Generational Marketing

00:00:01:19 - 00:00:24:04
Mike Collignon: Back for another year of thought provoking webinars that only Green Builder Media can bring to a computer screen near you. And not only is it a new year, but this is the start of a new week. Now, before you start pointing out that it's a Wednesday, yes, I too can read a calendar today. Today is the start of Take a Friend snowmobiling week.

00:00:24:07 - 00:00:43:15
Mike Collignon: Now, for all our colleagues and friends in the western mountains of the United States, you have ample opportunity to take part in this wonderful festive activity. Just look out for the snowplows. I hear they got quite a punch. Now, speaking of snow. Oh, no. We're joined today from high in the Rocky Mountains by Sarah Gutman, co-founder and CEO of Green Builder Media.

00:00:43:16 - 00:01:10:11
Mike Collignon: She's going to talk about generational marketing and highlight how building professionals and manufacturers alike can remain on the leading edge of innovation and relevancy by understanding the preferences, behavioral patterns, and purchase drivers for each generation. Sarah is going to present the latest Cognition Smart data, providing clear proof points that illustrate how to best garner attention from and meet the needs of each generation.

00:01:10:12 - 00:01:37:10
Mike Collignon: Now, in case you don't know Sarah's background, she is a former venture capitalist. She graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College and holds an MBA and entrepreneurship and Finance from the University of Colorado. She has established a reputation as a visionary, thought leader and passionate advocate for sustainability, and she works closely with a diverse group of stakeholders in the building industry to develop impactful, long term green strategies that are simultaneously sustainable and profitable.

00:01:37:15 - 00:02:10:22
Mike Collignon: And in case you didn't know who our sponsors are. While I'm here to tell you that too. Whirlpool Corporation is committed to being the best global kitchen and laundry company. They are in constant pursuit of improving life at home in an increasingly world. The company is driving purposeful innovation to meet the evolving needs of consumers through its iconic brand portfolio, including KitchenAid, Maytag, console, brass temp, Amana, Barnett, Gen Air, Indesit, yummy and In Sync.

00:02:10:24 - 00:02:41:21
Mike Collignon: In 2021, the company reported approximately 22 billion in annual sales, 69,000 employees and 54 manufacturing and technology research centers. Renowned for incredible sound, ease of use and commitment to innovation, Sonos wireless speakers bring every room and everyone together with incredible sound for music, TV and more. As the premier audio solution for builders, Sonos will take your smart home offering to the next level.

00:02:41:23 - 00:03:19:09
Mike Collignon: Envy energy is proud to provide safe, reliable, affordable energy to more than 1.5 million customers in the state of Nevada. They're especially proud of their continued progress towards a clean energy future, and the role that NV Energy's power shift programs play in that future. Envy Energy's Power Shift programs provide incentives for energy efficient appliances and projects. Power shift also provides also offers various services such as online and home energy assessments, as well as recommendations and installation of devices that help customers save money and energy.

00:03:19:12 - 00:03:52:06
Mike Collignon: And finally, we have less Lake Royal building products. They are the North American leader in the innovation, design and production of a broad and diverse range of exterior and interior building products, including siding and accessories, trim and moldings, roofing, stone windows and outdoor living. For more than 50 years, Westlake Royal Building Products is manufactured high quality, low maintenance products to meet the specifications and needs of building professionals, homeowners, architects, engineers and distributors while providing stunning curb appeal.

00:03:52:10 - 00:04:15:06
Mike Collignon: The matched array of colors, styles and accessories. Now you can submit questions for Sarah. Simply use the questions box that you can find in the Go to Webinar Control panel. I'm going to review those questions and pose those to her. During the Q&A time set aside after her presentation again on generational marketing. Now, Sarah, you're not going to call her audience old, are you?

00:04:15:09 - 00:04:20:06
Sara Gutterman: No I'm not. I'm going to try not to say.

00:04:20:08 - 00:04:23:29
Mike Collignon: Getting with you. We're looking forward to what you have to say.

00:04:24:01 - 00:04:43:23
Sara Gutterman: Wonderful. Mike, thank you so much. As always, I really appreciate you being our our webinar moderator extraordinaire. And a special thank you also to Mary Kestner, our production manager. We don't hear from her, but she is the wizard behind the curtain for all of our webinars. So Mary, thank you, thank you, thank you for making it all happen.

00:04:43:26 - 00:05:17:26
Sara Gutterman: Thank you also so much to our sponsors whirlpool, Sonos, Westlake and Powershift. We could not provide our leading edge content without our exceptional partners. And thank you also to all of you who are taking some time on what is here today. A very snowy day. So apropos, Mike, that you were talking about snowmobiling week. I'll keep that in mind as I look at the about six inches of snow that's fallen since this morning outside of my window in southwestern Colorado in the mountains.

00:05:17:28 - 00:05:43:00
Sara Gutterman: I'm really excited to be here with you today. I've actually put together a brand new presentation for today talking about generational marketing. So all of this content draws from a lot of the cognition smart data that we collect. Again, for those of you who are not familiar with cognition, it is Green Builder Media's market intelligence and market insights and data division.

00:05:43:04 - 00:06:16:27
Sara Gutterman: We lean a tremendous amount of really interesting proprietary information about leading edge, early adopter, first mover consumers and also building professionals. And we look at market trends and innovations that are transforming markets in areas that are near and dear to us, like net zero electrification, healthy home connected living resiliency, solar plus storage, water conservation, etc.. So the data that I'm going to present to you today has been generated by cognition.

00:06:16:27 - 00:06:39:00
Sara Gutterman: And as I said, this is brand new, and I'm really excited to present this information to you today. And I look forward to hearing your questions. Just because we always get this question, this question asked. We will not be sharing the slides, but we will be sharing a link to the recorded webinar. You'll get that in your email within a few days.

00:06:39:03 - 00:07:22:03
Sara Gutterman: So with no further ado, I'm going to shift in to talking about the massive transition that's happening with respect to generational influence. Really interesting things happening in the US and kind of in Western economies. Baby boomers are currently the wealthiest and most influential generation, weighing in at about 70.2 million strong. Boomers hold about 53% of all household wealth, and comprise the majority of S&P 500 CEO positions chief justices, state governors and other senior leadership positions.

00:07:22:03 - 00:07:52:23
Sara Gutterman: And they've worked longer than generations before them, and they've kind of excluded Gen Xers. And even now, some millennials from holding these leadership positions. But they're now retiring in droves. And so Gen Xers and Millennials and Gen Z are poised to inherit the wealth and those leadership positions of those boomers. But with respect to Gen Xers, this uncontested ascension isn't necessarily guaranteed.

00:07:52:25 - 00:08:39:03
Sara Gutterman: Gen Xers do presently have the highest level of cultural influence. I'll show you some data that corroborates that in a little while. They've dominated positions at large news corporations and media outlets, but millennials and some very enterprising Gen Z are in hot pursuit. And as millennials and Gen Zs emerge, they're really changing the rules of engagement. And certainly in the face of divisive politics, existential environmental threats, global pandemics and social justice challenges, younger generations are calling out a broken status quo, and they're demanding an urgent reckoning with bold leadership that can lead to a radically better future.

