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For young professionals, the sky’s the limit. You have time on your side, and can use these early years to make the right steps to ensure a lucrative future.  There are so many career avenues, and not all paths are the same or without curves and bumps.

One thing that’s tried and true: An early start making the right moves can mean less bumps and more progress in the longrun. But where do you start? Brazen Careerist asked 10 game-changing members of Young Entrepreneur Council what they did at the beginning of their career that’s helped them see their current succes.

Read more at Brazen Careerist …

The Wired Techie, driven by the need to be the first to discover, use and recommend new tech devices and gadgets.

The Conformist Yet Somewhat Paradoxical Preppy, traditional yet trendy buyers who are driven to want to fit in and belong.

The Always Mellow Alternative, who deviate from mainstream buying habits in order to pursue and support causes they believe in.

The Cutting Edge Independent, who deviate from the mainstream just for the sake of it.

While it’s difficult to accept that Wells’ tribes truly represent the totality of the thinking of tweens, teens and young adults, her book underscores an important reality of sales and marketing in the age of The Long Tail: Why The Future of Business is Selling Less of More ($10, Hyperion)–Chris Anderson’s must-read book about the changing nature of consumer choice and tastes in a largely digital marketplace: targeting consumers by age, race, gender and other traditional demographic markers alone is no longer enough for a business to be effective and, ultimately, profitable.

When it comes to marketing to youth, comes with unimpeachable bona fides. Already a 15-year veteran in the marketing business, she started Buzz Marketing as an 18-year-old, quickly carving out a niche and establishing a knack for understanding the trends, tastes and influences driving young consumers. Eventually graduating with honors with a B.A. in communication art from Hood College in 2002, and currently earning a marketing management degree at the Wharton School of Business, Wells creates marketing strategies for clients in the beauty, entertainment, fashion, financial and lifestyle sectors. Her clients have ranged from Sesame Street Workshop and PBS to American Eagle Outfitters and SonyBMG. Today, Wells, an expert contributor on entrepreneurship to BlackEnterprise.com, is well established as one of America’s most honored and celebrated young entrepreneurs.

Wells brings nearly than 15 years of youth marketing experience to the table, which she began acquiring as a teenager.

So it’s no surprise that Wells brings and authoritative voice to Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right, confidently explaining the diverse world views of young consumers while smartly taking into account parents, as both their primary financial resource and the people with the most influence on their values. Wells also breezily illustrates, using vignettes of real young people who were subjects of her company’s survey, the impact of social media, globalization and the Great Recession on the “new millennials.” She also courageously weighs in on how young consumers feel about everything from environmentalism and corporate America to hypersexual content and America’s two-party political system.

In fact, sometimes Wells is over confident, making bold, sweeping overstatements about this or that aspect of the way young people think. For example, her description of “Global Mobiles” —young people who “live in a world without geographic or cultural boundaries” —is a stretch, conveniently overlooking the millions of young people, particularly low-income rural and urban Americans, who are hardly conscious of how people live on the other side of the tracks, much less the other side of the world. (Think Shawn Carter in the Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects before he became Jay-Z, the mogul and global citizen.) While global mobiles abolutely exist, it’s too early to categorize them as a dominant factor in marketing.

The other major weakness of the book is that it so many examples of companies’ failed and/or successful efforts to market to youth culture that Wells ends up quickly glossing over most of them, causing them to lose some of their illustrative impact. I wish she’d used fewer examples, which would have allowed her to more effectively use those that remained as more enlightening and instructive case studies.

That said, if you’re a marketer or entrepreneur who wants to tap into the spending power of the generations of consumers who will drive the national and global economies over the next several decades (and come on, who doesn’t?), then you cannot afford to not read Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right. The book is both confirmation of Well’s formidable track record as an expert on the trends and tastes of young people, and powerful evidence of her prowess at using her immersion in her chosen area of expertise to peer around the corner into a future consumer marketplace, one that is evolving as unpredictably as it is quickly. Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right does solve all of the mysteries of marketing to young consumers, but it most certainly provides the most necessary, fascinating and useful clues.

Tina Wells is CEO of Buzz Marketing Group and is a columnist for BlackEnterprise.com. Follow her on Twitter at @tinacwells and check out her new book, Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right, available now on amazon.com.

