Millennials have a way of driving older folks crazy. Just this month, two prestigious publications, have featured articles intended to point out what’s wrong with kids today. Both articles have spurred a lot of discussion and debate.
“What Is It About Twenty-Somethings? Why Are So Many People in Their Twenties Taking So Long to Grow Up?” (NYT, 8.18.10)
“Two Common Mistakes of Millennials at Work” (Harvard Business Review, 8.30.10)
These are just two articles of many, but the fact that they are from no less than the New York Times and Harvard Business Review is rather shocking. Something important is amiss here.
Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers find this generation puzzling, and rather than strive to understand the differences, instead are inclined to view them negatively. It’s as if they were visiting a foreign country, and instead of trying to understand the culture, they respond with, ‘Eww, look at them, can you believe it??!’
I’ve written before that Millennials meet the definition of a subculture. Data and experience both show that Millennials look at many things — work, food, religion, politics, fashion and more — differently. And that is likely to turn out to be a good thing rather than a bad one. After all, we need some new ideas!
Rather than rehash ground I’ve covered before, I’d like to feature an alternative view by Gen Y’er, Tyler Mahoney, a Duke University Divinity School Graduate Student, and Co-founder of Churchrater.com. Monday he wrote a post for the Huffington Post titled “How to Manage Me. Millennials and Communication” (8.30.10). Mahoney’s main point is that the gap between the ‘children of Google’ and others is more cultural than technological, and is possibly larger than in the past. The issue of work life balance is just one example he uses to illustrate the gap.
Managing is a two-way relationship. People my age also need to understand our bosses’ worldviews. Peter Brinkerhoff, nonprofit consultant and author of Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime for Your Nonprofit, says finding an appropriate work/life balance and flextime are two of the main points of tension the millennial generation faces in the workplace. “We [boomers] think of work as being a place,” he says: “If you’re not at work, you’re slacking off.” We millennials however are consistently looking for a better work/life balance than our parents- who by in large were workaholics.
If I’ve finished my work, I want to go home early, play recreational soccer, and watch the Daily Show. Brinkerhoff says this is a source of disconnection between millennials and Boomers. “We [Boomers] take our work home, but we don’t realize that you [millennials] do work at 3 p.m., 9 p.m., or 11 p.m.,” says Brinkerhoff, “You’re always wired so you always have the opportunity to work. We don’t understand your level of connectedness.”
This confusion owes to the fact that the schism between the millennial generation, Gen X, and baby boomers is much larger than in past generations. “It’s not just age difference, it’s a cultural difference,” says Brinkerhoff. I know and grew up around technology that enabled me to speak and communicate in ways my parents could not have imagined. From our smart phones to our Facebook accounts, we are living in a connected world that allows us to work on the bus, on planes with Wi-fi, and at home after dinner — and, for some of us, even during dinner. Work to us is not just one place: it’s any place where there is a CAT-5 cable, Wi-Fi, or a 3G signal
Another difference Mahoney points out is the closer relationship between parents and their Gen Y offspring. He points to the shift in the marketing approach used by U.S. military recruiting as a smart response to this important cultural change.
Gen X recruitment focused on “risk, the individual, and personal conquest,” while millennial recruitment focuses on why we’re fighting in the first place. Millennials, says (Neil) Howe, “are looking to be on team that is more than just the some of it’s parts.” We millenials are looking for meaning in what we are doing. “The drill sergeant won’t yell at millenials when they get off the bus for basic training,” says Howe, “They will thank them for their service in a time of war.” That service, provides meaning. This is most poignantly exemplified in the different military commercials used for Gen X and Gen Y. Whereas years ago Marines commercials featured a lone soldier braving adversity and squaring off against — by today’s standards — a poorly-animated lava dragon, today’s ads show young people explaining to their parents why they want to join up. This trend in inter-generational marketing, according to Howe, rests on the fact that “parents are being brought into the equation” in ways they weren’t twenty years ago.
I love this example because it is values neutral. Marketers (and managers) need to stop complaining about young people and understand how to leverage the differences as potential strengths. Think of yourself as a foreigner in a foreign land and behave accordingly. Get to know the language, customs and the reasons why they are the way they are.
It’s not better or worse, it’s just different.
I love the Vanity Fair/ 60 Minutes poll because it asks questions I wouldn’t think to ask. This month, two questions caught my eye. Both questions are theoretical, and the results by age group surprised me. They underscore how differently Millennials often see the world.
1. Look Back or Look Ahead?
The Question: “If time travel existed, was readily available, and you were guaranteed to return to the present, would you prefer to travel to the past or to the future?”
The Answer: For Millennials (those under 30), the answer is resoundingly the past. Seventy-one percent said they would choose going back rather than into the future. This compares to just 59% for Boomers (45-64). Why the desire to return to another time? I have no idea, but can only guess that they will be around to see the future, while the rest of us will not? At any rate, it’s an interesting window into how they think.
2. Best Thing That Could Happen?
The Question: “If one of the following things could happen to you without any effort on your part, which one would you pick?” Receive $10,000 fax-free, Get a college or advanced degree, become fluent in a ntoher language, be one year younger, lose 10 pounds.
