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.
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?
Was the Featherbone Parlor a forerunner of NikeTown and the Apple Store?
Was the Featherbone Parlor a forerunner of NikeTown and the Apple Store?
There’s a myth that Millennials don’t like marketing and are indifferent to brands.
The reality is, as my friend Rishad Tobaccowala reminded me last week, that Millennials are ‘besotted with brands‘. While that may seem like a strong choice of words, he isn’t far off the mark. It’s easy to engage a Millennial in a conversation about brands. They love to talk about what their favorite brands are doing, as the buzz about Old Spice Guy and Nike’s World Cup marketing attests. They understand the ‘language’ of brands and the role they play in communicating about culture. And many choose to friend or follow their favorite brands in social media so they can stay up to date on the latest news or provide their feedback. Insider information about brands is strong social currency.
What Millennials actually dislike is interruptive advertising.
This is traditional advertising that is designed to appear everywhere and anywhere, irregardless of context, without personalization, with the single goal of gaining awareness and conveying an idea that may or may not have any relevance to the person seeing it at the moment. This type of advertising is becoming less and less effective because Gen Y (and others) don’t see any reason why they should put up with it and — and don’t.
As marketers look for new ways to engage empowered consumers, ironically they are returning to the origins of marketing. Marketers are finding ways to add value that may have nothing to do with purchase, but everything to do with making consumer’s lives more informed, more interesting, or more convenient. This is marketing that aims to get noticed, even engaged with, by promising that the marketing itself will improve consumers’ lives.
The book having the greatest impact on my thinking at present is Bob Gilbreath’s, The Next Evolution of Marketing: Marketing with Meaning. Gilbreath points out that there’s nothing new about thinking about brands as offering real service and real value independent of purchase. He points out that David Ogilvy’s first ad for Guinness was a reference guide to selecting oysters. The 100-year-old Michelin guide was originally a travel guide for car owners in France ‘complete with information about auto maintenance, lodging, restrooms, and restaurants’ that created awareness for its tires and emboldened consumers to take to the roads. Betty Crocker cook books helped consumers try new recipes and gave them confidence in the kitchen.
Gilbreath believes that the answer to today’s challenge of consumer avoidance of ‘interruptive’ marketing tactics is to return to meaningful approaches like these that connect brands more directly to their target audiences.
I think he’s right. We could learn from these old school marketers. Here’s another example, dating back to the 1880’s. Warren Featherstone was the inventor of the ‘featherbone stay’, a replacement for whalebone stays in corsets created from by-products from the manufacture of feather dusters. Featherstone knew a thing or two about branded utility and community building.
“Featherbone Parlors were established in major cities and fashion shows were held to demonstrate the latest uses of featherbone to customers. With changing fashion styles, Warren kept adding new products and promotional campaigns. Featherbone bustles, bust extenders, featherbone-stiffened fabric, different weights and widths of feather bones, collar and belt foundations were among the new features offered. Promotions included instruction booklets and in 1893 Warren began publishing the Featherbone Magazinette for distribution to dressmakers and retailers plus advertisements in Ladies Home Journal and other women’s magazines. To further reach the home market and dressmaker, Warren patented and market a featherboning attachment for the home sewing machine in 1895. This 3-1/8″ long attachment mounted on the bed of the sewing machine and aided in the insertion of featherbone or stay.” – http://www.fabrics.net/joan905.asp
Think of the ‘featherboning attachment’ as an app and the ‘Featherbone Parlor’ as a 19th Century Apple Store, you can see just how far, or little, we’ve come from those early days. But there’s more. Warren Featherbone also understood the power of philanthropy. In 1917 he “acted on his vision to help create a better world for future generations by establishing the Warren Featherbone Foundation.” The foundation was intended to establish new methods for everyday people to engage in philanthropy. and led directly to the donation of properties for parklands and wilderness areas in the State of Michigan, known as Warren Dunes State Park and Warren Woods.
