Frugality involves a new set of behaviors for many consumers, but for Millennials, it comes naturally. While they grew up in an era of unprecedented prosperity, they are now becoming accustomed to coping with a lingering recession. They simply haven’t known a time when they didn’t have to watch their pennies and stretch their bucks.
For Gen Y, ‘economizing’ is a way of thinking that is closely aligned with their attitudes overall toward sustainability, consumerism and spending priorities.
Relying On Parents As “Backstops”
One way Millennials are coping with less is by relying on their parents more to provide a financial ‘safety net’ for basic needs like housing and living expenses.
A new study from University of Minnesota analyzed data from annual surveys collected from 700 participants in the federally funded Youth Development Study to learn more about financial relationships between parents and their adult children. Participants were originally selected in 1988 when they were ninth-graders, and surveyed every year from 1997, when they were aged 23 or 24, through 2005, when they were 31 or 32. The study found almost half the young adults received either financial support from their parents or permission to return home to save on expenses. Far from being ‘slackers, for these young adults, moving home was a rational response to the increased cost of housing and healthcare, combined with higher unemployment rates. The savings provides options, and parents were happy to do what they can to help. Intriguingly, the presence of support cuts across all income levels, but there is a relationship to education, with more educated parents more likely to provide support.
“I think that maybe we see signs of that in this particular finding, that even [when their children are] in young adulthood, parents are still thinking of them as their project, and that how successful their kids are reflects on their own success as a parent. I’m not saying that one group loves their kids more than the other, or that they care more about their kids’ happiness or anything like that. But it does seem that upper-middle-class and middle-class parents who are more educated kind of have this idea of their kid as their own project, even into young adulthood, and they’re going to help them achieve particular goals that might have to do with academics and career success.”
“Young adults were getting help if they were temporarily derailed by an event like getting divorced or losing a job but not if they had an ongoing issue, like long-term unemployment. … This finding shows us that parents really are helping their kids get toward self-sufficiency and independence. They are supporting their kids in a temporary way when they experience a real negative event or challenge, like losing a job. It’s not like they’re just helping their kids sit around the house.”
Another study by Luminosity showed that 34% of these so-called “Boomerangers” rely on their parents to make financial decisions on internet, groceries and cable/satellite TV, most likely as parents are underwriting the cost. Likewise, the highest levels of parental decision-making occur in the areas of yard maintenance, utilities, home improvement, home furnishings for common areas, and home repair.
Cutting Back and Cutting Out
The latest Harris poll surveying adults on twelve specific savings strategies shows Millennials are the age group most likely to agree that they are cutting back. Fifty-two percent of adults 18-34 years old agree they are ‘brown bagging lunch instead of purchasing it’. That figure compares to just 45% of adults overall. Other categories where Millennials outpace older consumers in savings include:
- Purchasing more generic brands – 61%
- Switched to refillable water bottle instead of purchasing bottles of water – 40%
- Cancelled or cut back cable television service – 26%
- Stopped purchasing coffee in the morning – 25%
- Cancelled landline phone service and only using cell phone – 24%
- Changed or cancelled cell phone service – 19%
- Begun carpooling or using mass transit – 19%
In nearly every instance, the figure for Millennials is higher than for total adults. In the fast food restaurant category, Millennials were the age group that experienced the largest decline in meal and snack occasions during the two years ending May 2010, according to research from NPD/CREST.
Coupon-Crazy, Comparison Compelled
Of the 5 million Groupon members, 66% are 18-34 years old. I don’t have statistics on which users are most active, but it’s probably safe to assume that young adults account for a disproportionate number of social coupons purchased and redeemed.
Millennials are famous for researching every purchase before they buy. New research from Chadwick Bailey revealed that 67% of people under 35 use their smart phones while shopping and 67% of those who use them while shopping use their phone to compare prices. Another study by Luminosity revealed Millennials are more likely to do research using online sites before traveling.
Marketers who want to reach Millennials are often concerned with how to get their attention. The bigger issue is further down the funnel – how to get them to consider purchasing. Perhaps a better approach would be to a brand that helps them feel like smart shoppers who save.
Companies who hope to win and sustain Millennial customers know the importance of product and marketing innovation. Millennials love shiny things, especially when those things contribute to their personal efficiency, help to protect the environment or contribute to the greater good.
