Millennial Marketing

We Moved: New URL

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:47:00 +0000

We have a shiny new blog. You can find all this great same content and more at http://millennialmarketing.com Carol Phillips

Engaging Millennials: How Marketers Can Break Through

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:13:00 +0000

'What will break through?' is a question I am often asked. My very first post on this blog in ("A Collective Chill", 4.28.08) reported about the comments of a Millennial panel at a marketing conference I attended in New York last Spring:

The audience was ANA members gather to discuss "Innovations in Marketing". The panel was impressive, brand managers from Mercedes, Unilever and Lincoln Financial. But their answers to questions about their media use sent a collective chill through the room. They don't watch TV other than NCAA Finals. They don't see online advertising thanks to blocking software. They don't want ads on their mobile devices, facebook pages or IM. They don't even like ads. This should not be news to anyone. However, it was shocking coming from Millennial Marketers. They seemed as stumped as the moderator as to how marketers could reach them most effectively. Ah.....with relevant content? Reaching Millennials with messages they want to hear, in the format they want to hear it is going to be a challenge!

After nearly two years of thinking about this question, I have distilled my advice to one not-so-easy-to-accomplish formula:

Engaging Millennials = Enabling Discovery + Energizing Experience + Encouraging Advocacy

Of course, this formula presumes you have a relevant product and positioning. If not, you have more problems than simply breaking through. But assuming for a moment you have cleared the Product, Placement and Pricing hurdles, how should you go about Promoting your brand to Millennials? Let's unpack this formula a bit:

Enabling Discovery

No one wants to be told what to do, what to like and what to think. That is especially true of Millennials, who have an instant aversion to anything that smacks of 'marketing'. They want to believe that they have uniquely discovered the things they like. That's not to say that mass brands are not appealing, as Obama can tell you. But mass brands don't start with any advantage. The ideal way for a Millennial to first experience a product or service is to discover it for themselves. Think of 'Stumbleupon' as the model.

This feeling of 'discovery' underlies the success of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog and Tom's Shoes. Discovery is social currency, you can spend it with friends (or wider) and increase your personal brand. Discovery is the dynamic that drives marketing for restaurants, music, wine and microbrews. (For more on the social dynamic behind wine's growing popularity, see my earlier post, "A Perfect Pairing").

Achieving a sense of 'discovery' is no accident. It means creating events where Millennials can meet the brand, as Red Bull has done so successfully. Or creating a smash viral video. Social media, social media, product placement, and sampling are all good 'discovery' media.

Energizing the Experience

This is literally having a brand experience worth writing home about, one that not only meets the minimums for efficiency, personalization and value, but that goes over and above expectations. Success with Millennials requires being distinctive; they love 'shiny' things.

Marketers at Apple, Nike, Zappos, Jamba Juice, Red Bull, Zipcar, Vogue magazine and other beloved, 'iconic' Millennial brands understand that to be remarked upon, you must literally be remarkable for something inherent in the user or customer experience. This can be accomplished through customization, design, ease of access, or price (free works especially well). However it is accomplished, it must be both authentic and fresh to overcome the impressive filters Millennials have perfected. The experience must be fun, compelling or unique or you will never get to the third and final step of the formula: advocacy.

Encouraging Advocacy

If this was a real formula, 'advocacy' is the variable that would have an exponent after it. Advocacy is the thing that makes Millennial marketing unique today, and is likely to be the biggest change to mainstream marketing in the future.

Yesterday I had a wonderful conversation with Sarah Newton, a radio celebrity, Twitter friend, and author of the blog, GenYGuide.com. Sarah lives in Northampton, England. Despite the being oceans apart, we agreed on many things, above all that Gen Y is unique. We also speculated the thing that makes them unique, perhaps in all history, is access to platforms to broadly communicate and share their ideas. This ability alone may make the gap between Gen Y and earlier generations more striking than any previous gap, or possibly any to come (profound thought isn't it?). A new global study of 9000 -27 year olds by YouGovStone reached a similar conclusion: "The digital revolution has not only given this generation of young people access to knowledge and information on an unprecedented scale, but it has also given them massive influence."

Mobilizing that influence requires making it easy to access and share information with peers. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, topic-specific blogs, and opinion sites like Yelp are all ways to encourage Millennials to talk to each other about your brand. Of course, talking about brands is not something Millennials are inclined to do without good reason. That's why so many brands have found success by associating with worthy causes, or highlighting their support of environmental or humanitarian initiatives. Advocacy efforts take many forms, both long term and short term promotions (Starbucks Project Red, Taco Bell Feed the Beat). For more immediate sharing, brands are experimenting with mobile applications and widgets, like DryncWine.com. However it's done, advocacy via social media is now a critical part of any youth marketing effort.