• Young innovators today often push age stereotypes to the side to strategize their way to success. And these entrepreneurs did just that, making power plays that keep them ahead of the pack, and taking risks to see their dreams come true. As part of our Young Bosses series, providing tools and resources for budding and experienced business leaders ages 35 and under, BlackEnterprise.com spotlights their stories. Learn how you can use these plays to get in the game and win.

• FILLING A VOID IN AFRICA: GREG MARCHAND

Marchand, 35, founded Chicago-based Gizmos L.L.C., and after seeing a demand for IT products and services in Africa, expanded his venture to Zambia. He heads Gizmos’ African division, Gizmos Ltd., which provides business solutions to the Sub-Saharan African business community. With nearly $1 million in revenues in 2010, Gizmos’ clients include the MTN Group, a multinational mobile telecom company, and UNICEF.

• For resources on how to expand your business internationally, check out 4 Steps to Taking Your Business Global.

• BANKING ON SUSTAINABILITY: NATALIA ALLEN

This 20-something founder of Design Futurist, a product design consultancy founded in 2005, is hired by top companies to provide innovative environmentally friendly materials by using non-toxic methods of production. She touts sustainability as bigger than a trend– a necessary business move–and gives lectures and workshops to companies and organizations on incorporating Earth-friendly practices to increase their bottom line. “Any company that wants to be relevant in 10 years needs to grab hold of the idea of innovation and sustainability as core business practices and realize it’s not a do-good exercise. It is a business opportunity,” Allen told Black Enterprise magazine.

• For tips on how to succeed in green industries, check out Green Insider: Preparing Generation Next for Energy Jobs.

• TAPPING INTO PEERS: JASON SMIKLE

This 24-year-old founder of Truly Unique Vision (TUV) Online/TUV Media sought to provide engaging media produced for young people by young people and teamed up with friends Ebele Mora and Fabricio Sousa to launch the media company, which helps brands connect directly with audiences age 18–24. “There’s a huge disconnect between the mindset of young people and the companies trying to create products that young people buy,” Smikle told Black Enterprise magazine. With a client list boasting companies including Foot Locker, BET, Toyota, and McDonald’s, the company is set for major revenue growth in coming years.

• For more Web resources to grow your business, check out Top Sites for Young Entrepreneurs.

• TRANSLATING BUZZ OF GEN X & Y: TINA WELLS

Wells, 30, has grown her market research firm to position itself as a leader in giving companies from MAC Cosmetics to American Eagle effective marketing and research strategies—related to beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and entertainment—for 6 to 24-year-olds. With a worldwide network of nearly 10,000 teen consultants, the research aggregator provides a realistic view of what’s poppin’ –or not–among the youth of today, providing valuable insight on an audience with major buying power and cultural influence.

• For career tips on marketing success, check out 12 Things Every Entrepreneur Needs to Succeed in Marketing

• FLIPPING CATASTROPHE INTO DOLLARS: AMOS WINBUSH III

Twenty-six-year-old Winbush turned a loss of more than 100 contacts from his phone into a lightbulb moment that sparked a venture. In 2008, he started Cybersynchs, a company that allows for the synchronization of phone data with one’s computer. Holding partnerships with companies like Sun Microsystems and Samsung, the company has its sights on providing service for camcorders and cable devices, and synchronization to medical devices.

• For tips on how to turn a bright idea into a venture, check out Take Your Dream from Concept to Company.

• RISKING IT ALL FOR THE BIG WIN: AARON ARNOLD

Arnold, 31, gave his all to start his dream venture, leaving a high-paying job as a public relations executive to start Music Is My Business, an Atlanta-based music company with a client list that includes ESPN, Heineken, and the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP). The former Bad Boy intern who worked closely with Sean “Diddy” Combs, lived off credit cards and a prayer–and even worked for free– and it all paid off, with his company recently launching its first music single from its debut album called The Unknowns on MTV.

• EMPOWERING THOUGHT LEADERS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA: ARIELLE PATRICE SCOTT

The co-founder and CEO of GenJuice offers young influencers and entrepreneurs, ages 17-29, a community where they can view helpful content and resources to point them toward success. Using her digital strategy and social networking skills, Scott, is leading several business development projects at Game Changer Products, and describes herself as “part businesswoman, part artist, and full badass.”

• For more on how to stay away from social media blunders, check out 5 Twitter Mistakes to Avoid.