As we move from an interruptive model to an engagement model for marketing and brand building, brand strategies will also need to evolve, and perhaps what was old will be new again.
Marketers are investigating the power of ’branded utility’, ‘community building’, ‘user generated content’ and new forms of ’cause marketing’ as means for adding value and meaning to their brands.
We may look back and see the ‘Mad Men’ era of mass media as the exception, not the rule in the evolution of marketing.
For some great examples of campaigns that made participation the goal, see “Five Fantastic Campaigns that Put Digital First” by Jim Nichols of Catalyst.
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?
Millennials are different from other age groups and from other generations at the same age in three ways.
More diverse demographically
More at ease with digital and communications technology
More optimistic outlook
The third difference, ‘optimism’, may be their most defining characteristic Why? Bcause values ultimately guide and predict behavior.
Pre-recession, study after study in the U.S. and globally, reported that Millennials may be the most optimistic generation to date. And why not? Born into a period of unprecedented prosperity, into child-centric families who regarded children as minor royals, and into a period of exploding technology, Millennials are endowed with an unprecedented sense of empowerment. For these children of the new Millennium, anything is possible.
A fascinating book by Clotaire Rapaille, The Culture Code, describes the power of the American Dream this way: “We’ve built our [American] culture on dreamlike stories that, amazingly, are true.” It is this faith in the possibility of dreams that makes America so influential in the world. Who wouldn’t want to believe that anything is possible, that mistakes are simply ways we learn and precursors to eventual success?
For Millennials, the American Dream is very much alive, even in the midst of the Recession.
Pew Research has been tracking attitudes of Gen X’ers and Gen Y’ers for many years. They recently reported that “Today’s employed young people are actually somewhat more optimistic about their economic future than Gen Xers were when they were young.” (“Millennials Confident. Connected. Open to Change”, February 2010) Even more startling, Pew found the overall level of optimism among Millennials about their personal economic future today is higher than it was in 2006!
“Even though the recession has been hard on young people, it has not dimmed their optimism. About two-thirds of Millennials (68%) say they are not earning enough money to live the kind of life they want. However, within that group the vast majority (88%) say they expect to earn enough in the future to live the good life. That is significantly higher than the percentage of Gen Xers (76%) or Baby Boomers (46%) who share this hopeful view.”
The same pattern holds for their optimism about the overall state of the nation. While their opinion has held steady, dissatisfaction among older consumers means the gap between generations is wider than it’s been in 20 years due, at least in part, to widespread dissatisfaction among those 65 and older.
What does the American dream mean to a Millennial?
This question was asked last week in a fascinating Twitter Chat hosted by a member of our Gen Y Marketers “Super Community”, Chanelle Schneider (aka @writerchanelle and @genYchat) and co-hosted by J. Maureen Henderson (aka @generationmeh). The discussion evoked 436 tweets from 45 contributors. The responses suggests the concept of ‘dream’ is one that Millennials strongly relate to.
@GenYChat: What ideas or associations does the term “American Dream” conjure up for you?
@tylerdurbin The American Dream is having the freedom to explore any and all opportunities we desire. ‘Nuff said. Chat over.
@josippetrusa: Gen-Y is reinventing it. Gen Y is a generation based on dreams.
@WriterChanelle; American dream is freedom and opportunities
@nahumg: GenY wants to live dream lifestyle now rather workin a lifetime to get it
@tylerdurbin: If we work now can we not have things we want?
@daniellewriter: American dream is meritocracy-if you work hard enough, you cam have it all
@GenerationMeh: Great summation!
@kelly_ashworth: I think we have to fight harder and have more of a plan… opportunity is not there waiting & won’t just fall into place
@GenerationMeh: But what constitutes a “dream lifestyle”?
@josippetrusa: Depends, but gen-y would like a managerial job, a bmw and all the gimmicks of success.
@josippetrusa: The american dream has been changed to exemplify quick success that some have achieved from advances in technology. We are limitless.
@GenerationMeh: Idea of opp, potential & self-sufficiency as the ingredients for success is ingrained in American identity. Source of pride.
