Marketing companies have been competing for the minds of millennials fiercely over the last few years – and for good reason.
Millennials represent about a quarter of the entire US population, and have over $200 billion in annual buying power. Though they have less discretionary income than Baby Boomers and older generations, they have a lot of influence – and are hard to reach with traditional marketing methods.
But are millennials still the hottest consumers out there? Or should we be focusing our efforts on a new generation of consumers? Here’s the scoop.
Millennials Are Still The Most Important Consumer Generation – For Now
Millennials are defined as individuals who were between 18-34 in 2015 by the Pew Research Center. They are just now entering the prime of their lives as consumers.
As millennials age, their income continues to grow as a generation. Most millennials are now out of college and working in professional careers, and millennials are the most educated generation to date.
This means that the buying power of millennials is only going to grow in future years, as they begin to start families and earn more discretionary income.
However, millennials will not stay at the top of the heap forever. As time goes on, Generation Z continues to grow – and a new generation of consumer is born.
Gen Z – The Largest Consumer Generation In History
Generation Z is defined as the “post-millennial” generation. While most definitions vary, it’s agreed that most Gen Z individuals were born around the year 2000 or later. This generation already makes up 25% of the population, and is forecasted to continue to grow.
As Gen Z becomes older, and younger people begin to enter the consumer market, they are likely to become the most highly sought-after consumer generation, just as millennials were before them.
Focus On Millennials In Marketing Efforts – But Don’t Forget About Gen Z!
How should brands market their products? Luckily, millennials and Gen Z both share a few common attributes. Consumers from both generations are tech-savvy and have quite a bit of influence on the market – and both Gen Z and millennial consumers do not respond well to traditional advertising methods.
While millennials should be the focus on most marketing efforts, Gen Z should not be overlooked. Brands should be using social media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter to reach a younger audience, and should always be on the lookout for hot trends that could appeal to Gen Z consumers.
Conclusion
As time goes on, millennials will become less important as a consumer audience, and the importance of Gen Z will grow. So focus on millennials for now, but don’t forget about the younger generation.
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Making a to-do list doesn’t necessarily mean that things are going to get done. The universe of GTD (Getting Things Done) is complex indeed. To get things done, we all need a bit of motivation. So, if just like most people you are still a good friend of procrastination, we found the perfect app for you: CARROT. Carrot app doesn’t just make things done fun, she makes getting things done addictive. Yes, it is a she. You can compare her to Siri but with more attitude. Carrot can be the perfect app for you if you are looking for something that really pushes you and forces you to get rid of the sloth in you and turn you into a productivity beast. In few words, Carrot is a To-do list with feelings. She has two distinct personalities:
- The happy Carrot takes joy in seeing you succeed, and showers you with praise for completing tasks.
- The angry Carrot hates you simply because you exist, and only takes joy in showering you with insults and petty sideswipes. Yes, a little rude.
No one expects to come across a rude, bossy app especially after you pay for it! But that’s Carrot for you. The premise is simple – you complete your tasks and Carrot is happy. You slack off and Carrot starts to get cranky. At its core, Carrot is a minimal to-do list for iOS with barely any feature. Swipe down to add a new item. Swipe right to remove it when done. Swipe left to access the settings and options. That’s about it. You can’t even edit items you’ve created. But Carrot is as much about the personality as it is about the list and that makes her stand apart from the crowd.
Clearing tasks also entitles you to rewards as you climb up the levels. Initial rewards are simpler: like wisdom on how to prioritize tasks and not get overwhelmed with too much to-do. According to developers, there are nearly 300 unique rewards. And there are all different to the situation. For instance, reaching Level 15 could unlock mini-games. What is even more fun with carrot is that you can interact with her even if you have nothing on your list. For instance, in the text entry box you can type “Carrot I’m bored,” and Carrot will add a ridiculous item to your list.
What Sparks Our Fire: a task manager that blends a bit of fun with just the right amount of functionality
We are not going to spill all the beans. Get Carrot on the app store to kick off your productivity. Oh, do come back and tell us how you find this ‘really different’ productivity app.