• Want to know more about young entrepreneurs and professionals doing it big in their industries? Check out our 40 Next list and get inspired!

These BE Nexters—those 21–35 years old making a measurable impact within their respective business, organization, industry, or field—prove things just aren’t the same.

For this group, leveraging expertise in one area to maximize an opportunity in another is standard. Using the legacy of their business predecessors to forge their own waydar, this new generation of leadership accepts the torch without trepidation. But the commonality between then and now is that success still takes a focused, strategic, and passionate mindset.

Here Black Enterprise identifies 40 young business leaders who are changing the game now and for the future. These BE Nexters are standouts in the areas of entrepreneurship, corporate America, academia, nonprofit, the arts, and the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)—all with a national, and in some cases a global reach.

Over the next 40 years, they will emerge as our business leaders. What will the generations to come have to say about them? Will they appreciate the successes they’ve made or be intimidated by following in their footsteps? The world of business will have to watch and see.

Natalia Allen (Photo by Jerry Jack)

Natalia Allen 27
Founder/Chief Creative Director
Design Futurist New York
Allen’s green fashion accessories and textiles are giving the world an eco-style makeover. Global companies such as Durobertpont, Calvin Klein, Quiksilver, and Donna Karan have called on Design Futurist, a product design consultancy founded in 2005, to create, design, and produce environmentally friendly materials by using non-toxic methods of production. “Sustainable fashion is not a trend,” says Allen, who also gives lectures and offers workshops to organizations and businesses worldwide about sustainable practices and opportunities in fashion. “Any company that wants to be relevant in 10 years needs to grab hold of the idea of innovation and sustainability as core business practices and realize it’s not a do-good exercise. It is a business opportunity.”  

—LaToya M. Smith

Lanesha Anderson 35
Senior Legal Counsel
Shell Oil Qatar
One of five attorneys on the Shell legal team on assignment in Qatar, Anderson’s main responsibilities include managing construction agreements and partnerships as well as marketing and sales agreements for products produced at the Royal Dutch Shell Pearl gas to liquid (GTL) project, the world’s largest plant that converts natural gas into clean-burning liquid transport fuel.

Chisa Brookes 29
Senior Research Engineer
ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co. Houston
Brookes works with an energy industry group to commission $9.4 million in research on the impact of sound on marine life by scientists worldwide. As the ExxonMobil representative on the international consortium of oil companies and exploration contractors, she analyzes their findings to develop operational plans enabling ExxonMobil to conduct its offshore oil and gas business in an environmentally responsible way.

Nick Cannon

Nick Cannon 29
Chairman of TeenNick
Nickelodeon New York
Cannon is America’s youngest television executive, charged with guiding the future of the brand from green-lighting programming to promoting and boosting ad revenues. Among his successful programming credits is the network’s HALO Awards, for which he’s the creator and talent. The show outperformed the network’s average ratings among teens (12–17) by more than 27% and total viewers by 36% in its time slot. The self-professed “Entrepre-tainer” simultaneously runs his own entertainment company and hosts a morning radio show on CBS Radio and NBC’s hit reality show America’s Got Talent.

Kelli Coleman 25
Vice President, Business Development
GlobalHue New York
Coleman is an integral part of the day-to-day operations of the multicultural ad firm where she leads the new business team and serves as president of Cutting Edge Productions, a broadcast production house under its corporate umbrella. Coleman manages across key areas, including new business, production, public relations, and The Coleman Entrepreneurial Scholarship.

Selena & Khary Cuffe 34/31
CEO/CFO
Heritage Link Brands L.L.C. Los Angeles
The 2009 BE Next Company of the Year, Heritage Link Brands has demonstrated explosive growth (2009 revenues: $1.15 million) while enabling African vintners to market their wines globally. The Cuffes have struck lucrative deals with United and American Airlines to serve South African wines on flights. In fact, the AA deal made their wine, One World, the first such fair-trade wine to be served on an airline in the U.S.

Rosalyn Durant 34
VP/General Manager
ESPNU Bristol, CT
As the youngest black VP/GM at ESPN, Durant currently oversees ESPNU, a 24-hour college-themed program channel with exclusive live event coverage. Since joining the network in 2008, Durant has helped grow viewership from about 20 million households to more than 72 million nationwide and secured distribution agreements with Charter, Comcast, Direct TV, DISH Network, Mediacom, Time Warner, Verizon FIOS TV, and AT&T U-verse.

