Notre Dame Leprechaun Tattoo
Some of the most widely reported facts from the report on Millennials from Pew Research involved the prevalence of tatoos — and more personal body decoration — among Gen Y.
“About half (54%) have done one or more of the following: gotten a tattoo, dyed their hair an untraditional color, or had a body piercing in a place other than their ear lobe….Gender is not a factor in either tatooing or untraditional hair-dyeing — men and women are about equally likely to have done either — but body piercing is more common among young women than among their male counterparts.”
The incidence of tattoos among Millennials as well as Gen X’ers is so widespread as to be almost mainstream.
Thirty-six percent of Millennials and 40% of Gen X have at least one tattoo and many have multiples. (The reason this comes as a surprise to those of us who have never even contemplated the option of body art beyond ear piercing is that many are in discreet places.)
Tattoos are one of the few evidences of a true generation gap. Just 10% of those over 40 years old admit to a tattoo.
For us on the far side of the tattoo divide, it makes little sense to pay money (sometimes a lot of money, I am told) and endure pain to create an indelible mark. So it’s worth contemplating what marks Millennials find compelling enough to wear permanently.
A Google search of ‘tattoo designs’ returns over 2.3 million sites, so it’s hard to say what is most popular. The idiosyncracy of a tattoo appears to be part of its appeal. Nothing is quite as personal or individual.
Adam Di Stefano writes in The Next Great Generation blog that tattoos are a ‘Defining Mark’. He agrees that tattoos say a lot about a person, but what they don’t say is that the wearer is a ‘rebel’ or is trying to make any particular statement. According to Di Stefano, there is no single ‘type’ of person who wears a tattoo:
“Tattoos are an art form. Some people like oil paintings, others like ancient sculptures. I think there’s nothing more beautiful than a well inked tattoo. I love the stories behind tattoos. Most tattoos have meaning, and generally it represents an important moment in a person’s life. There’s something compelling about the permanence of a tattoo.”
Tanner Maluchnik, who blogs at Life Destiny, observes that sports brand tattoos are a sign of a particular affiliation, that of a fan for a team:
“I associate and branded myself, with ink, of the Penn State Nittany Lion brandmark (not unlike quite a few Notre Dame people I know either subway alum or not inking themselves with the Leprechaun). It is more based on the brand “Penn State Football,” instead of being a student and future alum of Penn State. Over 100,000 wearing white to a football game does not get any more “brand cult.” …Last summer when I was working on the beach with my shirt off everyday, it was so easy to speak with other “associated” people who saw my brandmark and went out of the way to get to know me.”
One of my more embarrassing moments came a few years ago in an interview I was conducting for a youth pastor position for our church. My daughter had tipped me off that he had a tattoo, and I was feeling uncomfortable with this as a role model. So I asked about his decision — what symbol would be so compelling as to wear for the rest of your life? His reply? Jesus Christ. Needless to say, he got the job.
Marketers and Anthropologists alike consider brands to be meaning systems. The brands we choose to display, wear or just call our own say a lot about who we are. While it’s a stretch to say ‘we are the sum of our brand choices‘, it’s not as far fetched as you might think.
One of my favorite branding books is “The Culting of Brands: When Customers Become True Believers” by Douglas Atkin. The book explores the relationship between brand choice and identity. Atkins concludes that brand choice is about individual expression, not conforming. Atkin calls this the ‘central paradox of cult belonging‘.
“The common belief is that people join cults to conform. Actually, the very opposite is true. They join to become more individual. At the heart of the desire to join a cult, in fact any community to which you will become committed, is a paradox….As one cult member unequivocally put it, ‘Belonging allows the individual to become more himself.” – The Culting of Brands, page 4
Millennials know that the brands they choose to associate with telegraph who they are. As cultural ‘artifacts’, brands form a clear ‘language’ for Gen Y. It’s a language they understand and accept.
In November, Jason Potteiger wrote a post for The Next Great Generation Blog, titled, “15 Ways Millennials Think About Brands”. He begins with this observation: “For our entire lives brands have been everywhere and everything. The device of branding has become so pervasive in our lives that we now filter most things through that framework”. The last five ‘ways’ he lists speak directly to the symbolic meaning of brands and the importance of that meaning to the Millennial ’subculture’. It could be right out of Atkin’s book:
10. My brand associations are important to me, but ultimately a just one of many variables in my daily life/ equation of personal meaning and value. I dislike brands that do not understand their place in this equation.