00:08:39:06 - 00:09:11:19
Sara Gutterman: They don't just want shifting preferences, they want shifting paradigms. And this has really been born out of crisis. And these younger generations that are very passionate, purpose driven optimism, you know, they're pretty outraged. And, you know, they're really looking for a structural change within our system. And so, you know, these generations that have grown up with active shooter drills and schools and fake news and catastrophic climate events have really had enough.

00:09:11:21 - 00:09:44:14
Sara Gutterman: And again, we're starting to see, you know, kind of the margins fraying and this transition happening because a lot of these younger individuals are really exhausted by how negative and divided that our country has become. And they're really trying to flip the script on the current national dialog, and they're motivated to act. I will show you some cognition, smart data that shows that 80% of these budding leaders believe that they can and really must step up to make a difference in the world.

00:09:44:17 - 00:10:28:21
Sara Gutterman: And so I think that really kind of leads to the silver bullet question, which is will their youthful exuberance, will their undaunted optimism yield a radical reimagination of our culture? So let's take a look at the different generations. I am not going to focus today on traditionalists, or the silent generation that are older than the baby boomers or the Alpha generation who are younger than the Zs, because while they're both very relevant and strong in numbers, they're not really impacting our segment, the housing markets, as much at this point.

00:10:28:24 - 00:10:48:12
Sara Gutterman: So I'm really going to focus on the boomers, the exodus of the millennials and the disease. For those of you and I know there are a handful that represent the silent generation and traditionalists as well as the Alpha generation. I apologize, I'm not trying to ignore you, but again, I'm really looking at, you know, kind of the the bulk of the influencers.

00:10:48:15 - 00:11:28:03
Sara Gutterman: And it's important to look at these four generations in particular boomers, Xers, millennials and Zs, because each generation is shaped by its own unique historical content. And that can include wars and recessions and elections and social movements, cultural experiences. And those all come together to create a shared perspective about the world. And as these younger generations, millennials and Zs, move into positions of power and have more spending power, they are starting to really impact society so that it conforms to their unique worldviews.

00:11:28:03 - 00:11:55:25
Sara Gutterman: And so understanding each generation's nuanced purchase, drivers, pensions, and behavioral patterns give us an idea of really what we can expect for the future. So let's go ahead and start with those boomers, because again, you know, as I mentioned earlier, boomers are starting to retire. They're starting to pass the torch. And so, you know, we're really kind of looking critically at which generation is going to seize the reins.

00:11:55:25 - 00:12:24:08
Sara Gutterman: Will it be the Xers that step up, or will tech savvy millennials and enterprising Gen Z kind of leapfrog those Xers and seize those positions of power? So when we look at boomers, there are about 22% of the US population, but they represent over 50% of all household wealth in the US, about 42% of all billionaire wealth here in the US.

00:12:24:11 - 00:12:53:28
Sara Gutterman: And you can see that they hold, you know, positions of power. As I mentioned, this, this generation really grew up in a post-World War II era. They spent their primary working years in a relatively stable, relatively prosperous economy. Yes, absolutely. There's always ebbs and flows and, you know, bull and bear markets and recessions. But for the most part, this is a very hard working, fiscally responsible generation.

00:12:54:00 - 00:13:19:10
Sara Gutterman: They have a work to get ahead mentality where if something needs to get done, they just put their head down and they go and they get it done. One thing of note is that they've worked longer than previous generations, so they've kind of excluded those Xers and older millennials from those power positions. But when we look at boomers, what I like to call them is not your granddaddy retiree.

00:13:19:13 - 00:13:49:08
Sara Gutterman: You know, I look at my grandparents, my grandma just passed away last week. She was 104. She died peacefully in her sleep and was relatively healthy all the way through. And, you know, may we all be so lucky. But she and my grandpa, her husband of 71 years, retired at 55. They moved to Florida. They played golf and tennis pretty much every day for the rest of their their lives as long as they could, but that's really not the model anymore for these boomers.

00:13:49:08 - 00:14:14:22
Sara Gutterman: Today's boomers are active and wealthy and educated. They're really redefining the second half of life, and they've kind of blurred the lines between aging and retirement. And many of them are actually taking on new careers and going back to school and remarrying for the maybe second, third, fourth time, pursuing new hobbies and tackling the health issues of aging with gusto.

00:14:14:24 - 00:14:54:10
Sara Gutterman: They are engaged in living and learning and increasingly technologically savvy. And, you know, the individuals within this audience really want to maintain their independence. They're looking to age in place in their homes. They're looking for amenities in their housing, things like walking trails, access to health care, mixed use housing, and then also access to transportation system. And when we look specifically at their housing preferences, so about 85% of boomers own their own homes, and their average household net worth is about 1.2 million.

00:14:54:12 - 00:15:16:28
Sara Gutterman: This generation, more so than younger generations, seem to, through our data, have a really personal relationship to their homes, and they believe that their homes are very tied to their identity. So they care very deeply about how their homes look. They care about their landscaping. And they, as I mentioned earlier, they do really want to age in place.

00:15:16:28 - 00:15:42:25
Sara Gutterman: About 65% intend to remodel their homes to improve their lives, and to allow themselves to stay in those homes for longer. 94% want energy efficient homes, so they do have some sustainability elements on their minds. And, you know, probably not surprisingly, they are looking for features like wider doors and hallways, bigger, bigger windows and doors to have that connection with nature.

00:15:42:26 - 00:16:16:04
Sara Gutterman: Home offices, force floor, bedrooms and bathrooms. There's nothing really new there. But what is new is that they are looking at things again, like energy efficiency and resiliency for reduced maintenance. One thing of note that we are seeing with respect to this age generation, with respect to boomers, is there's a huge opportunity to help them adopt assisted living technologies for their homes.

00:16:16:04 - 00:16:56:10
Sara Gutterman: So these are sensors and cameras and monitoring systems that can help them age and play place. So maybe fall detection and home health care, voice control etc. or technologies that can be proactive and send alerts to children or grandchildren if certain things are or are not happening in those homes. So not intended to be intrusive or big brother, but really intended to, you know, just kind of help family members keep their finger on the pulse of the activity of their loved ones in their homes.

00:16:56:10 - 00:17:40:26
Sara Gutterman: So, for example, monitors that on refrigerators showing whether refrigerator doors are being opened or not or whether toilets are being flushed or not, because that can really give some insight into that activity in the home. And what we're seeing with respect to these assisted living technologies is that there's a cost benefit analysis that a lot of these boomers are doing that shows that it's actually more cost effective to invest in assisting the system living technology so they can stay in their homes, rather than moving into nursing homes or assisted living facilities, which, generally speaking, especially since the pandemic, you know, most of the individuals within this generation just don't want to do.

00:17:40:29 - 00:18:10:22
Sara Gutterman: Now let's move on to Gen Xers. So Gen Xers are about 20% of the US population, and they represent about 31% of US income generation. They're at the peak of their careers. They're spending powers about 2.4 trillion. And, you know, they have very high levels of education, the highest level of graduate degrees than any other generation. And they are leading in cultural power.

00:18:10:22 - 00:18:39:22
Sara Gutterman: And what I mean by that is they're dominant in the press and the news media. So they hold over 50% of CEO and journalist and executive positions at large news corporations. There are also influential news personalities. And, you know, this is a generation of MTV and X-Games, right? So they grew up also in relatively stable times, although they did experience the tech bubble in the early 2000 and then the 2008 recession.