Pepsi’s announcement this week of innovative new plastic packaging sourced 100% from plant-based materials, may be a game changer in the cola wars in its ability to appeal to Millennials.
Why Package Innovation Matters
One of the most difficult aspects of managing an iconic mega-food brand is that it nearly impossible to offer meaningful product innovation. Think about it, do you really want to be the brand manager that messes with the recipe for Heinz Ketchup or (gasp) Coca-Cola? The most you can hope for is an innovative new marketing approach like Pepsi Refresh or Coca-Cola’s ‘Open Happiness Machine’ viral video. Once in a great while, you may strike gold with a package innovation, as Heinz with its plastic squeeze bottle.
Believe it or not, ketchup only came in glass bottles until the mid-eighties, due to the considerable technology required to make a clear bottle that would resist the acidic nature of ketchup. The bottle was an immediate hit and consolidated Heinz already sizeable share lead. A few years later, the upside down squeeze bottle completed the evolution, until recently.
Last year, I toured Heinz Innovation Center outside Pittsburgh. Much of the R&D activity there still revolves around packaging, such as its Dip & Squeeze package. Heinz web site says the dipping package is its first significant food service side innovation in 42 years.
Introducing Plant Based Packaging Material
In November, Heinz announced its latest package innovation, tapping Coca-Cola’s technology to put ketchup in bottles made of 30% recycled plant material starting next summer. Heinz seemed to get the jump even on Coke as it isn’t clear when they plan to roll the technology out for their own products.
Perhaps in response to the Coca-Cola package move, Pepsi made a packaging move of its own earlier this week when it announced that beginning in 2012, it would incorporate 100% recycled plant materials in its beverage packaging. As Coca-Cola say “it could take a few more years to develop the technology” to replace the other 70% of its packaging with plant-based material, this could provide Pepsi with an important short-term edge. While it still needs to be recycled, the fact that it is made with recycled plant material puts it ahead on the ecological impact scale. Significantly, Pepsi says the change will be imperceptible to consumers in appearance, functionality and cost. What’s not to like?
Pepsi Packaging: Will It Be The Choice of a New Generation?
In the cola wars where every little bit counts, this packaging offers serious bragging rights. While it may be subtle, in the cola and wider beverage wars, every little bit counts. This new package (and I hope they give it a proprietary name!), may give Pepsi an important edge. All things being equal, most Millennials would opt for the environmentally sound option. Here’s what I said when asked for my opinion by Chicago Tribune writer, Greg Karp:
“It could be a game changer for them,” said Carol Phillips, a University of Notre Dame marketing professor and president of market research firm Brand Amplitude. “In the cola wars, every little bit means something. It’s a game of perception. It can tip the balance, at least for a while.” The environmentally friendly bottle can be a marketing edge, depending on how Pepsi exploits it, Phillips said. That’s especially true among so-called millennials or Generation Y, a primary target for soft-drink companies. “I think it’s big for the millennials,” she said. “Everybody would love a way to be green, especially if it doesn’t cost them any more.”
This innovation, combined with its ground-breaking Pepsi Refresh marketing effort, may indeed make Pepsi the choice of this next generation — at least for a while.
Note: For great insights into the Millennial marketing behind the Pepsi Refresh effort I highly recommend this YPulse interview with Pepsi exec, Maria Irazabel.
When it comes to defining personal identity, few brand choices matter more than what you choose to wear. When students tell me they aren’t into brands, I merely smile and point to the Notre Dame, Nike, and Adidas logos on their hats, shirts and shoes. For Millennials, apparel brands are an important means of curating identity.
For marketers, the challenge is to understand what makes a brand cool enough to wear?
The Coolest Brands
There are many systems designed to tell us which brands have the most equity, are the most valuable or represent the greatest value to consumers. But until today I was unaware of a serious study of which brands are the most cool. Spanish branding agency, Allegro234, recently released results of its 2010 Coolest & Gaps Branding Survey. The study, now in its third consecutive year surveyed 4,200 people in 28 countries.
One of the things that makes it so original is its emphasis on write-in responses. Rather than pre-ordain the coolest brands, they rely on nominations. Each respondent proposes one brand that represents ‘the coolest experience’. Remarkably, of the 114 global brands nominated, 20 represent 60% of the responses. The top 40 proposed brands are 75%. This high degree of consensus suggests we know all cool when we see it.