11. Brands are used to self identify and create personal meaning. We seek out brands that represent who we are, or wish to be.
12. Individuals and groups identify similar people via their similar brand associations; this commonality creates a de facto community.
13. We are fluent in brands. We know the symbols, their messages, and the communities associated with them.
14. We speak a language of brands, we can easily construct other and larger meanings through the combination and layering of brands. (eg. Someone wearing a Red Sox hat, Converse shoes, North Face jacket, Starbucks coffee – add or subtract any element here and their brand equation or association map changes, and so does my understanding of them).
Marketers who want to appeal to Millennials need to ask themselves if they ‘Speak Brand’? This means more than just understanding image attributes; it means decoding the symbolic language of a generation.
To relate to Millennials, marketers need to be ‘culture sleuths’. Is your brand a cult? What does belonging to that cult mean to the participants? Do you understand how Millennials relate to brands in general. Do you understand how your brand and its strategic associations (celebrities, music, media, retailers) fit into this entire constellation?
By Millennial Marketing Guest Blogger, Kristin Dziadul
One of the questions I get most often from marketers is “What brands do Millennials like?” I asked Kristin Dziadul, a recent graduate in marketing, to provide her perspective.
“I think I speak for most all Millennials when I say that I choose brands because they are seen as ‘popular’ or ‘cool’ as deemed either by our social group or society as a whole.
For example, I would not buy clothes from Wal Mart when I had the option to buy them from Abercrombie & Fitch or Express instead. This is because the two former brands are popular and buzz-worthy, whereas you would be more abashed to say your clothes are from Wal Mart. I think most Millenials go through this stage during high school, as everyone is becoming very judgmental and forming their social ‘clicks.’ Millenials are major gossipers, which is why brands tend to matter a lot as we go through our teenage years.
This age cohort gains their information and social influences mainly from friends, family, and the Internet when making brand decisions, which is why they care so much about what others think of them. As we get older, we tend to not concentrate as much on the brands we use, as we do the cost versus quality.
I have noticed as I get older that I have become more sensible with the brands I choose to buy.
For example, when I was in high school I used to buy ridiculously expensive clothing from Limited Too, a teen store in the mall. Simple jeans ran upwards of $80, and I used to buy those all the time! Now, I am comfortable buying a tee shirt or bathing suit from Target or Macy’s where they sell no-name brands, but they are fashionable all the same.
When we get older, we tend to lose our main focus of social pressures and influences, and more on our wallets, comfort, and style. I still put focus on what styles are in fashion and do buy from well-known brands on occasion, but it is not an imperative anymore, and my friends and I no longer judge each other based on what we wear and where it’s from.
The brands I am most passionate about are Apple, Coach, and American Eagle.
I am loyal to Apple because of the high quality, great integration with all their products, latest and greatest technology, and brand loyalty. Although their products are expensive, they are extremely durable, made of great quality parts, and are always at the top of industry knowledge when it comes to product development, three components which mean a lot to me.
I also love Coach purses because of the fashion statement and high quality that the brand instills. I have had a Coach purse for over two years and it is still in perfect condition, matches all my outfits (very versatile!), and also serves as a fashion statement.
About 80% of my clothing is from American Eagle. I love this brand because of the affordability and relaxed style.
Kristin Dziadul, 21, is a recent graduate of Western New England College with a Marketing Communications/Advertising major. She is the 2009 New England Direct Marketing Association scholarship recipient, and has a strong passion for marketing and social media! Kristin is from Connecticut and currently has two marketing freelance jobs.
She blogs at http://kdmedianow.com Follow her on Twitter: @KristinEDziadul
Has the world finally woken up to Millennials?
Judging by the media attention focused on Gen Y yesterday, it seems we may finally have arrived at the tipping point. On Feb 24 alone, there were articles and segments that appeared around the country, sparked by the new Pew Report on Millennials:
Chicago Tribune: “Millennials Dubbed ‘Always Connected’ in Pew Report”
Washington Post: “Under 30 Americans: The Next New Dealers?”
Washington Post: “Story Lab: Quiz: How Millennial Are You?”
