Focus on social media
Renee Murphy talks about effective ways to utilize social networking to market.
Top ten values
A look at some of the values and beliefs that color Millennials’ perspectives.
Know your cohort
What do the generations think of each other? The numbers don’t lie.
Generations, like people, have personalities, and Millennials have begun to forge theirs: confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat, and open to change.
Ten generational values that color the Millennials perspective.
Hear what Millennials think in their own words. Watch as they answer the big questions.
Each August, Beloit releases their College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of Millennials entering college each fall.
Heard about Gapgate? millennials have. Social Media Reserach Consultant Renee Murphy reports on what brands can learn from Gap's logo troubles.
Three different Old Spice ads targeted at Millennials and how they stack up in the viewers' eyes.
How Millennials rate themselves against other generations, as compared to Gen X and Baby Boomers.
Aliases
- Generation Y
- Echo Boomers
- Net Generation
*94% of Millennials asked said they preferred the term “Millennial”, while only 7% said that they would refer to themselves as “Generation Y.”
Ages
26 and under (born after 1982.)
- There have always been ATMs
- Pixar has always existed
- There has always been Diet Coke
- Cars have always had air bags
Numbers
75 million strong.
- 61% Caucasian
- 17% Hispanic
- 15% African American
- 4% Asian American
- 3% Other
- *percentages based on U.S. only
Buying Power
$1 trillion
- 41% working full time
- 24% working part time
- 13% still students
- 22% not employed
Millennials
Quick FactsGenerations, like people, have personalities, and Millennials Ò the American teens and twenty-somethings who are making the passage into adulthood at the start of a new millennium Ò have begun to forge theirs: confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and open to change.
They are more ethnically and racially diverse than older adults. They are less religious, less likely to have served in the military, and are on track to become the most educated generation in American history. Their entry into careers and first jobs has been badly set back by the Great Recession, but they are more upbeat than their elders about their own economic futures as well as about the overall state of thhe nation.
They are historyÌs first Ïalways connectedÓ generation. Steeped in digital technology and social media, they treat their multi-tasking hand-held gadgets almost like a body part Ò for better and worse. More than 80% say they sleep with a cell phone glowing by the bed, posed to disgorge texts, phone calls, emails, songs, news, videos, games and wake-up jingles. But sometimes convenience yields to temptations. Nearly two-thirds admit to texting while driving.
They embrace multiple modes of self-expression. Three-quarters have created a profileon a social networking site. 20% have posted a video of themselves online. Nearly 40% have a tattoo (and for most who do, one is not enough: about half of those with tattoos have two to five and 18% have six or more). Nearly 25% have a piercing in some place other than an earlobe Ò about six times the share of older adults whoÌve done this. But their look-at-me tendencies are not without limits. Most Millennials have placed privacy boundaries on their social media profiles, and 70% say their tattoos are hidden beneath clothing.
Despite struggling (and often failing) to find jobs in the teeth of a recession, about 90% either say that they currently have enough money or that they will eventually meet their long-term financial goals. But at the moment, fully 37% of 18-29 year olds are unemployed or out of the workforce, the highest share among this age group in more than three decades.
We donÌt yet know which formative experiences the Millennials will carry forward throughout their life cycle, but we hope that the findings presented here begin to shine a light on what they are like today Ò and on what America might be like tomorrow.
01 // Timeliness
Millennials have a unique sense of timeliness. Whether a hot new electronic gadget or a response to an email, they want it now, and ÏforeverÓ has little meaning.
02 // Making a Difference
From volunteering in soup kitchens to joining the Peace Corps, Millennials have an unprecedented desire to Ïgive backÓ to their communities in ways both large and small.
03 // Tolerance
As the most ethnically diverse generation of adults yet, Millennials have an engrained sense that a diverse range of ethnicities, religions, cultures, and lifestyles should not only be tolerated, but in fact embraced.
04 // Environmental Stewardship
ItÌs no surprise that Millennials are a driving force behind the recent movement to live more environmentally friendly and sustainable lives.
05 // Authenticity
With important implications for marketers and advertisers, Millennials crave plain and honest truths. From job performance reviews to television commercials, they want a message that is genuine, truthful, and straightforward. They are likely to reject anything that appears sugarcoated or otherwise less than forthcoming.