My final words of advice on reaching Millennials is much simpler: take time to get to know them. If you are over 30, the worst mistake you can make is thinking they think like you do. Listen to Millennials, at home and in the office. They will give you the best advice about how to reach others like them.

Generational Differences in Time Use

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:49:00 +0000

How people spend their time says a lot about them. A fascinating interactive graphic by the New York Times breaks out how different groups spend their time based on data from The American Survey of Time Use. By clicking different groups, you can literally see how the proportion of time spent working, sleeping, eating, on housework, education, TV watching, etc. changes at every minute of the day. This graphic is very engrossing and reveals interesting generational differences. Comparing 15-24 year olds to 25-64 year olds shows the younger group spends a higher proportion of their on education, and lower proportion on housework and work. No great surprise there. Here are some less obvious observations:

Time Shift: I have observed before that Millennials appear to be 'nocturnal', here's the evidence. They go to bed later and sleep later than any other age group. At 11:11AM, 11% are still sleeping; at 11:10 PM 53% are still awake with 14% watching TV or movies, 6% socializing, and 3% talking on the phone. Interestingly, just 2% are doing homework. My daughter has arranged her college schedule to ensure no class starts before 11:00 AM. She regularly goes to bed at 2:00 or 3:00 AM. @bengarbe twittered today: "Frankly, this 26 year old would give up thousands in salary to be able to sleep until noon, work 12-8pm from home, etc."

Sports: Sports and fitness are a big part of Gen Y's lives. At any point between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM between 3% and 6% of 15-24 year olds are participating in 'sports'. The comparable figure for 25-64 year olds is 1-2%. On average, 15-24 year olds spend 36 minutes a day on sports, about twice the time spent by 25-64 year olds.

Reading & Other Interest: 15-24 year olds spend on average :50 minutes a day reading and pursuing other interests. This is much higher than 25-64 year olds who spend 32 minutes. The research points out that half of that time is spent 'reading'. Those over 64 spent by far the most time reading per day: 1 hour and 24 minutes. This presumably does not include computer time, as that is accounted for separately.

This cleverly designed chart is remiss in only one respect: it doesn't account for multi-tasking, and assumes that people are doing one thing at a time. Of course, we know that Millennials are master jugglers, who eke more hours than the rest of us from a 24 hour day, if we are to take their word for it.

Gen Y Food Preferences: You Are What You Eat

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Generational differences exist in values, media usage, career goals, entertainment choices. Now there is evidence that what you like to eat may say a lot about what generation you belong to. (Mediapost 7.31.09)

* Boomers prefer "classic" comfort foods such as braised meats, casseroles and ice cream, but many also enjoy gourmet choices such as high-quality dark chocolate and fancy cheeses. They crave foods from their childhoods such as peanut butter, popcorn, foods made with canned tuna fish, chicken noodle soup and hot oatmeal.

* Gen Xers are more accustomed to commercial fare, and crave fast food (especially hamburgers) and burritos. They cite branded foods more often than the other generations, including favorite packaged cookies, ice creams, candies and snacks.

* Gen Yers are also partial to burritos and ramen noodles -- but in contrast to other cohorts, many also include healthier foods, including sushi and fruits, among their favorite comfort foods. They are less inclined than Gen X to associate specific brands with comfort foods.

The research also identified top trends in "comfort foods". Gen Y pastry chefs and a desire to start the day with a "protein burst" are driving a trend toward 'breakfast for dessert'. "Boxed cereals, already found in snack bars and frozen yogurt shops, are now turning up in desserts, along with desserts such as "glamorized" versions of French toast, waffles and doughnuts."

Other humble foods such as meat loaf, meat pies, and macaroni and cheese are making a comeback, with 'fuller flavors and natural or leander meat blends'. Even the lowly casserole appears to be due for a Millennial makeover as one-dish meals come back into favor and receive 'artisan' spin with natural and organic ingredients and updated flavors: ""New" casseroles replacing processed ingredients with fresh ingredients, including vegetables and "contemporary" proteins such as turkey, crab and shrimp." .

This new research contributes to growing evidence that Gen Y is made up of a high proportion of food sophisticates who are willing to put in the effort to create healthier, more flavorful dishes at home and demand better fare from restaurants. According to Mintel, young parents are among the most enthusiastic shoppers at Farmer's markets and food co-ops. (Mintel, “Local Procurement” Feb 2009). Just six percent of those without kids buy local goods at farmers markets, compared to 9% of those with kids.

