Source: CDC/NCHS National Health and Nutrition Study
On two occasions in the past year, when remarking on my observations about Millennials and their evolved food preferences, I was challenged by senior executives who quite reasonable asked, ‘If Millennials are so much more sophisticated about their food choices, shouldn’t it follow that they are less obese?” On both occasions I had no ready answer.
Are Millennials healthier than previous generations, or is all the talk about fresh and nutritious foods, gourmet tastes and healthy lifestyles, just that: talk?
The data to address this question is surprisingly hard to find. There is a lot of research on kids and obesity, but adults tend to be lumped together by the CDC and other government health reporting groups. Now, just in time for New Year’s Resolutions, I have the answer, thanks to my new Twitter friend, Rick McGuire, a writer and expert on health and medical issues. He provided a link to a 600+ page report with the intimidating title, “Health, United States, 2008, with a special feature on the Health of Young Adults.” This report draws on a wide variety of sources to paint a most comprehensive picture, based on what I can only call ‘a ton of data’.
Unfortunately, the trends suggest the opposite of what I would have predicted: Gen Y, defined as young adults 18-29, are less active and more obese than earlier generations.
“The proportion of young adults 18–29 years of age who were obese more than tripled from 8% in 1971–1974 to 24% in 2003–2004.”
“Nearly two-thirds of young adults did not have regular leisure-time physical activity and three-quarters did not report strength-training at least twice a week.”
Beyond obesity, there are other reasons to be concerned about the Millennial generation’s health. Overall, the report makes for alarming reading. The statistics on risk factors such as cigarette smoking, drug and alcohol use, unmarried pregnancy, and infectious disease rates among 18-29 year olds all suggest a generation who’s health is in serious danger. These facts are not well understood and important to consider as country is about to take on the enormous challenge of insuring a greater proportion of the population.
Alcohol: “Trends in heavy drinking remained constant for both men and women during the period, with about 6%–8% of young men and 3%–5% of young women reporting heavy drinking. Heavy drinking is defined as more than 14 drinks per week for men and more than seven drinks per week for women, on average. One-fifth reported 5 or more drinks in a day on at least 12 days in the past year.”
Illicit Drugs: “Almost 40% of young adults 18–20 years of age, about one-third of 21–25 year-olds, and one-quarter of 26–29 year-olds reported using an illicit drug in the past year.”
Tobacco: “In 2006, nearly 30% of young adults were current cigarette smokers. Between 1997 and 2006, the current smoking rate declined nearly 20% among young adult women but did not decline significantly among young adult men.”
Sex: “Twenty-one percent of women reported forced sexual intercourse before age 30.”
HPV: “45% of women age 20–24 years tested positive for HPV infection.”
Overall Health: “Eighteen percent of young women and 12% of young men reported at least one of six selected serious health conditions in 2004–2006, and 4%–5% of young women and young men reported overall fair or poor health or an activity limitation due to a chronic health condition.”
Mental Disorders: “An estimated 7% of young adults 20–29 years of age had a diagnosis of major depression in the past 12 months. 9% of young adults 20–29 years of age had one or more of these three illnesses major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, or panic disorder) in the past 12 months. Young women (11%) were almost twice as likely as young men (6%) to have major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, or a panic disorder in the past 12 months.”
Unmarried Pregnancy: “Between 1990 and 2005, the proportion of births that are to unmarried women was highest for women under age 20. Between 1990 and 2005, the proportion of births to unmarried women rose from 66% to 84% for women age 18 years, from 58% to 77% for women age 19, from 37% to 56% for women age 20–24, and from 18% to 29% for women age 25–29.”
Health issues and health care are likely to be the single biggest issue of Gen Y’s lives. Already, the desire to maintain work-related benefits is contributing to keeping them in place on the job, according to a report by Fidelity (“Gen Y Workers Under Financial Stress Value Their Benefits”). Although they are healthier than older adults, young adults are still subject to chronic diseases, activity limitations, and death, and need health care for various reasons. As this report points out, however, “they are the age group least likely to have health insurance, and when they do need health care, they experience problems accessing the health care system.”
Looking ahead, the cost of health care overhaul will mostly be borne by Gen Y. The single biggest thing they can do to keep the overall cost of health care down in the future is to change the choices they make now. It’s a new year and a new decade. Let’s hope for their sakes Gen Y makes a resolution to take the health care debate and their own health care seriously.
In Social Media, there are no ‘experts’, only people who are more experienced than others.
I am not an expert, but I have been active in Social Media for almost two years. I’ve blogged a few times a week since spring 2008, a total of 250 posts. My Twitter following just crossed 4000, I’m on 175 lists and I follow 3600 people. I have over 500 LinkedIn connections. I’ve dabbled in Facebook, Youtube, NING, SlideShare and Yelp. In that spirit, I offer these personal insights and lessons.
1. Social Media is ‘narrowcasting’, not broadcasting.
Social Media offers many advantages over other media channels. It’s relatively cheap, highly engaging and can be a lot of fun. However, it builds slowly and has too narrow a reach to rely on it to get the word out. Given the choice, I wouldn’t trade my brief mentions in in TIME magazine or the Financial Times, for a feature on Mashable. Dan Schwabel said something similar in an interview with TTNG recently:
TNGG: You’ve written a book despite having a blog. Why is it that everyone in the social media space seems so compelled to get published offline, in a book? Is it that publishers are trying to get in on the buzz of social? Or do you still feel you need the offline accomplishment to legitimize you?
