02.03.2010

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Marketing to Millennials

When asking a group of 50-something women why they drink Diet Coke they go through an elaborate decision-tree of factors that lead to choosing Diet Coke. When asking a Millennial why he or she drinks Sprite, the answer is a short, curt, "Cuz." Period. Enough said.

In other words, choice — for the Millennial Generation — is way, way overrated.

Millennials are a brand-averse generation re-writing the rules of marketing. Resistant to most conventional forms of marketing, we see the developments with millennials as a part of a longer-term trajectory of cultural change. Consumers are increasingly skeptical and conventional marketing as we know it must transform itself—perhaps quite radically—if it wishes to prove effective in the years to come.

Today’s Millennials are coming of age in a postmodern world — which encourages consumption with playful, reckless abandon — it's likely they will be consuming at levels relatively higher than their predecessors. Believe it or not, in the future we'll all likely be buying more stuff and our youth will lead the charge.

The challenge, of course, is that we have no blueprint to help us navigate a terrain marked at once by orgiastic consumption styles, excessive choice and a tacit desire to "unchoose." So, how do you communicate to a generation that has adapted to its environment by learning not to listen?

In the spirit of understanding the next significant generation of consumers, we thought we'd bring you a few tips on how to immerse yourself in Millennial culture. Here are our five strategies for walking in a Millennial’s shoes:

1. Browse Innovative Millennial-Created & Supported Sites: Millennials are inherently aligned with technology. Intimacy with the digital world is one of the greatest strengths of their generation. Never having known a world without digital technology, Millennials are the first “digital natives” and experience the world in a completely different way than previous generations. They recognize the power and importance of social networks and utilize the Internet as a trusted information source and a platform for self-expression. In the eyes of the Millennials, personal online networks hold as much importance and authority as any conventional media channel.

2. Experience the DIY Movement: Millennials are masters of customization and self-expression. Encouraged to express their opinions from the time they were children, Millennials are highly vocal about their needs and desires. They see themselves as co-creators and shop independent artists and sellers on Etsy.com. See for yourself, take a hip craft/sewing class at an urban sewing shop; read MAKE magazine and attend one of their events. For Millennials, everything is about “real” and “reality” and their knowledge and information empowers them.

3. Shop at Millennial-Approved Retailers: Overrun with choice, suspicious and non-responsive to advertising, Millennials see brands as their own. Irreverent, ironic duds (http://www.bustedtees.com), user-created limited-edition shirts for the masses (http://www.threadless.com), and simple, and ethically-produced pieces (American Apparel) speak louder for Millennials than any “branded” tee or top. Transparency and building smaller brands are key for earning the trust of Millennials. Marketers should build marketing programs whose goals are more short-term and cyclical in nature and plan for shorter product life cycles.

4. Eat Like a Millennial: As master re-mixers, Millennials use grocery retail as a reimagined food court, sampling a variety of flavors and brands daily. Brand is much less important than categorical ethnic flavors. Millennials turn to “real” food over more processed snacks and ditch the Lean Pocket and head to the streets (for delectable street food, that is). To Millennials, snacking is all about experimentation. They are ironically playful in their snack selections, resulting in impulsive purchases from limited-release flavor combinations (Doritos Mystery Flavor) to global flavor profiles (Thai chili and kaffir lime). Millennials will continue to seek esoteric global taste profiles and will tire quickly of mundane or outdated menu options.

5. See What Other Brands have Done to Win the Millennials’ Trust: In the end, it’s not about the brand itself. Brands must reinvent themselves in innovative ways to gain attention from Millennials like Target with its limited-edition clothing runs. Millennials are also attracted by brands like H&M offering cheap duds by exceptional designers at classic never-fail prices. Millennials are a brand-averse generation that is resistant to most conventional forms of marketing. We see these developments as part of a longer-term trajectory of cultural change which holds that consumers are increasingly brand-averse and skeptical to conventional forms of marketing. Conventional marketing as we know it must transform itself—perhaps quite radically—if it wishes to prove effective in the years to come.

View the Millennials Slide Show

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Run-time: 1 minute 41 seconds

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