Millennial Marketing

Jason Young is a Gen Y speaker and consultant. He asked me Three Questions for his blog on Gen Y called Jason Young Live. The questions were great, here are my answers:

Q1: What do you see as the top three brands Millennials respect?

Just three? That’s hard. It’s much easier to talk about what makes brands Millennial-friendly. Ironically, Millennials have the most respect for brands that seem to do the least marketing. Brands that are perceived as being ‘true to themselves’ or ‘authentic’ resonate the most with Gen Y values. Brands that try to hard to be irreverent, trendy or cool end up being exactly the opposite.

Gen Y responds to brands that stand for something meaningful and act it out, rather than just talk about it. This includes some older brands that might surprise you like Vogue magazine, Coca-Cola and In N’ Out Burger. It also includes newer brands like Google, Under Armour, Trader Joe’s, Jet Blue, Facebook and Zappos.  Personality brands that resonate now for their authenticity are Conan O’Brien, Neil Patrick Harris, Shaun White and Lady Gaga.

The brand named most often when asked for brands they admire is, of course, Apple. Steve Jobs symbolizes much of what Gen Y aspires to be. The PC guy / Mac guy commercials create a clear ‘be yourself’ identity that Gen Y responds to.

Pepsi seems to have captured spirit of optimism and altruism that Gen Y aspires to. I am particularly interested to see how Millennials are responding Pepsi’s “Refresh Everything” social media campaign, where consumers nominate and vote for deserving causes.  The students I have talked with about the campaign are strongly positive about it.

Q2: How can a company or church utilize marketing to engage Millennials?

Millennials are spiritually hungry and even consider themselves more spiritual than their parents. But they are the group least likely to attend church regularly. They have a ‘consumer’ orientation to spirituality; they shop around and select from among the ‘choices’ available rather than simply adopt the ‘faith of their fathers’. (Which is strange because they adopt their parents brand of bank, car and education quite readily!) Twenty-five percent consider themselves ‘unaffiliated’, yet two-thirds of those were raised in a religion. What a ‘marketing’ opportunity!

To reach Millennials, a brand, church or organization needs to make them feel as if they made a ‘discovery’  – it can’t be shouted at them. The values of churches and synagogues are very much in alignment with Gen Y values. They need to see how a church’s values fit with theirs. Once engaged, make it easy for them to share their discovery with others. Millennials love to share. They are connected communicators and they are always looking for ‘social currency’ to spend with their network of friends. Churches can offer that currency. Give them something to talk about and a way to act out their deep need to make a difference in the world. Give them a way to participate in their faith, not just talk about it.

My 16-year old son recently became involved with a small group of high school boys his own age led by a dynamic young adult. He didn’t even realize at first that it was sponsored by our church. He thought he had been ‘invited’ to participate in a special group of athletic, smart boys. They meet every week and he never misses it. It immediately led to participation in a retreat, Sunday night fellowship and finally worship services. He’s going on a mission trip this summer.  He is now inviting others. I think this is a good model for churches to reach young adults.

Q3: Can you sum up the Millennials in three adjectives?

Just three again? I’ll rely on the three words I use on my blog to summarize marketing to Millennials: Be Quick. Be Meaningful. Be Shiny. Millennials are all about efficiency, making a difference and creativity.

Carol Phillips is President of the consulting firm, Brand Amplitude, LLC and adjunct professor of Marketing at The University of Notre Dame.  She consults with clients on strategies for engaging Millennials, as well as conducts market research and creates brand strategies on behalf of Brand Amplitude’s clients.  Her clients include JC Penney, Blockbuster, Whirlpool, and the YMCA.