Schawbel: A blog hasn’t been completely accepted by society. The word “magazine” and “book” are still more powerful than “blog.” Books, such as Me 2.0 (Schwabel’s book), are more legitimate, linear and credible than blogs. If you have a book, it will be easier to get new business and press mentions. Also, another reason to publish a book is to reach the offline audience. In 10 years, a successful blog may be enough credibility.
2. Social Media is about talking to people who think like you do, not winning hearts and minds.
It’s easier to connect meaningfully with people who share your interests; the narrower your interests, the easier it is to find them. I am pretty confident that I know most of those active on Twitter who are seriously interested in Millennials, generational marketing, Notre Dame football, and using technology in the classroom. For me, Social Media may even have diminishing returns going forward; it took me much longer to get to 3000 followers than 2000, and it took even longer to get to 4000. I have serious doubts about whether 5000 is possible or even desirable.
3. Social Media can insulate you from different points of view.
Spend a lot of time talking to your network and you can be misled into thinking everyone thinks the way you do. To hear dissenting voices, you cannot rely on your own network. This point was driven home to me last spring when I discovered at a CMO Club event that many CMO’s are skeptical about whether Gen Y truly represents a new type of consumer, distinct from young audiences of the past (i.e, not just younger versions of themselves).
4. Effective use of Social Media requires enthusiasm and diligence.
Consistency is required or you will drop off the axes of your social graph fairly quickly. Conversely, stepping up activity brings disproportionate rewards. Two weeks ago I made a commitment to post to this blog every day. My blog traffic immediately jumped 30% as stayed there as long as I was blogging daily. It dropped back this weekend when I cut back again. I have come to think of it as ‘feeding the beast’.
5. In Social Media, it’s best to think of yourself as the target audience.
I am my own best audience. ‘What would I like to read?’ seems to be the best test for deciding what to post or tweet. I enjoy having a trackable, searchable record of my travels through the Internet. I often refer to the RSS feed of my Tweets that flows into my email. It’s all there, nicely labeled.
6. It’s easy to confuse Social Media with real life.
Spending a lot of time on Social media can feel a little like David After Dentist- “is this real life?” I don’t make money from Social Media so it’s hard to justify the time I spend on it on it solely on the basis of ROI. My time is finite, so I have to take care to prioritize my time reading blogs and Twitter relative to the time I spend reading books, traveling, networking on the phone, talking with clients and students, writing whitepapers and articles for publication.
7. Social Media is about people, not brands.
Marketers like to think of social media primarily as media, but for most people — and especially for Gen Y — it’s purely social. Yes, brands are a key part of many an online conversation, but that has always been true in analog life as well. TV, radio and magazines are primarily about marketing. Social Media is not, and marketers should beware thinking of it that way. Social Media is friendlier to individuals than to brands. That’s why I tweet and blog as @Carol_Phillips, rather than as @BrandAmplitude . For brands, social media appears to be getting more traction in its application to customer service than conveying brand or promotional messages. I follow very few product brands, agencies or media brands, but I follow many CMO’s, creative directors and journalists.
7. Social Media is fun.
When my kids were small, I used to marvel at the fascination they had with any kind of television. The slightly open-mouthed ’TV stare’ meant they were mesmerized; it was hard to look away. I sometimes have a similar sense when reading tweets or deciding what to ReTweet — it’s hard to look away. Social media combines the intrinsic rewards of a game and socializing. It’s potentially addicting and I expect we’ll be hearing more about how it impacts people’s real lives — for the better and the worse — in the coming years.
I’m looking forward to more lessons in 2010. but first, I plan to take a hiatus to reconnect with books, magazines and my analog life. Meanwhile, what have you learned about social media? Be social, let’s share!
Happy New Year, see you in January!
Millennials may be the leading edge of an era of personal financial conservatism.
Earlier this month, the Otaga Daily Times of New Zealand wrote an article saying “Gen Y was the most money conscious generation”. They had research to back up it: a survey of 10,000 by Retail Financial Intelligence suggested Millennials were “the most money conscious and financially savvy generation following recent global turndown”.
Gen Y was more likely to pay off debt and prone to change financial institutions for the best deal. Almost three quarters of respondents said they had a savings goal and were future-focused and not interested in immediate luxuries. Gen Y was more likely to have switched cards and about 68% of Gen Y respondents valued feature-packed products to a greater extent compared to the average respondent at 62%. The group is also more pessimistic than the average in their outlook on the economy and particularly concerned about the effect of interest rates and economic environment on their financial situation. About 70% of Gen Y mortgage holders would consider switching their loan for a difference in rate of up to 1% compared to the average of just 43%.
Research in the U.S. by Microsoft last August found a similar pattern of financial sophistication and even “cynicism” among America’s Gen Y:
The survey, conducted by Washington-based KRC Research in August, found that people born between 1981 and 2000 have developed a cynical view of banks and investment firms after the near-collapse of companies such as American International Group and Citigroup. Of those surveyed, 67% said they’re wary of stocks because of the weak economy, and 82% are concerned that more financial institutions will fail. Fifty-one percent said they’re unlikely to put money in 401(k) plans or other retirement accounts.