The study went beyond proposing cool brands and also asked participants to rate their nominated brands on ten dimensions of the brand experience. These dimensions included ‘Brand’, ‘Communication’, ‘Place’, ‘Availability’, ‘Related Services’, ‘Tailormade’, ‘Interactivity’, ‘Respect for the Environment’, and ‘Social Responsiblity’.
Of these ten factors, by far the most important was ‘Brand’ – the vision that the brand promises.
The Coolest Apparel Brands
The entire report is well-worth reading, but for this blog I will focus just on the apparel brands. Not surprisingly, apparel brands represent a large proportion of the top 60 coolest brands. They include:
Diesel (6), H&M (9), Gap (12), Nike (14), Levi’s (17), Adidas (19), Swatch (22), North Face (23), Hugo Boss (26), Stella McCarthy (31), D&G (32), Patagonia (40), Top Shop (42), Pony (45), Zara (49), and Burberry (51).
Allegro234 observes that cool apparel brands fall into four broad categories. Tellingly, none of these categories has much to do with ‘luxury’:
Masstige: Ex: Stella McCartney, Hugo Boss, D&G, LaMartina, Disiguel
Mass: Ex: Target, Gap, H&M, Top Shop, Zara
Performance Sports: Ex: Nike, Patagonia, North Face
Urban Sports: Ex: Adidas, Pony
One of the most fascinating lessons here is that ‘luxury is no longer a guarantee of coolness’. The report goes as far as to conclude that ‘luxury brands with some exceptions, are no longer considered cool’ and that a cool experience is now what matters most in the definition of cool’.
“A cool experience helps peoples’ referential status and moves away from the traditional idea of luxury. Something luxurious is not necessarily cool. This gives greater weight to trends over more rational shopping processes and the flow of the experience is more important than possessing he product in order to live it.” 2010 Coolest Brands Survey, p 13.
I have long said that luxury is not relevant to Millennials. In my experience, young adults have a different metric for determining value, and that metric rarely involves status or prestige. While it’s true that Millennials enjoy premium brands, their affinity has more to do with the experience of ownership than the fact of ownership. A Coach or LV bag for a young professional woman, represents the first step on the path to a professional image or career. It has practical connotations, an accessory that aids confidence in an interview and suggests you are discerning and willing to ‘invest’ in something of value.
Other related lessons: Mass brands can be just as cool as exclusive brands. Performance brands can be just as cool as fashion brands. In other words, it’s no longer essential to be ‘hip’ to be ‘cool’.
Do Millennials Relate Differently to Brands?
The research on cool brands was not limited to Millennials, but coolness represent a more modern view of brand value than more traditional markers. In particular, by underscoring the importance of ‘brand’ in the sense of ‘credible promise or vision’, the Allegro study is better aligned with how Millennials choose brands.
New frameworks are needed and have started to appear, that emphasize attributes such as Identity, Performance and Social Responsibility (Future Brands). I like to think of these as Competence, Caring and Belief. More research is needed before we can conclude that Millennials relate differently to brands, but I am convinced they do.
When Chief Content Officer dmg :: events for Digital Marketing (think Ad:Tech, iMedia Summits), Brad Berens, spoke at Notre Dame’s Marketing Symposium last year, he introduced his concept of the desirability of ‘social friction‘ with a startling and poignant image: two fancily dressed young teens at a dance holding each other close, in what may have been their first ‘slow dance’, while the girl updated her Facebook status over the boy’s shoulder.
The point? It’s not a real experience until you share it. Or perhaps said another way, sharing the experience makes it more enjoyable.
A year ago, Kodak updated it’s famous “Kodak Moments” campaign to “The Real Kodak Moments Happen When You Share“. The goal was to reflect this new reality about sharing.. (NYT, April 10, 2010). Jeffrey W. Hayzlett, chief marketing officer at Kodak put the new theme this way: “It’s not a Kodak moment unless you share.”
(For more on this topic, see earlier post: “The Benefits of Social Friction“)
Sharing Gone Wild (and Mobile)
Mobile platforms make sharing in-the-moment easier than ever. Consequently, use of social networks on mobile devices is skyrocketing.