The Answer: Those under 30 elected education over money by a wide margin – 46% vs. 23%. Among Boomers and Gen X, the majority (43% and 45% respectively) would choose the $10,000. This makes a little more sense, but I still would have expected more to opt for the money.
My point? It’s dangerous to project your own preferences on another generation — and especially on Gen Y. They tend to surprise us. That’s why it’s essential to have a listening post.
Does your company make an effort to stay in touch with how under 30 consumers think? I am fortunate to be interacting with students and young marketers nearly every day. Without that connection, I would be in real trouble. If you are looking to plug in, here are some ideas for getting and staying connected with Millennial consumers:
1. Recruit Gen Y brand ambassadors and create an advisory council. Off Campus Media has extensive experience recruiting student brand ambassadors. Or look to your Facebook page for young influentials who have already indicated an affinity for your brand.
2. Start a Gen-Y specific market research community. This is the route Mercedes Benz took with its Gen Benz MROC.
3. Tap an existing Gen Y panel. There are several good panels available to marketers, such as Colangelo’s YTribes community.
Our Millennial Marketing Gen Y ‘Super Consumer’ community is available to any marketer who wants to connect with savvy young marketing professionals.
This group was hand-selected to represent the best of entry level marketers in PR, digital advertising and brand marketing. Josip Petrusa is one of the roughly 100 young marketers who belongs to the community. Josip blogs nearly daily about marketing to Gen Y. He suggests the best way to get to know this generation is to engage with them directly. Since he says it better than I can, here is a portion of his recent blog post, “Are You Crowdsourcing Gen Y? Maybe You Should Be”.
“What better way to understand the elusive, loyal but not loyal, always buying but can’t be reached through advertising, wanting everything, always connected Millennial generation. The combination of having the ability to get useful information quickly and reach has created a great movement towards Gen-Y Crowdsourcing communities.
Mercedes Benz has done it with Generation Benz, IBM has got into the action and as of late,Durex joined the game by creating it’s own Gen-Y initiatives. Crowdsourcing is definitely not a new idea. But at this moment in time, it’s becoming increasingly valuable just like stumbling onto a diamond in the rough. And though this example is only but a few companies that have gone the way of strategically using crowdsourcing, there is also the emergence of online research communities directed at fulfilling the needs of anyone. At a moments notice, you could quite literally receive powerful and profound information.
Gen-Y Crowdsourcing Communities, such as the Millennial Marketing Super Consumer Community, are fascinating areas companies, brands and corporations should be interested in, investigating and using. This is not just an assortment of random individuals. It is a delicate process of hand-picking the right minds for the subject matter. And I would know this, since I am a member of said community.
Crowdsourcing for Gen-Y thoughts is extremely powerful. Not only does it remove the company centric approach many companies painstakingly fail with, it allows the customer to say what they think, ultimately giving those who need the information the right direction to head in. You’d be surprised what Millennials have to say. After all many people are more than surprised and shocked once they realise I’m a twentysomething myself.
So why leave it to the old adage of “from the outside looking in.” Come join us Millennials on the inside. We’ll amaze you more than you think. We’re more capable and useful than you even know.”
For more information on Brand Amplitude’s Gen Y community contact Carol Phillips. http://twitter.com/carol_phillips
It’s not even a contest….Sales results through July 2010 show that, of the three cars priced and marketed to attract first-time Millennial car buyers, the Kia Soul wins over Toyota’s Scion and Ford’s Fiesta by a wide margin.
So far this year, Kia reports selling 36,657 Souls compared to just 25,660 Toyota Scions (all models). This represents a whopping 229% gain over last year for Kia, but a 22% decline for Toyota’s Scion.
Past month sales tell a similar story. In July 2010, Kia Soul sold 8,020 vehicles (a 66% gain) compared to just 5,753 for Scion’s comparable XD model (a 45% decline).
Nissan’s entry in subcompacts, the Cube, was also down significantly. In fact, the only other subcompact to show gains in July was Kia’s Rio. The newly introduced Ford Fiesta sold just 3349 vehicles in July.
All three cars are sold at a comparable starting price of just over $13,000 and base price of about $15,000 so the difference can’t be explained by price.
What’s the difference? Marketing. According to the Daily Brand Index provided by Civic Science, the Kia Soul has won the hearts of Millennials.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the unique Daily Brand Indexes created by Civic Science, each and every day Civic Science asks basic brand questions to hundreds of thousands of young adults about over 700 brands. The questions range from simple awareness to questions about popularity and impact. The indexes provide a real time picture of changes in brand perception.
The data for Fiesta, Soul and Scion XD was gathered during the ten-day period August 11 – August 21. According to the research, Kia and Fiesta have both eclipsed the more established Scion in terms of awareness/visibility. Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed are aware of Kia Soul compared to 78% of those who have heard of the Ford Fiesta. In contrast, only 50% have heard of the more established Scion XD.
What makes this even more remarkable is that many Gen Y’ers are not really into buying a car in the first place. (See earlier post, “Millennials Not Romantic About Their Wheels”)
How did Kia do it? By portraying a quirky personality designed to appeal to first-time car buyers.
