days, whereas females are less optimistic about brands like Red Bull and Pepsi
Move over Gen Y – Gen S has officially arrived. A report released today reveals that Australia’s Future Leaders are sacrificing a carefree youth for more sensible, long-term plans, with planning and tradition trumping the populist view of Gen Y living large and fancy-free. The comprehensive Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper, the second in a three-part series and the first of its kind in Australia, provides an unrivalled look at the nation’s young, tertiary educated minds - otherwise known as Australia’s Future Leaders - and confirms that they are a generation of planners with inherently traditional values. Dubbed Gen S or ‘Generation Sensible’, the report has indicated that our Future Leaders are a cohesive group with specific and targeted life goals. Almost all (94%) Future Leaders stated their plans to buy a house, flat or apartment in approximately five and a half years time, while 85% plan on getting married in approximately six and a half years time, and almost 9 in 10 (86%) plan on having a family in approximately eight years. Chief Marketing Officer at the Co-op, Greg Smith, Australia’s most innovative omni-channel retailer and the go-to voice for Australia’s Future Leaders, said: “The findings of the Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper have really challenged the common notion that Gen Y are happy to sacrifice living in the moment for saving for the future.”
“In reality, Gen Y has evolved into Gen S. Buying a home, getting married and starting a family are all high on the list of priorities for Gen S. Given the average age of participants in the survey was 22.5 years, the findings broadly suggest a first house purchase by 28, marriage by 29 and the first baby on the way at 30. “Although almost 8 in 10 stated that they do want to take a career break to travel overseas, they intend for this to happen within the next four and a half years – just before they start to settle down,” he said. Gen S also appear to be financially cautious, with their main components of spend being on essentials such as housing, food, transport and bills. “Almost 7 in 10 (69%) Future Leaders work and the majority of what they spend each month is on practical ‘have-to-haves’ rather than on discretionary ‘nice to haves’. Interestingly, the findings also show that Mum and Dad are key inspirational figures for Future Leaders, with Mum ranking as number one on the list. It’s possible that our Future Leaders are behaving more sensibly because ‘practical’ Mum and Dad are figuring as a more central guiding force in their lives. “Overall it seems they are heavily influenced by their parents and family and are willing to make lifestyle sacrifices to achieve their dreams of a fairly traditional life,” Mr Smith said. The findings of the second paper also unearthed a common understanding amongst Gen S that technology is saturating their lives – and not necessarily in a positive way. 65% of respondents indicated that they are bored with Facebook and more than half (54%) said they find technology distracting. “Most respondents indicated that they were finding themselves distracted by technology at times when they should be sleeping, and more than half admitted social media is taking up too much of their time. Again, that notion of behaving sensibly is paramount. The research indicates that overall, our Future Leaders – or Gen S are a mature and thoughtful generation,” Mr Smith said. The Co-op Future Leaders Index also investigated the Future Leaders’ thoughts on brands and popularity longevity. Popularity for brands such as MySpace, Vodafone, Instagram and Pepsi appears to be on the wane. More than half (53%) of Future Leaders think Instagram will have less appeal by 2020, while around 9 in 10 (89%) believe that the MySpace brand has peaked. In terms of gender based opinions towards brands, it seems male Future Leaders believe ‘bricks and mortar’ companies such as Qantas and Telstra have seen their best days, whereas females are less optimistic about brands like Red Bull and Pepsi – perhaps because of their focus on extreme sports. For more information on the Co-op visit http://www.coop.com.au/media/white-paper-august-2013.pdf. -ENDSFor further information or to request an interview with CMO, Greg Smith, please contact: Roxane Farley at Magnum PR
Phone: 02 9211 4322 / 0429 698 913 (Roxane) Email: [email protected]
Notes to Editor: * About The Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper: The Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper is a comprehensive sentiment index that analysed the opinions of over 2,000 university students, aged between 17 – 29 years old, to uncover the needs and aspirations of the nation’s Future Leaders Participants from across Australia completed a 24 minute quantitative survey The Co-op Future Leaders Index White Paper will be released in three parts, each detailing different research from the report. The first phase was released in June, with a third White Paper scheduled for release in October Based on a wide-ranging market research program involving interviews with more than 2,000 young Australians nationwide, this paper breaks new ground in providing a validated understanding of Australia’s youth in 2013
About The Co-op: Australia’s largest member owned retailer with over 1.75 million members Australia’s most innovative omni-channel retailer Australians preeminent source of knowledge for future leaders Formed in 1958, owned by members for members Australia’s oldest online retailer (since 1996) and now one of Australia’s largest e-commerce sites www.coop.com.au 52 stores nationwide and growing Lifetime membership ($20 once off) open to everyone - extensive member benefits Multi product retailer (includes computers, tablets, tech gear, apparel, fiction, non-fiction, gadgets and games)