Nearly 58 million mobile subscribers accessed a social networking site at least monthly via mobile device as of December 2010, up 56% from the previous year, according to Comscore’s latest report. Facebook alone is up 121% over the previous year.
The number of U.S. users accessing Facebook via mobile reached roughly 44 million as of December, making it the single most popular platform used on mobile phones. U.S. mobile users were most likely to access social networking sites or blogs on their mobile at 24.7%, followed by Japanese users at 19.3%, and then Europeans at 18%.
Sharing makes watching TV more fun
Digital marketing agency Digital Clarity published a survey of 1,300 mobile internet users below the age of 25 years. The research showed 8 out of 10 use a mobile device to talk to friends while watching TV. They used Twitter (72%), Facebook (56%) or other mobile applications (34%) to actively comment on shows and chat with their friends as they watch. A whoppinge 62 percent of social TV users like using a combination of all three. A joint Nielsen and Yahoo study in the United States last year found similar results: 86% of mobile internet users communicate with each other in real time during TV broadcasts.
Why connect with friends during shows? Thirty-four percent described the trend as “fun” and about the same number said it made television “more interesting“. Forty-two percent mentioned the “community” aspect of social TV.
A college student with friends in different cities described the experience this way:
“They are in different towns to me but it’s like having them round to watch TV,” he said. “We share a lot of jokes and if I comment on something funny or stupid I get replies almost immediately.”
Shakespeare Had It All Figured Out
According to Berens, ‘high friction moments’, such as those shared TV viewing experiences can be extremely impactful. Friction in the presence of other people leads to satisfaction. In his latest speech just posted (see video below), Berens draws a link between social connection today and how Shakespeare did much the same thing over 400 years ago. Shakespeare wisely created a sense of powerful connectivity among his audience members at The Globe Theater to create hugely satisfying experiences.
According to Berens, as we look at the next iteration of digital media, we have the ability to use marketing experiences and technologies to create deeper bonds between people and to give them more richly satisfying experiences in relation to our brands much the same way that Shakespeare did centuries ago — and still does and even today.
For more insights on what Shakespeare has to say about digital marketing, I highly recommend watching Brad’s speech on video. As a digital marketing thought leader who also happens to be a Shakespeare scholar, he really knows what he’s talking about and great examples, as well!
Part1:
Part 2: httpv://www.youtube.com/p/0AB2AFDCCC6802DE
The fastest growing digital company in the world is Chicago-based Groupon, which this week announced 2010 revenues of $760 million, up from $33 million in 2009. Even bad Superbowl ads can’t undo that kind of head-turning performance.
Rocket-like growth inevitably brings intensified competition. Right on cue, the category of ‘social coupons’, which also includes Living Social and Gilt, among others now also includes a new, niche entry, YouCeleb.com. Think of it as Groupon for fashionistas – “YouCeleb gives you access to the hottest celebrity fashion without the celebrity bank account” In a nice twist, a portion of the proceeds go to the celebrity’s favorite charity.
The female focus of YouCeleb.com is not an accident. A cool infographic from Digital Buzz highlights the profile of Groupon users – young, wealthy, educated women.
- 77% female
- 66% 18-34 years
- 50% have bachelor’s degree
- 30% have post college degree
- 70% have above average incomes ($50K or more)
Given this profile, it’s not a surprise that many of the most successful Groupon offers are for things young women enjoy – salons and day spa’s, dining out, and yoga classes. And they do LOVE them. Here are some comments by members of our Millennial Marketing “super consumer” community:
Sasha Muradali: “I get really good deals on these and I’ve seen really good deals on them too. There was an 85% MMA discount about a week ago on The Dealist I think. I bought one on them recently for a 6-week foreign language class. The thing is, places I wouldn’t normally go to, or things I wouldn’t normally participate in, I get the opp too through Living Social/TheDealist/Groupon. Besides for the discounts, it just opens your eyes to new and cool things. Discounts are always good — really good discounts are even better!