Tomorrow: How Gen Y is redefining the meaning of success.
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”)
According to Pew, just 31% of Millennials have no plans to go to college, with the rest either in college, planning to go to college or already graduated. This may be the most educated cohort in history. Yet, there seems to be an increasing sense of uneasiness about the degree to which college is preparing them for life after college.
They are right to be concerned. Pew data also shows that in 2010, only 41% of all 18-29 year olds have full-time jobs compared to half in 2006.
By contrast, the proportion of older adults employed full-time stayed about the same. 10% of Millenials report losing their jobs recently, compared to just 6% of older adults.
The cost of a college education (amount families pay after adjusting for financial aid) according to Money magazine has skyrocketed 439 percent since 1982“. Increasingly, students are funding the cost of their education via student loans. College debt constrains their post-college options and places a drag on their income for a decade or more.
With high paying jobs in shorter supply, students, grads and parents are questioning what is the true value of a college degree?
ROI as well as depth of majors and the college experience are considered when it comes to selecting a college. A MarketWatch article reported the results of a survey among 2010 high school seniors. About two-thirds reported that their families’ economic concerns “greatly” or “somewhat” influenced where they were applying to college. The decision about where to attend is also being influenced by other practical considerations such as graduation rates and percent of students employed after graduation.
Harvard has been tracking attitudes toward college among undergraduates 18-24 years old for over a decade. Over the years the study has expanded to include non-college students and 25-29 year olds. Their most recent report is based on responses from 3,000 18- to 29-year-olds from late January through late February, 2010. They found that concern about finding and keeping a job is high across college students and non-college students alike.
“The biggest thing that [college] students share with their [non-college] peers is an intense anxiety about the economy. Sixty-percent of Millennials are concerned about their ability to meet their current bills and financial obligations and 59% are worried about being able to afford a place to live. Almost half of those who are currently in the workplace are afraid that they’ll lose their job, and this fear is echoed in college students’ anxiety about their future after graduation – 84% indicated that finding a job will be ‘very difficult.’ Students are also worried about their ability to keep paying for college, with 45% of 4-year college students and 64% of community colleges expressing concern about staying in school.”
Wednesday night, Josip Petrusa and Chanelle Schneider moderated an hour-long Twitter chat using the hastage, #GenYchat (transcript here). Their topic? The “Experience Catch 22″ – how to get a job or job experience without having any. The 34 contributors vented their frustrations and shared some practical advice. Most agreed that internships help bridge the gap between college and job, but often are not valued by employers. Blogger Jenny Blake of “LifeAfterCollege.com” (who just landed a book deal, congrats Jenny!), has this to say about an internship eased her transition:
“During the first quarter of my junior year at UCLA I got the opportunity of a lifetime. My political science professor and mentor suggested a possible internship opportunity for me at astartup company in Palo Alto. I grew up there and was ahead in school, so I told her and the founder I would move home to work full time if it meant I could help start the company. I anticipated filing papers…I was wrong. I had tremendous opportunities and responsibilities, but I hadn’t anticipated what it would be like to be in the real world – to work full time, to save money, to spend so much money, to be so far from my friends. As much as I loved the confidence I got from working so hard and learning so much every day, at times I felt incredibly lonely and confused.”
We were curious to see if other Gen Y had similar feelings, so we posted the question to our Super Consumer Community of Gen Y marketers. “Did your education prepare you for what your are doing? Should it have?” Here’s what they had to say:
Kyle: I feel like I come from a unique background having partaken in a specialized program at my Alma Mater called the BDIC (Bachelor’s Degree in Individualized Concentration). Essentially, what it allowed me to do was really narrow down the focus of my studies at college to the topics I KNEW I was interested in pursuing in the professional world. I had the incredible opportunity to work closely with 3 professors from 3 of the colleges within my University to design a classroom and experiential curriculum around my BDIC in Sports Marketing. My BDIC experience allowed me to handpick the courses I took and pair them with internships that allowed me to really get a hands-on feel for the subject matter. Had I not had been given the reins and allowed to work in the experiential learning aspect of my curriculum, i feel like I would have left college under prepared for the challenges that one encounters on the job. While I gained a great deal of knowledge and insight from my internships, it also didn’t hurt that it helped build my resume – I feel like I finished college with a leg up on the competition for jobs in the narrow industry of sport since I had 4 internships as opposed to 1-2.