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We’ve all been stuck at least once in our life in a totally unfamiliar language environment. At these times, even our smartest-smart phones are rendered useless, unable to type the word we needed to translate because we did not have the local language characters on our keyboard, leaving us feeling lost. Since we love to share useful apps, we found CamDictionary by IntSig Information Co.,Ltd, a snap translator on the go, and an indispensable travel tool. Believe it or not, your phone’s camera can translate. In few words, CamDictionary is a professional instant translator application for Android and iOS devises. It supports 36 languages that the app can translate on the fly instantly. All you need to do is snap a picture of the text you want to translate and the app will do the rest in real time and you even have the option to hear the pronunciation. Isn’t that magical?
What Sparks Our Fire: an ingenious app that makes our life easy by enabling us to quickly and easily translate languages.
Are you ready to never get lost in translation with CamDictionary? Let us know your thoughts on this app.
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To build wealth, and become financially independent, you need to start investing early and there is an app for that. Acorns enables you to start saving early, invest often, and feel secure about your financial future without having to think about it.
So, how does it work? Simply connect a credit card, or debit card and a checking account, and enter some characteristics about yourself. Acorns will automatically recommend a stock portfolio based on information like your age, time horizon, investment goals and the amount of risk you’re comfortable taking. Then each purchase you make with the registered card is rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the difference is invested in low-cost ETFs. For instance, if you spend $10.49 on lunch, that remaining 51 cents is invested. And if you’re worried about the safety of your personal information, don’t be, because Acorns has been awarded TRUSTe’s Privacy Seal for the collection and use of personal information. According to its maker, “what makes Acorns different from any service out there is that it offers a personalized investment portfolio with no account minimums, no commissions, and fractional investing all at your fingertips”.
What Sparks Our Fire: An app that intuitively makes it easy to save and invest.
What do you think of Acorns? Would you use it?
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PetMatch is a revolutionary new app that uses Superfish’s patented image recognition technology to help you find adoptable dogs and cats in your area. Simply take a picture of a pet you like, upload it to the app, or use a picture from the PetMatch sample gallery to get started. For instance, if you walk through the park and see an adorable dog that is just the type you always wanted? Take a ‘petfie’.
PetMatch will find you look-a-like pets in your area up for adoption at that exact moment. It can be as accurate as registering details like the shape of an animal’s mouth, the distance between its eyes, coloring and general size and shape. Though, there’s more to the relationship between humans and pets than physical appearance. The app can also help place pets based on personality, character traits and habits.
Superfish is also behind ShopScout, an app that uses the same image recognition algorithm and lets you take pictures of products and find similar ones for sale online (Something worth checking out).
What Sparks Our Fire: An app that takes image recognition a step further.
What is your view on the PetMatch app? Have any of you tried it? Let us know what you think!
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It’s often said a penny saved is a penny earned. And if you’re looking to save a few dollars, there’s a quick trick right at your fingertips, ShopSavvy.
ShopSavvy is a mobile app that scans products and finds both online and local stores who carry it. Once you scan the bar code, either at home or in-store, ShopSavvy makes a price comparison on the fly, displays user reviews, and searches for discounts. The app has updated SKUs so you’re sure to find the item in all stores listed. The brilliant app was developed by Rylan Barnes, who won “Google’s Android Developer Challenge”.
ShopSavvy can be downloaded on iOs, Android and Windows phones. There is also a website available for simple searches.
What Sparks Our fire: An app that will save us time and money.
Are you ready to give ShopSavvy a try and live a more frugal lifestyle?
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Of all the school subjects to hate, most tend to gravitate towards math. Simply because not everyone gets the necessary help when solving a math problem. So, to make math less painful, the team at MicroBlink created Photomath, the world’s first camera calculator, available for free in the app Store. In addition to solving your problems, PhotoMath will show you all the steps it took to get to the answer. The app is designed for middle-school kids.
Photomath is easy to use. All you have to do is scan a printed equation (no handwritten ones, yet) with your smartphone and watch the app solve the problem in real-time. Next, click through the problem solving option if you wish to see the steps involved. The app serves as a homework helper rather than homework doer.
What Sparks Our Fire: A helpful app that has the potential to make kids love math.