“Designed to offer consumers a ‘new way to roll’ with a distinct style and a number of personalization options, Soul is aimed at the young and young-at-heart looking for a vehicle perfectly suited to their personalities,” said Michael Sprague, vice president, marketing, Kia Motors America. “The hamsters’ immediate popularity helped position Soul as Kia’s halo vehicle and showcased the brand’s emerging signature design direction, which, along with quality, safety and value, has propelled Kia to tier-one status.” –The Street
Kia’s launch commercial, featuring the unforgettable hipster hamsters, was named Nielsen’s “Automotive Ad of the Year.,” It also won a Silver Effie for advertising effectiveness. In my opinion this spot rivals the Apple Guy vs. PC Guy ads in suggesting this is a brand for people who are smart and non-conforming.
The Soul ad depicts city and suburban streets inhabited exclusively by hamsters who mindlessly run in place inside theirexercise wheels until a Molten Red Kia Soul pulls up to a stoplight and the passenger window rolls down to reveal a trio of paw-tapping, music-loving hamsters who have discovered “A New Way to Roll.”
Portraying Soul as a lounge on wheels with its highly specified audio system that includes speaker lights that pulse to the beat of the music, the hamsters bob their heads to four different music tracks that appear in slightly different versions of the spot to keep each viewing fresh. Viewers with a sharp eye can identify song and artist information on the hamsters’ iPod® screen, and the campaign extended online with each track available for download at www.kiasoul.com.– The Street
In follow up ads, called the “This or That” campaign, the hamsters are shown driving through city streets to the tune of the hip-hop song “The Choice is Yours” by The Black Sheep, highlighting the choice between “This,” the funky and unique Soul, or “That,” boring and mundane appliances on wheels, cardboard boxes or hamster wheels. Of course it helps that the cars also deliver many ways to personalize the ride.
The data from Civic Science suggests the Kia should expect to face some fierce competition later this year as the Fiesta ramps up in the U.S.
In addition to its greater visibility, the Fiesta enjoys greater popularity. When asked which car they would purchase if they could, consumers said they would prefer a Fiesta over either a Kia or a Scion xD by a factor of 2:1!
Fiesta has only been available in the U.S. for two months. With those kind of ratings, the subcompact category could get pretty interesting in the next few months as these skilled Millennial marketing firms go head to head.
It should also be noted that Kia Soul is being investigated for some serious safety complaints which could complicate its otherwise flawless marketing to date.
A big thank you to John Clifford at Civic Science for providing me access to the data. For more information on Civic Sciences, its Brand Index or Quick Response Survey see www.civicscience.com
Yesterday the New York Times published an online article that will also appear in its Sunday magazine titled, “What Is It About 20-Somethings?” The article has already provoked controversy for itemizing the ways that today’s ‘emerging adults’ are more immature than the generations that preceded them. (See “The 10 most infuriating quotes from the Times’ latest 20-something takedown” for a sample.)
While the facts speak for themselves, I believe the Times has it wrong on the interpretation.
Some young adults figure it out their identity and life path more quickly than others, but collectively it is taking longer than ever before.Over the past few decades, there has been a dramatic shift in the onset of what have traditionally been regarded as the markers of adulthood –marriage, job, children:
One-third of people in their 20s move to a new residence every year. Forty percent move back home with their parents at least once. They go through an average of seven jobs in their 20s, more job changes than in any other stretch. Two-thirds spend at least some time living with a romantic partner without being married. And marriage occurs later than ever. The median age at first marriage in the early 1970s, when the baby boomers were young, was 21 for women and 23 for men; by 2009 it had climbed to 26 for women and 28 for men, five years in a little more than a generation.
We’re in the thick of what one sociologist calls “the changing timetable for adulthood.” Sociologists traditionally define the “transition to adulthood” as marked by five milestones: completing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent, marrying and having a child. In 1960, 77 percent of women and 65 percent of men had, by the time they reached 30, passed all five milestones. Among 30-year-olds in 2000, according to data from the United States Census Bureau, fewer than half of the women and one-third of the men had done so.
While the facts are compelling, they don’t necessarily imply that Gen Y is any less well-equipped, lazier or incompetent, entitled or emotionally dependent. In fact, delayed adulthood may be a reasonable adaptation to increased complexity and risk.
Life may not be any more difficult for this generation, but there is little question that it presents more options, and greater ambiguity. The Recession has made matters even more difficult by making meaningful entry level jobs much more difficult to find. Why rush into decisions you may later regret? What does five years matter in the scheme of things if it reduces risk of divorce or an unhappy career choice?
These shifts are difficult for many Boomers and Gen X’ers to understand. We couldn’t wait to get away from home and get on with our lives. It would have been an admission of failure to return home at any point. Only losers did that. Today’s Gen Y’er sees moving home as a practical solution to their problems. Why not save money by living at home while to pursue your dreams rather than settle for less?
While it is difficult to prove, I tend to agree that young adulthood is emerging as a distinct lifestage with its own challenges, distinct from those of adolescents or older adults. I also think this may be a good thing.