”
Katie Lorenz: “I use Groupon, Living Social, Foxling, and Deal a Day Online. I cancelled my gym membership and only use Groupons for yoga, ballet classes, pilates and tennis (usually unlimited use for a month) and 90% of the time they’re places I’ve never been. I’ve loved all the facilities but their normal prices are usually too expensive for me to continue on so I find the next best thing. “
The men in our community are more equivocal in their assessments of social coupons:
Justin DeGraaf: “I subscribe to Groupon and just started livingsocial during the Amazon.com GC bonanza. Although I look at Groupon maybe 3x a week, I’ve never purchased anything. For some reason, I don’t feel like it’s a good deal, most notably on services. I don’t trust that the rates a spa, for example, gives are any cheaper than if you were to call them and ask for an introductory special. And in my town, the restaurants that are participating are the dodgy and struggling ones. Now, when Living Social did the amazon special I went crazy! Bought like 6 of ‘em. : )”
Steven Conway: “For me, it depends entirely on the category of the deal. When it comes to apparel/retail brands, I tend to purchase groupon deals from brands I currently shop at it like the Gap and Nordstram Rack, as there is a perceived higher risk in buying a groupon from a retailer I do not shop at or like – no matter how good the deal is. On the other hand, when it comes to a restaurant, I will take a chance on a place I haven’t tried as I feel there is less risk involved. Overall, I would rather have a bad meal experience than buy something from a clothing retailer I probably wouldn’t wear.”
Consider the Target
Marketers considering social coupons as a strategy for gaining trial (See my MENG Online post last week, “Social Coupons: Backward Marketing, Forward Thinking“) should first consider the characteristics of their target. Is the target young, upscale and female? Then social coupons may be just the ticket.
Social couponing fits with the overall social context of shopping for young women. E-marketer provides an excellent overview of how teen girls approach shopping (“Online Shopping Is Entertainment to Teen Girls“, 2.28.11). Millennial age young women are similar to teen girls in that they love shopping, but they like shopping with others even more. For them, shopping is more than deals, it is a way to bond. Talking about your Groupons and sharing deals generates important social currency, currency that is often less meaningful for guys.
YouCeleb.com may be the first of a wave of female-focused social coupon opportunities. It’s harder to imagine new Groupon-like sites just for guys – Trouton, anyone?
A special thanks to Suhan Park, Notre Dame MBA candidate, for alerting me to the YouCeleb.com launch.
Dining Commons at Stonehill College, Easton, MA
This past weekend, while scouting colleges with my high school age son, I had the genuine pleasure of eating at several college cafeterias. Seriously, the food was great.
The food at Boston College and Stonehill College was nothing like what comes to mind when I hear ‘cafeteria food’ and I should note these eateries are no longer referred to as ‘cafeteria’s, either. Instead, they are ‘dining commons’ or ‘dining halls’. The food was surprisingly fresh, tasty and varied. There were ethnic options, healthy options, grilled, baked and broiled. There was food to go and food to order. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Not that long ago, the idea of looking forward to eating on different campuses would have been unthinkable. But Mintel reports that college today may be at least in part responsible for the sophisticated taste of many young adults. A passion for food these days seems to begin in college, with its exposure to diverse cultures, semesters abroad and emphasis on healthy living.
“A few decades ago, there were no university chefs. College dining was designated as institutional feeding. Today, many campuses have a handful of chefs, and they are doing amazing things.” Food choices have gone from “pink, white and gray meats to authentic foods, whether international, regional or conceptually, such as vegetarian, vegan or locally sourced.”
With an increasingly international and globally aware student body, college and university chefs are charged with making sure students are able to get the foods they are used to, and therefore chefs must learn about and develop genuine meals from various cultures. This awakens the entire student body to many authentic ethnic cuisines, and then, when students get out of college, it can be harder to get that food in restaurants. Additionally, colleges have come to recognize the revenue potential behind having students eat on campus, versus spending their food dollars elsewhere.
This last point is rather telling – rather than think of providing food as a cost, some colleges are finding both differentiation and hidden revenue in their dining halls. At Stonehill College in Easton, MA, the food was every bit as good as you would find at Panera Bread or a nice casual restaurant. The Stonehill Dining hall web site offers pages of information on nutrition and how to choose a healthy diet this week, menus, catering, events, sustainability practices and even a cupcake of the month. Here is their mission:
“We are a team of customer driven professionals that strive to provide exceptional daily dining experiences for the Stonehill Community while continuing to partner in creating innovative solutions for future growth.”
Lofty stuff! I think my college cafeteria staff was just trying to get home by 6:30 as dinner was strictly 4:30-6:00. Stonehill is not the only one with high aspirations. The Princeton Review’s 373 Best Colleges offers this list of colleges with “Best Campus Food based on students’ rating”.
