…and how do you sell things to them? 1980—2000

practical

1980—2000

1980—2000

confident Who are the Millennials…

connected

A whole different way of life!

Mom—balances checkbook, clips coupons

Millennial—online banking, Groupon

Mom—calls and talks to businesses

Millennial—online service and mobile apps

Mom—reads newspapers

Millennial—reads everything online

Where does everyone fit?

• The Greatest Generation (those born before 1928) “saved the world” when it was young, in the memorable phrase of Ronald Reagan. It’s the generation that fought and won World War II.

• The Silent Generation describes adults born from 1928 through 1945. Children of the Great Depression and World War II, their “Silent” label refers to their conformist and civic instincts. It also makes for a nice contrast with the noisy ways of the anti-establishment Boomers.

• The Baby Boomer label is drawn from the great spike in fertility that began in 1946, right after the end of World War II, and ended almost as abruptly in 1964, around the time the birth control pill went on the market.

• Generation X covers people born from 1965 through 1980. The label long ago overtook the first name affixed to this generation, the Baby Bust. GenXers are often depicted as savvy, entrepreneurial loners.

And…

The Millennial generation refers to the first generation to come of age in the new millennium.

They’ve also been called Echo Boomers; they’re the children of Baby Boomers.

Born between about 1980 and 2000

About 75 million strong

They are digital

First generation of digital natives!

Their prime trait is increased use of and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies.

The Internet provides instant gratification—and now they expect that in other areas of their lives, too.

They aren’t watching live TV!

0 10 20 30 40 50

Watch on laptop

DVR

On-demand

Millennials

non-Millennials

That expensive 30-second spot in prime time won’t work… 26% of Millennials watch 20+ hours of TV a week vs. 49% of non-Millennials

They are confident

They were raised at the most child-centric time in our history.

Soccer moms were invented especially for the Millennials – we followed them around and gave them everything!

“I am the perfect snowflake.”

They are connected

75% of Millennials have created a profile on a social networking site, compared with half of GenXers, 30% of Boomers and 6% of Silents

Millennials gather information on products and services from more channels—more Millennials than non-Millennials report using a mobile device while shopping to research products (50% vs. 21%) Barkley 2011

Who sleeps with their cell phones?

57

83

68

50

20

0 20 40 60 80 100

All

Millennials

Gen X

Boomer

Silent

They are social

70% of Millennials feel more excited when their friends agree with them about where to shop, eat and play.

They band together in groups to date and socialize, rather than pairing off.

Millennials are more likely to shop with family and friends than other generational groups.

They are open to change

Not your mom’s brand!

They are optimistic, and willing to give anything a chance.

They are loyal, as long as they have a reason.

“Millennials are even more willing to participate in loyalty and reward programs than their parents, but they expect reward programs to be free, easy and fast.”

Open to social change

So, how do we reach them?

“Millennials can sniff the hard sell, and they won’t buy it.” (Mashable, Oct. 2011)

They want to be first

They need the latest and greatest!

Piggybacking off the notion that Millennials crave finding things first, Mountain Dew created an in-house record label, Green Label Sound, to simultaneously market the drink and help up-and-coming artists break through.

They want to support The Social Good

Greater awareness of cause marketing campaigns, such as Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty (33% vs. 21%) or Gap RED (26% vs. 9%)

The Pepsi Refresh Project, a $20 million social media campaign that encourages people to submit ideas about how to refresh their communities, got 61 million responses.

Pepsi chose to focus on this rather than take part in the Super Bowl!

Companies “have moved from a broadcast model into an engagement model” and they have to think of young people “less as consumers and more as advocates” because this group is interested in what role companies can play in addressing social needs.

Jack Leslie, chairman of Weber Shandwick, chairman of the U.S. African Development Foundation

18-24% of young people recently surveyed said that they would take pay cuts if they knew that their company was advocating for social change.

“All I can say is that if you still haven’t implemented a cohesive CSR (corporate social responsibility) strategy, you’re 10 years behind the game. And if you’re not starting to ramp up in a meaningful way – to empower your customers to have an impact on issues they care about—the clock is ticking loudly. It may feel far away, but the Millennial spending tsunami is coming, and this generation is going to vote with their dollars. You don’t want to be a lame duck.” Jason Rzepka, Vice President of Public Affairs at MTV

They want relationships

Talk WITH them, not AT them.

Ask what they want, don’t assume it’s the same thing you want to sell.

Millennials don't want to be talked at by a brand but instead want to be part of the conversation.

"Understanding their priorities helps us market to them, so that we're giving a message that is relevant to them.” Sheryl Connelly, Ford consumer trends and futuring manager

WITH, not AT On Twitter, Ford says it has a chance to glimpse at the

Millennial mindset and figure out what this generation wants,

likes and needs from its products.

Ford recognized that the old marketing message—showing off

the engine, the speed, the car body itself—is not working for

the new generation. Millennials are

not as interested as baby boomers

were in a car as a status symbol. The

car for them is about basic transportation

—but adding technology to the car turns

the car into a “lifestyle enabler”

—Ad Age, August 2011

Traditional marketing is out! We are wikified!

Don’t try to “position” yourself; build a strong, genuine brand and they will decide where it fits.

Listen to the buzz—tap into the trending topics in social media, pay attention to where Millennials shop, eat and spend time.

Case Study of the Ideal Millennial Marketing Strategy

TOMS

Online, cause-oriented, conversational

One-for-One

“Happiness Guarantee”

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