There is a strong argument (and much longitudinal data to support it) that young adults are actually more responsible than earlier generations, not less. More are opting for higher education. They are frugal spenders and careful money managers. They value relationships, family and giving back. They want to make sure that what they are spending their money and their time on is worthwhile, not just part of a plan. And if they like their parents well enough to live with them into their twenties, is that such a terrible thing?
Furthermore, as the article points out, society has sent mixed signals as to what we expect of someone 18, 21 or 26.
People can vote at 18, but in some states they don’t age out of foster care until 21.
They can join the military at 18, but they can’t drink until 21.
They can drive at 16, but they can’t rent a car until 25 without some hefty surcharges.
If they are full-time students, the Internal Revenue Service considers them dependents until 24; those without health insurance will soon be able to stay on their parents’ plans even if they’re not in school until age 26, or up to 30 in some states.
Parents have no access to their child’s college records if the child is over 18, but parents’ income is taken into account when the child applies for financial aid up to age 24.
In the end, I think the challenge is for the culture to catch up with Millennials, not for Gen Y to conform to cultural expectations.
Articles like this one in the New York Times suggest the culture has a ways to go if they continue to equate delaying ‘markers of adulthood‘ with ‘ immaturity‘. In fact, it may be just the opposite, a sign of extra-maturity.
Nielsen declared 2009 the “year of the coupon comeback” with coupon redemptions soaring 27% overall and as much as 71% in discount channels. That’s 3.3 BILLION coupons. With new online and mobile methods of accessing coupons, the pace is expected to continue in 2010.
While I don’t have data to back this assertion up, I suspect coupons are not as effective among Millennials as other demographic groups. Gen Y, sometimes referred to as ‘Gen Frugal’, is just as cost conscious — if not more — than other age groups. But they have a different way of looking at value and the art of the deal.
Millennials want to know they got a deal, not just a discount. This may sound like hairsplitting but bear with me, according to our Gen Y ‘super consumer’ panel, there is a difference.
First, Gen Y is into saving money. According to Fiserv, 75% of Gen Y consumers have a savings account, 5% higher than any other generation. Their overall credit card debt has gone down, despite the fact that many are either unemployed or under-employed. Fiserv says they are ‘fiscally responsible’ as well.
“Several of the consumers interviewed by Fiserv expressed the sentiment that, “if you don’t have the money to pay for something, you shouldn’t buy it.” Gen Y consumers are selective when making big ticket purchases, and spend a lot of time researching products on the Internet. Many said they were more interested in having fun experiences with friends than having a lot of material possessions.”
But Gen Y does spend on things that matter to them. They will spend less overall, and make many sacrifices in order to afford more expensive items that many would consider “luxuries”, like the latest technology, a great pair of shoes, or even jewelry. These are seen as ‘investments’ rather than consumption as they are carefully considered for their return, not just as items of instant gratification. When a luxury buy is needed and fulfills a Yer’s purpose, it is considered a smart buy. For example, a suit that is needed for interviewing for jobs can easily be rationalized. They also spend on experiences. Millennials account for 12% of all travel spending in the U.S.
When Gen Y buys, they want to know they got a deal. A deal means exceptional quality at an exceptional price, not just a sale on everyday wares. National Jeweler (“Ready for the Gen Y Tsunami, Jewelers?”, July 2010), put it this way:
“Beware of putting items on “sale.” Gen Y consumers consider that word to be the radioactive kiss of death. They strongly prefer the word “deal” as a way to communicate bargains or price reductions. Getting a great deal sounds–to their ears, anyway–better than getting something on sale.”
In order to better understand the distinction, I asked Brand Amplitude’s Gen Y “Super Consumer” panel of marketing experts, “Is there a difference between a ‘sale and a deal’? Between a luxury and an investment?” Here’s what they said.
1. A ‘deal’ suggests exclusivity
“It’s not even so much about about the “sale” vs. “deal”. Although I admit “deal” does sound better to us, its about the exclusivity of the offer and product. Ultimately depending on the situation, I would beware of both the use of “sale” and “deal”. When it comes to luxury vs. investment, I would say their close. But still not close enough. They hit it dead on when by stating we expect exceptional quality. But we also except longevity and again, exclusivity. What’s the point of paying the dollars for “luxury” when everyone else is wearing the same thing?.”- Josip Petrusa
2. A ‘deal’ is more emotionally satisfying
“I’ve always associated deal with some sort of extra value added into it. Sale to me is just a reduction in price. Don’t get me wrong, I love both
but deals are a better “experience” for the simple fact I am getting some personal satisfaction in the value I am getting. I think “deal” has much more of an emotional connection (for me at least) than a sale.” – Joshua Opinion
3. A ‘deal’ is less gimmicky
“I do think they hit it on the head with the appeal of Deals to Gen Y instead of Sales. How many of us are members of sites like GroupOn, Woot, even Rue-La-La in the closely comparable high end clothing industry where we are able to see special Deals. These one-off, limited time offers certainly attract more attention that the standard Sale at your local car dealership, jewelry stores, etc. Frankly, I just assume that Sales are a gimmick and the prices have been so vastly marked up ahead of time in order for the “Sale” to seem like a bargain. I’m not biting.” – Kyle Judah
So there you have it. A deal is special while a sale is business as usual. ‘This week only!!’ feels gimmicky because it’s simply not believable. To these insights I would add one more, a ‘sale’ seems less impulsive, while a deal is more considered. Clipping a coupon may encourage a purchase that otherwise wouldn’t have been made at all. And that is the heart of frugality.