00:18:39:22 - 00:19:12:23
Sara Gutterman: And actually this generation was the hardest hit by the 2008 recession. The generation lost about 50% of generational wealth because of what happened in the housing market in particular, and that really impacted their ongoing ability to purchase homes. And it has really translated into making Xers a little bit more fiscally conservative than other generations. Something else of note with respect to Xers is that they're considered to be what's called the sandwich generation.

00:19:12:23 - 00:19:40:18
Sara Gutterman: So they're taking care of their older parents as well as their younger kids. When we look at their housing preferences, you know, again, as I mentioned there at the peak of their careers, and they're kind of winning the housing market right now. Right? Given the discrepancy between home price growth and income growth, home price growth has outgrown or grown faster than incomes.

00:19:40:20 - 00:20:14:03
Sara Gutterman: You know, it's you know, if you're a building professional and you ignore them, you kind of ignore them at your peril, right? So, you know, they remain an important factor in housing because of that. You know, again, their income levels, about 72% of Xers tell us that they prefer a single family home in the suburbs. They like to do extensive research before they buy homes or products for homes, and they are looking for flexible homes that can accommodate different phases of life.

00:20:14:03 - 00:20:46:01
Sara Gutterman: And the fact that they are that sandwich generation taking care of parents and kids. So they may need to have, you know, multiple bedrooms that can serve as bedrooms at times, or home offices or school rooms at times. This generation, more than any other, does focus on fitness as well. So home gyms, whether those are inside the home or in garages, and then they also like to have those outdoor entertaining spaces with large porches and inviting patios.

00:20:46:02 - 00:21:21:01
Sara Gutterman: They do like to work from home, so home offices are important, and they also care deeply about communities and neighborhoods that fit their lifestyle. And interestingly, the US Department of Labor says that Gen Xers right now are outspending all other generations when it comes to housing, clothing, eating out and entertainment. So they do have discretionary income. With that said, millennials have really seized the top influencer position in the housing market, and they are actually spending more on buying and remodeling homes than any other audience segment.

00:21:21:01 - 00:21:52:15
Sara Gutterman: And this is partly because of their sheer numbers. There's 2.1 ish million of them in the US, so it's about 22% of the US population. And they're the largest generation by numbers. And they will comprise 75% of the workforce here in the US by 2025. Over half of them work remotely. They have a spending power of about 2.5 trillion, and they represent about 55% of overall home purchase applications in 2022.

00:21:52:17 - 00:22:19:12
Sara Gutterman: And so, as I said, that's really you know, why we say they've seized the top influence or position in the housing market. The data really corroborates this. Now these individuals graduated during the Great Recession while unemployment was high, which kind of led to a slow start in terms of wealth accumulation and home equity. And a lot of them were forced to live at home larger than they would have liked.

00:22:19:16 - 00:22:58:11
Sara Gutterman: Excuse me? Longer than they would have liked. And, you know, it's a very kind of shifting gears a little bit. It's they're a mission driven, values based generation. They value happiness and protecting the environment and health and wellness, and they really do prioritize purpose over paycheck. And they want to contribute to social purpose. They value deep relationships. And so when we look at their economic realities and their professional perspective, high tuition costs, rising costs of living and that sluggish wage growth have really made it difficult for this group to accumulate wealth.

00:22:58:13 - 00:23:28:11
Sara Gutterman: They have relatively high levels of student debt, so they have about 50% less wealth than other generations at a comparable age. But as they develop in their careers and they make higher salaries, they are catching up in terms of generational wealth. They do have lower home equity levels because they did wait longer to purchase homes. And so some of them are now opting for lower cost starter homes that are fixer upper.

00:23:28:14 - 00:23:56:22
Sara Gutterman: But when a couple of things of note that come from our cognition smart data, when we ask millennials what their top purchase consideration is when selecting products for their home, as you can see, nearly half of them tell us that ESG, corporate sustainability, environmental product declarations, and carbon general corporate carbon footprint is now their number one purchase driver when selecting products for their homes.

00:23:56:22 - 00:24:31:27
Sara Gutterman: And that's really never happened before. We've been surveying our consumer audience for about 18 years since our inception, and it always used to be quality and performance. For the most part. Cost was always a little bit further down the list. Our audience, their early adopters and first movers. And so they're a little less price sensitive than mainstream audiences, but that, you know, ESG corporate sustainability purchase driver has just shot up over the last maybe 3 to 4 years, grown steadily year after year during that time frame.

00:24:32:03 - 00:24:50:29
Sara Gutterman: So it was happening before the pandemic. But then, you know, it really just, again, kind of did that hockey stick growth over the last 2 to 3 years. And then you can also see, you know, almost 80% of millennials tell us that it's really important that they work for a company that aligns with their values and their interests.

00:24:51:02 - 00:25:19:06
Sara Gutterman: So when we look at what's top of mind for millennials, there's a lot of words on this slide. But you know, 87% of millennials are worried about climate change. 93% believe that companies should take a stand on environmental issues, 78% prefer purchasing products from sustainable brands, 77% consider the future to be frightening, and 56% think that humanity is doomed, right?

00:25:19:07 - 00:26:04:07
Sara Gutterman: That is not a small number. That's not like 8% or 2%. That's over half of this audience segment, when we survey them, thinks that humanity is doomed. And that is really important for those of us who are providing them with shelter and with the products and the systems and the technologies that they interface with every day. And so not only is it of paramount importance to appeal to this audience with a very authentic, strong sustainability message and products and systems, whether those are products that go in homes or homes and communities themselves that really do address the challenges of our moment.

00:26:04:11 - 00:26:36:18
Sara Gutterman: This audience is also worried about physical and mental health, so we always advise our builder, developer, building, professional and manufacturer partners to really look at home health care solutions and ways to kind of address physical and mental health. And then of course, economic stability, which fortunately we're seeing that net zero all electric, healthy, connected, resilient homes pencil out and actually have a net positive impact for homeowners.

00:26:36:20 - 00:27:03:26
Sara Gutterman: Now these are the next couple of slides I have shown before. If you've seen me present recently, I like to show these because I think they're really impactful. The number one global risk of highest concern to millennials is the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change more so than Covid, economic or social instability, even gun violence. For those of you who who have heard me present before, you have heard me say, I wish that water was higher on this list.

00:27:03:26 - 00:27:29:02
Sara Gutterman: I wish that it was maybe number two, because it's that urgent of an issue for us to solve for. But you can see that millennials have their eye on resiliency. They're being impacted by climate events. And they are in the chart on the right, that turquoise line. And you can see how much more important resiliency is to millennials than other generations.

00:27:29:04 - 00:27:57:14
Sara Gutterman: And so I think that it's really important to take that in mind when we look at how we can create appropriate solutions for millennials, and when we look at what they want with respect to housing, I like to say that they want the sustainability unicorn. They want compact, efficient spaces. They want net zero, all electric, healthy homes that are totally smart and connected and fit their needs, that have open floor plans, but also sanctuary.

00:27:57:14 - 00:28:32:11
Sara Gutterman: Intimate spaces, have home offices and large porches and yards that they can grow food in. And you know, just that everything can contribute to a healthier lifestyle. The other thing that's really important to note with respect to millennials is that they are really starting to change the game with respect to shifting from looking at lowest cost per square foot or, you know, just the upfront cost metric to looking at long term value of home ownership.