More recently, Fidelity reported research that found Millennials were becoming more conservative with money, even as they cope with massive debt from credit cards and college laons.
Despite the fact that three out of four Gen Y workers feel secure in their jobs, over 70 percent are very concerned about their finances and have set the goal of daily money management and budgeting as their biggest focus. Most Gen Y individuals are using mobile technology to stay updated on their cash flow situations with 64 percent reporting that they typically check their balances online before making a purchase of $300 or more. On average, this younger generation holds over three credit cards with one fifth (20%) carrying a balance greater than $10,000 and one in four (25%) believing they will never be free of credit card debt during their lifespan.
End of the year posts from many Millennials are speaking proudly f their fiscal restraint in 2009, and intention to continue on the path of responsibilty in 2010. Here’s Matt Chevy of the popular Gen Y blog, “Life Without Pants“:
”I’ve worked insanely hard at my full-time job and freelancing on the side to get to where I am today- almost 100% debt free. In the first quarter of 2010 I WILL be debt free – and then can start actually saving some money for the first time in my life.”
The marketers most in tune with what Millennials need in finanical services is Mint.com. The company was acquired last month by personal finance giant, Intuit for $170 million. As part of the deal, Mint.com’s Gen Y founder, Aaron Patzer, became general manager of Intuit’s entire personal finance group, “responsible for Mint.com and all Quicken online, desktop and mobile offerings.” This suggests Intuit understands the importance of online tools and mobile accessibility to Gen Y. According to the Microsoft study, “Millennials prefer to conduct their banking through personalized Web portals and smart-phone applications. They also favor new methods of business communication, such as online chats.”
Based on a look around its web site, Mint.com fits the bill, so to speak, nicely. It provides an easy-to-use, FREE interface for tracking online one’s entire financial picture in one place. In addition, Mint promises to save its customers money by comparing “our bank accounts, credit cards, CDs, brokerage, and 401(k) to the best products out there.” Mint has over 1.5 million users and claims to have over $50 Billion in assets, as well s $200 million in tracked purchases. Not bad for a two year old company — and testimony to the value of the service.
What I like best about Mint.com is that it feels almost like a game. There are built in satisfactions to saving money and Mint makes it fun to see how you can “win” by saving more. Of course, it wouldn’t work if Millennials didn’t already have the desire to save. Kudos to those who actually put the desire into action.
If you are a food marketer trying to figure out the 18-25 year old market, you won’t want to miss what’s been happening this week at The Next Great Generation blog (#TNGG on Twitter). All week has been ‘Food Week’. A dozen young bloggers have contributed personal and revealing essays on how they think about food. Think “Slate-magazine-meets-market-research-community” and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Studies have shown there has been a generational shift in the way young adults relate to food. They were exposed to better food at home, in restaurants and through travel with their Boomer and Gen X parents. In their lifetimes, there has been an explosion in new tastes from greater accessibility to ethnic foods, TV cooking shows, specialty food stores, and not but certainly not least, Internet how-to and recipe sites. There was no Food Channel when I was learning to cook. I am embarrassed to admit how much Velveeta I ate in college. (Velveeta is shelf-stable in case you didn’t know.). I never met a garlic clove or realized salad dressing didn’t have to come in a bottle until graduate school.
Here are some of the highlights of this week’s experiment at TTNG relevant to food marketers. Think of it as an early Christmas present:
Cooking and Shopping
Matthew Nolet, “Cooking From a Book is So Last Century” “Like so many of my generation and beyond, I believed that the art of cooking was best left to others: parents, professionals, and McDonalds. However, when the moment of edible reality hit me, I found myself completely overwhelmed by cups, teaspoons, garlic, and French culinary vocabulaire. It was the confidence of Bobby Flay, the simplicity of Rachel Ray, and the “how-to” approach of Alton Brown that brought me and so many others back from the brink of dietary disaster. With the invention of the cooking show and the celebrity chef, the process of cooking, baking, and assembling meals has moved from being simply a domestic exercise into an expression of creativity, devotion, and skill. The secrets of souffles, emulsions and sauces no longer escape or confuse us. By following our favorite television chefs, we have been able to discover the ability within ourselves to create great works of delicious art. As a result, we have found ourselves with a new form of celebrity. Fandom is no longer reserved simply for athletes and movie stars. The celebrity chef now holds a devoted spot within the American psyche and television channel listing. Their restaurants are packed nightly and their faces are recognizable. Top Chef makes chefs into celebrities. The Next Food Network Star makes the everyman into a chef into a star. Food now fulfills a larger role than simply as sustenance; it is entertainment and it is impressive. As a result, food and the creation thereof is now “cool” and a highly desirable skill amongst the general masses. Now almost four years later and hundreds of Food Network episodes later, I enjoy cooking for a biweekly dinner involving close friends where we try new recipes, new techniques, and chastise each other for both our failures and successes.”
Zoe Meeran, “Cooking by Nose” “Like many of my friends I don’t grocery shop particularly often, and certainly not in the middle of the week. When I do go to the store, I buy foods that I can use in more than one dish. Vegetables, lemons, ground beef. Most of the time, I just don’t think to plan out my meals, but in addition to that I’ve always been an innovator. My love affair with Top Chef has me wondering what I can whip up using vegetable stock, corn and black bean salsa, spices, and only one hand (tortilla soup – GO!). I like the challenge of combining unexpected flavors – if, for example, you haven’t tried watermelon and balsamic vinegar, put the laptop down and head to your local farmer’s market now.”