06 // Family
Part of what makes Millennials unique is their parentsÌ intense involvement in their lives Ò not only during childhood, but also well into their post-college years. Consequently, as a group, Millennials are more likely to respect and value parental opinions well after they have physically Ïleft the nest.Ó
07 // Global Perspective
Thomas FriedmanÌs ÏThe World is FlatÓ may have been an eye opener to older generations, but Millennials have embraced this global perspective Ò along with the technology that makes it possible Ò from an early age.
08 // Technology
As the first generation of adults who grew up with the Internet, Millennials embrace technology as a fundamental part of their existence. Technological advances are taken in stride, and with the inroduction of each new device or gadget, Millennials are more likely to wonder why we havenÌt always had this capability than marvel at how different it is or at the way things Ïused to be.Ó
09 // Personal Freedom
Millennials have all but rejected the notion that life is a ÏtrackÓ to be followed milestone to milestone. The ÏcareerÓ is no longer the context for important life decisicons, and many respondents hold Ïmaking a differenceÓ in as high a regard as Ïpersonal success,Ó and are willing to take any path available to strike this balance.
10 // Teamwork
Millennials are used to working together and generally adhere to the belief that Ïtogether, we can accomplish more.Ó The exception is when individual team members violate basic Millennial values like tolerance or authenticity. This explains why given a choice, Millennials much prefer to work with other Millennials.
Describe your ideal Saturday night, what are you doing?
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How is dating today different from how you think it used to be?
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What does a career look like for your generation?
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What are the differences between how you and your parents shop?
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Tell me something adults just don’t “get” about your generation.
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Can you remember the last time you were inside a record store?
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2002 // College Graduates
They are too young to remember the Space Shuttle Challenger blowing up.
They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era, and did not know he had ever been shot.
Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart, and do not remember the Cold War.
They have never feared a nuclear war. ÏThe Day AfterÓ is a pill to them Ò not a movie.
Star Wars looks very fake to them, and the special effects are pathetic.
There have always been red M&Ms, and blue ones are not new. What do you mean there used to be beige ones?
They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
They do not care who shot J. R. and have no idea who J. R. is.
Cats has been on Broadway all their lives.
John Lennon and John Belushi have always been dead.
There has always been a woman on the Supreme Court, and women have always been traveling into space.
They never realized that for one brief moment, General Alexander Haig was Ïin charge.Ó
Cats has been on Broadway all their lives.
Travel to space has always been accomplished in reusable spacecraft.
They donÌt think there is anything terribly futuristic about 2001, and were never concerned about the year 1984.
President KennedyÌs assassination is as significant to them as that of Lincoln or Garfield.
Susan B. Anthony has always been on the dollar but probably never bought them anything.
They felt pretty special when their elementary school had top-of-the-line Commodore 64s.
There have always been ATMs.
A Ï45Ó is a gun, not a record with a large hole in the center.
They have never referred to Russia and China as The Reds.
Three Mile Island is ancient history, and nuclear accidents happen in other countries.
Elton John has only been heard on easy listening stations.
Woodstock is a bird or a reunion, not a cultural touchstone.
ÏComing outÓ parties celebrate more than debutantes.
The Osmonds are talk show hosts.
They have never used a bottle of ÏWhite Out.Ó
If they vaguely remember the night the Berlin Wall fell, they are probably not sure why it was up in the first place.
There has always been Diet Coke.
A browser is not someone relaxing in a bookstore and a mouse is not a rodent.
Recording TV programs on VCRs became legal the year they were born.
Drug testing of athletes has always been routine.
They have always had access to email.
Volkswagen Beetles have always had engines in the front.
Lasers have always been marketed as toys.
Major newspapers have always been printed in color.
Beta is a preview version of software, not a VCR format.
They have heard Ïjust say noÓ since they were toddlers.
Cyberspace has always existed.
South AfricaÌs official policy of apartheid has not existed during their lifetime.
Cars have always had eye level rear stop lights, CD players, and air bags.
Big Brother is merely a television show.
George Foreman has always been a barbecue grill salesman.
The U.S. and the Soviets have always been partners in space.
The GM Saturn has always been on the road.