PBS News Hour: “Demographic Profile of a Generation”
Christian Science Monitor: “Great Recession Hits Millennials Hardest”
Huffington Post: “Our Generation: More Confident, Less Employed”
A quick Google search returned 56 ‘related articles’ for a search on “Pew Millennials“. I certainly welcome the attention on this remarkable demographic group, and I applaud Pew for its indepth coverage. But where are the marketing articles? The Pew data so far is mostly attended to by social scientists, political scientists, journalists and academics.
The marketing world, aside from youth-focused marketing firms, as yet are still fairly tone deaf about the coming shifts.
If you are interested in understanding how more mainstream marketers are reaching out successfully to Millennials, you have to dig a little deeper. MobileYouth’s profile of Ten Brands that connect with Gen Y is a good start for profiles of Ford Fiesta, Monster Energy drink and others. But once you get beyond these high profile stories the cases get a little harder to come by. Here are three less publicized, inspiring exceptions:
Houlihan’s: (Fast Company, March 1, 2010)
“Last summer, it created its own social-networking site, HQ, an invite-only “brand community” of 10,500 “Houlifans” to serve as a virtual comment card. Customers appended that a-little-too-cute prefix to all things Houli-, and they’ve helped the formerly stodgy Irish pub rebrand itself as a contemporary suburban lounge-style hangout.”
StarkSilverCreek Web Publication: (PR Web, February 17, 2010)
All Things West Coast, the company’s flagship brand, is one of the fastest growing digital media properties. Readers value inspired and thoughtful coverage of the west coast including arts (film, stage), wine country, travel, and technology. Alexa Internet, Inc. ranks starksilvercreek.com 93,401 in the US and 285,000 globally. According to Quantcast, readers are affluent (28% earn $100K+), highly educated (67% college/grad school). Generation X and Y (Millennials) account for 68% of visitors.
Herbal Essence: (Business Week, July 2008)
“The shampoo and conditioner bottles are curved so that they literally fit together on the shelf. The nesting shape not only helped Herbal Essences stand out from others on the shelf but also encouraged more young women to buy both products, driving up conditioner sales. To appeal to Millennials, the team also updated the language on the packaging. The ho-hum “dandruff” reference gave way to “no flaking away.” Names for different hair styles were changed to more youthful phrases such as “totally twisted” or “drama clean.” “We totally reframed the proposition,” says Lafley. ….soon after the shampoo was relaunched the brand was growing again, with sales growth rates in the high single digits.”
A lot is known now about how to build a more appealing brand that connects more directly with Millennials. It requires a different approach, because as anyone who reads this blog or the Pew Report knows, it’s a different kind of audience. Getting results like these requires a more collaborative approach to research and a more engaging approach to marketing.
Marketers will be wise to begin now. The rewards for early movers in categories like banking, wine, leisure travel, retailing, and media will be great, both in immediate sales lifts (like Houlihans) as well as in better positioning for future consumers. Gen Y trends have a way of migrating up the generations.
Soon it will be more than just the wine industry that is experiencing ‘classic market disruption’, it will be most industries as this 75-million strong demographic recovers from the Recession, and gets about the business of creating homes and careers. Will your brand be ready?
Meanwhile, we are launching a new page on our MillennialMarketing.wikispaces.com wiki to aggregate successful Gen Y marketing case studies. Check it out and feel free to contribute your stories.
I recently finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s best selling book, Eat Pray Love. The book chronicles Gilbert’s literal and figurative spiritual journey toward a deeper relationship with God, but never actually reveals which if any religion speaks to her yearning. Gilbert, a Gen X’er, seems to have a lot in common with Gen Y.
New data released this week from Pew Research on Millennials and religion quoted in USA Today, Denver Post and elsewhere, says one in four Millennials (25%) do not identify with any one faith, instead describing their religion as “atheist,” “agnostic” or “nothing in particular.” This level of non-affiliation is much than was seen for other generations at the same age.
At the same time, the Pew study reveals that spirituality among young adults is undiminished. “Members of today’s Millennial generation, ages 18 to 29, are as likely to pray and believe in God as their elders were when they were young.” This leads them to conclude in their headline: “Young Adults ‘Less Religious,’ Not Necessarily ‘More Secular‘.”
