The pay off line from Nickelodeon’s series about Millennium Development Goals - “Because every minute of every day you are part of everybody” – immediately grabbed my then five year-old daughter Hannah’s attention. Thereafter, she used this phrase to express indignation to anything she found unacceptable.

Whilst stuck behind a truck belching clouds of smoke, Hannah admonished the driver for “pollutioning” the air and shouted, “Don’t you know that every minute of every day you are part of everybody!” She then stunned me by asking, “Daddy, which company is that, cos I don’t think we should buy from them anymore?”

Hannah has since started a “Boycott List”, a list of companies our family may not use. When a company is added, we email them to explain why and how they can redeem themselves. The critical question your business faces today: “Are you on Hannah’s List?” Hannah’s peers are in the decade when a person’s value system is shaped. Sooner than you can imagine, they will interact with your company.

THE ETHICAL CONSUMER

Hannah is typical of a new generation; those who understand they have a responsibility to use their purchasing power to make statements about how the world should work. This shift has been slowly emerging and the ethical consumer now exists. They are increasingly vocal and influential. Young people have grown up addicted to choice – they don’t have to buy from you.

HANNAH'S RULES

Hannah also has a list of rules which represent the concerns of an entire generation. These include:

• If you’re not on Google, you don’t exist

Are you techno-literate?

• If it’s icky, I don’t want it

How “green” are you?

• If you’re not fair, I won’t play with you

How do you treat staff?

• If I won’t buy from you, I won’t work for you either

You can’t wait until I am “grown up” before worrying about what I think of you!

Your youngest customers in 2020 are currently 10 yearsold, know what they want and have strong opinions about the world, and you! Who is your Hannah? Who’s eyes do you use to look at your company, brand, leadership, products – and your trucks?

Dr Graeme Codrington is a trend analyst with TomorrowToday. Contact graeme@tomorrowtoday.uk.com