00:28:32:11 - 00:29:11:24
Sara Gutterman: They get that even if they're spending a little bit more on a house that is net zero, they have zero utility bills or lower utility bills. And so that's going to positively impact their ability to pay their mortgage. So finally, after decades of those of us who have been in this industry pushing this boulder uphill, you know, we're starting to see the tipping point in the industry because this generation and Zs are really understanding what that long term value of homeownership looks like, as opposed to just moving into the cheapest, shortest house that they can, you know?

00:29:11:25 - 00:29:41:22
Sara Gutterman: And granted, let's be honest, some of them are making kind of budget based decisions, but they do have their eye on energy efficiency upgrades and sustainability upgrades. The other thing about this group is that they very much are looking at healthier lifestyle decisions in general. A lot of them have shifted to plant forward diets, vegetarian or vegan, partly because of the health implications, but also because of the sustainability implications.

00:29:41:24 - 00:30:10:18
Sara Gutterman: I mentioned earlier that, you know, millennials have the reason why we say millennials have have seized that top influence or position is because of home purchase applications. You can see the numbers here. Millennials represent that blue bar. They were about 72% of first time home purchase applications in 2022, and 43% of repeat a home purchase applications in 2022, which is about 8% higher than Gen Xers.

00:30:10:18 - 00:30:38:01
Sara Gutterman: And a lot of millennials under 30 have yet to become a homeowner, so demand will remain strong within that generation. And then you can see the Orange Line, which is Gen Z, starting in 2019 and getting incrementally higher in 2020 through 2022, that number is really going to explode. You know, starting within the next couple of years, you can see baby boomers decrease as well as Xers decrease.

00:30:38:01 - 00:31:06:21
Sara Gutterman: In terms of home purchase applications. They feel pretty settled into their existing homes. Now let's talk about Gen Z's. We talk a lot about millennials. But you know, now we really need to start focusing on Gen Z's. They represent about 20.3% of the population. They only have about 360 billion in purchasing, excuse me in spending power right now, but that will absolutely grow over time.

00:31:06:21 - 00:31:37:06
Sara Gutterman: It'll actually start growing fairly exponentially as these folks graduate from college and, you know, kind of enter their careers. Now, what's unique about Gen Z is that their childhood was marked by two crippling recessions and a global pandemic. And so this generation tends to be a little more debt averse and budget conscious than their millennial counterparts. They're also very much considered to be a highly discerning and sensible generation.

00:31:37:07 - 00:32:03:20
Sara Gutterman: They're focused on security and safety, which makes sense not only from a financial standpoint and a health standpoint, given recessions and pandemics, but also, again, you know, this is the generation of, unfortunately, school shootings and mass shootings in in movie theaters and malls and, you know, places that a lot of us older generations used to feel very comfortable going to.

00:32:03:20 - 00:32:33:03
Sara Gutterman: And now there's always a question mark, perhaps because of this concern about safety and security. This generation is very vocal about their passions and concerns. They are creators of content, and they watch about a movie's worth of content every day on YouTube. About 85% of them do. Now, with that said, there have been studies that show that this generation has about an eight second attention span.

00:32:33:06 - 00:33:05:12
Sara Gutterman: And something else that's really important to note is that this generation reports high levels of stress and anxiety. They want mental health openly addressed in the workplace and benefits like mental health days, therapy and access to medication and meditation. And so, you know, because this is the most diverse generation in American history, equality is really a guiding principle for this generation.

00:33:05:14 - 00:33:33:24
Sara Gutterman: 60% want to see a restructuring of our economy with equality and climate change in mind. 61% believe that we should deal with climate change with the same sense of urgency that we tackled. Covid, 85% claim that they have been greatly affected by climate change, and there's this big sense of guilt and shame within this generation about their impact and about our collective impact on the environment.

00:33:34:01 - 00:34:12:16
Sara Gutterman: And there's a very large portion, about three quarters, that really believe in protests to raise awareness about important issues. And so you can really expect this generation to become more vocal about their passions and concerns in the coming years as they mature in their lives and in their jobs and in leadership positions. Something else that is emerging because of what I said about these high levels and stress and anxiety within this particular generation, is something that we are now calling eco psychology.

00:34:12:16 - 00:34:45:21
Sara Gutterman: So Gen Z are reporting feelings of sadness and anger and powerlessness and helplessness when it comes to mitigating the impacts of climate change. They feel ignored when they try to express their climate anxiety, and they're really upset at older generations and governments for largely ignoring climate science and allowing the situation to get so out of hand. They're mad about the inaction, and they're really demanding climate justice as a remedy for this deep set feeling of betrayal.

00:34:45:23 - 00:35:13:02
Sara Gutterman: And the global scale of the crisis is really giving rise to feelings of apathy and numbness and loss of control and what's being called eco paralysis, which is interesting. And, you know, these feelings are exacerbated by observing this apparent in action by global leaders. You know, even though we have these Cop meetings where global leaders from all walks of business and government get together, you know, very little ends up happening.

00:35:13:02 - 00:35:41:01
Sara Gutterman: We've set these huge global commitments. And fortunately, you know, we have seen over the course of the past year here in the US the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which and the infrastructure bill, which will actually provide funding for renewable energy and carbon tech and climate tech innovations, in a way, frankly, that's never happened before, which is encouraging.

00:35:41:04 - 00:36:26:16
Sara Gutterman: And there are similar activities and bills being passed across the globe. But nonetheless, you know, this generation is feeling pretty overloaded. And, you know, really, that's something that that needs to be addressed, not just when it comes to messaging and corporations taking a stand on important issues to ensure this generation that they are doing the right thing. But also when we think about how to create solutions for their home so that those homes really do become sanctuary spaces.

00:36:26:18 - 00:36:56:18
Sara Gutterman: Now, fortunately, Gen Z's, despite the fact that they're feeling all of this eco anxiety, they are hopeful that the future can be better. But with that said, they're absolutely looking for bold leadership from companies and brands and professionals that they work with to meet the challenges facing society. They absolutely agree that they will support companies and brands that have a purpose and make a positive difference.

00:36:56:21 - 00:37:25:08
Sara Gutterman: They believe that companies are an essential part of the climate solution, and they want to interact with these companies. They want to provide ideas and, you know, have interactive shirts to play a role in solving social and environmental problems. And they absolutely the vast majority say that the more socially and environmentally responsible a company is, the more loyal they will be as a consumer.

00:37:25:10 - 00:37:54:14
Sara Gutterman: Now, when we look at home buying, this generation definitely believes in the American dream, right? So they already have their sights set on home ownership. They are looking to purchase a home pretty quickly because let's face it, right now, you know, housing prices have outpaced wage growth and they don't anticipate that that is going to change. So many of them are looking to purchase a home in the next five years before things get worse or even more out of hand.

00:37:54:16 - 00:38:27:25
Sara Gutterman: The biggest challenge, though, is that this generation seems to have fairly unrealistic expectations about home costs, right? So they they their expectations is that homes on average will cost about $223,000, whereas the reality is that the kind of median sales price right now in the US is about 600, excuse me, 363,000. So there's kind of a chasm between what they think homes should cost and what they do actually cost.

00:38:27:27 - 00:38:52:24
Sara Gutterman: And their largest obstacle right now is just the down payment. They do have student loans. And, you know, rising costs of living compared to their salaries is preventing them from having that down payment. And so, you know, I think certainly we will see more of these, these hit their peak buying potential pretty quickly here because it's something that they do want.