So if you attend a family reunion or potluck this summer, pay attention to who brings what. Chances are, the Boomer will be the one with the potato salad and chocolate chip cookies, the Gen Y'er will be the one with the organic fruit and Asian curry.

The Generation Gap: It's Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:01:00 +0000

One of the most intriguing things about Millennials is that they do not see themselves the way other generations see them.

Where others see impatience and arrogance, they see confidence and willingness to speak out.

Where others see evidence of materialism, they see "necessities".

Where others see laziness, they see a desire for balance.

Where others see overreliance on technology, they see an desire for efficiency.

The disparity in generational perceptions was explored last year by Harris Internative. The 2008 Harris Study surveyed a crosssection of age groups and asked each generation to rank each other on a number of qualities. Thirty-one percent of Millennials say that they are the "most socially conscious". The number of Gen X'ers who put Millennials first in socially consciousness was just 19%, similar to the 15% of Boomers who say so.

Newly released research from Pew shows 79% of Americans say they believe there is "a major difference in the point of view of younger people and older people". What makes this finding especially interesting is that the number of people who see a major difference between the generations is the same today as it was in 1969, at the height of the so-called 'generation gap'. What's more, the figure actually went down in the intervening years (see chart).

The consequences of this misalignment are now being especially felt in the workplace, but they are a caution to marketers, especially those of us over 30. If you are not a Millennial, don't presume that you think like one.

Millennials Going Local

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:28:00 +0000

by Marty Predd, Research Associate, Brand Amplitude, LLC

I hate feeling like a conspiracy theorist, but that's exactly how I felt leaving the theater after seeing the movie, Food, Inc., last night.

Really? Our government subsidizes corn to the point where it sells for less than the cost of production? Corn and corn derivatives are in a vast majority of the foods available at the grocery store, including the cheapest and most unhealthy ones? Less than 10 major corporations control the vast majority of food production in this country, with less government oversight than ever? Really????

Questions like these went on and on through my head last night, reading like a bad script from an AM radio late-night talk show. As much as I hated to admit it, Food, Inc. had changed me in a big way. Having slept on it, I've come to a conclusion considerably bigger than the movie or the specific topic at hand. Call it a Millennial thing or call it a Marty thing, but embracing the local -- local products, local businesses, local relationships -- is making more sense to me than ever.

I blame a recent post on this blog ("Will Millennials be the First to Let Go of Technology?") for contributing in part to these feelings. One of the great ironies of the ever-advancing, ever-more-connected technological world we live in is the growing detachment I feel from the physical community in which I live and work. Via Facebook, instant messaging, and Twitter, I'm much 'closer' to friends (and some strangers) thousands of miles away than I am to the nice couple who lives across the hall from me.

And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Besides maybe a conspiracy theorist, who would argue that it's not a wonderful thing to keep in touch with old friends across the world and forge new relationships with strangers who share my interests? After all, it was this level of connectedness that allowed me to move across the country to Portland, OR without feeling like I was truly leaving my good friends from my Midwestern childhood. That's pretty remarkable.

But here's the trouble as I see it: As the first generation to have grown up in this world of virtual connectedness, technologies like instant messaging, Facebook and Twitter represent something much different to us Millennials than they do to our parents: For us, they are not merely added conveniences for keeping in touch with old friends, they've become the very mechanisms we use to forge and maintain new relationships. For me and I suspect many of my cohorts, this leads to a growing need to be 'plugged in' to feel socialized and happy.

And the more detached I become from the people living in my physical world, the easier it becomes to neglect the fairly obvious (and important) questions that our pioneer ancestors must have asked themselves daily: Where's our food coming from today? How are the neighbors? Is everyone we know safe and healthy? You know, the sort of basic questions that lead to cohesive, socialized and happy communities, independent of the fiber optic cabling running through them.

Before you roll your eyes, let me reassure you: I don't plan on 'unplugging' anytime soon, and I remain as eager as ever to buy the next iPhone or sign up for the next Twitter, and I'm instant messaging my friends as I write this. But starting today, I plan on making a concerted, if unnaturally deliberate effort to engage in the physical community that surrounds me: to support local service businesses, to buy groceries at the farmers market instead of the superstore, to say hi to the neighbors on the way out to dinner (or God forbid even invite them to join us)....generally, to give a damn about the community of people immediately surrounding me.

If this longing to rediscover the local represents a trend bigger than me (and I suspect it does), it stands to have dramatic implications for the work of Millennial marketers in the years to come.