There is other evidence to support the conclusion that the issue is more one of lack of affiliation than a lack of faith in God. A survey of Millennials reported in New Yorker magazine last year found that 43% of Gen Y believes they are ‘as religious’ or ‘more religious’ than their parents. A Marist Institute poll shows over three in ten Millennials define their primary long-term life goal in religious terms (“To be spiritual and close to God”). That figure was higher than for any other age group.
What makes this lack of affiliation especially intriguing to me is that in many other areas of their lives, Millennials are inclined to go along with their parents’ choices.
Within the 25% who are unaffiliated, nearly three quarters were raised in a religious faith tradition and dropped away. This makes faith the outlier as far as decisions that break with their parents. Recall that this is the first generation that as a rule likes their parents and even thinks of their parents as their ‘best friend’.
- 86% say they share their parents political views.
- Every single student in my Principles of Marketing class raised their hand last week when I asked who banks where their parents bank.
- According to an AARP survey, 41% of Millennials with cars drive the same brand of car their parents drive or have driven.
- The American Savings Council found 71% of Gen X’ers and Gen Y’ers turn to their parents for financial advice.
So why make the break here, over something as important as faith?
I think has to do with the strength of the Millennial subculture and its strong, shared ethical values than a fundamental change in their belief in God.
The Gen Y subculture is astonishingly ethical, both in values and in practice. ’Bad behavior’ on a variety of social dimensions from pregnancy to crime to drugs are all down among young adults. Socially, Millennials prize tolerance as a result of their inherent diversity. They are significantly more socially liberal than their parents on issues of marriage, abortion, interracial dating. Millennials are less inclined to believe that church affiliation is necessary to be a ‘good person’. According to a Marist Institute poll, 56% have donated money to a charity in the past six months and 67% have volunteered their time.
I’ll go out on a limb here and speculate that some of the lack of affiliation is due to a desire for ‘authenticity.’ The Gen Y subculture is unusually sensitive to phoniness. It’s unlikely they will go through the motions of attending church just because it is ‘the thing to do’ if they have questions about their own sincerity.
In the final analysis, reaching Millennials and getting them to re-affiliate with any one ‘religion’ may be unrealistic as a ‘marketing objective’.
Gen Y is accustomed to choices, and there is some evidence they may feel confined by a denominational label. In December I noted that Millennials are ‘auditioning’ faiths the same way they would look for a college, a spouse or other major decision (“For Millennials Belief Is A Choice“). This represents a huge generational shift and as with so many other Gen Y trends, may start to migrate into the thinking of other age groups. The Pew research shows that like Millennials, most Americans are embracing ‘multiple faiths’, with beliefs that do not ‘ fit conventional categories’.
It would be hard to find three more different brands in three more diverse categories than Google, Under Armour and Trader Joe’s. Yet each appeals strongly to Gen Y.
Google: According to blogger, Sam McRoberts, aka Samantics, Google is the ‘Millennial deity’. “While search engines in general have had a major impact, Google is very nearly the deity of Gen Y. They are dedicated to providing as much information and tools as possible, absolutely free. Sure, they charge for some things, but they have done more to bring down the cost of music, news, movies, games, and data in general than any other company.”
Under Armour: Under Armour is the brand my students pick most consistently for their semester marketing projects. According to Gen Y blogger, Greg Rollett, “those that play (or played) high school sports, or college for that matter, know that the majority of players choose Under Armour as their performance wear.”
Trader Joe’s: Trader Joe’s was one of the 15 brands named by Outlaw Consulting’s trendsetter panel as being loved precisely because they do not fit the conventions of being hip. Like Napoleon Dynamite, it is an unapologetically “dorky alternative to cool”. Other brands that fit this description? In N’ Out Burger and Jet Blue.
What makes their appeal even more remarkable is that they have accomplished it by rejecting the usual trappings of big brand marketing.
None of these big brands has a significant advertising presence. All of them are famous for not behaving like, well, a ‘big brand’. What characteristics do these three brands share that can help marketers understand what gives a brand “Millennial Appeal”?
For starters, there are qualities all three are not!
- They are not known for their overt sexiness. Is there anything less sexy than a search engine, a Hawaiian shirt or a hoodie?