00:38:52:28 - 00:39:25:11
Sara Gutterman: But there are some challenges ahead realistically. But without a doubt this group wants net zero energy, carbon, water, all electronic, healthy, smart connected, solar powered, resilient homes. They've really broadened their view on what a healthy home means. It used to be the purview of indoor air quality, but now it really includes everything from antimicrobial surfaces and touchless faucets to meditation rooms and private gardens, ergonomic workspaces.

00:39:25:14 - 00:39:58:22
Sara Gutterman: And, you know, while millennials really prioritize resiliency, smart home technology and Solar Gen Z's when we survey them, and this is from survey results, cognition results, they really value net zero energy water and carbon. So looking at all of those generations again we need to ask ourselves, you know, as boomers pass the torch, what will these younger generations, including Xers of course, as well as millennials and Zs, how will they reshape society?

00:39:58:22 - 00:40:21:17
Sara Gutterman: And what will the new set of cultural values and priorities look like moving forward? And you can see from this chart here, and this is actually not cognition. This is from Pew Research Center. It shows that in every single element here, Gen Z and millennials believe that climate should be taught priority. Climate change is their top personal concern.

00:40:21:19 - 00:40:51:02
Sara Gutterman: They're talking about social media. They're looking at content. They're engaging about content with respect to the need for climate action. So the numbers are there. And, you know, again, when we look at spending by generation, every generation, the number one expenditure is housing. That's that kind of top line in gray. You know the other the other elements health care, food, transportation, entertainment, you know education even those kind of vary by generation.

00:40:51:02 - 00:41:26:21
Sara Gutterman: But across the board generations are spending the most money on their homes. And so when we look at the fact that homes and housing is the top category for spending, we really need to match that spending with each generation set of values. Something else that I just wanted to point out, which is pretty interesting, is that while we talk a lot about the student debts of millennials and Gen Z, it's actually Gen Xers that's the most indebted generation.

00:41:26:21 - 00:42:06:11
Sara Gutterman: But the difference is that Gen X, Gen Xers debt is it's based in home in their homes. And so they're actually creating equity with that debt. So it's different from paying off a student loan. And we are seeing that the younger generations are witnessing their debts growing at a greater pace relative to Boomers and Xers. And what we're also seeing is that the breakdown of debt by age groups suggests that the typical American families debt grows with adulthood to a certain age, but then starts to taper off.

00:42:06:14 - 00:42:45:01
Sara Gutterman: But something else that we that I want to point out with respect to this shift in cultural power, I mentioned that Gen Xers right now are the biggest influencers in terms of cultural power with respect to more traditional news and media outlets. However, clearly we're seeing that shift as social media continues to become more and more important as a communication vehicle, as a news outlet, and then with respect to influencer marketing and, you know, certainly digital media has transformed social norms and cultures.

00:42:45:01 - 00:43:30:03
Sara Gutterman: And it's really the excerpt, excuse me, the millennials and the Zs that are shifting social media. So while millennials shook up the news industry and social media with new, you know, by adopting new platforms like HuffPost and BuzzFeed and Vox, Gen Z, our upending kind of news and media and even social media even more, forcing another reinvention. So these are actually rejecting legacy social media, which is kind of funny to say, but they're really moving away from that Google Facebook duopoly as they are embracing TikTok and Insta.

00:43:30:05 - 00:44:16:04
Sara Gutterman: And in fact, while older generations, including Xers and millennials, go to Google first when they search for something, now 40% of Zs look at TikTok and Instagram to do web searches before Google. And, you know, they spend a tremendous amount of time on YouTube. I mentioned earlier they consume about a movies worth of content every day. And so this is all leading to a different kind of connection with brands and something that's really important for us to pay attention to with respect to understanding new forms, first of content creation, but also content distribution.

00:44:16:05 - 00:44:48:06
Sara Gutterman: There's, you know, things like tactile stories and, you know, looking at TikTok algorithms and things like that. And I know TikTok is a bit of a hot, hot topic button. With the US government now banning it from their employees phones and platforms. But, you know, it's still continues to be and will continue to be an influential medium. Something else that's really happening as millennials and Zs emerge into greater positions of leadership and not just social media influence.

00:44:48:06 - 00:45:17:21
Sara Gutterman: But I think we saw the first Gen Z elected to Congress this time around in this most recent election. But there are some dynamics that are changing the rules of engagement. First, it's individual and individualism and independence. So there's this new sense of agency that millennials and Gen Zs have over their lives, and it's really shifting their attitudes towards work and income and quality of life.

00:45:17:24 - 00:45:52:20
Sara Gutterman: They don't necessarily embrace the workaholic attitude that Boomers and Xers have. They really do embrace more of a hybrid, you know, work life scenario and quality of life. They also are looking at more measured consumption, and I think that's really resulted from shortages, distribution delays and sustainability factors that are driving kind of a nature positive movement that blends affordability and sustainability.

00:45:52:23 - 00:46:15:26
Sara Gutterman: We are also seeing the metaverse create new places to interact and create and consume and earn and converge that really merge the physical and the digital world with this shared experience. And we're seeing the emergence of what's called the creator economy. And that's new to all of us. And we're really watching, you know, how that's going to impact.

00:46:15:27 - 00:46:44:17
Sara Gutterman: So the way that companies and professionals interact with these younger generations, we're also seeing that some of the younger, you know, some of the individuals in the millennial and Gen Z groups, more so Gen Zs, I would say even they're skeptical, right? So they are demanding greater transparency and accountability. There are record record low levels of trust, soaring fears around misinformation and fake news.

00:46:44:17 - 00:47:35:07
Sara Gutterman: It's hard sometimes to figure out what's what. They also are really, you know, kind of reactivating the concept of conscious consumerism with an ethical and sustainability focus. And that's really because, you know, again, it's these younger generations are very values based and, you know, really driving enhanced humanism and society in the workforce. Now, as we look at these younger generations and how we need to interact with them, first and foremost, we really need to understand the context and contradictions inherent in today's society and make sure that we understand the gap between brand promises and kind of real life experiences, and make sure we're asking ourselves the really hard questions.

00:47:35:09 - 00:48:18:03
Sara Gutterman: Right? So not just, you know, what do audiences want, but what do we really need? What is my brand uniquely offer? So these are, you know, great example of this Patagonia. What their don't buy this jacket brand. Right. So actually dissuading people from buying new things and encouraging them to hold on to things for longer. And, you know, I also think that it's important for companies and brands, even professionals, to lead the change away from the model of extracting value by exploiting people and natural resources to creating value, by enriching the lives and livelihoods of employees, communities, customers, partners, stakeholders and the environment.

00:48:18:03 - 00:48:44:05
Sara Gutterman: And you know, the new leadership model isn't about top down control. It's really about sharing and uplifting and collaborating with others. It's rooted in mutual respect and trust and openness. So, you know, as you look at whether it's your just professional life in general or within the context of your company, you know, again, I think there's some really important questions to be asked.

00:48:44:08 - 00:49:18:10
Sara Gutterman: Right? So does your company understand the aspirations and anxieties and the dynamics that consumers, especially these younger generations, feel? Are you honest and are you transparent about your role in our urgent and social and environmental challenges? How is your company perceived by a very diverse spectrum of of of stakeholders? Are you actually adding value to those stakeholders? You know, are you uplifting and supporting your community?