Eight Research Reports on Millennials

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:05:00 +0000

The amount of information about Gen Y has grown enormously since I began this blog almost two years ago. Every day, new blogs, articles and twitter messages purport to offer Gen Y insighs. Much is opinion and conjecture, which is helpful in framing the discussion, but has limited usefulness in for targeting and marketing planning.

Here are eight studies I recommend for data-backed Gen Y insights.

1. Accenture: Millennials at the Gates: Results from Accentures High Performance IT Research (Feb 2009) - Technology and new generation workers. "One-third of the mid-Millennials said they expect not only to use the computer of their choice,but also to access their preferred technology applications once in the workforce."

2. College Board (with Art and Science Group): (May 2008) Longitudinal Study of High School Student Values and College Choices. "Millennials appear more like than different from their parents’ generation."

3. Economist (with Genysys): Maturing with the Millennials: Are Organisations Prepared for Dealing with the Millennial Consumer? "Convenience, customisation, community and “cool”

4. Harris (With Charles Schwab and Age Wave): Gen Y Views Itself. "Gen Y would like to rename themselves the “Internet Generation” (32%). They really dislike being called “Generation Y” or “Millennials.”"

5. Harvard Institute of Politics (with Harris): 15th Biannual Survey on Politics and Public Service (October 2008) "Nearly seven in ten 18-24 year-olds today (69%) say they see political engagement as an effective way of solving our nation’s problems, up six percentage points from fall 2007 (63%) and fall 2006 (60%) IOP polling."

6. Circle (with Kettering): Millennials Talk Politics: A Study of College Student Political Engagement. "Millennials Dislike Spin and Polarized Debates and Seek Authentic Opportunities for Discussing Public Issues."

7. Demos: Economic State of Young America (Spring 2008)"Today’s 20-somethings are likely to be the first generation to not be better off than their parents. Evidence of their declining economic opportunity and security abound, from widespread debt to lower earnings in today’s labor market for all but those with advanced degrees."

8. Bureau Labor Statistics: A Generation Apart: Expenditure Patterns of Young Singles "A recent article using data from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) compares the spending patterns of young (21-to-29-year-old), single adults interviewed in 2004-05 to those of young, single adults interviewed twenty years earlier in 1984-85. Clear differences..."

Will Millennials Be First to Let Go Technology?

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 21:26:00 +0000

"A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world." --John le Carré, former British spy and English author

John le Carre is one of my favorite authors. His ability to weave a story and evoke a character with just a few details is remarkable. He didn't get that from sitting at a typewriter all day. If he were still alive, he might say the same thing about Google. As a portal on the world, it has both disadvantages and advantages.

There are growing indications that people are realizing media saturation is leading to media-induced stress, that activity is not the same as productivity and that technology can be a hindrance as well as a help. Millennials, as the most connected generation, may be among the first to put technology in its place in favor of simpler pleasures.

Two articles last week alone about Millennials and 'nostalgia' seem to support my premise. Last week, an article titled, "Everything old is new again to Internet Weary Young Adults" appeared in the Australian. Judging by the discussion and number of Re-Tweets it generated on Twitter, the article seems to have hit a nerve. The article reports on a study of young adult culture and concluded 16-30 year olds "pine for a less complex time."

"Communicating with friends online has lost some of its lustre even from as recently as a year ago and they now want to have more face-to-face time. And they increasingly prefer to do that at home rather than going out to noisy, potentially dangerous pubs and nightclubs. ....those still living with their parents (about half) have noticed the global financial crisis's impact on the family and pared back their lifestyle in response. It also shows their love affair with technology is heading for a break-up, with time spent online down 30 minutes a week from last year, while their consumption of newspapers increased by the same amount. Facebook and Twitter are also still on the rise, but losing some of their cachet. "

Likewise the NYT this week made a stir July 23 with an article, "Harry Potter is Their Peter Pan" describing the new nostalgia among Millennials in the U.S. The NYT attributes the longing for the comforts of their childhood to the uncertainties of life today.

“Millennials see the world before Sept. 11 as a period of innocence. Our biggest worry was the Y2K bug. That all seems a world away now.” Jeff Gordinier, the author of “X Saves the World,” a book last year that looked back at the early-90s formative years of Generation X, said, “It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Generation Y is burrowing into nostalgia in the middle of a severe recession. “Nostalgia comforts people and the Millennials are probably craving comfort right now.”

