AgTalk | Generation Einstein is smarter, faster and socially more aware: Author, Jeroen Boschma

When Jeroen Boschma first wrote Generation Einstein 2006, little did he know that it would reach a Harry Potter-ish success. It created a big ripple in Netherlands ' a book that talked about the generation that was born during the last decade of the previous century --- smarter, faster and socially more aware.

It then spread it wings to Spain in May 2008 and in the US in early 2009 Amsterdam in October 2010. Now in 2012, Boschma joins hands with youth entertainment brand UTV Bindass to launch its Indian edition.

In India, the book is targeted primarily at marketers, brands and companies and is furnished with Indian case studies on several brands including Tata Docomo, Virgin Mobiles and Fastrack.

Adgully caught up with Boschma, who shares the insights about the book and further explains the concept behind it.

The book basically divided into four parts explaining the core values of this generation, marketing, media strategies.

Adgully (AG): What is the book Generation Einstein is all about?

Jeroen Boschma (JB): About two years, I met somebody in India and while exchanging our thoughts, he landed up with this idea and asked me to write a book. The book needed to be rewritten completely, the version of original book generation Einstein but based on the situation of India. I liked the concept.

AG: So how did the idea of the book come about?

JB: The youngsters of the 2000 were more active, positive ' it was the first generation that were Internet savvy, they know what Internet is and they were hooked on it more often than the previous generations. So in 2005 I wrote the book, which was published in 2006 and named it "Generation Einstein, smarter, faster and socially more aware.'

AG: Please explain the content of the book¦

JB: The book is basically spread across four chapters describing the Generation Einstein and it's about marketing. The solution to the most asked question i.e. If you want to reach this generation how can you do it? Today it's not about the way you make a step ahead to get youngsters, it's about how you can make youngsters invite you as a brand in their life. It's a positive book.

AG: How much time you took to complete writing this book?

JB: I started writing it a year ago, and its ready for the launch.

AG: What's your take on the youth of today?

JB: The big turn today is that the youth today are self-actualisers and are on top of the Maslow's pyramid, who look down to the marketers with questions as what you have for me, why I should choose you as my brand, how your brand/product can be beneficial to me. These are not easy questions to answer. In the olden days, the brand used to target groups but today being different, being yourself is normal.

AG: How do they differ from country to country?

JB: Today it's about global generation ' be it be in India, Brazil, Europe or other country, all are part of the new generation. One thing that we have done in the book is that we have compared the generations with the parents of Generation Einstein and the grand parents of Generation Einstein. Then we have tried to differentiate the parents of Generation Einstein in India and Holland and Europe.

AG: Tell us about the study been done for the book?

JB: We tried to understand, the way a brand communicate with the users. We have the case studies, brand studies relevant to India. The cases that we studied and included are not the one's which didn't worked but those that worked. We've tried to go a one step further about what could have been done to make it even better. We have discussed about the brand like Bindaas, Tata Docomo etc.

AG: How is this book different from the original one?

JB: The Indian book is completely re-written from beginning to the end. It all about situation in India, the way generation consumes the media in India, the brand studies and case studies on India. It's a completely new book.

AG: How's the book useful to marketers?

JB: Marketers needs to understand that the marketing today is not about getting yourself closer to consumers, it's all about how can you make youngsters invite you into their lives as a brand/ product/company. Marketers should understand that the consumers are their best friends and consumers should not just like them, but should love you as a brand/product.

And you shouldn't think much about how you could make consumers believe you, instead you should be there as their brand by providing them what they actually need. Most of the brands make a mistake thinking that social media is equals to Facebook is mistake and one should not make such mistake.

AG: Word of advice for generation today?

JB: Youth should not stop dreaming, they should do that they feel is right, they should keep on doing innovative things that could make people amaze. They don't want to exclude us, this generation wants to do things together and we should be the part of it.