After blogging about Millennials, it seems appropriate to ask what have we learned about them that differs from common wisdom? While we agree with many of the mainstream conclusions about Millennials — they are more collaborative, tech savvy, ambitious and self-confident than previous generations — I would like to take moment to challenge a few “myths.”
1. Millennials are cash-strapped and debt ridden. Households headed by 18- to 24-year-olds had earnings before taxes of nearly $29,057, up from just $20,120 in 2003. Their earnings grew 7.5 percent during 2005-2006 alone compared to a 1.1 percent jump for total households. While that is not a whopping salary, consider that less than 10 percent of 18- to 24-year-old men are married and 50 percent live with their parents. This may help to explain why, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they are heavy spenders in virtually every category other than food and housing. Within many of these categories, they are more likely to purchase the luxury brand and are more likely to enjoy imported or craft beer than the mainstream brand.
2. Millennials and Boomers make good partners. While it’s true Millennials enjoy stronger relationships with their (mostly Boomer) parents than most other generations, they prefer working with Gen Xers who they believe have more to teach them in the workplace. In fact, our research shows that Millennials have little respect for tech-challenged Boomers. Perhaps Hogwarts provides a good metaphor; In the Harry Potter books, the kids are the crusading and effective wizards, while the professors seem a little behind the times and inept.
3. The way to reach Millennials is through social media like Facebook. Social media is more social than media. Millennials do not use social media to shape their buying and tend to ignore commercial messages. MySpace and Facebook lowered their sales goals by 11 and 13 percent, respectively. eMarketer has also lowered its forecast for social media ad spending by 12 percent. Much more experimentation will be needed to bring brands directly into the application experience rather than relegate them to a banner or group, such as Slide’s branded “SuperPokes.”
4. Millennials are no more socially liberally than other generations. According to the Pew Research Center, each generation tends to be more liberal than its predecessors — but Millennials are even more socially liberal than Boomers were at a similar age. On Super Tuesday, 58 percent of younger voters self-identified themselves as “Liberal.” This is happy news for Brand Obama.
5. Millennials are drinking more beer compared to earlier generations of young drinkers. Not true! According to Nielsen, U.S. 21- to 30-year-olds are forgoing beer in favor of wine. Beer consumption has dropped 12 percentage points in this age cohort over the past 10 years compared to a 6 percentage point drop among over 30s. Instead, Millennials are embracing the wine culture in record numbers. This contrasts with France where Millennials are losing interest in wine. Mon Dieu!
6. Millennials are cynical and mistrusting of institutions. According to Pew, Millennials put more faith in government and business institutions. Their faith in business is growing, while that of other cohorts is decreasing. The gap is even more pronounced when it comes to government effectiveness.
7. The Ultimate Millennial personna is an entrepreneur. This is more true of Gen- Xers than Millennials, who tend to be more idealistic. Their goal is to “make a difference” as well as be successful. Clues to the Millennial Persona may be found in some of the TV shows they watched growing up. There are a remarkable number of 50s style through backs and “princesses” where the kids are smart, gifted, special and uniquely successful — The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Nancy Drew, High School Musical. There are also a surprising number of “princesses” and average kids by day who become rock ‘n’ roll stars by night.