00:49:18:10 - 00:49:39:25
Sara Gutterman: And, you know, are you taking a real leadership position on these issues that have really become important, more important than ever, more urgent than ever? And, you know, are you transparent in your about your journey? Because I think as much as anything else, that's really what a lot of these younger generations are looking for now more than ever.

00:49:39:28 - 00:50:07:09
Sara Gutterman: So let's shift into I'm going to go through these next slides pretty quickly. They have a lot of our cognition data. We know just hands down without a doubt, that because of the demands that all generations, but particularly millennial and Gen Zs have on homes and communities, that the next generation of homes, the homes we need to be building and offering today, now, not tomorrow.

00:50:07:11 - 00:50:37:16
Sara Gutterman: You know, net zero energy, water, carbon electric, healthy, resilient, connected solar plus storage. They need to be designed for the entire life cycle, you know, etc.. With respect to communities and developments, we need to look at land use and zoning. We need to look at density. We need to look at mixed use communities so that people can have shared office spaces right there in their communities and other amenities that they want.

00:50:37:22 - 00:51:15:15
Sara Gutterman: Interestingly, over the last couple of years, we have seen that our consumer audience again, advanced. They're fairly advanced early adopters and first movers. They now tell us that having a healthy home is more important than location when making home buying decisions. So that's really important. That's never happened before. We also know that there's been a huge shift since Covid in interest in healthy homes, health and wellness, connected living to enhance energy efficiency, cost effectiveness and sustainability of homes, and then also resiliency and self-sufficiency.

00:51:15:16 - 00:51:43:16
Sara Gutterman: And that self-sufficiency piece really plays out in two forms one power production. So solar plus storage as well as onsite food production. We're also really starting to see a shift in conventional thinking versus this new Zytek Iced. I talked a little bit about this earlier where, you know, bigger, lowest cost per square foot. Homes make mansions that used to be in vogue are not interesting anymore, particularly to generations.

00:51:43:16 - 00:52:12:05
Sara Gutterman: They want homes that are a sanctuary that will really enhance their long term value of home ownership and provide an ROI by having low maintenance and low energy bills and low operating costs and a higher resale value. And so that consumer psyche has really changed, and it is absolutely impacting the way that we need to be thinking about the way we design and construct homes and communities.

00:52:12:08 - 00:52:41:25
Sara Gutterman: Here's just a little fun comparison chart that I put together. You can see the desire to own homes is pretty similar across the board between these four generations. What's different is you can see, you know, an increase from boomers ranging all the way up to Zs in terms of how each generation, whether or not they have considered moving due to climate change, how concerned they are about climate change impacting the value of their homes.

00:52:41:27 - 00:53:09:20
Sara Gutterman: I was also pretty interested to see that boomers actually want to work remotely, more so than millennials and Zs. So you can kind of see that's kind of an inverted generational response. And, you know, I think that again, these are just some some elements that will impact, you know, how we address each generation and their desire for homes.

00:53:09:23 - 00:53:39:09
Sara Gutterman: When we asked the generations about describing their perfect lifestyle, you can see there's a lot of answers here. But in general, boomers said consider themselves to be natural and back to Earth. Xers consider themselves to be family focused and to have fairly simple lives. Millennials are minimalists and natural, and then Gen Zs are artistic and natural. So kind of a theme of being natural and, you know, organic, back to Earth.

00:53:39:09 - 00:54:09:23
Sara Gutterman: That really jives with what we're seeing right now with respect to that interest of seamless indoor outdoor living spaces, natural fabrics and colors as well. When we asked generations where they'd like to live, you can see the responses here. Boomers said small towns, extra said kind of vibrant cities in small towns. Interestingly, the vibrant city number has gone way down over the last couple years and small town has gone up for Xers.

00:54:09:26 - 00:54:30:08
Sara Gutterman: Millennials are still interested in vibrant cities and then Zs by far want lovely suburbs, which I thought was interesting. Now these next couple of slides show how important different topics are to each generation. So the way that I look at these charts is I combine the green and the blue to kind of see extremely important and very important.

00:54:30:08 - 00:54:55:19
Sara Gutterman: So you can see that generation by generation, net zero carbon and net is on the left. Net zero water is on the right. These then millennials you know really value these two things. Xers a little less so. And same with boomers. You know same thing here. These show the importance of electric on the left and resiliency on the right.

00:54:55:19 - 00:55:22:02
Sara Gutterman: You can see that millennials have the highest interest in resiliency. That corroborates what I showed earlier connected living and smart home. Interestingly, it was millennials and then boomers that were most interested in this. And I think with boomers again, it's some of that assisted living technology solar plus storage. Gen Z and millennials have the highest preference. Now these next couple of slides is actually the opposite.

00:55:22:02 - 00:55:50:23
Sara Gutterman: So the more yellow the more and turquoise, the more each generation says they are willing to spend on category specific products. Right. So energy efficiency across the board, all generations for the most part, say they'll spend about 1 to 5000 on energy efficiency upgrades. Interestingly, millennials excuse me, Gen Zs say that they will spend 5000 to 10,000 on healthy home upgrades.

00:55:50:23 - 00:56:25:00
Sara Gutterman: That's kind of the biggest chunk of responses. They're here again. Millennials and Gen Z say that they'll spend about 5 to 10,000 or 1 to 5000 on smart home and connected living. And you can see the numbers on the right for water conservation. Here again are the numbers for resiliency solar plus storage. So a higher inclination to pay more from Gen Zs, which I think partly represents their values and just their level of understanding.

00:56:25:00 - 00:56:52:24
Sara Gutterman: But let's be honest, it partly also represents the fact that, you know, they're not all necessarily out actually spending. So there may be a discrepancy between what they say they'll spend versus what they will actually spend. But notice the millennial numbers. Those are also pretty high. And they are, you know, for the most part in in homes and actually spending, you can see here numbers in terms of spending for enhanced outdoor living, about 1 to 5000 is the average.

00:56:52:26 - 00:57:19:01
Sara Gutterman: Same with net zero carbon. Now when we look at what each generation will invest in to make their homes net zero energy, for the most part, heat pumps was the number one response across all of the generations. Millennials are also getting into things like demand side energy management and batteries, but definitely a high level of awareness for heat pumps for HVAC.

00:57:19:03 - 00:57:46:23
Sara Gutterman: This one's interesting. Would you purchase an all electric home? Look at that number for Gen Zs, 100% said yes. There's no, you know, knows or unsure. Like there's no question on this one. This one shows the future. You can see primary motivations for going solar, mostly reduced environmental footprint and then also a bit to increase self-sufficiency. Saving money was a little bit further down.

00:57:46:25 - 00:58:12:27
Sara Gutterman: When we look at net zero water, low flow fixtures, leak detection again, kind of some of the higher responses Z's like rainwater harvesting. When we look at what the generation say they will purchase in terms of smart home devices, interestingly, doorbells are right up there in terms of, you know what, what generations want to purchase. I think that's partly because of that security aspect.

00:58:12:29 - 00:58:40:23
Sara Gutterman: But certainly, you know, energy monitoring and kind of energy efficiency related devices are up there as well. When we look at prefab homes again here, 100% of Gen Z said that they would like to live in a prefab home, which means that there's a totally different perspective on what a prefab home means to the younger generations than to older generations, particularly to Gen Zs.

