Take a look at how each group uses technology and it is evident that Baby Boomers and Millennials operate differently. From using iPads for notetaking during meetings rather than legal pads (Millennials), to preferring BlackBerry smartphones over iPhones (Boomers), it is clear that a generation gap exists. When you get into personal interactions....well.  I don't have enough fingers (or toes for that matter) to count how many times my parents have prefaced a personal anecdote with "Back in my day...."

Where the  workplace and consumer markets are concerned, generational translations define how we interact.  I've held numerous training workshops for my parents to show them how to competently operate their smartphones. Conversely, they taught me the intrinsic value of face-to-face communication over social communication via mobile apps.  For Millennials (those born in the period 1981-2000), this symbiosis is essential to the evolution of the global society and workforce.

If it seems that marketing in the education industry is a relatively new phenomenon, look closely at the wall of this 1910 restoration of Rosehill Schoolhouse at the Cherokee Strip Museum in Oklahoma. Along with the wood burning stove, well worn desks and dusty chalk boards you will notice a handful of advertisements for local businesses. Direct marketing solutions in schools have been around for at least the last century; it is an interesting exercise to see how some of the marketing efforts have changed.