Josip: I think education we’re getting is great and it would prepare you for that field your being educated in. The problem doesn’t so much lie in education, i think the issues lie in what happens after education. Also, sometimes education doesn’t prepare you for actual real world use. Being a philosopher, historian and many other programs that get a lot of students quite frankly don’t have real jobs associated with them. For instance my political science major does not dictate I join the government or politics. I also find that thousands of students graduate with degrees that quite useless unless you plan on being a teacher or something. Although, there are jobs for every field, the ones I mentioned at the end of the first paragraph have the most real world jobs waiting for them. My university has thousands of students graduating with political science degrees every year but I hardly see any political scientists in the real world.
Rob: This is the kind of question schools should be challenging themselves with at least once a year. I think an opportunity exists to bring more real world cases into the classroom. I know case competitions often give students the chance to sink their teeth in to real projects, but those are often some of the more challenging ones employees take on (read: looking for free consulting/ideas from students) and likely not typical enough tasks to get a solid sense of what an entry level marketing or finance person really might do at company X on a day to day basis.
Micah: Funny you should as this is a topic I have been wondering about myself very recently. I am in the midst of a Masters in Library and Information Studies and I am starting to get very worried about if I will actually have any practical skills when I graduate. Most of the coursework I have done thus far has been theoretical-based and while understanding information needs of groups and database structures seems useful, I still have no idea what it actually means to work in a library day to day. My former Master’s degree (I love college) was in American Studies, and while I learned a great deal about the culture and history of our country, I graduated with no practical work experience and went back to school after a summer working as a temp for a medical supply company. In conversations with friends recently I have started to think that if anything vocational training needs to become a more active part of our educational system. Internships are great, but since I have always had to work full time, I never had the opportunity to pursue one outside of my coursework. So basically, I have greatly enjoyed my education but I am not sure it has prepared me for active citizenry or professional life. Any steps I have made in those directions have been of my own interests and initiative.
Derek: Education itself is a wonderful thing. However, education in America today is something that is too broad. General education in college is the same things one learns in high school and middle school and even elementary school before that. This focus on general education prepares us for nothing but provides jobs for professors in the subjects. If we were to have those classes as options as opposed to being forced into them, perhaps we can begin the process of specialization. Internships further specialize but are a catch-22 in themselves. Requiring an internship as part of graduation (like Chapman University does) is an excellent idea because it helps build the résumé. The problem with requiring an internship is that not all students can afford to work for free or take time off from their paying jobs.
Tony Szymczak: Since I am in a totally different field not related to my degree my Education did not totally prepare me for what I am doing. I cannot count the number of classes that I was required to take that I had absolutely no interest in. When picking classes becomes a process of, what will count towards my degree so I can graduate on time, the education process fails. When you take a class that you really have no interest in it really destroys focus. Students face so many appeals for their attention it is hard enough to get them focused on education. The time they do spend on education should not be in classes they are forced to take because a college mandates it.
1971 Chrysler Simca = Freedom
I got my driver’s license on my 16th birthday. I promptly purchased a 1971 Chrysler Simca (yes orange although not as dirty as the one in the picture).
That tiny, tinny car was the biggest milestone in my life up to that point. It symbolized adult freedom and adult responsibility. It wasn’t long before I had a real job and more money than I could make babysitting.
Most of my friends made a similar jump about the same time. In fact, 4 million cars were sold in 1971 and 1972, a record at the time that reflected the demographic bulge of the baby boom.