- They are not known for Apple-like bleeding edge design. Trader Joe’s signs and web site have a homely, handmade appearance. Google’s simple home page has been more or less the same since day one.
- They do not have an irreverent attitude. None of these brands are known for their youthful sass.
In each case the foundation of the appeal lies more in who they are, and how they deliver value rather than what they do or their clever youthful take on marketing. Here are three qualities they all share:
1. They Are All ‘Trailblazers’.
All three brands creatively tried to do something that had not been done before. And each continues to go its own way, with little acknowledgement that they even have competition. They are originals, with a one of a kind identity. Millennials resonate with this go-your-own-way individualism. They do not feel a need to respect tradition. Here’s Sam McRoberts again:
“We detest mindless tradition. If you want us to do something, you better have a very good reason, not to mention the good sense to get out of our way and let us innovate and improve the process…”just because” doesn’t work for us, and neither does inefficiency.We epitomize creativity.”
2. They All Exhibit a Low Key Style of Marketing
Google just ran its first television commercial in the 2010 Super Bowl. Until now, it has relied almost entirely on word of mouth to support its consumer-facing and largely free services.
Likewise Trader Joe’s does little advertising and sells nothing online. It’s web site is purely informational.
Under Armour relies heavily on product placement for publicity. Despite its presence on the athletic apparel at the Olympics, it is not running Olympics-themed advertising.
The absence of overt marketing serves to heighten credibility with Gen Y. According to Outlaw’s Strategic Analyst, Holly Brickley,“Generation Y trendsetters are more drawn to brands that speak to them in a straightforward and stripped-down way, use plain packaging, and avoid excess,and stripped-down way, use plain packaging, and avoid excess.” Not shouting their message allows Gen Y to feel as if they discovered the brand on their own, enhancing their sense of ‘ownership’. Discovery is a key part of the appeal of each of these brands.
3. They All Have Strong Gen Y ‘Lifestyle Relevance’
While each brand has a pedestrian side (sports apparel, non-branded groceries, search engine), each transcends its category and has come to symbolize a way of life and a system of values that resonates with Millennials. These brands’ values are strongly aligned with Millennial values of simplicity and appreciation for the ‘non-corporate’.
Google famously strives to ‘do no evil’. Its services make life easier and more efficient, a core Gen Y value. What’s more, Google provides its services free of charge.
Trader Joe’s web site talks about itself as ‘your neighborhood grocery store. It emphasizes that its products are ‘unbranded’, ‘unconventional’ and ‘a shopping adventure’. It has a designated person in every store to handle charitable donations.
“At Trader Joe’s, you won’t find a lot of branded items. Instead, you’ll find unconventional and interesting products in the Trader Joe’s label as well as everyday basics. We buy products we think are winners and that’ll find a following among our customers. Sometimes it’s a product we intend to stock as long as it sells well; and sometimes we buy a product which is in limited supply, sell through it, and you won’t find it again. It’s all part of the shopping adventure at Trader Joe’s.”
Under Armour relied on the authenticity of real players wearing its products from its earliest days. According to Business Week, Kevin Plank, UA’s young founder spent four years tireless pitching his product to college and NFL teams.
“We convinced these big tough football players to start wearing tight-fitting synthetic shirts, which was completely new and different,” he says. In addition to stars such as Jeff George, Jerry Rice, and Plank’s Maryland teammate Frank Wycheck, big names in other sports, such as pitcher Roger Clemens, became Under Armour fans. The pros’ acceptance brings Under Armour an authenticity that advertising alone can’t create.”
Other brands with similar bases for appeal among Millennials include Zappos, Jet Blue, In N’ Out Burger, Red Bull, Target, Vitamin Water, and more. All of these brands rely less on advertising — network or viral — and more on their innate authenticity to connect with Gen Y. They don’t do things ‘by the big brand book’ and ironically that is their secret to becoming big brands.
The lessons of these three brands? Becoming ‘big’ with Gen Y is more about restraint than overt action. By avoiding many of the trappings of a mainstream brand, they become mainstream. This may be the ultimate paradox of Millennial Marketing.
It was a special thrill this morning to find myself quoted in German. Eike Wenzel blogged today on the differences between German and U.S. Millennials. His post featured this chart (in English). It’s fascinating to see that U.S. Millennials lag those in Germany and China in their willingness to share details of their personal lives online.