Is PhotoMath a great app for kids or do you think it will lead to cheating?
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… and it’s not a new taco or burrito but an App for iOs and Androids that allows users to order and make payment via their smartphone. They’ve eliminated the need to get out of the car and make the line; they’ve mostly eliminated the need to speak to anyone. In a nutshell, this is how it works:
- Browse the menu
- Select an item, or customize your order ingredient-by-ingredient, or re-order a meal from the past
- Submit and pay through the app using debit, credit, or Taco Bell gift cards
- Go to your nearest Taco Bell and skip the line to get your order
As part of the new app launch, Taco Bell Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and even its website have all gone dark, with only one message available for users to see “The new way to Taco Bell isn’t on [insert social media name] it’s #onlyintheapp”
The idea was to play up the announcement and attract attention to the new release. In addition, they invite you to join the conversation with its Twitter hashtag #onlyintheapp.
“Today as food culture changes and generations grow up with smartphones, our customers seek restaurant experiences that fit their lifestyle,” said Taco Bell Presiden, Brian Niccol, in a statement. Taco Bell assures the process is safe and secure. Two startups: Cardfree and Tillster help handle the paymenst.
This year has proven to be the year of mobile payment and ordering in fast food and is undoubtedly going to be the norm at fast-food chains within the next years. Wendy’s in March introduced a payment-by-app nationally; Burger King this year also said it was expanding its mobile-payment offering and lately McDonald’s has announced its collaboration with Apple Pay.
Sadly, you still need to drag yourself off the couch to get your food since Taco Bell doesn’t deliver…yet.
What Sparks Our Fire: An innovative app that makes it easy and simple to order food even faster.
Are you ready to satisfy your Taco Bell craving in a new fashion way? Download the app here for iOS or here for Androids
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There are many task manager apps out there but Wunderlist remains our favorite with its eye-catching design and a set of handy tools. The option to assign tasks to specific people and monitor all parts of your team’s projects alone makes Wunderlist arguably the best task management app out there.
Wunderlist is simple and comes with a minimalistic interface to help you create as many lists as you need that instantly sync between your phone, tablet and computer, making them accessible anywhere. In addition, the app makes it easy to start conversations about your to-dos with family, friends and colleagues. Also, you can attach photos, PDFs, presentations, and Dropbox files to share your work and delegate to-dos. Finally, Wunderlist is equipped with a reminder function to ensure you never forget important deadlines ever again.
Wunderlist is free to download and Wunderlist Pro is available for under $5 to help you experience even more: unlimited access to files, subtasks, etc. You can find the app for iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows Phone, Windows, Chromebook, Kindle Fire and on the Web.
Last week, Wunderlist introduced Wunderlist for Chrome. With this new functionality, you can replace your new tab page with a lightweight version of Wunderlist that lets you quickly add new to-dos straight into your Inbox.
‘Ideas can strike like lightning. Now when they come to mind, you can instantly capture them just by opening a new tab’. -Google Chrome
What Sparks Our Fire: A simple tools for team collaboration and task management.
Have you ever tried Wunderlist? Share your experience.
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Automatic Smart Driving Assistant is a gadget designed to unlock your car’s full potential, making driving safer and more efficient. Automatic can help you spend up to 30% less on gas (about $800/year) by learning your driving style and giving you real-time audio feedback when you do something that wastes gas. Automatic also monitors your car health and warns you when something is wrong. It provides written details of the problem and possible solutions; it tells you if it is something you can do yourself and save a trip to the mechanics or if needed, helps you find a mechanic nearby. But most importantly, if you are ever in a crash, Automatic provides a full-service crash response 24/7 and alerts 911 with your location and can even contact your loved ones to let them know what happened and that help is on the way.
Automatic is extremely simple to set up and use: plug the Automatic link into your car’s onboard computer with no tool required and connect it to your smartphone via the App (on iOS or Android). Automatic is only available in the US.
What Sparks Our Fire: A gadget that redefines people’s relationship with driving, making it safer and more efficient by giving you useful information.
Are you ready to be a better driver and adopt a smart driving Automatic Assistant?
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