Cultural references for the next generation

How well do we really understand our customers? Every August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List that “provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college.”

The latest list profiles the class of 2013—most born in 1991. It provides context to the world they have grown up in—where there have always been flat panel TVs, rap music has always been mainstream, a card catalog has “never been used to find a book,” and The Green Giant has always been Shrek and not “the big guy picking vegetables.” (I even remember The Green Giant having a little sidekick named Sprout.)

So check your cultural references at the door and get into the mind of the class of 2013.

Bookmark and Share

Jay Suhr is SVP Creative Services + Account Planning at T3. He’s been in advertising long enough to have appreciated his first IBM Selectric typewriter (with correcting ribbon!), first desktop PC (amber monochrome monitor, MS-DOS), first Mac, first notebook and the avalanche of all the firsts brought on by digital platforms and technology.

Leave a Reply