00:58:40:26 - 00:59:06:26
Sara Gutterman: I think Gen Z is really see, they don't necessarily have the older perception of prefab, which might be like a mobile home, and instead they see these really high performance, you know, very highly precision engineered homes, you know, in that prefab space. And that's how they perceive prefab with respect to important landscaping elements, I mentioned self-sufficiency and food production.

00:59:06:26 - 00:59:38:03
Sara Gutterman: So gardens and edible plants across the board for boomers, Xers and millennials. And then we see their escaping as a priority to Gen Zs, which is aligned with the chart below, which shows that Gen Z absolutely by far say that water conservation is the top sustainability factor when planning their outdoor spaces. We can also see that environmental, social and governance is extremely important.

00:59:38:03 - 01:00:08:12
Sara Gutterman: Over 80% of Zs say that ESG is extremely or very important when purchasing products, and millennials aren't too far behind. Nor are Xers. But, you know, certainly ESG is becoming more and more important. And I would say the element and the s element of is so environmental and social are of most important to Zs and millennials kind of across all generations.

01:00:08:12 - 01:00:36:03
Sara Gutterman: But certainly, you know, millennials and Zs and you know, we do see that already. A lot of the companies that all the generations are working for are starting to implement sustainability initiatives, particularly by using more sustainable products and raw materials and inputs. Now, I've got one last section I always run over. I always try to to stop on time and forgive me.

01:00:36:03 - 01:01:01:19
Sara Gutterman: So if you can give me about ten more minutes, about five more minutes for the presentation and we'll do a few minutes of Q&A. So Mike and Mary, apologies to you as well, I really tried. I'll run through these slides pretty quickly. And as I said, these are my last final few. So, you know, we know that inflation and high home prices and low inventory and economic uncertainty are impacting the housing market and consumer confidence.

01:01:01:22 - 01:01:27:28
Sara Gutterman: We you know, kind of across the board, we see new home, new contract signings and pending sales and housing starts are all down. But with that said, you know, I think that we need to look at the short term versus the long term. So, you know, short term we're seeing, you know, certain things like price cuts and incentives that are being made to motivate buyers.

01:01:27:29 - 01:01:59:25
Sara Gutterman: On the sell side, we're seeing more concessions. And also on the mortgage side, we're seeing adjustable rate mortgages. We're seeing housing costs, you know, outpacing wages by up to 20% in some markets. And we're actually seeing home the first time home buyers, their share of the market is the smallest share since data has been tracked. So it's normally about 40% and it's at about 26% right now.

01:01:59:26 - 01:02:38:04
Sara Gutterman: And so that's something that we're really following. Because, you know, these first time homebuyers are competing in a market with anemic inventory against investors and repeat home buyers who have home equity or who are just, frankly, flush with cash. And so, you know, those are just some things that we're keeping our eye on. We are seeing that as homeowners choose to remodel in 2023 and into the future, there are going to be these very large opportunities in energy efficiency and sustainability retrofits, aging in place retrofits, resiliency retrofits, etc..

01:02:38:06 - 01:03:02:05
Sara Gutterman: And, you know, this kind of plays into something that we're seeing when we survey our builder audience. You know that while a lot of them are bracing for short term impact, you know, 60% of our builder audience is optimistic about the market. And, you know, in some ways, they're actually happy to have a little bit of breathing room and a pause from the craziness of the pandemic years.

01:03:02:07 - 01:03:33:10
Sara Gutterman: And about 70% expect that the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure bill will have a positive impact on their business. And that's mostly through incentives and rebates for high performance products and electrification technologies like heat pumps and induction cooktops and solar, plus storage and demand side energy management systems. And so I think that that's good, because I think that a lot of the builders feel like their backlog or their pipeline is strong enough to get them into 2023.

01:03:33:10 - 01:04:02:01
Sara Gutterman: Some say that if we hit an economic recession, that could impact them in 2024 and beyond, but for the most part, you know, they are feeling pretty optimistic and positive about the housing market. And from a long term perspective, you know, really what we're seeing is this huge opportunity in the missing middle. There's about 3.8 million missing middle home units short, according to Freddie Mac.

01:04:02:01 - 01:04:32:20
Sara Gutterman: And you know, we really need to address this housing inventory crisis, because the truth is that home demand, especially from the millennials and the younger Gen Z, is not going away. And for the most part, they are going to be looking at this missing middle kind of chunk of homes. But we can't just go back to the old status quo or what's considered to be conventional homes when we address this inventory crisis.

01:04:32:20 - 01:05:08:23
Sara Gutterman: Rather, you know, we just we can't let it. Well, we can't let ourselves fall into the trap of what I call army jail or just building the lowest upfront cost, shoddy homes that just meet code, because that just perpetuates this vicious cycle that got us here in the first place. Rather, you know, we really need to think about building these next generation homes that can be a panacea for health and wellness, that can create generational wealth that these millennials and Gen Zs can get into will say, attainable.

01:05:08:25 - 01:05:46:21
Sara Gutterman: I shy away from the term affordably because that has a very specific HUD definition. But, you know, those homes have to meet their needs. Again, you know, they have to be net zero electric, healthy, resilient, connected. They have to be in mixed use communities with walking trails and community gardens that can create that generational wealth, not just within those families, the first homeowners, but for second, third, fourth and fifth homeowners who won't have to worry about health issues or leaking or mold and mildew issues or structural issues, but rather they'll know that those homes were built right the first time.

01:05:46:23 - 01:06:19:22
Sara Gutterman: And they can trust that those homes, even if they are a second, third, fourth, fifth homebuyer, will keep their families safe and protected and will withstand the super storms and the flooding and the hurricanes and the wildfires. So, you know, I think that right now it's really important that we see the bright side, partly in terms of just the right sizing that's happening in the market, which a lot of economists consider to just be a stabilization that will bring the pace and the costs of building back to Earth.

01:06:19:24 - 01:07:01:06
Sara Gutterman: But, you know, really also look at the fact that younger generations, millennials and Gen Z, they need these attainable priced homes, they want sustainable homes. You know, they will be demanding a certain type of home for years and years to come, for decades to come, really. And that in order for us to meet their needs. We really need to continue to transform, to, to expedite the pace and rate of change within our industry so that we are creating products that meet the needs of these younger generations.

01:07:01:06 - 01:07:13:15
Sara Gutterman: So that's it for today, Mike. Why don't we do about five minutes of questions and we'll just do a hard stop at I'm on mountain time. So 115 my time.

01:07:13:18 - 01:07:23:11
Mike Collignon: All right. Please send in your questions. Now I have the box you have.

01:07:23:14 - 01:07:26:14
Mike Collignon: Echo on my part.

01:07:26:16 - 01:07:31:17
Mike Collignon: I had one Sarah.

01:07:31:20 - 01:07:35:19
Mike Collignon: When you're talking about Gen Z.

01:07:35:22 - 01:07:48:15
Mike Collignon: How young the survey participant is, the age range suggests that you could be talking to people as young as ten years old. So how far down does that go?