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins 34
CEO
Green for All Oakland, CA
Ellis-Lamkins’ goal is to build a green economy, inclusive of people of color as well as those in low-income and underserved communities, who are traditionally shut out of  the “new economy.” Under Ellis-Lamkins’ leadership since March 2009, the national not-for-profit scored major legislative victories on state-level green jobs and energy-efficiency programs in Washington State and New Mexico as well as responsibly investing federal Recovery Act dollars for environmental and economic health. But part of her advocacy is engagement—getting people involved within their local communities. “It’s critical. If we don’t do something, it’s only going to get worse for our community,” says Ellis-Lamkins, who adds the first step is behavioral change. “There’s a long way to go but we’ve come incredibly far in this short amount of time. This is a moment where everything is possible.”

—Tennille M. Robinson

Roland Fryer Jr. 33
Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics
Harvard University Cambridge, MA
It’s quite a feat for any economist to earn some of Harvard’s most coveted fellowships and become its youngest-ever African American tenured professor by the age of 30. It’s another achievement entirely to consistently produce economic research that doesn’t put non-economists to sleep. His body of work is an investigation into the causes of economic inequality and the gap between blacks and other races in classroom and workplace achievement. Fryer’s must-read published research, including An Empirical Analysis of Acting White and The Causes and Consequences of Distinctly Black Names helped land him on The Economist’s list of the world’s top young economists and Time magazine’s 2009 list of the world’s 100 most influential people.

—John Simons

Darnell Henderson 32
Founder
H.I.M-istry Skincare Inc. Miami
Henderson delivers all-natural men’s skincare products, including cleansers, toners, and scrubs, to the male masses. To date, H.I.M-istry is sold online and in more than 100 Macy’s department stores nationwide. In 2009, the enterprise produced revenues of $1.6 million and projects revenues of $2.3 million in 2010.

Andre Hudson 34
Design Manager
Hyundai Design North America Irvine, CA
It was passion that steered Hudson to design cars. After receiving his first auto magazine in junior high school, his career path became clear. “Chrysler was doing some amazing concept cars, I remember how inspired I was by the Prowler and the Dodge Viper. These cars just got my heart racing,” says Hudson. He is now responsible for designing the sleek, sculpted 2011 Hyundai Sonata. The Sonata’s redesign has propelled the company to record growth at a time when much of the auto industry is recovering after a series of government bailouts and product recalls. In May, sales for the Sonata soared 93% year-over-year, leading the company to an all-time sales record for the month. Hudson, who has learned from the industry’s best business minds, including GM’s Vice President of Global Design Ed Welburn, has also lent his design skills to the new Elantra, which saw sales jump 47% year-over-year.

—Renita Burns

Hassan & Hussein Iddrissu 32
Founders/Presidents
Roadstarr Motorsport Los Angeles
Facilities in Los Angeles and London earned the twins $13 million in 2009. The automotive customization company offers services that include personalized auto sales and leasing, interior enhancements, and custom mobile PCs for top companies and celebrities. With the opening of a new store in their hometown of Accra, Ghana, this fall, revenue projections are at $15 million for 2010.

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson

Curtis “50 Cent”Jackson 34
Entrepreneur New York
His philosophy—“Get Rich or Die Trying”—serves as motivation for the artist/actor/entrepreneur. Unprecedented moves such as his investment in Glacéau, makers of Vitamin Water, earned the multitiered business mogul a reported $100 million after the company was sold to Coca-Cola in 2007. Jackson has created and actively manages several brand extensions, including G-Unit Footwear Collection by RBK (Reebok), generating $70 million in sales; G-Unit Apparel by Ecko Unlimited, producing $100 million in retail sales; two video games with Vivendi Universal; a fragrance sold exclusively in Macy’s stores; a publishing and production company; and a host of other upcoming ventures. “Your goal in every maneuver in life must be ownership, working the corner for yourself,” 50 Cent wrote in The New York Times bestseller The 50th Law.

—LaToya Smith

Duane Jackson

Duane Jackson 27
Investment Specialist
U.S. Department of Treasury Washington, D.C.
As an investment banking associate at Merrill Lynch, Jackson witnessed the ravages of the financial crisis firsthand. With a specialty in executing mergers and acquisitions and other capital-raising activities, the Chicago native realized his skills could serve his country. In 2009, he joined the U.S. Treasury Department as an investment specialist with the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and is the youngest African American on TARP’s 20-person Chief Investment Office team.