Food Brand Loyalty and Lovemarks
Dan Rosenberg, “My Cheatin’ Heart” “When given the choice between two parity brands, love can only go so far. And I’m not alone. There are a precious few who really won’t accept Pepsi instead of Coke, or will pay that extra dollar and cross the street to go to McDonalds instead of Burger King. If you want to get an all-things-equal-and-controlled study of brand loyalty, go to the corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets in Boston where a Starbucks and a Dunkin Donuts are separated by no more than a 50-foot stretch of asphalt. Here, you’ll see the hipsters and theatre-goers choose which brand of coffee gives them the buzz they love…A competitors discount, a picky friend or even the wafting smell of burritos in the wind can lure me away from the brands I claim to love. Man is a fickle beast, and my dolla-dolla billz have no discretion. But certain brands have a stronger hold than others. Everyone has their preferences, but they also have the brands that they choose to define themselves by: their “My” brands. Much in the way Miley shouts “they’re playing my jam” about the Jay-Z song that made her butterflies fly away, these are the brands that do everything right. When interacting with these brands, everything becomes right in the world. If I had to pick, my “My” brands would include Tropicana Orange Juice and Heinz Ketchup. They’re delicious and remind me of home, but I’ve cheated on them too. Damned if it doesn’t leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.”
Pizza
David Ricaud, “Sex and Pizza” “Could pizza be what unites generation Y with its predecessors? Sex. Entitlement. Self-involvement. To me, these are the three qualities that other generations use to set themselves apart from millennials. The boomers think we are oversexed (maybe we are!) and undervalue some inherent meaning to sexual relations. Gen-Xers, the slackers, say we feel a sense of entitlement to good grades and great jobs. And they all think we are self-focused and value careers over friends and family. “You kids have no roots,” a 68-year-old New Yorker said to me. Pizza, though, connects us to the slackers, reformed hippies, and WWII heroes. At dinner, my gen-X brothers, my baby boomer parents, and my great generation grandmother show the same appreciation for this simple triangular delicacy. Dough, mozzarella, and tomato sauce form a timeless American classic—one that, even when we judge our children and grandchildren, will continue to unite us all.”
Bottled Water
Melanie Wong, “I’m Sorry This Water Is Reserved for Special People “Voss water is only available in some specialty stores, namely in Whole Foods. An admirer of good minimalist design, a bottle of Voss water costs around $3.14 plus tax. If I was to consumer just one bottle a day, that would amount to $1,146.10 a year. A thousand dollars a year on a small bottle of water in a glass. What insanity! But look at the bottle, with its sleek, elegant design. The embossed “VOSS” lettering on the bottle with a silver screw on top. With my love for gray and minimalist design, Voss water is my savior in a world of strange colors and comic sans lettering.Bottled water in any form also carries an image in each of their bottles. Fiji and Evian carry a sense of exotic faraway-ness that watch and car companies also embody. Aquafina, the official sponsor of the MLB carries a pure, water-for-athletes image that may appeal to people who are more active. Companies place stronger brand identity to everyday items like bottled water than products that speak for themselves like Midol, Kleenex, or Crayola. This branding effort does not go unnoticed for marketing majors like myself. I want to become one with the luxury and exoticism of Fiji and Voss water, because carrying around bottles of water with a brand, associates myself with it.
Eating Healthy
Adam Di Stefano, “Toxic Foods” “My previous eating habits were fairly representative of my generation, but they are without a doubt a function of our lifestyle. In a world where fast food isn’t fast enough, we take shortcuts and it comes at a cost. If at my age I was already feeling the impacts of my food choices, I can only imagine what I would feel like in my 30s, 40s or 50s. I’m not alone in recognizing this, though. We’re in the midst of a fundamental shift in the way people perceive their relationship with food. The tail end of my generation is coming of age in a time where McDonald’s has salads on the menu, and Happy Meals come with apple slices. While our parents’ generation is the McDonald’s generation, we may well be remembered as the Whole Foods generation. We have the motivation. We’ve witnessed what a generation that grew up in the golden age of fast food has led to: record levels of obesity and cardiac problems being the number one killer in North America. A generation ago, a vegan, or an organic farmer was a hippie, a fringe character. Now, they may not be the majority, but they’re mainstream minorities. We’re a generation that understands food labels. We know what organic means. We’ve turned movies like Supersize Me and Food Inc. into blockbusters.With every passing day, more and more Gen-Yers are going to come to the same conclusion I did, that we need to stop treating our bodies like dumpsters, and change the way we interact with food. Gen-Y is the generation that is going to reclaim our relationship with food as being sacred. No more toxic junk. Bring on the real food.”
Kristin Fritz, “The Real Risks of Real Food” “My mom has never used a crock-pot or Hamburger Helper. She never served Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and is proud that my brother and I were exposed to different foods growing up. The most exciting part about getting my first apartment was the kitchen and not having to rely on a dining hall anymore. I proudly adopted some of my mom’s cooking habits while discovering a few tricks of my own. Even so, my skills need improvement, so it’s nice to know I can call home when a question comes up. Food awareness is a popular trend right now. With the movie release of Food Inc. and Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book, Eating Animals, it’s evident that more people today care about where their favorites foods come from.In order to lead a more proactive lifestyle I’ve decided to pay more attention to what I eat. Whether at home prepping dinner or at a restaurant I believe it’s smart to carefully consider food options before taking that big bite.”