Josip Petrusa offers the last word, a caution against a wholesale rush on the word ‘deal’. If deal starts to replace the word ‘sale’, it too might lose its punch:
“Deal” does sound better than “sale” however in the minds of many people it implies being cheaper. I would say that if “deal” started to replace “sale” in use both would ultimately receive the same meaning. In my opinion “deal” should be used less often to keeps its value and attraction.” — Josip Petrusa
Contact me to learn more about Brand Amplitude’s Gen Y Marketers “Super Consumer” Panel. Why talk to a general sample when you can talk to the experts?
At over 80 million strong, Millennials are a consumer market force today and will be even more important in the future. According to Alloy Media, the college market alone is made up of a record 16 million young adults with collective economic power of over $300 billion, $69 billion of which is discretionary. Yet economic clout is only the the most rudimentary reason marketers should be paying attention to this cohort. Young adults today have greater influence on consumer behavior than their enormous spending power even suggests.
The main reason Millennials matter to marketers is that they indicate future trends to a greater degree than young adults in the past. Here are a few reasons why:
- Technology proficiency has empowered Millennials to weild a disproportionate influence on the culture and on the buying decisions of other generations.
- Millennials are the first to put new technologies to use to make the most of their media time.
- Gen Y’ers are less impulsive shoppesr. They place a priority on experiences rather than possessions, and are more likely to make every purchase a considered one.
- Gen Y’ers also display a distinct generational “personality” when it comes to responding to marketing programs and messages. Consequently, push marketing is on its way out, the new marketing is all about engagement, and much of the shift is due to Millennials.
- Finally, Gen Y cares more about the company behind the products they buy and the places they work. Corporate branding and brand architecture are more important than they have been in the past.
Here are a few of the Millennials trends I have been seeing lately. I wonder how many will move mainstream?
1. TV is escaping the home. Many Millennials are talking about cancelling their cable subscription in favor of seeing shows via their Internet connection or on their mobile devices.
2. Nostalgia is Cool. Maybe it started with Toy Story 3 but Millennials are reconnecting with their childhoods.
3. Facebook Fatigue. Facebook fatigue has begun, or perhaps there are just better options now for connecting with friends. Long live text! (Until something better comes along).
5. Byte Sized: Posts are shorter. Texts are shorter. No one reads to the end.
6. Who Needs a Car? Many are forgoing a car in favor of less expensive and more environmentally conscious transportation.
7. Let’s Be Spontaneous! Last minute travel. Last minute dining. Who needs to plan? Text me!
What are you seeing? What trends are hot? What else is about to jump the shark?
Yesterday I shared portions of a remarkable Twitter chat among 45 Gen Y’ers on the topic of the “American Dream”. Today, I’m going to share the rest of that conversation where they discussed what it means to have a good life. The conversation took place over an hour using the hashtag #genYchat and included contributions from 45 different people.
The overall take away is that while Millennials still relate strongly to the idea of a “dream” of limitless possibilities, they also are in the process of redefining those possibilities in a less material and more experiential/personal way.
Some of the redefinition is a rejection of what they in the lives of their parents. Some is simply part of a deeper desire to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others, the nation or the world. Many defined success in terms of affirmation from peers, others defined it in terms of greater satisfaction from work or ‘happiness’.
@GenyChat: Q2. Do you believe that there are generational differences in how personal and material success are defined?
@kelly_ashworth: Absolutely! I think GenY will be less focused on $ which failed for many of our parents and more focused on happiness.
@malapropicninny: Heck yes. As GenY, I’d like to have a nest egg, but if I’m working & doing something I love, I don’t mind the lifelong grind!
@josippetrusa: Definitely, how gen-y appears to the world both online and in person “defines” our perceived success
@steve_campbell: Definitely. Gen Y doesn’t necessarily care about following a set path to find happiness.
@Outlaw_Inc: Yes. GenY’s success = having the freedom and flexibility to pursue passions, have great experiences.
@steve_campbell: I’d say we definitely worry about our future less than our parents do Not to say we don’t care, but we’re not overly worried
@NahumG: Let’s see..if the American Dream is supposed to be living on your own with a career and great family I’m on my way, but it’s taking a LOT longer than I thought it would take to get there.
@E_Hanson: We’re more focused on doing what truly makes us happy and experiencing everything we possibly can.
@steve_campbell: I agree. Experiences seem to be a bigger part of our lives.
@niltiac: Definitions of ‘success’ have changed over time. The Baby Boomers who started that process, Gen X and Y continue it.
@kelly_ashworth: I think we have a belief that it will work out, and we’ll figure it out along the way… ties into our optimism
@WriterChanelle: Are those the trappings of success for us, though? I just want a place of my own and a car.
@josippetrusa: Not so much a trapping of our own but something that we have put into believing
@GenerationMeh: Interesting! I see a lot of worry/angst/second guessing, maybe more about self-worth than $, though.
