Fenomeni / Phenomena
W hen 80-year-old Wang Deshun walked with a na- ked torso on the catwalk at Chinese Fashion Week a few years ago and left the world open- mouthed, most of us did not even know what Generation C is. We only knew that we were almost jealous, that we envied him not only for maintaining the spirt of a 20-year-old, but also the life habits, ide- as, desires and dreams of those who could be his grandchildren. In recent years we’ve heard too much about Millennials; the generation born in the period between the early ’80s and late ’90s. They act like a bunch of hipsters who violate minor taboos like stereotypi- cal dress codes in the corporate world, lis- ten to underground music, sit in “urban” rather than mainstream cafés, where they drink ice tea from jars through a straw and wear thick-framed black glasses that prob- ably do not have dioptric lenses. Howev- er, although their characteristics differ in terms of their geographic origin and the social and economic conditions in which they live, this generation is primarily char- acterised by increased media consump- tion, digital communication and digital technologies in general, but above all it is characterised by its liberal approach to
politics, economics, society and the nat- ural environment. In a very short period of time, everything started to revolve around millennials and everyone wanted them. The media wanted them as content cre- ators, companies as innovators, clients as their promoters. Everyone wanted them for their spokespeople, as it became clear that there is no industry for which millen- nials are not a target group or will certain- ly become so over time. But what happens if you were born before the ‘80s, and you still like going out, you hang out on social networks, listen to underground music, perhaps sometimes drink tea from a jar and you really care about saving dolphins? What happens when you are too old to be what you are? If you comply with the noted re- quirements, we congratulate you; you are a proud member of Generation C. Generation C is not a group of people within a certain age category. Generation C connects people based on their lifestyle choices. And that’s why it is the genera- tion of the future, because it is not con-
ditioned by any criterion. It is comprised of different people of all ages who are orientated towards original content that they create themselves and, with the help of advanced technology, they consume that content wherever and whenever they want. In that way they overcome the ad- monition of George Orwell, who observed long ago that every generation thinks it is more intelligent than the previous and wiser than the next. With Generation C, this famous short- coming has finally been erased. Those who are C (connected) have overcome the defi- nition and segmentation of target groups based on age. What connects them are the same interests and similar lifestyles. Gen- eration C is always online, very informed, curious and open to new things, but on the other hand it is also oversaturated with information and advertising messages, so a way must be found to keep the mem- bers of this broad group focused; to hold their attention. Nature determines age, but you de- termine your state of mind, said Mr Wang from the beginning of this article, proba- bly not even knowing that he had provid- ed the definition of Generation C, the gen- eration to which we all want to belong.
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