Colby Gergen, “Fast Food Frenzy “I’ve managed to hide my fast food fiendings from my pantry so far. I don’t think it suspects a thing. …The problem is, I don’t want to leave my pantry. It’s been great to me. And for everyone else. I feel great when I spend time with it, my friends dolphin, deer, and eagle all thank me, and the buttons on my jeans get along great with my pantry. Sure, I may not always enjoy it. There are definitely times when I’ve been with my pantry but thinking about Wendy (or Sonic, the Queen, Colonel, etc). But even when I stray, I always come back to my pantry. I know that it will always be there. As a whole, we have a rock solid relationship. There’s a future, a long one, with my pantry. I don’t see that long of a future when I’m with the King (or the Bell, Five Guys, Hardee, and so on). So I stay true, for the most part, to my pantry. I know that in the long run, I’ll be better for it. Even if there are some rough batches, err, patches.”
Online Delivery
Mariam Shahab, “Enough of the Paper Menus” “We’ve matured from the days of ramen noodles satisfying our mere hunger pangs, and upgraded to relying on delivery to satiate our palates. When searching for food delivery, one-stop shop sites like Campusfood, Delivery.com and Grub Hub have marked their territory. Since we’re all hyper-connected but shy of actually speaking on our phones, online delivery is a natural fit for my generation. A run-down of the big players in the race for the delivery game:
- Campusfood.com attests itself as the largest virtual food court in the country with a 2000 plus network of restaurants. Campusfood is also the savviest user of cultivating relationships with their customer base. They created a Facebook app called Food Friendzy based on the idea that playing online games and sharing the app can lead to wining free food.
- Grub Hub has occupied the green food delivery site niche: they buy carbon offsets on all orders and make it simple to decline extras (i.e. – plastic utensils and paper napkins).
- Delivery.com centers itself based on efficiency and convenience. The site saves your favorite restaurants and previous orders for simpler reordering.
There’s much more on the TTNG site, about Ben and Jerry’s, about binge eating, dieting (different article thank goodness), the coolness of healthy foods as well as the full articles on the topics above. Check it out.
With insights this good, marketers can only hope they tackle adult beverages next!
I had an interesting conversation today with Rishad Tobaccowala of Publicis/Vivaki/Denuo. By way of background, Rishad and I started our careers at Leo Burnett at a time when agencies did advertising, period. It wasn’t exactly the Mad Men era, but advertising in 1983 probably had more in common with the business as it was 20 years earlier than it has with the business 25 years later.
Despite our handicaps (no word processors, email or FedEx), somehow we managed to create a lot of value for our clients. Because I was there, I can attest that Rishad was among the first to forsee the power of the Internet to disrupt advertising — and just about everything else. He still has his headlights on high beam and spends a lot of his time enlightening big companies about what lies ahead.
One of the more intriguing parts of our conversation concerned the impact of digitization on people. Today we have more information, more choices, more sheer empowerment than ever before. But we also face the challenge of balancing our digital and analog lives, of ascertaining what is real and what is ephemeral.
It’s troubling. It’s easy to feel off balance — in either direction. I rely heavily on Twitter, Google RSS, email, Blogs, IM, GotoMeeting, etc. to communicate my services and get work done. It’s a daily struggle to strike the right balance; between electronic and in-person socializing; between Internet reading and book reading; between in-person research and online research. If I spend too much time reading social media blogs and newsletters I start to feel like the digital world is the only world that really matters. If I spend too little I become anxious about what I’m missing out on.
In my opinion, much of what is happening in social media falls in the ephemeral camp. What do some of the ‘experts’ actually do to create value for their clients or their brands? Is there a reality behind the talk? For that reason, I like to follow people who I know are on the front lines, not just observers and pundits.
Millennials seem to instinctively understand the need to balance their online and analog lives. They understand there is a difference between their ‘personal brand’ and their authentic selves.
Edward Boches, Creative Director at Mullen Advertising is the originator of The Next Great Generation blog. Last Sunday, I told him via Twitter how much I enjoy the new blog. Here’s his reply:
Edward: thanks, but it’s all the writers and editors who deserve the credit. I will pass it on at tonight’s editor’s meeting
Me: You actually meet? Like in person?! How analog of you.
Edward: yes, but as Gen Y has explained to me, digital is just an extension of their analog lives, they actually have analog lives.
The acknowledged expert on personal branding, Gen Y’er Dan Schawbel offered this insight in an interview for The Next Great Generation: Your online brand is the part of your life you choose to project to others.
TNGG: Should everyone try and create his/her personal brand?
Dan Schawbel: In most cases, you brand has already been created for you. Your friends, family and co-workers label you and each first impression you have determines your fate with that individual. It’s not about creating a brand anymore but rather about how to manage it so it works for you. Since perception is greater than reality and the online world is the cheapest and most effective way to distribute your brand, you must have online assets that can project the brand you want others to see.
Frances Schwartz, 98
One of my best friends, Frances Schwartz, is 98 years young.