@daniellewriter: For me, success is liking my job, not how big my paycheck is.
@steve_campbell: Familiarity with technology helps with our vision of how the world works too, which lessens worry
@josippetrusa: When someone RTs an article I’ve written, that’s what I see as “successful”
@WriterChanelle: *Deep sigh* YES!! I’ll take a Google Alert with my post showing up over a BMW
@TylerDurbin: Amen!
@josippetrusa: When you [@WriterChanelle] notified me that one day when my article came up, biggest smile ever!!
@WriterChanelle: It’s GenY’s “having your name in lights” re: Google Alert
I’m particularly fascinated by the last few remarks as they are less about ‘fame’ than about affirmation. Your name in lights re: Google is not exactly the world’s definition of success, but it appears to be a meaningful yardstick for these Gen Y’ers.
Last week, Jenny Blake, the blogger behind “Life After College” announced in her blog that she had landed a book deal. The excitement was contagious. Here’s how she described her feelings a few days later. Note the focus is on her immediate ‘supporters’ – one senses this is the group that truly matters to her:
I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Partly because of the book deal, but partly because I got propped up by a small army of support these last two weeks by having all of you celebrate with me. Every tweet, text, email, call, facebook note, hug and high-five just filled me to the brim with gratitude. This book finally feels real — thanks to you.
Experiences are better when they are shared.
I think of Jenny’s response as quintessentially ‘Millennial’ – team oriented, collaborative and authentic. For marketers, this insight could be potentially quite profound. Social media is not just about ‘communicating’ with friends, it is about ‘connecting’. Marketers who provide affirmation, as well as information, will find it easier to fit into the lives of Millennials and their idea of success.
How can your brand provide the ‘high fives’ and ‘five minutes of fame’ Millennials value?
Young people today watch more video in more different places other than traditional TV. This is hardly news.
Study after study has shown a dramatic shift, not in hours spent watching video, but where it is watched.
“Younger Viewers Watching More TV on the Web” – Retrevo 4.12.10 “According to a Retrevo “Pulse Report” of over 1,000 people regarding their TV viewing habits, 23% of people under the age of 25 watch most of their television content online compared with just 8% of people over the age of 25 watching most of their TV shows via the web.”
“Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-18 year old s” Kaiser Family Foundation Longitudinal research tracked changes in media use 1999-2009 via diary. Loaded with great charts on total media usage and how it breaks out by medium over time. Total hours spent with media has increased by over 2 hours due to multitasking. TV accounts for 4 hours 29 minutes a day, but only 59% (2 hours 39 minutes) is watched live.
“How Teens Watch: The Future of Media is in Their Hands: Nielsen 6.16.10 “12-24 year olds are more connected, more tech savvy, and more likely to use personal devices such as smartphones, laptops and other gadgets for video viewing. They are also less likely to watch traditional television. Teens living at home tend to watch more TV overall than 18-24 year olds busy with college or their first jobs. But the “first screen,” TV, is less central to both.”
But will this behavior shift persist as Gen Y ages?
The Nielsen research raises some interesting questions regarding whether this pattern away from traditional TV and toward time shifted TV or third screen is age and lifestyle related or generational. This may seem like hairsplitting, but actually is important. If the behavior is age and lifestyle related, they may revert back to traditional viewing with age. If it’s generational, however, we’re seeing something more fundamental.
Nielsen suggests the changes may, in fact, be more due to age. But I think it’s generational.
Let’s look closer at the Nielsen analysis. This gets a little convoluted, but bear with me (it helps to look at the chart above as well). According to Nielsen:
“The teens of 2001 watched less than 25 hours of television a week but by 2009 as they aged into 18-24s, they were watching 31 hours of television.
Even more dramatically, the young adults of 2001 watched less than 25 hours of television but watched more than 36 hours a week of television as they aged into the 25-35 cohort.”
This is compelling on the surface, but I think the comparisons are unfair. First, if you compare apples to apples – P18-24 in 2009 vs. P18-24 in 2001 – you see that the total hours of viewing have increased from under 25 per week to 31 per week in 2009. So the increase from P18-24 in 2001 to P25-34 in 2009 is consistent with the overall trend that indicates video watching in general is becoming more, not less, important.
Second, the Nielsen analysis doesn’t account for the fact that the media environment is exploding with options, making it difficult to predict how today’s 18-24′s will behave ten years from now. If the pattern of increased television holds, they will watch more, but that does not necessarily mean it will be on traditional television. ”Convergence” is something that has been predicted for a long time. Given the dramatic changes in time shifted and third screen viewing by Gen Y, it may actually come true sooner than we think. In my opinion, the changes indicate a generational shift. Those in traditional television should take little comfort in the Nielsen analysis.
Yesterday I talked about how to get Millennials’ attention online. Now, let’s assume you have it, how do you keep it, given all the competition?
The Internet is a modern day three ring circus: there’s something cool going on everywhere you look. According to Comscore, 45% of all page transitions are ‘link following’. Every web page offers multiple enticements to move on. To create interest, you must say something worth staying with, in other words ‘relevant’.