—John Simons

Christopher Johnson 31
President/CEO
The Johnson Group Inc.  Sacramento, CA
Johnson has grown his technical staffing and consulting firm into an 11-employee force that generated $3.3 million in 2009—less than four years since its inception. The Johnson Group specializes in high-growth architectural, engineering, environmental, and construction fields, and has retained nearly 100 clients, including Sacramento Municipal Utility District and global firm HOK Architects.

Chekesha Kidd 33
Chief of Staff/Head of Business Development
Aetna Inc. Hartford, CT
Heading up the Local Employer and Consumer Segment, Kidd  oversees a team of 15, managing M&As, alliance strategy, and governance structure estimated to represent 60% of the company’s revenues. Previously she worked as a director on the corporate development team, responsible for negotiating and executing transactions involving Aetna’s global business units.

Franklin Leonard 31
Director of Development, Universal Pictures
Founder/Publisher The Black List Los Angeles
Leonard reviews scripts for Universal that will give the studio the best creative and financial return and shepherds them through the process, from concept to completion. But Leonard’s real draw is The Black List, an annual publication he created in 2004 that highlights Hollywood’s most popular unproduced screenplays—material that has potential to make it to the big screen. List alum include: Juno, which won the Academy Award for Best Original screenplay, and Will Smith’s critically acclaimed Seven Pounds.

Leona Locke Dotson 29
Finance Manager
Microsoft Corp. Redmond, WA
Locke Dotson manages $1 billion in revenues and creates long- and short-term strategies for current and future product launches and specific marketing initiatives. She expanded Microsoft’s finance-driven tool for field salespeople worldwide to include more products, customer intelligence, and envelop more customers to drive profits. She also structured a model $1 million donation from Microsoft to the National Association of Black Accountants.

Jamail Larkins

Jamail Larkins  26
Founder/CEO
Ascension Aircraft Augusta, GA
Larkins has been flying high since the tender age of 16. In 2006, he started his company with just $5,000. Since then Ascension has taken off, with services such as aircraft leasing, management, acquisition, and brokering. Last year, the revenues of this 2010 BE Next Company of the Year grew to $8.4 million.

Ninon Marapachi 32
Director/Senior Project Manager
Bank of America-Global Wealth & Investment Management New York
Marapachi plays a key role in BofA’s product and portfolio development related to alternative investments. Managing a 10-member team, the Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, native leads the bank’s Hedge Fund Origination. Her unit is charged with sourcing, structuring, negotiating, and managing the Merrill Lynch Hedge Fund $20 billion platform.

Greg Marchand 35
Founder/Managing Director
Gizmos L.L.C. Chicago
Marchand saw a demand for IT products and services in Africa and set up shop in Zambia, where he directly oversees Gizmos’ African division, Gizmos Ltd., providing business solutions to the Sub-Saharan African business community. With nearly $1 million in revenues, Gizmos’ clients include the MTN Group, a multinational mobile telecom company, and UNICEF.

Jason Smikle

Jason Smikle  24
Co-Founder/Managing Director
TUV Online/TUV Media Networks  Chicago

Smikle recognized a void in cool, authentic media produced by young people during his sophomore year of college and teamed up with his friends Ebele Mora and Fabricio Sousa to launch Truly Unique Vision (TUV). The venture has evolved into a new media company that helps brands connect directly with young people (age 18–24). “There’s a huge disconnect between the mindset of young people and the companies trying to create products that young people buy,” says Smikle. With a growing client list including Foot Locker, BET, Toyota, and McDonald’s, the company expects 100% growth in year-over-year revenues.

—Renita Burns

Glenn Lamont McMillan 29
Director in Global Markets
Fixed Income Division
Deutsche Bank New York
McMillan got his start on Wall Street at an early age, making frequent visits to his uncle’s office at Goldman Sachs’s fixed-income trading desk. His growing math skills impressed seasoned traders who mentored and guided him. Today, McMillan, one of the youngest directors at Deutsche Bank, manages a $3.5 billion portfolio of seven and 10-year U.S. Treasury Bonds.