This chart shows how working Millennials around the world use social sites and blogs, and especially their willingness to ’share information about myself or my friends online’.
In the United States, only 8% agree completely with the statement “I love to write about myself and my friends in blogs and on my social sites.’
This compares with 23% in Germany and 32% in China. Other countries with high levels of agreement that they love to share were Brazil (22 %), Japan ( 17 %) and Italy (17 %). The only countries with a lower level of agreement than the U.S. were Australia (5%) and Canada (7%) with the U.K. coming close (11%).
The relative reticence of American Gen Y’ers to share came as a surprise to me. According to Fast Company’s analysis of Pew data on online behavior, “the Internet isn’t just prevalent in our lives, it is our lives.” According to Pew, 72% of young adults (18-29) have social network profiles. Others show the figure as high as 96%
Yet there are some hints that the days of total transparency are waning.
Just 15% maintain a blog, down 9 percentage points in two years. And with the growing awareness that parents, job recruiters, potential employers and even professors are looking at their online profiles, many Gen Y’ers have started to moderate their posting, even causing one Millennial, Kyla Butterfield, to question whether her Facebook page even represents her real personality anymore, or is just an extension of her resume. Here is an excerpt from her post on TheNextGreatGeneration blog.
“All of my friends are beginning to look for jobs and cleaning up their Facebook, Myspace and Twitter accounts to make sure they fit into the cookie cutter mold companies are looking for. Honestly I am not excluded. It seemed so easy for me to adjust my interests after the parental clean up. I have realized my Facebook is just another place for me to list my accomplishments instead of express myself. Has Facebook become Linkedin? For me it has, and I’ve found myself on it less and less. Just FYI employers, you can no longer trust Facebook to be a fair representation of your potentials; for those who have wised up these are just an extension of their resumes.
If you spend much time online and it’s easy to be seduced into thinking all young people are blogging and sharing openly. Yet I know from my students this is not the case. Most do not maintain a blog and few think Twitter is worth the time. The idea of ‘personal branding’ is not something they have given a lot of thought to. Facebook is more of a utility, a tool for planning one’s social life, and sharing photos, not maintaining a Proust-style journal.
In fact it’s the over 30 crowd that is doing more sharing online these days.
According to Pew, blogging is on the rise for adults over 30, who increased to 11% by December 2009 from 7% in 2007. 47% of adults now use social networking sites, up f10% from a year ago. Perhaps social media is something younger adults will grow into as they mature. (How ironic is that?!)
“This is Gen Y” video by Weber Marketing Group
Banks and credit unions are scrambling to understand their future market, Millennials. Much of the dialog has focused on technology-enabled services, but service may be the key to attracting Gen Y.
Research by Microsoft suggests their needs are actually different from their Boomer parents, with Gen Y placing a greater emphasis on mobility and online access.
“(Millennials) are much more likely than baby boomers to use Web banking (49 percent versus 35 percent) and to find online service capabilities to be very important when researching a new bank (54 percent versus 42 percent). Baby boomers, on the other hand, are much more likely to prefer banking transactions in person at a branch (44 percent versus 32 percent), and half (50 percent) report that they never bank via the Web using a personal computer or phone browser.” – “Millennials and Baby Boomers Banking Channel Preference Survey 2009″, Microsoft News Center, November 3, 2009.
A December 2009 study by Fidelity confirms that Gen Y indeed wants online access. “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.”
However, Gen Y’s needs and bank selection criteria may lie more in the area of customer service than technology.
Three remarkable videos posted on the blog, “TheFinancialBrand“, all suggest how little Millennials really understand about banks and credit unions. They have no idea how banks make money (fees?) and many bank where they do simply because that is where their parent’s bank.
Moreover, they are not happy with how banks treat them. The video above (4:06 and worth watching) shows interviews with five young adult banking customers, ages 17-25. Here are some excerpts:
“When I go in to talk to [my bank], they aren’t friendly or helpful whatsoever. They talk to me like I’m stupid, pretty much.”