Until last year, Frances lived in her own apartment on Walnut Street near Laurel Village in San Francisco. Now she lives in the Jewish Home. We have been friends now for over 10 years. I feel closer to Frances than to many people my own age, even though I moved away to Michigan in 2001. She is still ’sharp’, mentally and verbally. When I lived in San Francisco, Frances loved to take me to lunch at her favorite Chinese restaurant downtown. We would have the lunch special — three courses and a glass of wine, for $20, including white tablecloths, fresh flowers and deep carpet. She loves a good joke and See’s Candies. She hates George Bush with a passion. She always wants to know what I’m up to. I want to know how she likes the food at the Home (it’s great).
Q: What does Frances have to do with Millennials?
A: Neither group feels their age.
Frances has confided to me that she doesn’t feel 98, in fact she feels like the same person she was at 19. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t look or act her age?
“The person behind my eyes is still the same girl I was in 1920. I don’t feel 98 years old. I can hardly believe it’s true.“
Blake Sunshine, wrote last month in her blog, “Do Millennials Feel Young?” Drawing on Pew Research data, she concluded Millennials are the ONLY group that feels its actual age. (Other age groups all feel younger, like Frances). Today, Blake continued this line of thought with a thoughtful essay titled, “Millennials Are Having a Hard Time Growing Up“. (Note how much Blake sounds like Frances!);
“I do not feel like an adult. I support myself, have a job and live 818 miles away from my Mom and Dad, but I still feel like a child most every day. And I know I’m not the only one. Millennials everywhere are having a hard time growing up.”
I am sure Blake is not the only Millennial struggling to take her place in adult society. The economy has thrown Gen Y a curve ball, causing many to delay the usual markers of adult life: job, marriage, mortgage, children. Living at home, ot doubt, undermines one’s sense of independence.
Yet Blake Sunshine seems to be getting at something deeper and more fundamental. Growing up requires letting go of options, narrowing those infinite dreams and choices to just a few. For Millennials, this may be harder than for other generations, since they have been told from an early age that the sky is the limit. She also places some of the blame on parents.
“We still want to be astronauts- We don’t really all want to be astronauts, but we still do want to believe that we can do whatever it is we want to do with our lives. Millennials do not want to settle, and if you aren’t a grown up then you don’t have to settle. Which is why it’s hard for Millennials to grow up and try to discover what they really want to do with their lives. … I hate to blame our parents entirely for why we aren’t growing up, but they definitely aren’t helping us either. A lot of Millennial parents (not all!) are used to hovering over their children, and they only want them to be happy. And if that means not settling for a job that they don’t want, then many Millennials parents are happy to support their children for as long as they can. But this is a terrible thing, because we need the push from our parents to force us to grow up.”
I have a different hypothesis. Perhaps the real reason Millennials don’t ‘feel’ grown up is that no one ever really feels completely grown up.
For marketers of ’grown up’ products such as investment services, insurance, furniture, automobiles and travel, this insight may prove more helpful than it appears. If Millennials aren’t feeling like grown ups – and don’t really want to feel that way– then positioning these products and services as part of an adult lifestyle would miss the market entirely. They would feel like ‘posers’.
A better approach might be to position them as responsible steps for anyone to take, whatever their age.
In their October report, “The Millennial Muddle: How Stereotyping Students Became an Industry”, the Chronicle of Higher Education provides this scathing assessment of the ’experts’ that have sprung up to discuss Gen Y:
Everyone in higher education has pondered “the Millennials,” people born between 1982 and 2004 or thereabouts (the years themselves are a subject of debate). Ever since the term went prime time about a decade ago, a zillion words have been written about who Millennials are, how they think, and why they always _______________. In short, Millennials talk is contagious. Those who have shaped the nation’s understanding of young people are not nearly as famous as their subjects, however. That’s a shame, for these experts are colorful characters in their own right. Some are scholars, and some aren’t. Many can recall watching the Beatles on a black-and-white television, and some grew up just before Barney the purple dinosaur arrived. Most can entertain an audience, though a few prefer to comb through statistics….They are products of their time. In an era when the wants of young consumers have become a fixation for colleges and businesses alike, these unlikely entrepreneurs have fed a world with a bottomless craving for labels.
Unfortunately, it is true there is no agreement on precisely where to draw the line between Millennials and Gen X, and even less agreement on when the Millennial generation ends.
Gen Y’er, Blake Sunshine, has a special tab on her blog, “The Perrennial Millennial” to deal with the issue, but concludes the answer is fuzzy, somewhere beginning around 1980. Even Wikipedia concedes, “there are no precise dates for when the Millennial generation starts and ends.”
Many experts when making presentations about Millennials feel compelled to begin by defining what is meant by the label, which is itself an indication the term is fuzzy. (The same is true of presentations about ‘brands’, but that is a subject for another day!) For the record, here how a few of the leading thinkers define Gen Y:
- Don Tapscott, author, “Grown Up Digital“: 1977-1997
- Kit Yarrow & Jayne McConnell, authors, “Gen BuY“: 1978-2000
- Morley Winograd & Michael Hais: authors, “Millennial Makeover“: 1982-2003
Suzanne Kart features a cool infographic today by McCrindle Research on her blog, GenXpert (click on the graphic to enlarge). I love the way this defines the generations and provides some key statistics for each – size, life expectancy at birth, age at marriage and first child, % of work force. The real take away here is that demographics matter and each generation leaves a distinct footprint. Whether the cut off between Gen X and Gen Y is 1978 or 1980 is really beside the point — there will always be gray transition years. In the end, what matters is how an individual identifies themselves.
