What Is It Like To Be A 20-Something Today?

What is it like to be a 20-something today? Four industry experts who’ve spun youth culture into profitable businesses share their insights

- Meghna Pant

ASHISH PATIL,

43, BUSINESS AND CREATIVE HEAD, Y FILMS (THE YOUTH DIVISION OF YASH RAJ FILMS) “It’s a generation obsessed with becoming a new, improved, Instagram version of themselves.”

“You can figure what women want, but how does one figure what the youth wants? Kthxbai! (Millennial speak for “OK, thank you, goodbye”) Everything changes all the time with this generation. They change their minds as often as their DP and Facebook status. But the more things change, the more they remain the same.

In my experience, there are five triggers that have connected with youth over the years:

ME? A generation obsessed with becoming a new, improved, Instagram version of themselves, the one question they ask is, ‘What’s in it for me?’ So it’s all about how we can help them get smarter, faster, richer, cooler, fitter, sexier, or even laid.

FUN: This generation is obsessed with having a good time. So whether you’re selling a web series, a film, a cola, a sneaker or life insurance—you better entertain them.

US: Never has the need to belong been higher than it is now. Their WhatsApp groups and FB communities are all manifestations of the need to be accepted.

NOW: This is the instant, impatient, ‘give it to me now, i don't have time for this’ generation. Their attention spans are less than that of a goldfish. So both the news and the Mahabharata are now told in 140 characters!