Keeping Gen Y’s attention in an environment defined by distraction requires being ‘interesting’.
Gen Y blogger, Meg Roberts, wrote an article titled “How I would market to myself’ in which she offers this advice:
“Focus on adding value rather than overloading on content. The best way to ensure we’re listening to your messages is to make them relevant to us. Learn why we’re in a given community, whether it’s Facebook or Twitter or an iPhone app, and speak to us without severely interrupting what we’re doing .”
Note the words “without severely interrupting”. When creating messages for Millennials, it’s important to ask whether or not the message meet the test of whether it’s worth interrupting.
If a friend wouldn’t interupt than a marketer shouldn’t either.
For Millennials, interruptions are the height of rudeness. There is a heirarchy of communications. A phone call is highly interruptive – and it’s little wonder that Millennials make very few phone calls. Phone calls are reserved for very important conversations, like telling your parents you need money or will be traveling to Puerto Rico rather than home for spring break. For less momentus communications, which is to say most communications, they rely on texts. A teen sends hundreds of texts a day. Texts are less intrusive than phone calls and yet still has urgency. Email is even less intrusive than texts. Email is used when a message is not time sensitive or does not require an immediate response.
Is it Relevant, Cool or Exciting?
Another test for relevance is whether a communication is ‘status update worthy’. As Gen y marketer and community member, Josip Petrusa, puts it this way:
“One thing we love to do is tell the world when something cool, great or exciting is happening to us. In a sense, we love to brag for attention. You’ll always hear about the vacation we’re going on, the sports event we’re going to, the movie we’re seeing, the concert we were at and I could go on and on. Make it something that will give me a reason to tell everyone else about it. A funny and ridiculous video-clip, a great experience or something that even seems exclusive, would all be status update worthy.” You have to reinvent cool, great and exciting.”
What’s In It for Me?
There is a myth that Millennials don’t like advertising. Actually this isn’t true. They like ads that are entertaining or funny, especially for brands they already love. They love the iPad, Axe and current Kindle ads. These are ads that give back something in return for attention.
The Associated Press (AP), a group with a vested interest in Millennials’ interest in news and ads, released a study in March that looked at ‘news ad fatigue’. The study took an in-depth, ethnographic approach that focused especially on people 18-34. The research concluded that consumers are “tired, even annoyed, by the current experience of advertising,” and that, as a result, “they don’t trust very much of it“.
Younger consumers, ages 18-34, want to be in the know, and two thirds think it’s important to be among the first to hear news compared with just 10 % of older people. Millennial consumption of news is actually increasing. According to Mckinsey the average person consumes 72 minutes of news a day, compared with just 60 minutes in 2006 and the increase was driven almost entirely by people under the age of 35.
Young adults have adopted ways of getting their news that are much different from those of past generations. Younger consumers are not only less reliant on the newspaper to get their news; they also consume news across a multitude of platforms and sources, all day, constantly. They also think of each other as their main news source.
Here’s a description of how “Mark”, a 28-year old manager of an online travel agency consumes media.
“Mark’s news cycle was continuous and he spent up to six hours a day searching for and receiving information. Mark was on the Internet most of the day and used that time to keep up to date on news coverage and sports-related information. Mark liked his news to be “punchy” and pointfocused. He read the headlines followed up online to “find out what’s happening” with stories that he wanted to track. Mark’s news consumption was related to other activities that he was engaged in and although he was actively consuming the news, it was almost always in tandem with other activities such as driving or working…
You may be surprised to learn, that brands do not do all that well in social media among Millennials. Only 12% have ‘friended ‘ a brand on Facebook. Only four brands on Facebook have more than five million ‘liking’ – only 16 have more than 1.5 million. 22% of Millennial use Twitter, a small number to begin with, but of those, only 29% follow companies. Friending a brand is a high hurdle. In terms of Facebook fans, the numbers are even lower. Just 2 brands have more than 5 million fans on Facebook, Starbucks and Coca-cola.
So what do they find relevant?
It will probably come as no surprise that the main reason to join a fan group on Twitter or Facebook is to get news or discounts. Here according to a Pace University study are the top reasons to fan a brand on Facebook:
- Getting news or product updates (67%)
- Having access to promotions (64%)
- Viewing or downloading music or videos (41%)
- Submitting opinions (36%)
- Connecting with other consumers (33%)
Meg Roberts concurs. Her blog post, “How I would Market to Myself”, goes on to offer this advice about ’free stuff’ and interating ‘conversatoinally’ with her favorite brands.
“We’re just out of college. Loan payments are becoming a harsh reality. If you want us to try out your brand, give us some free samples or coupon codes. Plus, if a company could build an entire online community based on the loyalty rewards system, I’d probably check it out to see what other users are saying about new products/sales/coupons/etc.”
“Don’t use social media as a billboard but as a telephone. Social media should be an interactive tool, and when your consumers speak, listen and respond. In my experience, the most successful Twitter accounts and Facebook fan pages are those that go beyond simple @replies and wall posts. Ask questions, get our feedback, and implement changes. Everyone likes to have their ego stroked, right? Brand consumers, especially Gen Y ones, are no different. What feels better than having a company listen to reasonable, quality recommendations we’ve made?”