Gen Y is famously averse to labels of any kind, and especially the label ‘Gen Y’. They consider it ’stereotyping’. As individuality and choice are core values for young adults today, this aversion is understandable.
Yet marketers need ways to group people. Gender and age are generally the first of many prioritizing cuts, because they known to be associated with real differences in attitudes, lifestyle, media consumpton and consumer behavior. Generational segmentation takes this profiling one step further, but is by no means the only, or final step, in any target audience definition. Other factors such as category use, income, and lifestage, that take into account Gen Y’s wonderful diversity are also critical. (See “Gen Y to Marketers: All Millennials Are Not the Same“)
A generational portrait, such as the one I paint in the presentation below, is useful because it provides ’color’. It can bring a target alive to those who are trying to influence it to do something - to watch, to buy, to donate, to vote, to volunteer, to read. Relevance is the most critical part of any communication. Understanding generational values increases the chance you will say something relevant, or at least say it in a relevant way.
Millennials: A Generational Portrait
Smart marketers are waking up to the fact that people under age thirty are a ‘Blue Ocean’ opportunity today and a critical target of the future. They are recognizing that Millennials have some distinctive characteristics that are good place to start in developing meaningful products, services and communications.
Today I had the pleasure of a conversation with Bret Bernhoft, Principle of the youth marketing firm, InsYght Consulting, that was broadcast live on KPSU.org, the internet college radio for Portland.
Bret asked some very intriguing questions about marketing to Millennials, and especially what media and programs connect best. We covered everything from color TV’s to Failblog. It was a great time, and you can listen to the 18 minute segment here (the first part of the hour show).
Bernhoft’s questions are so good because he is a Gen Y member himself. He describes himself as “a brazen leader, outspoken, a Captain Crunch eatin’ go-go Power Ranger who prides himself on being Generation Y to the bone.” In addition to operating a consulting firm and being a radio host, Bret maintains three blogs, and serves on the board of directors for the Alzheimer’s Assocation in Portland
I think I should have interviewed him! Stay tuned…
It’s the last three weeks of December and Christmas, at least in America, is unavoidable. Everywhere you look there are lights, parties, gifts, shopping, music and wishes for a Merry Christmas. For Millennials, it appears, Christmas is a time of introspection, as there have been several articles and blog posts lately about the difficulty of making religious choices.
The concept of religion as a personal choice is a generational shift. My generation did not think of religious belief as a choice. You were Catholic, Jewish, Presbyterian or Baptist, just like your parents. But young people today take a more conscious approach to faith. As my 15-year old son put it, “If I were born in a Hindu family, I’d be Hindu”. The implication being that religion should be a considered choice, not something that happens by ‘luck of the draw’. Adam DiSefano writes today, in The Next Great Generation blog, that for Millennials, it’s hard to know ‘how to choose the correct religion’:
“Nearly every major religion preaches that it is the one true religion. If there’s only one true religion, what happens to all the people who don’t subscribe to it? Do they rot in hell just because they chose the wrong religion? I was baptized Roman Catholic. I went to Church and Sunday School most weeks until I was eight. I was Roman Catholic because that was all I knew. There was no other choice. In the sixth grade, I had a class that aimed to teach us about morality and religions from around the world. One day, the teacher said something that stuck with me: “Religion is a choice. You can choose your religion….It used to be that if your parents were Catholic, you were Catholic, end of story. Religion had a captive audience. Now, we have a choice. We’re shopping around for the best religion, and you know what? We can’t pick a winner. We’re paralyzed by choice, and so, we decide that maybe we don’t need organized religion after all.”
No choice appears to be the choice of a large number of Millennials. According to research by Lifeway.com, “70 percent of young adults ages 23-30 stopped attending church regularly for at least a year between ages 18-22.” Paul Eulette wrote in October for his blog, “QuarterLifeMagazine” that when young adults reach college, ”the support of the “family atmosphere” is gone and now young adults of Generation Y are having to realize the need to make these decisions for themselves for the very first time.”
Young adulthood today seems to be a time of auditioning different beliefs. Adam reports that he is still in the process of deciding what he believes:
“Today, I don’t consider myself a Catholic. I meditate and have dabbled in Yoga, but hesitate to call myself a Buddhist. After all, I don’t believe in reincarnation. I have issues with organized religion in general, but still consider myself a spiritual person. I do good in a way that’s consistent with my own values, as they’ve been defined by my parents, my friends, social norms and my personal experiences. But as for a label, I haven’t chosen one yet.”
In this respect, as in so many others, Millennnials appear to be on the vanguard of a trend.
New research released today by Pew shows most Americans are embracing ‘multiple faiths’, with beliefs that do not ‘ fit conventional categories’. Nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%) say they attend religious services at least a few times a year, including 38% who say they attend at least once a week. Among those who attend religious services at least once a week, nearly four-in-ten (39%) say they attend at multiple places and nearly three-in-ten (28%) go to services outside their own faith. In other words, most church going americans are a lot like Adam DiStefano — they like to mix it up and avoid a ‘label.’ A surprisingly high number of Americans, say they believe in reincarnation, ghosts and fortune tellers. Three fourths say they communicate with the dead.