1. Bowdoin College
2. Virginia Tech
#. James Madison University
4. Wheaton College
5. Cornell University
6. St. Olaf College
7. University of Georgia
8. Bryn Mawr College
9. University of Notre Dame
10. Washington University in St. Louis
South Dining Hall, University of Notre Dame
I’ve eaten many times in South Dining Hall at University of Notre Dame and can vouch that it deserves its spot on the top 10 list. Students seem to appreciate the choices and care that goes into creating a special experience. And it’s always fun to eat in South Dining Hall which looks like it is right out of central casting for Hogwarts.
For restaurant menu developers and food marketers interested in catching what’s next with Millennials, it’s not a crazy idea at all to consider a campus tour. Mintel goes one step further and suggests getting inspiration from college chefs and food service operators:
“Now it’s time for innovative dining-out operators from any segment (grocery store or convenience store prepared foods, restaurants, business and industry foodservice) to wake up to authentic cultural cuisines. A logical first step would be to visit a good university dining facility and meet with the executive chef. Or, take it a step up and go to the headquarters of one of the contract management companies that operate in colleges and universities. A few places to start would be Aramark, based in Philadelphia, Pa.; Sodexo Inc. in Gaithersburg, Md.; or Compass Group North America’s Chartwells in Charlotte, N.C.”
Cee-Lo's Grammy Performance
Millennials are influencing our tastes in many subtle and not so subtle ways. I am keenly aware of the influence my Millennial age kids and students have on my tastes and purchases, in everything from cars, to clothes, to foods and entertainment.
Grammy Obsessed
To illustrate just how far I’ve come, Sunday night I was riveted by the Grammy Awards. I have never watched it before, and I actually watched it alone as everyone else in my family seemed to have more important things to do.
How could I miss Cee-Lo, Rhianna, Drake, Eminem, Gaga, Bruno and Katy do amazing performances of songs I that have become stuck in my head day in and day out? (Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” seems to be remarkably sticky.) I loved seeing Glee’s Lea Michele and Matt Morrisey in the limelight. In contrast to all that energy, Barbra and Kris seemed boring, though Mick Jagger still has the ability to energize a room the size of the Staples Center.
I truly cared whether the rap and dance artists would come out on top for Record and Album of the Year. They didn’t, and I went on line to share my woes and see if anyone else was as disappointed (here’s a great recap from a Millennial). My point? If someone had told me a few years ago that I would like rap, dance and pop music, much less care about these stars I would have sniffed and said I only listen to NPR.
Is Your Brand Culturally Aware?
Culture has always been a big part of youth marketing, and now it seems to be increasingly important to all marketing, thanks to Millennials. It wasn’t just his connections to Detroit that made Eminem a brilliant choice for Chrysler’s two minute SuperBowl spot. After all, they could have opted for Kid Rock.
A recent article by the PR firm, Edelman, titled “Why Millennials Matter to Every Brand” argues that Millennial’s influence is a strong argument for making them a key target now, even if your stated target is 25-54 or even 35-54. Edelman puts it this way:
“All of the chatter from Millennials, all of the sharing and noise, it makes an impact on the generations before them. They are listening. They are influenced by what their children and grandchildren are saying because they can say it loudly, with confidence and knowledge that only their Smartphones could give them. Millennials will continue to dominate influence and pop culture. That is, until the next generation, Generation Z, quickly changes the world once again.”
Edelman offers these reasons for even brands like diapers and home alerts to consider Millennials a key target, now:
1. Size: “By 2015, almost half (47%) of the world population will be under the age of 25.”
2. Influence: “Two-thirds of Millennials are now over the age of 21, and many have established careers, families and an incredible amount of influence.”
3. Digital Prowess: “They were raised digital. This fact alone makes Millennials unlike anything the world has seen.”
4. Global Reach: “Technology knocks down borders. Multiculturalism is the norm and new trends and opinions spread quickly.”
5. Brand-Happy: “Brand preference was the #1 personal identifier that Millennials were willing to share about themselves online.”
6. See Themselves as Influencers: “76 percent of Millennials think they are highly depended on for their opinions.
7. Active Advocates (and Detractors): ”Millennials are taking action on behalf of brands, both online and offline, every week. And, those actions aren’t just for high profile lifestyle brands.”