Fox has always been a television network choice.
Electronic filing of federal income taxes has always been an option.
Hip hop and rap have always been popular musical forms.
Pete Rose has always been a gambler.
ÏCtrl + Alt + DelÓ is as basic as ÏABC.Ó
Paul Newman has always made salad dressing.
Gas has always been unleaded.
There has always been some association between fried eggs and your brain.
Datsuns have never been made.
Three-point shots from ÏdowntownÓ have always been a part of basketball.
Stores have always had scanned at the checkout.
The Army has always driven Humvees.
There has always been Lean Cuisine.
There have always been night games at Wrigley Field.
“HereÌs Johnny!” is a scary greeting from Jack Nicholson, not a warm welcome from Ed McMahon.
The Energizer bunny has always been going, and going, and going.
The U.S. has always been a Prozac nation.
Network television has always struggled to keep up with cable.
Svelte Oprah has always dominated afternoon television; who was Phil Donahue anyway?
Oliver North has always been a talk show host and news commentator.
They have done most of their search for the right college online.
They were spared the TV ads for Zamfir and his panpipes.
Photographs have always been processed in an hour or less.
For daily caffeine emergencies, Starbucks has always been around the corner.
They donÌt remember when Ïcut and pasteÓ involved scissors.
Heart lung transplants have always been possible.
Boston has been working on ÏThe Big DigÓ all their lives.
They never had the fun of being thrown into the back of a station wagon with six others.
Voice mail has always been available.
Pixar has always existed.
Les Miserables has always been on stage.
Jimmy Carter has always been an elder statesman.
Digital cameras have always existed.
Beach Volleyball has always been a recognized sport.
The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
There has always been only one Germany.
They have never heard anyone actually Ïring it upÓ on a cash register.
ÏGoogleÓ has always been a verb.
Text messaging is their email.
Milli Vanilli has never had anything to say.
Reality shows have always been on television.
Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.
They have grown up with bottled water.
Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public.
They never Ïrolled downÓ a car window.
Pete Rose has never played baseball.
Rap music has always been mainstream.
They were born the year Harvard Law Review Editor Barack Obama announced he might run for office some day.
Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than Sears and has always employed more workers than GM.
Fox has always been a major network.
They learned about JFK from Oliver Stone and Malcolm X from Spike Lee.
MTV has never featured music videos.
Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey in Orlando.
WWW has never stood for world-wide wrestling.
IBM has never made typewriters.
They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
Caller ID has always been available on phones.
The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
98.6° F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.
Lessons for Millennial Marketing
Social media is a world of extreme openness and brutal honesty, which makes it a natural space for Millennials, but a terrifying landscape for the many brands vying for their attention.
Major clothing retailer Gap is no stranger to this, having recently been the subject of a sizable social media backlash. The Gap logo controversy, or ÏGapgateÓ as it is now known across the internet, is one of the biggest Ïshoulda known betterÓ moments of recent memory, but it is also an interesting study for marketers looking to access Millennials in their natural habitat.
For a full recap of Gapgate, you can read this summary, but here are the basics: In the Fall of 2010, Gap quietly announced a new logo on their Facebook page. Within hours, Twitter users, Facebook users, and bloggers responded en masse with fierce criticism. In response, Gap stated they would accept public submissions for new logos, which didnÌt go over well, either. After nearly 48 hours of continually bad buzz, Gap announced they would revert to their old logo and abandon the redesign.
In the process, Gap did gain an unprecedented level of internet attention, but is all press good press? Even if the attention was their goal, did GapÌs actions threaten their relationship with their target consumer by violating a trust built over more than a decade?
To find out more, we conducted a ÏSocial Media AuditÓ—a quick, top-level analysis of the online conversation about Gap, their logo, and how Millennials were reacting. For a marketer looking to capture and sustain Millennial loyalty, here are some of the lessons weÌve identified:
Take the conversation seriously, it has teeth
Millennials, as a rule, are not afraid to share their opinions online, and they do so with both frequency and fervor.
Gap announced their new logo on the official Gap Facebook page, a possible attempt to include their target consumer (28 year olds, according to CNBC). Immediately following, Twitter and Facebook lit up with status updates, comments, and tweets regarding the announcement and the new logo. Based on our analysis of the online conversation immediately following GapÌs announcement, most of the comments were negative in nature. Millennials especially seemed to take the subject very seriously.