“Though the U.S. is an overwhelmingly Christian country, significant minorities profess belief in a variety of Eastern or New Age beliefs. For instance, 24% of the public overall and 22% of Christians say they believe in reincarnation — that people will be reborn in this world again and again. And similar numbers (25% of the public overall, 23% of Christians) believe in astrology.
Nearly three-in-ten Americans say they have felt in touch with someone who has already died, almost one-in-five say they have seen or been in the presence of ghosts, and 15% have consulted a fortuneteller or a psychic.
Twenty-three percent (23%) believe in yoga not just as exercise but as a spiritual practice. Similar numbers profess belief in elements of New Age spirituality, with 26% saying they believe in spiritual energy located in physical things such as mountains, trees or crystals, and 25% professing belief in astrology (that the position of the stars and planets can affect people’s lives).
Fewer people (16%) believe in the “evil eye” or that certain people can cast curses or spells that cause bad things to happen to someone.”
The desire to avoid a label and celebrate diversity is characteristic of Gen Y. What I find especially fascinating is how this characteristic appears to be migrating into other age groups. The trend toward embracing broader spiritual views appears to be well underway. Half of Americans (49%) say they have had “a religious or mystical experience – that is, a moment of religious or spiritual awakening.” According to Pew, this represents a sharp increase over the past four decades. In 1962, only 22% of Americans reported having had such an experience, which grew to about a third in 1976 (31%) and 1994 (33%). This seems to at least partly explain the current fascination in angels, demons, vampires, and other supernatural beings.
Will Millennials continue to forge a more individualistic spiritual path? Or return to a more conventional approach as they age? What do you think?
2009 “Cyber Monday” sales exceeded last year by 14%, thanks to plenty of deals and rising consumer confidence. Consumers bought nearly 30% more items per order this year versus last year, and 10% more items per order online than they did in stores on Black Friday.
Based on consumer survey data from Mintel (Online Shopping US May 2009), it’s safe to say Millennials played a role in the surge in online shopping last week. Compared to older age groups, people 34 and under are more likely to shop online. While overall they may not have the spending power of older consumers, their willingness to shop online makes them disproportionately important to online retailers.
- . When presented with a list of 25 major online retailers, only 30% of those 18-24 years old and just 29% of those 25-34 years old say they have never purchased online from any of those listed; the comparable number of all other groups is 42% or higher.
- Amazon has the strongest penetration of all online retailers among Millennials. Forty-one percent of 18-24 year olds and 41% of 25-34 year olds have purchased from Amazon; every other age group is 32 % or lower.
- Millennials are more likely than older shoppers use the store to research, and online to buy. Thirty-seven percent of 18-24 year olds and 41% of 25-34 yearolds say they price comparison after a store visit. This compare to just 31% for 35-44 year olds and 32% for 45-54 year olds.
- Millennials are more likely to pay attention to online peer reviews. Sixty percent of 18-24 year olds and 60% of 25-34 year olds “read consumer feedback online about products or services before making a purchase” compared to just 55% for 35-44 year olds an 51% for 45-54 year olds.
Two factors hold Millennials back from doing even more shopping online.
First, many 18-24 year olds lack electronic payment ability. 40% of 18-24 year olds and 46% of 35-44 year olds say they prefer to do business with retailers that accept Pay Pal or another service they are signed up with. This is a higher level of agreement than for other age groups.
Second, many lack the funds to do much shopping, at all. According to a new Fidelity study, nearly two-thirds of Gen Y checks their balance before making a purchase of $300 or more. (“Recession Makes Gen Y More Conservative” 12.8.09)
“Over 70 percent (of those surveyed) are very concerned about their finances and have set the goal of daily money management and budgeting as their biggest focus. Most Gen Y individuals are using mobile technology to stay updated on their cash flow situations with 64 percent reporting that they typically check their balances online before making a purchase of $300 or more. On average, this younger generation holds over three credit cards with one fifth (20 percent) carrying a balance greater than $10,000 and one in four (25 percent) believing they will never be free of credit card debt during their lifespan.”
How can online retailers encourage young shoppers to spend online?
Although they are comfortable shopping online, the youngest Millennials (18-24) are the most careful shoppers. With money tight, it will come as no surprise that Gen Y is the age group most receptive to online coupons. According to IRI, 51% of 18-24-year-old shoppers indicate they would be very likely to use coupons presented to them online, the highest of any group. Mintel research shows that EBay enjoys the highest penetration of any age group among 18-34 year olds.
They want to deal with retailers they know and buy products they are familiar with. Of all the age groups studied by Mintel, they were the most likely to agree with these three statements:
I will only buy products from brands I am familiar with when shopping online
I will only make an online purchase if I am familiar with the product I am buying
I will only make an online purchase from a store I am familiar with
For marketers, this is a warning not to take young shoppers for granted. They like shopping online, but it may take more effort to convert them to buyers than older age groups. Brand familiarity, online reviews, online coupons, and the abilty to see the merchandise in store before buying will all be important to winning their business. They also like gift cards and are avid users of ‘wish lists’. Perhaps a strategy for reaching Millennials is to make it easy for them to let others know what they like.