Sirena Moore 28
Founder/CEO
Elohim Cleaning
Contractors Inc. Bristol, PA
Moore’s industrial and commercial construction site cleaning firm continues an upward revenue trajectory earning $2.7 million in 2009 and projecting $3 million in 2010. The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s 2010 Small Business Person of the Year,  Moore helps others learn the ropes through workshops and a radio program.

Leea Nash 32
Director, Business Development,
Digital Media Group
Twentieth Century Fox Los Angeles
From mobile devices and tablets to social media and video clips, Nash evaluates opportunities to monetize Fox’s content on emerging digital platforms. She plays a pivotal role in developing the digital strategy for Fox’s film and TV properties and supports key initiatives, including the distribution of video through partners such as Hulu and Netflix.

Milton & Frederick Ochieng'

Milton & Frederick Ochieng 29/28
Co-Founders
Lwala Community Alliance Rongo, Kenya
Compelled by tragic events, the Ochieng’ brothers established the Lwala Community Alliance, a nonprofit that battles illness and poverty in their village in Kenya. Milton, a resident at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, and Fred, a medical student at Vanderbilt, in Nashville, Tennessee, raised $100,000 and in 2007 opened the Ochieng’ Memorial Lwala Community Health Center, which has seen more than 32,000 patients. Their goal: to raise $1.25 million over five years and open a maternity facility.

Folu Okunseinde 29
Solutions Architect
IBM/Financial Services
Solutions Group Cambridge, MA
Okunseinde built high-speed messaging software used by clients in the financial services industry to disseminate information and execute orders for financial trades. It moves a message from one place to another in a millisecond, which can translate into millions of dollars and potentially aid other industries dealing with significant waves of data.

Jason Pratt 30
Yeast and Fermentation Scientist
MillerCoors Milwaukee
The microbiologist, charged with ensuring optimum yeast quality, troubleshoots and oversees audits and trains more than 50 microbiologist to produce quality beers for MillerCoors. Pratt also manages the global culture collection and provides yeast strains to international licensees that brew Miller Genuine Draft worldwide.

Michael Seibel 27
Co-Founder/CEO
Justin.tv San Francisco
Seibel leads business development and manages investor relations for Justin.tv, an online platform that allows users to produce and watch live streaming video. Launched in 2006, the site has secured $9 million in financing since its inception. With more than 1.5 million downloads of its iPhone app, Justin.tv is aiming to be the first firm to provide a mainstream solution to live streaming from a mobile device.

Julia-Feliz Sessoms

Julia-Feliz Sessoms 31
Director of Global Public Policy
PepsiCo Inc. Washington, D.C.
Sessoms is responsible for developing and advancing global public policy positions in health, wellness, and the environment and participates in The Healthy Weight Commitment, a partnership of retailers, food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants, trade associations, and non-governmental organizations in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America and the Let’s Move campaign to stem childhood obesity. Sessoms is also involved in the Clear on Calories project, which is committed to outlining total calorie count on the front of all beverage containers by 2012. “Part of my role is to explain to those advocates in this administration and other policymakers about all the things we are doing and continue to do on nutrition.”        

—Sonia Alleyne

Robert Spencer 31
VP/Co-Head of Japan Equity
Derivatives Sales, Equities Division
Goldman Sachs Tokyo
Spencer is co-head of equity derivative sales forn one of the world’s most powerful investment banks, managing the business and overseeing a team who execute trades on clients’ behalf and offer trade advice in the Japanese market. Spencer also oversees the day-to-day operations of the sales team and business planning.

Ouigi Theodore 35
Creative Director/Partner
The Brooklyn Circus New York
For Theodore, style is bigger than fashionable clothes; it’s a creative, cultural process. Founded in 2006,  The Brooklyn Circus, Theodore’s eclectic men’s and women’s fashion offerings, are available at his boutiques in Brooklyn, Chicago, and San Francisco. He sells everything from cardigans, bags (in partnership with Fila), and wingtip boots to his coffee table book, Changing of the Guards.

Latoya Wall 29
Founder
The Bulsard Group L.L.C.  Houston
A Master Black Belt, the highest level for administering Six Sigma compliance, Wall uses statistical analysis to improve efficiency by restructuring business process for clients such as Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Business Unit, where her work will affect materials used for offshore facilities and drilling at a total production value of 700,000 barrels of oil each day.