These arguments will be familiar to reader of this blog. But they serve as a great reminder that if Millennials are not part of your target now, you may wake up and find you are still listening to NPR – and your competition is listening to B96.
Saturday was test day for the College ACT Test. All across the country, high school juniors and seniors spent the morning filling in dots with number two pencils in the hope of gaining entrance to the college of their choice. For most, this won’t be the last time they take it. My 20-year old daughter (now a junior at Notre Dame) took the ACT three times and the SAT twice before she was satisfied.
Test Scores Predict Academic Success and Retention
The College Board reports that more students from the Class of 2010 took the SAT than any other class, a total of 1.6 million.
The Board maintains that scores on the SAT are predictive of college performance, especially when combined with high school grades (correlation of .5 and .6 respectively). Additionally, they provide data that shows a strong correspondence between the rigorousness of high school course loads and scores, with students who take a ‘core curriculum’ and AP courses scoring on average 150 points higher than those who do not. With this kind of evidence, it’s little wonder that the scores matter — and students and parents take them so seriously.
An Escalating ‘Arms Race’
An entire industry has developed to coach students into higher SAT, ACT and AP scores. Some families are now spending a small fortune in an attempt to boost scores (“The Escalating Arms Race for Top Colleges, 2.5-6, 2011, WSJ). Jennifer Moses reports spending over two thousand dollars on standardized testing, applications, counseling and test prep for her 17-year old twins, and another $4,000 on travel for college visits. This is on top of tuition for private high school where assistance in college counseling no doubt exceeds that of a typical public school. Her rationale? “We are all caught up in a crazy arms race, where the order of the day (to borrow a useful term freom the Cold War) is “escalation dominance.”
Does test prep frenzy make a difference? In the aggregate, the answer is “no”. Average SAT scores have remained remarkably stable for the last twenty years.
For individuals, the answer is equivocal. While the vendors of these services purport that they can make a difference, the College Board says that the biggest influence is the rigor of the high school coursework. Those who take more years of history, math and English – and more difficult AP and honors versions of those courses – do better than those who do not.
An Issue of Fairness
As a parent, this imperviousness to coaching is both reassuring and troubling. I’d like to think that there is a way to get an ‘edge’, yet on the other hand, if that edge is only available to those with the financial resources and motivation to try to ‘game’ the system, then confidence in the ‘fairness’ of the admission process is compromised.
On an individual level, if the SAT and ACT scores are in fact predictive of performance, as the College Board says they are, test scores help to prevent students from attending schools where they lack the preparation or skills to compete.
Every student should strive to attend the best school for which they are qualified. But everyone loses when unqualified students are admitted where they don’t belong. It’s better in the long run for everyone that an average student find a school that matches their achievement than struggle to keep up in an environment scaled to the best and the brightest.
Incoming Freshman Are More Confident — AND More Overwhelmed
Source: Higher Education Research Institute - UCLA
Matching student ability to academic rigor may have direct implications for emotional health. The HERI (Higher Education Research Institute) has tracked the emotional health of high school seniors (incoming freshman) since 1985. According to their research, the class of 2010 has some of the highest self-ratings on ‘drive to achieve’ and ‘academic ability’.
While these measures have been moving up, indications of emotional health have been trending down. Similarly, the numbers of students who report being frequently “overwhelmed by all I had to do” was up two percentage points from 2009, moving from 27.1% to 29.1%. Stress was especially pronounced for incoming women — 38.8% felt stressed in this manner.
The Right School
Next month, this years seniors will begin to get the fat or the thin envelope. Many more will be disappointed this year than in years past, largely due to record levels of applications. UC Berkeley received 52,900 freshman applications for Fall 2011 – compared to just 35,473 ten years ago in 2001. Harvard has set a new record for applications. Given the longer odds, it’s reasonable for students to apply to more schools, which just drives the cycle ever higher.
Perhaps if students simply focused on finding the best possible choice among their ‘realistic’ schools based on grades, test scores and a new index being created by the College Board to equivalize ‘academic rigor’, we would all be better off — financially and emotionally.