(This post is the second in a series about digital marketing to Millennials based on a speech given at iMedia Summit, Miami on June 15. Tomorrow: “What Do They Want? Tapping Into Desires”)
The foundation of brand equity is familiarity, and that starts with ‘hello’. Awareness is a critical first step in any brand relationship — unless you happen to subscribe to the power of subliminal advertising. It’s impossible to deliver any kind of message, let alone create engagement, interest or desire, without first gaining attention.
Are Millennials Attention Deficient?
With Millennials, earning attentions can also be the most challenging step in the communications model. Millennials spend their attention the way the rest of us doing money – very carefully. They are accused of having Attention Deficit Disorder. I disagree. They simply have superior Attention Deserving Detectors.
One of the characteristics that separates young adults from less digitally savvy older consumers is their remarkable filters for tuning out information they don’t want to hear.
This category of information includes alarm clocks, due dates, nagging parents, and negative feedback. It also includes advertisements. According to a study by the Participatory Network and Pace’s Lubin school, 81% say ads are not relevant and 36% say they never look at them. The reason is that they perceive advertising to be irrelevant at best, and manipulative at worst. Rebecca Denison, a 20-something social media analyst at Edelman and member of our Super Consumer Gen Y community puts it this way:
“The big thing for me and my friends is that we don’t want to know we’re being marketed to, if that makes sense. We’re smarter than that (or so we think), and we don’t like to be advertised to. It feels like manipulation, so I think a big aspect marketing to Gen Y has to be a lack of manipulation. You have to be really careful that you don’t make it too much like old school marketing because I think that really does turn Gen Y off.”
Information My Way: Customized, Personalized, Contextualized
Millennials don’t attend to banner ads, commercials or radio ads because they prefer to discover or search for information than have it foisted upon them. They are masters at finding the information they want. They also know how to ensure that the information they want is pushed to them. A year ago, I was introduced to NetVibes by a Gen Y’er who assumed I was already using it. They are masters of RSS feeds and bookmarks, Google alerts and customized home pages. As Kristin Dziadul, another Gen Y marketing community member put it, “In the attention economy today, we don’t find information, it finds us”.
This is not to say that ads never work. Of course they do. But with Millennials context and credibility may matter more than message in enabling an ad to breakthrough. A message from a friend or trusted source is far more likely to be attended than a randomly placed ad.
A new joint study by Facebook and Nielsen demonstrated the lift a campaign receives in effectiveness simply by being in a social context. An ad on a homepage enjoys a 10% lift in recall relative to a control group. Put the same ad on a Facebook page with some social context and it enjoys a 16% lift. But the same ad in an organic feed enjoys a 30% lift.
The key to getting attention is to stop waving your hand in the air and start thinking about how to get your brand discovered. Creative brilliance and heavy rotation is no longer enough. With the Millennial audience, attention is less about intrusion than it is hiding in plain sight. Millennials want to believe that they have discovered information for themselves. It’s no accident that the hottest bars, like El Secreto in Sao Paulo, are usually well-kept secrets. What’s the point of knowing about it if everyone else does too?
Fishing Where the Fish Are
‘Being found’ is not easy. It requires a shift in thinking away from message broadcasting to extreme narrowcasting. It also requires more imaginative ways to embed messages into places where they will be welcome. Ironically though, it may be easier to be ‘found’ on a more obscure digital site or special interest community than on Yahoo.
The top sites for Millennials might surprise you in their degree of specialization. Facebook of course is the number one site for 18-24 year olds, yet it is really is not one site but a Balkanized nation of groups, subgroups and special interests. Bill Tancer of Hitwise provided drill down data on top sites for 18-24 year olds by income, geography and ethnicity. The top sites for 18-24 year olds on an index basis might surprise you. Those with family incomes $150,000 are actually most likely to be found concentrated on sites like DeviantArt, Fanfiction, UrbanChat, OVGuide, ProjectPlaylist,and MathXL.com. Those under $30,000 are most likely to be found on some of those sites but also badoo, zShare.net, mocospace and IMVU.
A New Idea – Search Enabled Discovery
Another way to ensure your ad is ‘welcome’ and ‘hiding in plain sight’ is offered by a company I learned about this week at iMedia, Vibrant Media. Vibrant Media offers a way to provide greater context for brand messages by embedding ads within relevant content. Think of it as search meets social media. Here is how it works. As an online user is reading an article, certain words or terms are highlighted by hypertext links, similar to how they appear in a blog or wiki. When the reader, who is presumably reading this article because it is relevant to them, passes their mouse over these words, an advertisement appears (and disappears as the mouse passes on). The content can be tailored to be relevant to the key word and can offer more than a standard banner; it can be an API, video or demo. For example, BING used Vibrant to demo its search engine. (To see how it works check out my bylined article on iMediaconnection today. Near the bottom of the first page, the word ‘social media’ is hyperlinked to a dynamic search app from imediaconnection that features what else, ‘social media’!).
(This post is the first in a series about digital marketing to Millennials based on a speech given at iMedia Summit, Miami on June 15. Tomorrow: “Who Cares? I is for Interest”)