“I bought a quesadilla and overdrew my account. And then I… overdrew overdrew overdrew and I owed them tons of money. When I went to talk to them, they weren’t nice to me, so I switched.” (Woman, 23)
“I’d have to say a lot of my friends do get overdraft fees, cause it’s hard to know how much you’re spending. I don’t keep track of that too well…” (Woman, 17)
“They’re not open all that often. If I get my paycheck late on Friday’s and they close early, I’ll have to wait for the weekend.” (Woman, 23)
“When I go to an ATM to take out money, it’s rough to have to pay a couple of dollars just to take out money.” (Woman, 17)
Millennials expect to be treated nicely and fairly. They want to feel good about the places they do business and are happy to reciprocate.
Gen Y’er Laura Hurlbut provided this perspective on customer service in her blog post Monday “Cafes, Spain and Customer Experience“:
“As a customer, I want to do business with individuals and organizations that respect my humanity—a preference, I assume, others share. In four years living in Spain, I often frequented bakeries and cafes where the owner took my order, asked me questions, listened to my responses, and generally interacted with me in a pleasant, and completely genuine, manner. In these small, charming establishments, I never felt like a number, a potential profit, a potential promoter, or a potential detractor: I was simply Laura, the foreign girl with the funny accent. As a result, I always wanted to get coffee, pastries, and tapas at these same places—because I like doing business with someone who genuinely respects me as an individual, and whom I genuinely respect.”
Granted, most banks are not all that interested in customers who have to check their balance before buying a quesadilla. But someday these young consumers will have real jobs, direct deposit paychecks and need additional services like auto loans and mortgages, maybe even a business loan.
A little respect now could pay dividends with interest later.
Okay, I’m a little late to weigh in on the topic of Millennials and the Super Bowl, but I have a great excuse – I was busy teaching two marketing classes today. Both classes kicked off with a brief discussion of whether or not the students watched the game (they did!) — and what they remembered and liked about the advertising.
The results are a little different than other Gen Y Super Bowl reporting (e.g., YPulse’s astute observations by Dan Coates). The results were also slightly different between my MBA Brand Strategy class and the undergraduate Principles of Marketing class.
In both classes, funny commercials were the first mentioned, with Doritos (child slaps would-be suitor), the Snickers’ ad starring Betty White, Monster.com and the E-Trade ads are at the head of the list.
Although it wasn’t funny, both groups also liked the the Vizio spot featuring Beyonce Knowles– and especially the fact that you weren’t sure what was being advertised until the end. The MBA’s also liked the Dodge Charger “Man’s Last Stand” commercial and the Google Parisian Love spot, but the undergraduates did not mention the Google spot until prompted. They liked it, but it didn’t stand out for them. Interestingly, both groups first attributed Google’s decision to advertise to the popularity of the spot on the Internet, not competitive pressure from Bing.
The MBA’s also mentioned the Dove for Men ‘Manthem” spot, and Hyundai which never came up with the sophomores. Several commented that the Dove spot was refreshing in contrast to the ’pants-less’ (taste-less) ads featured in adjacent spots for Dockers and CareerBuilder.
I think it’s notable which widely admired ads which were ostensibly targeted to Millennials were NOT mentioned by the students: Megan Fox for Motorola was barely mentioned. Coke, Focus on the Family, and Audi “Green Police” (my personal favorite) never came up. Go Daddy was the hands down favorite for worst commercial in the Super Bowl.
What does this tell us? First and foremost, in the hoopla that is the Super Bowl and young adult viewing situations, funny wins over subtlety. Why even enter the Super Bowl unless you intend to evoke a very loud laugh?
I also think it provides confirmation a Super Bowl ad can be a good investment. How could Snickers possibly afford the buzz they are receiving today any other way? Finally, I think it calls into question the wisdom of Pepsi’s decision to sit on the sidelines this year. No one is talking about Pepsi, despite the good advance publicity. A single spot on the Super Bowl featuring “Refresh Everything” would have given that effort extra attention and probably not diminished the good will that motivated the decision to invest the marketing dollars differently.
To see all the spots, visit Creativity magazine’s Super Bowl 2010.
Principles of Marketing Text by Cengage's Southwestern Publishing
The American standard song, “Getting to Know You” wisely says:
It’s a very ancient saying,
But a true and honest thought,
That if you become a teacher,
By your pupils you’ll be taught.
As a teacher I’ve been learning –
You’ll forgive me if I boast –
And I’ve now become an expert,
On the subject I like most.