Tina Wells

Tina Wells 30
Owner/CEO
Buzz Marketing Group Voorhees, NJ
Wells’ market research firm has positioned itself as a key player offering companies from MAC Cosmetics to American Eagle effective marketing and research strategies—related to beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and entertainment—for 6 to 24-year-olds. With a worldwide network of nearly 10,000 teen consultants, the research aggregator is highly sought out.

TristanWalker 26
Director, Business Development
Foursquare Labs  Inc.  Palo Alto, CA
With nearly 2 million users “checking in,” Foursquare is elbowing its way into the Holy Trinity of social networking platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter). Spearheading business development, Walker has closed deals with clients such as Starbucks, providing a 40% increase in check-ins in its nationwide promotion. The former Twitter intern and Stanford Business School grad says a number of brands are gaining benefits from location-based marketing.

—Renita Burns

Kehinde Wiley 33
Visual Artist/Designer New York
Known for his larger-than-life paintings, Wiley manages to showcase and diversify his abilities on more than just a canvas. In his business partnership with PUMA, Wiley offered his artistic eye to its Spring/Summer 2010 “Africa Lifestyle” line, which includes bomber jackets, T-shirts, laces, and patterned sneakers. PUMA also commissioned the Los Angeles native to create life-size paintings of African footballer stars to tour Paris, London, Milan, and Johannesburg as a symbol of unity among those countries participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.                          

—Dale R. Coachman

But long before the 78-million-strong baby boomer generation became the apple of every marketing professional’s eye, the spotlight was on the Greatest Generation (born 1901 to 1925) and the pre-boomers (1925 to 1945). Currently aged 64 and older, these generations make up a significant segment of the population that’s often bypassed in favor of younger demographics.

“Overlooking the older generations is a big mistake,” says Bob Yallen, president and COO at Encino, California-based InterMedia Advertising, a direct response and general market ad agency, “but to do it successfully requires a targeted, well-thought-out approach.”

Here are five strategies to use when crafting your marketing plan:

Avoid the one-size-fits-all approach. Companies get themselves into trouble when they assume mature consumers will respond to advertising and marketing efforts aimed at younger generations, says Yallen, who suggests a targeted approach to older consumers. When developing your campaign, for example, remember that Generation Y’ers are tech-savvy and impulsive, but their grandparents take a more calculated and traditional approach when shopping for products and services.

Incorporate technology into your plan. Don’t be afraid to use technology when targeting pre-boomers and the ‘Greatest Generation,’ says Yallen, who points out that more older Americans are integrating the Internet, email and social networking into their lives. “Five years ago these folks didn’t surf the Web, but today they’re using many of the same tech tools that younger generations are using,” Yallen explains. After viewing an ad on television, for example, today’s pre-boomer would likely boot up his her computer, log onto the company’s Website, and surf around for more information about its products and/or services.

Hit the TV airwaves. Because older generations “grew up” on television and obtained much of their knowledge from this medium, they tend to watch it more than anyone else. News-oriented stations like Fox News, MSNBC and CNN rank among the older generation’s favorites, says Yallen, who adds that Americans over the age of 65 make up 46 percent of the television viewing audience. “Television was their teacher, babysitter and friend,” says Don Potter, a Pre-Boomer himself and a marketing consultant in Los Angeles. “This makes TV an especially good vehicle for companies that are courting older consumers.”

Appeal to their values. Pre-Boomers and members of the Greatest Generation still lovingly cherish the American flag and hold their hands over their hearts when listening to The Star Spangled Banner. Often lost on younger generations, such patriotism provides a good entry point for companies looking to add older consumers to their customer pipelines. Products that exude patriotism, for example, or Web sites that display symbols of American pride, can go a long way in engaging older consumers. “Our elders showed us how to be patriots,” says Potter, “and to believe in one another and ourselves.”

Don’t think of them as “old.” Age really is just a number, says Potter, who advises companies to not factor that number into the equation when developing advertising and marketing campaigns aimed at Pre-Boomers and the Greatest Generation. “When you’re coming up with your concept, think of them as being much younger than they are,” Potter adds. “Look at them not as ‘older’ consumers, but as ‘savvy’ consumers who are looking for value, and for products and services that will make their lives easier.”

Resources

Pre-Boomer Musings

Yankelovich Report/Generational Marketing