For Millennials, relationships with brands are as much a part of the online conversation as school, work, or the party last weekend. A recent study suggests that, at least online, brands are as influential in a MillennialÌs life as religion or ethnic heritage. ItÌs no surprise, then, that according to another study, 74% of Millennials have talked to a friend about a brand in the past week, and 54% have talked to a friend about a product they donÌt like. Gap learned the hard way that Millennial response online can be both swift and scathing.
Keep it real, authenticity is king
Millennials thrive on purpose, and theyÌll turn on you if your stated purpose feels fake.
Authenticity is the lifeblood of Millennials. They have been trained to smell a scam from a mile away. Many criticized Gap for the seeming nonchalance of the logo change. Many more accused them of using the logo change to draw attention, which, to Millennials, feels extremely inauthentic. Click here to see a sample of blog posts and comments following the Gap announcement. By offering to accept public submissions for new logos, Gap made themselves seem uncommitted to the new logo, which led Millennials to further question the reason for the change in the first place.
Value the relationship, don't take changes lightly
Rebranding for the sake of rebranding strikes Millennials as inauthentic.
Based on our analysis, most user-generated web comments following the logo announcement were negative, questioning GapÌs decision to launch a new logo and criticizing the logo itself. Click here to see a representative sample of twitter posts.
ÏClassicÓ and ÏoriginalÓ are some of the most common words used fondly to describe the old logo in tweets, comments and posts. These words connote stability, predictability, and warmth. In contrast, a common word to describe the new logo was ÏcheapÓ (mostly in response to GapÌs use of the Helvetica typeface).
If the new logo and the old logo were people, consumers should be able to tell a story about how they are related or run in similar circles. An abrupt change with no real explanation other than Ïwe wanted something newÓ is an affront to a longstanding (and mostly amicable) relationship.
Smile, you're being judged
Millennials demand that you have a worthy purpose for drawing a crowd. Anything else feels like a scam. Gap made a major change without a whole lot of fanfare and then tried unsuccessfully to put out a wildfire. Many consumers thought that Gap was either clueless or in it for the attention, and to a Millennial, neither of these are good excuses.
So you be the judge, is the Millennial crowd on Facebook and Twitter entitled to be consulted before you make major changes? Answer however you like, but keep in mind that Millennials believe the answer is yes.
For another, decidedly scientific take on exactly why the new Gap logo was so despised, see this article.
Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get into social media?
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Tell us a little about how you uncovered these insights?
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What's an interesting or unexpected thing that you learned?
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Was this just a publicity stunt?
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When a brand has a crisis, what role should research play?
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The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
Original Air Date: February 9th, 2010
Run Time: 30 seconds
Agency: Wieden and Kennedy
Touting the fact that Old Spice has the manliest scents on the planet, the work celebrates the importance of smelling like a man. The spots were created with a dual audience in mind, men and womenÛa first since the re-launch of the brand.
Questions
Original Air Date: July 2nd, 2010
Run Time: 30 seconds
Agency: Wieden and Kennedy
Anything is possible when you smell like an Old Spice man and our hero, Isaiah Mustafa, is back to illustrate just a few of the amazing things that an Old Spice man can do. The latest effort is a fully integrated campaign with TV, print and digital executions, targeted at both men and women, once again touting the manly scents of Old Spice body wash.
Re: Everyone
Original Air Date: July 14th, 2010
Run Time: 45 seconds
Agency: Wieden and Kennedy
To build on the success of the Man Your Man Could Smell like buzz and online conversation, Old Spice took a fresh approach to online brand engagement with a unique interactive strategy. The Old Spice guy engaged directly with his fans and consumers of Old Spice, sending those who responded to the work a personalized message.
Which generation do you think has had, or will have, the most positive effect on society?
Which generation do you admire most?
Which generation would you say is the most generous?
Which generation would you say is the most greedy?
Which generation would you say is the most short-sighted?
Which generation would you say is the most productive?
Which generation would you say is the most self-indulgent?
Which generation would you say is the most innovative?
Which generation would you say is the most socially conscious?