Getting to know you.
Over eight years of teaching Principles Marketing to sophomores at University of Notre Dame, these words have proven their wisdom.
Early on, I realized students today are not younger versions of my 1974-self. I cringe now to think of the mistakes I made. My approach was Powerpoint-heavy and textbook-focused. I treated them like corporate executives at an off-site seminar. Students were bored. I was frustrated. My class evaluations were humbling. Actually, that is an understatement. I was flattened for days after I read my first student evaluations.
How things have changed! Over the past 8 years, my teaching approach has become increasingly “Millennial-friendly”.
I still have a lot to learn but three weeks into what is charmingly referred to as “Spring Semester” at Notre Dame (Jan-May), I am tentatively thinking to myself, ‘By George, I think she’s got it!’ Here are some of the principles that are making Principles of Marketing a joy for both me and the students. (Below I’ll tell you how I think they apply to Marketing to Millennials.)
1. The right text.
Millennials are visually literate. It’s not just about the words, it’s about the way the words LOOK on the page. A poor, uninviting design is a turnoff, regardless of how inspired the content. This year I am using a text from Cengage Learning’s Southwest Publishing Group. This Principles of Marketing text is the best I’ve used yet for one reason: the students actually will read it.
The book is softcover, costs just $55 (including online resources), and is colorful and graphic. It looks like a magazine. Yet the content has not been compromised, just condensed. Extra material has been moved online. There are flash cards, practice quizzes, cases and podcasts online as well. The text is not the only content, just a starting point.
2. Bite-sized learning.
In the past, my syllabus outlined two exams and a semester-long project, each about one fourth to a third of the total grade. Now I know better; Millennials need more frequent assignments and feedback to keep them focused.There is a lot of competition for their attention. Like the rest of us, they sometimes have trouble managing their time.
Weekly case assignments, environmental scans, frequent quizzes, and tests help to keep them on track. No assignment or test is more than 10% of their grade. I even build in extra credit and ‘bye’ weeks. This contributes to continous, rather than sporadic learning, and helps me keep a pulse on what’s working.
3. Participatory Class Time
The worst criticism I heard was that ‘class time was a waste of time, just read the book’. In an era when the best college lectures are often available online and in podcasts, professors have to work very hard to make class time matter. I ask myself when preparing for each class, ‘what can be uniquely delivered in person that can’t be provided any other way’? The answer is interaction.
Nearly every 75-minute class includes break out time and heavy doses of discussion. Four entire class periods are devoted to student reports. Getting sophomores to talk isn’t always easy – they prefer to remain quiet. But weekly homework ensures they have something of value to share and ups participation.
4. Multi-media.
At Notre Dame, we are blessed with high-tech enabled classrooms and courseware. I incorporate DVD video material and Youtube videos into each class session. We maintain a class blog and make use of a protected class web site. A library investigation project familiarizes students with the wealth of ‘non-Google-able’ material available through the library databases. Students are encouraged to use web-based team collaboration tools to complete their group assignments.
5. Relevance
Students need to see that what they are doing relates to their ‘real lives’. I work to incorporate discussions of real marketing dilemmas and innovations. Already we have discussed the Pepsi Refresh project, iPad, Microsoft, MTV, Cirque Du Soleil, MTV, Netflix, SuperBowl XLIV, Method, McDonalds and more. I have invited a panel of former students who work at Target, LL Bean, IBM, Snapple and other brand marketing firms to form a panel discussion group later this semester.
Teaching and marketing have a lot in common. Marketers must understand your target, have clear objectives and strategies for engagement, and a measurable outcome. My insights about what works in the classroom can be translated to marketing:
1. The Right Text: Is your story text-heavy or is visual design a cornerstone of your marketing approach?
2. Bite-Sized Learning: Are you serving the right message at the right time? What are the key take-aways? What feedback can you provide?
3. Participatory: What mechanisms are in place to engage your audience in a conversation?
4. Multi-Media: Are you using all the channels available to get your message across?
5. Relevance: Is your message current? Does your Gen Y target see how it is applicable to their world?
Whether you target them in the classroom, social media or some other venue, it’s critical to tailor your approach to Gen Y’s unique ways of learning and processing information. Getting to know you definitely pays off.
