Carol Phillips answers seven questions posed by Pete Krainek of The CMO Club on advice for CMO’s about marketing to Millennials™.
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(Photo: Carol Phillips and friend, Emily Fleming. Carol is President of research and consulting firm, Brand Amplitude, and teaches marketing at University of Notre Dame.
1) More and more companies are looking to engage, market and sell more effectively to Millennials. What are the most important things CMO’s should consider as they develop their marketing plans?
The most important thing is to take time to truly understand their core values. It’s easy to get caught up in studying their buying behavior, media use and latest-must-have technology. But if you study their values, you will have a better idea of how to connect with them. Obama and Apple won their hearts because they ‘think’ like Milllennials.
In study after study — on beer, education, social media, philanthropy, workplace needs and news media — we find that understanding Millennial values helps shed light on behavior. Taking the time to really ‘get’ the way they think is well worth the effort and pays dividends in how you manage, communicate and ultimately market to them. Without those insights, the paradoxes can be baffling.
2) Who does a good job in engaging millennials and why?
Millennials love brands, but are cynical about marketing. They distrust commercial messages, so any effort must be authentic and come from a trusted source. The absolute best way to engage them is through each other. Our advice to clients is to engage them by giving them ‘social currency’, in the form of experiences and information, and then make it easy to share. Starbuck’s Red promotion at the holidays, Taco Bell’s long running late night promotion, and the Ford Fiesta car giveaway contest all have great Millennial appeal because they are about sharing. In the entertainment area, ABC Family did a great job of repositioning ‘family entertainment’ to be more Millennial-friendly.
3) What are some examples of approaches that didn’t work or miss the boat?
An iconic brand currently popular with Millennials, but is due for a makeover, is Corona. Millennials love sophisticated tastes in beer, wine and spirits, and they prefer imported beer. But their idea of relaxation is not going on vacation or sitting on a beach. Relaxation is something that needs to happen every day, like watching Family Guy, throwing a frisbee to a dog or making a great meal.
Beyond specific brands, there are whole categories that are missing the boat. Millennials are literally begging wine makers to market to them. Casual restaurants also are missing an opportunity to build community around their brands. Realtors, travel and financial services need to start clueing into their future target.
4) Any myths you think out there on Millennials that CMOs should not believe as fact?
Yes, there a lot of myths. Unfortunately some of them have a grain of truth to them so it can be hard to sort out what is real and what is not. The main caution is not to make the mistake of thinking Millennials are simply younger, more techo-savvy versions of Boomers and X’ers. If you have teenagers or young adult children, you know this is true. They simply ‘think different’. Their sheer numbers make it inevitable that they will shape us – marketers and managers – more than we will shape them.
5)How has the recent economic downturn impacted Millennials and what are the implications for marketers?
Like everyone, Millennials are scared. No one knows what all those billions being spent now mean for the future. Millennials still have discretionary income no matter how poor they claim to be. And they are spending on what they consider ‘necessities’ – education, eating out, transportation, technology. But they are making big adjustments in other areas like housing, transportation and philanthropy. They are inherently cautious shoppers, and research everything before they buy. Marketers need to keep a close eye on what is being said about their brands and address issues right away. With Millennials, the line between marketing and customer service is blurring.
7)When you are hired to help marketers learn about Millennials what specific things have you been asked to do?
Consumer research is our core offering. We do a lot of online focus groups, we also have a special expertise in decision-mapping (laddering research) for which we also leverage special online tools. The projects we prefer are those where the questions and approach are still undefined so we have an opportunity to frame an approach that involves research, consulting, facilitating client worksessions, and in-market experimentation. We are about to launch a syndicated study of Millennials, food, wine, spirits and dining out.
8) What final words of advice do you have for CMOs looking to improve engagement and sales results with Millennials?
Listen to your own Millennials, at home and in the office. They will give you the best advice about how to reach others like them. We learn from our younger colleagues, our own kids and my students every day. There are also a lot of great blogs written about marketing by Millennials. Finally, its not a challenge to talk to them online – they love to talk and they literally ‘live’ online.