01:07:48:18 - 01:08:10:10
Sara Gutterman: Yes. And generally speaking, when we survey our audience, we kind of cut it off at about 18. So, you know, there's we're not reaching all the way down to the younger Gen Z, Gen Z segments. We're kind of keeping in the in the older part of the Gen Z audience.

01:08:10:12 - 01:08:26:23
Mike Collignon: Gotcha. Great. Okay. That's kind of what I figured, but I just wanted to make sure on that. We have a question from Izumi who wanted to know, what do you consider tactile stories or tactile content? Can you kind of give us a little bit of a definition there?

01:08:26:25 - 01:08:52:05
Sara Gutterman: Yeah. That's great. And I have to be honest with you, I'm not an expert on that. So I'm not going to be able to like, you know, give you another half hour on what that means. But so from what I understand, there is a new functionality now where it's partly providing information in real time. So for example, I am, you know, a peloton devotee, I ride my peloton.

01:08:52:05 - 01:09:42:17
Sara Gutterman: And the other day I was writing and I finished a ride and up came a little button that said. Explorer. You know the instructor, Jess's look. And if I didn't click it, but if I had, it would have taken me to hell. It in apparel and to look at the, the, the clothing that she was wearing, that is more kind of real time, you know, kind of product sales and marketing, but in the same sense, I'm using that as an example to say in a in the same sense, it's providing kind of information and links and connectivity and engagement in a new way so that we can, you know, sometimes it might use, say,

01:09:42:19 - 01:10:13:18
Sara Gutterman: a virtual reality to show, for example, homeowners what a paint color might look on a wall if they're reading a story about paint, and they can access a tool where they can upload a picture of their home or and see a certain, you know, color of paint on their wall. Or maybe, you know, they're looking they're reading a story about apparel, and they can click into a tool that shows them what a sweater would look like on them if they upload their picture.

01:10:13:18 - 01:10:38:13
Sara Gutterman: So it's kind of this multimedia content that blurs the lines of, okay, this is an article versus this is a shopping experience versus, you know, this is an interactive, you know, kind of curious, curated content experience where all those things converge together.

01:10:38:15 - 01:10:59:01
Mike Collignon: Okay. Question from Lori, who is focusing on resiliency and wanted to know, do you think that most homeowners even connect the word resilience to all the different ways that our homes can be better prepared for disasters?

01:10:59:04 - 01:11:28:17
Sara Gutterman: So all I can do is respond to you with the data and tell you that we reach millions of early adopter and first mover consumers, the majority of which now are millennials, and they resonate with the term resiliency. Again, there are audience and they're loyal and engaged. And so they hear the term resiliency from us regularly. So I can't say that mainstream consumers will be as connected with that term per se.

01:11:28:20 - 01:12:06:13
Sara Gutterman: And it may end up being that it, you know, could be like one of those terminology things where, you know, you decide that you don't call it resiliency. You talk about it with respect to kind of localized climate related event terms. Right? So if you're in the West, you're going to be talking about wildfire risk mitigation, and you won't necessarily need to use the word resiliency as much if you're on the on the, you know, in the southeast, you're going to be talking about sea level rise and super storms and flooding.

01:12:06:15 - 01:12:38:27
Sara Gutterman: So, you know, I think it's a bit market dependent, partly in terms of the kind of savviness of the audience, also the geography of the audience. I would say that resiliency in general, though, does have a higher level of awareness than most people would think because of the way it's talked about in the news. And I think it's a term that people are understanding is kind of a a, I'm going to say catch phrase for all of these different climate related events.

01:12:38:27 - 01:13:08:20
Sara Gutterman: It's kind of being packed under the resiliency umbrella. There are some other terms that you certainly can use if you're finding, and I don't know who you are or what you do, but if you're finding that the people you talk with aren't aren't resonating with that term again, there's many, many others, whether that's again, kind of talking about the events themselves or talking about how homes and communities can withstand those events, you know, durability, low maintenance, making sure that you survive the storm.

01:13:08:25 - 01:13:13:00
Sara Gutterman: Lots of ways to talk about it.

01:13:13:02 - 01:13:15:19
Sara Gutterman: One more question, Mike. You better make it good.

01:13:15:21 - 01:13:18:00
Mike Collignon: Oh, gosh. You're going to make that.

01:13:18:02 - 01:13:21:21
Sara Gutterman: We can do two. We can do to.

01:13:21:23 - 01:13:46:07
Mike Collignon: So many questions. Oh goodness. Well I want to I want to kind of do a two parter if I can. I'm going to cheat. We heard from our friends at younger homes and you know our friends. Yeah. Yeah. So that's why I can get away with the two parter here. So. So Carmen is saying, you know, hey, look, it sounds like we need to start gearing our content towards millennials and Gen Z homeowners.

01:13:46:08 - 01:13:50:06
Mike Collignon: Is that is that a pretty accurate summation here?

01:13:50:08 - 01:14:17:27
Sara Gutterman: Yes. You know, I think that you should still be prepared to talk with the older generations for, you know, to Boomers and Xers and, you know, interestingly, we're looking at not just different messaging and talking points, but like for example, different playlists. We're actually working with Sonos right now to look at different playlists that builders can, can have running in their showrooms.

01:14:17:28 - 01:14:39:13
Sara Gutterman: When people from the different generations come into their demo homes or into their showrooms to resonate with those generations, which I think is kind of neat. But yeah, I think in general, if you are preparing your messaging to resonate with those millennials and Gen Z, you're going to be future proofing your business.

01:14:39:15 - 01:15:04:24
Mike Collignon: And then the second part of this was Danielle kind of sending me a testimonial. So she said that they had a video recently go viral on TikTok, 400,000 views. And so she's saying that for all of you builders out there, that may be a good example of what engagement looks like in the future here for home builders. So don't necessarily shy away from the new trend.

01:15:04:25 - 01:15:06:18
Mike Collignon: It worked for them.

01:15:06:20 - 01:15:08:13
Sara Gutterman: Absolutely.

01:15:08:15 - 01:15:27:09
Mike Collignon: And there's a couple other good questions. Hopefully you get a chance to check those out post webinar, because I think they're worthy of answers from you. And a couple of them. We've heard the issues cuff a couple of different times. And so I think it's something that hopefully Greenville, the media is kind of keeping an eye on.

01:15:27:12 - 01:15:44:04
Sara Gutterman: So yeah. And to that end, Mike, obviously my email address is on this slide. So for those of you who had asked questions that I didn't get to, I apologize and feel free to shoot me an email and I will answer best as I can.

01:15:44:06 - 01:16:14:09
Mike Collignon: Awesome. Thank you. Well, I appreciate so much everybody's attendance here today. Thank you so much, Sarah, for sharing your insights and phenomenal data packed. And I'm sure a lot of people are going to be going back and watching the recording of this, which will be available on Greenville and Media's YouTube channel. Thank you also to our wonderful sponsors Sonos, NV energy, Whirlpool and Westlake Royal Building Products for their wonderful sponsorship of this webinar.

01:16:14:10 - 01:16:33:14
Mike Collignon: And I just wanted to take a moment to make a quick plug for our upcoming housing 2.0 workshop series. It's the first one of 2023 and it begins on February 9th. So to learn more about this six part educational program hosted by Sam Raskin, please visit Green Builder Media.

01:16:33:16 - 01:16:41:29
Mike Collignon: Dash two. Until next time, stay safe out there on those snowmobiles. Stay healthy and take care of everyone.