THERE IS AN INTERESTING ARTICLE in the current issue of Harvard Business Review entitled "The Next 20 Years: How Customers and Workforce Attitudes Will Evolve." This article speaks to the many emerging trends within the generations and the attitudinal, financial, societal, political and relative impacts on how the workforce will evolve in the coming years. In looking through these generations, I put the "email" filter on to see how each one consumes email, how its members are consumers of digital mediums in general and any impacts our channel should be aware of.

GI Generation (born 1901-1924) - This generation consists of the grandparents and great-grandparents that we know today. The elderly are a fascinating group who have evolved in their use of email. Members of this group aren't the fastest adopters of the Internet, but there is no mistaking their presence. Considering the youngest in this generation is in their 80s, email for them is traditionally kept to social networking and research-related activities. I'm amazed at this generation as they have surprised me with their adoption of the Internet in general.  But for commerce and business reasons, I don't see this as the highest "invest" segment or even a close 5th in terms of age bands.  But this group will definately open their granddaughter's email and look at pictures and possibly share a joke or two.

Silent Generation (born 1924-1942) - This generation is widely recognized as the "activist" generation and is still driving social changes that you see today. They're the meat behind "cause marketing." To see their influence, look at cause marketing and how fundraising through the Internet has evolved, and you'll see a progressively growing trend in how members use email for business, marketing and general awareness of issues. Although an aging generation, this group includes the older parents and grandparents who buy/sell and email every joke, religious and motivational viral message there is.  For business reasons, they may not be the most efficient at email and would prefer an in-person meeting invite than an Outlook notification, but there is no denying the fact that this group is online and see's the value.  You won't find many of these people with Blackberry's, iPhone's and answering email during family functions.

Boom Generation (born 1946-1964) - The phenomenon of the Internet can be attributed to this generation. They are the consumers, the high-value earners, the suburban dwellers, and the first generation of women challenging the corporate glass ceiling. There are many books written about the power of women, including their influence on household income and how that income is disposed of. Women are the health researchers when their parents are ill, the surfers of the Web, the catalysts to retail, and have even progressed as buyers of high-priced items. Email is a fulfillment vehicle to them, a tool for social networking and a way to be more efficient in their day. The primary activity on the Internet for a boomer is email, closely followed by search. Members of this group are VERY involved in their children's lives -- more so than the previous generation. Key examples of this trend are the popularity of child-related sites, parent support sites, health-related sites and social networking in general. PTA groups have each other's email addresses now and schools have email newsletters. While Generation X is the catalyst of email as a social networking and business tool, the followers that bring "mass" to this phenomenon are the Boomers.   This generation is soo involved in their children's lives.  It was reported by PEWS that the average parent in this generation and Gen X spend 30% more time with their children than people of previous generations.  This is strange since the prior generations had more stay-home mothers, prior to WWII.  But the fact is, parents are more involved in their children's lives and have closer connections to their parents.  This in itself is a catalyst to staying connected via digital channels.   This is key when you see the level of involvement by women over 50 with photo sharing, affitinity driven newsletters (Daily Candy, Martha Stewart).  Email is a core part and this high-value audience is prime for marketing, advertising, branding and any promotional connection you can make that brings efficiency to their daily lives.

Generation X (born 1964-1981) - This is the MTV, hip-hop and risk-taking generation. Of all living generations, we are the most active in the management of our lives via digital channels. We are best described as wanting to be our own bosses and will be the generation that struggles to corral the next line or workforce entering the market in the next 20 years. In the U.S, this group also represents the largest percentage of immigrants, which has added fuel to the emerging trend of globalization. This generation is the one that I see at conferences, whose members raise their hands when I ask who has more than 4 + email addresses, has answered email at church, answered email before they brushed their teeth and while driving. This generation is the reason for books like "Send: The Essential Guide to Email for the Office and Home."  Time Shifting started with this generation.  We don't want commercials and will go to great lengths to avoid them with the likes of TIVO and Cable adoption.  Broadband in the home has made such amazing strides, this groups is the "wired" generation as well.

Millenial (born 1982- 2005) -  The oldest member of this group is 25 and entering the workforce.  This is our new workforce that grew up with email and text messaging in grammer school, high school and college and are the catalyst to social networking.  I like to call this generation the "multi-plex" generation.  We had Atari and Nintendo and this generation has video on demand, XBos and Wii.  This generation is exposed to so many stimuli and choices it will be difficult to institututionalize this group and keep their interest in the workforce.  There is no denying this groups use of email and how pervasive it is in their daily functions.  But they will have less patience for clutter in the inbox and will put more demands on the the businesses to optimize channels, media, and timing.  Time Shifting and Place Shifting will be the new challenge of optimizing this generation.

Homeland - (2005-20025) -  This generation is close to my heart.  The first thing I did after my daugher was born a few weeks ago, after I sent out the obligatory photos and alerts of the new baby through email, Shutterfly and YouTube videos, was to get my daughter's email accounts on Gmail, AOL, MSN and Yahoo.  Her webpage and Myspace page will be next.  This will be valuable inventory in years to come.  Who knows who will own who and who will be around in ten years when she begins to socialize through email and develop her online persona.  And I don't want her to be forced to settle for Tara089797861098763@aol.com.

All generations are digital, all rely on email in one way or another.  Thus the nuances of your programs should adapt to the differing needs for information, how they share it, use it to function and how they develop their social networks.   This "value" is what drives brand relationships over time.