Today the coming age rite is more likely to be a cell phone than a car. In 1978, over half of all 16 year olds had a driver’s license. By 2008 that figure had dropped to 31%.
Over half of all 12 year-olds had a cell phone in 2009. In fact, one study of 17,000 school children revealed more pupils age 7-16 own a cell phone (85.5%) than own a book (72.6%)!
It would seem a mobile phone now symbolizes a major adolescent milestone much as a car did for me. The Internet liberates them from being bored, and gives them new vistas. For me, mobility liberated me from hanging out with my family. I had things to do! Places to go! A car connected me with a wider world, and became the center of my social life.
Tim Stock of scenarioDNA observed in his excellent lecture on how different generations were shaped ( “Culture Networks“), that for Boomers, ‘The Road’ was our network, our ‘information superhighway’. The open road symbolized rebellion, and spawned countless archetypes. A long, independent car trip was a rite of passage. I shudder now to think that I drove ALONE from Florida to Michigan at age 18. Times have definitely changed, and Millennials do not have the same relationship with cars that we did. Mobility has a different meaning. They don’t need to ‘get out and go somewhere’. They can shop online, download a movie, and connect with their friends without ever leaving their room.
As Stock observes, Gen Y is less concerned about where you go and more concerned with ‘how you transform what is there‘. ZipCar and its competitors seem to be perfectly in tune with this refocus on doing things. My Saturday afternoons were spent cleaning and waxing my car, then driving to the beach to see who else was there. For Gen Y, it’s not about owning and caring for an incredible car, it’s about getting somewhere so you can experience something incredible.
Many Gen Y’ers actively reject the car-centric culture I grew up with.
Cars are seen as wasteful, status-oriented and ecologically unsound. Riding the bus does not have the same stigma it once did. Hummers have become a symbol of what’s wrong with consumer cultureThe money saved by not owning and operating a car frees up money for other things — like education, technology and travel. These expderiences are higher priorities for Millennials and are perceived as offering greater return for the money.
Millennials don’t hunger for the latest model or edition. In fact as a nation, we all appear to be satisfied with driving cars longer and longer. The media age of vehicles in operation was 9.2 years in 2007. This figure is up from 6.5 years in 1990 and from 5.1 years in 1969. Perhaps we’re moving toward a model where we only buy a new one when the old one costs more to fix than it’s worth, as we do with refrigerators and most other ‘appliances’. The thrill of that new car smell is gone.
Paper & Plastic, Compost or EBay/Craiglist
This is a big adjustment for the automobile companies. But it is also an issue for any marketer of ’durables,’ ’real estate’ or other big ticket items. According to Mike Doherty, President Cole Weber United, Millennials can be thought of as ‘generation prototype’. ”For Gen Y, hard goods have soft lifespans. Durability is relevant but mostly in relation to different products.” Gen Y thinks less about the ‘thing’ and more about the utility of the thing relative to other purchases. He writes in MediaPost last month….
“If you are in the “consumer durables” market, you already know that it’s a label that doesn’t make much sense to Gen Y. For Gen Yers, the consumer durables equation seems to look like this:
Product Lifespan = Adopted + Adapted + Left Behind for the Next Version
To a Gen Yer, durability is often acknowledged as being relevant, but its importance is relative to different products. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that there are really three recycling bins in Gen Y homes: Paper ‘n’ Plastic, Compost, and eBay/Craigslist. If Gen Yers are fortunate enough to get their hands on a v1.0 iPad, they will love being one of the first to have one, but they also know that there are more versions to come in a few months, making their hot item quickly feel outdated.”
This may look like ‘fickleness’ but I think it’s more of an indication of their tendency to not become romantically attached to ‘things’. Gen Y is first and foremost looking for utility and performance. They will switch for a better alternative, without much hesitation.
This practicality and lack of romanticism poses a challenge to durable goods marketers – the lifestyle approaches of the past most likely won’t work. Young adults are more likely to ask the hard questions: “How does it perform relative to alternatives?” and “Why should I buy it at all?”