The rules around alcohol advertising and sports need to be re-examined. Why can’t I visit CaptainMorgan.com without answering the question, “Are You Old Enough to Come Aboard?” Yet – I can’t avoid seeing the Captain’s logo on ESPN when I am working out at my fitness club? A quick check of YouTube shows that the relationship with ESPN is more than logo-deep, as demonstrated by the :60 opening sequence created for Wednesday Night Baseball last summer (see above). The film doesn’t contain any drinks, but it’s all about the iconic Captain. What’s next, Joe Camel?
Mixing Sports and Alcohol
Thom Forbes, the respected writer and former editorial director of Adweek, wrote a powerful essay today titled “Alcohol and Sports Should Not Mix” (Mediapost, 2.7.11). In it he asks:“C’mon. Why is it that the only time that advertisers claim that advertising doesn’t work is when they are trying to squirm out of its impact on youth?
…We can throw stats at each other from now until Super Bowl C, as The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Distilled Spirits Council recently did. But today’s argument boils down to a very simple proposition: Why do we continue to send the mixed message to kids that alcohol and sports are inexorably twined? In our culture, they are. They shouldn’t be.
Nearly two years ago, in this blog, I attempted to point out that it is ludricrous to think that a handful of responsible drinking ad campaigns were going to be of any use in fighting a youth culture that equates partying and having a good time with drinking, largely as a result of nearly saturation levels of advertising delivering the message that the fun only starts when the beer and rum arrives. (“Tough Sells: Anti-Tobacco and Responsible Drinking” 2.25.09)
As marketers, it’s time to admit that advertising does work and be more consistent in our application of rules.
The Captain Morgan multimedia campaign is one of my favorites. It’s great marketing and it’s working. Diageo reported in December 2010 that it holds a 34.5% share of the U.S. rum market and its share is growing, because its volume is growing faster than the overall market (which is growing 7% globally each year!).
Don’t get me wrong. I love great marketing like the Captain, and I support Diageo’s right to advertise a legal product. But Diageo needs to advertise responsibly to legal drinkers. Like Forbes, I don’t think sports and alcohol should mix, and I especially don’t think the Captain should be linked with baseball — or any other sport — on ESPN. It’s time to draw the line.
Tonight we’re going hard
Just like the world is ours
We’re tearin’ it apart
You know we’re superstars
We are who we are!
We’re dancing like we’re dumb
Our bodies go numb
We’ll be forever young
You know we’re superstars
We are who we are!
-Ke$sha, “We R Who We R”
If you spend much time making sense of the research and thinking about the challenges Millennials face getting a toehold in the new economy, it’s easy to lose sight of the sheer exuberance of the Gen Y subculture.
To be young is to be unapologetic, and Millennials are adamant we accept them on their terms.
Millennials are young, creative people and are only starting to make their influence felt. Consider for a moment that by 2014, 50% of all employed people will be Millennials. Little wonder they are setting the pace in music, fashion, technology, education, philanthropy, movies and entertainment. They look at things differently, cherish their individuality and intend to be ‘superstars’. As the song says:
“If you’re one of us, then roll with us, ’cause we make the hipsters fall in love!” – Ke$sha
Which brands are really rolling with Millennial hipsters?
Surprisingly, it seems to be the luxury brands who are among the first to catch on to the Millennial zeitgeist. I say surprisingly because the general impression among marketers is that, while Millennials might have the money to afford luxury goods someday, they are not a lucrative market right now. Yet nearly every luxury brand, including Mercedes, Audi, Burberry, Tissot and Ralph Lauren to name a few, seems to have made a special effort to understand and speak to the Gen Y audience.
Their latest spots suggest Audi represents a new kind of updated luxury. Audi uses Facebook and other online platforms to provide sneak peeks of concept cars and solicit user feedback. They offer three gaming apps for the iPhone, and allow you to build a virual AudiSpace on Son’s Playstation Home. Audi featured its R8 and other models in Iron Man 2. I don’t particularly care for the imagery in their new spot, but it seems to be working, Audi is having a great year.
Fashion houses Ralph Lauren and Tissot are using the latest augmented reality techniques to showcase their wares to the ‘wired generation’. Last year’s 4D outdoor fashion shows in London and New York by Ralph Lauren were unlike anything seen before, and a big hits with the crowds watching.
These marketers seem to understand that to remain relevant, it is essential to ‘remain forever young’ and that it can be done without turning off older audiences. Indeed, youth culture seems to crossover quite well. Who wouldn’t want to be part of this club?