The research reported by the Australian article attributes the change in behavior and attitudes less to a longing for a simpler time than a desire for more immediate person-to person connection:

"And they want more connections with their friends that aren't digital, that are tangible. They're starting to question the authenticity of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. They want technology to assist rather than dominate the way they communicate."

I tend to agree with the Australian article. The driver is a desire for authenticity, not a return to safer more secure time. Millennials long to get out into the world and make a difference, or simply get out into the world. A newly released study by Timex on American Life and the Outdoors shows many feel trapped indoors, and struggle to find time to enjoy the outdoors. According to this study, "More than half of American adults (56%) fantasize about breaking free from their homes and offices to be outdoors, and that more than one-third expect the economy will negatively impact the time they spend outside this summer." Millennials appear to be especially affected. "Millennials (ages 18-24) spend almost 10 hours per day on the computer and socializing with friends, yet less than two hours outdoors."

As the most connected generation, I think it will be easiest for Millennials to put technology in its place. It may not be wholesale technology backlash, but longing for a simpler time and more genuine relationships may eventually diminish time spent online. Here's Melbourne clothing designer Clea Garrick, 27, on her pursuit of simpler pleasures:

"We've definitely had more dinners at our house than we normally would, including a fondue party, would you believe it?" said Ms Garrick, who is married with no children. She agreed there was now a greater emphasis among her peers for human contact rather than online connections than a year ago. "Facebook, for sure, we've dropped our usage," she said. "It's just a time-commitment issue: how do you want to be spending your time?"

Growing Up with Harry Potter

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:31:00 +0000

One of the basic tenets of generational marketing is that each generation is uniquely defined by the culture and events of their growing up years. My generation grew up in the golden age of dramatic TV series and sitcoms. We knew the prime time line ups and talked about them at school. We can still recite the Gilligan's Island song at the drop of a hat. Farrah Fawcett's passing was mourned by many women who aspired to be Jill on Charlie's Angels.

For those coming of age in the 70's and 80's, Star Wars movies defined their childhood and teen entertainment. And for Millennials, Harry Potter perfectly spanned, and in many ways defines, their growing up years.

As this mega-media dynasty grinds to its conclusion next summer, it will mark the end of an era. A child born in 1987 was 11 when 11-year old Harry received his owl-post admission letter to Hogwarts, and will be 22 when the 17-year old Harry finally vanquishes Voldemort. Little wonder Millennials consider Harry Potter to be their own, despite its cross generational appeal. My daughter can't remember a time when she wasn't waiting for the next book or movie. She even dressed up for the midnight showing this week, much as she has for each event of the past 10 years.

There's more to this than coincident timing. Harry was as much shaped by Millennials and their times as they were shaped by him. Just as J.K. Rowling set out to create an archetype of timeless values, set in a totally novel world, so too Millennials espouse what used to be universal values as their own: Multi-culturalism, heroicism, teamwork, learning, contributing to the greater good.

The simultaneous increase in Internet penetration made it easy for Harry Potter to transfer its fantasy world to the web and become one of the first truly multi-media franchises. No sooner did the book become a movie, than it also spawned video games, trivia games, Internet memes, mugglecasts, Harry Potter Puppet pals videos, music acts (Wrock) and more. As the first to 'discover' Harry Potter, Millennials feel a special affinity to the 'boy who lived'. It provides a shared bond and culture. Just start chanting Snape, snape, severus snape - DUMBLEORE! in a college dorm and you may be surprised to see what happens. That puppet pals episode has over 65 million views on YouTube. Finally, Harry Potter is a global phenomenon; it was an experience shared by Millennials all over the world, and may even have contributed their remarkably similar values.

I'm not sure what the parallel would be for my generation, but I am quite sure that Gen Z will not have the same relationship with HP as my 15 and 18-year old Millennial kids. The question is, what will take its place?

Millennials: A New Generation of Family Values

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:41:00 +0000

On Saturday, I attended a wedding for the daughter of our friends. We knew the bride 10 years ago when she was graduating high school, but haven’t seen much of her in the mean time. So when the best man's toast made it clear that he expected the couple to have a family, I was startled. That simply wouldn’t have happened 20 or 30 years ago. Yet, upon reflection, the presumption seemed completely logical. Millennials are in fact showing every sign of being one of the most family-oriented generations to date.

I first wrote on this topic last July when I speculated that babies were becoming cool (What the Cool Kids Want, A Baby). The post evoked this response:

"For first-wave Millennials like myself, we were coming of age just as all the characters on FRIENDS were starting to settle down and even have babies. I think girls my age thought "Why am I going to waste a decade trying to find myself, when in the end what I'm looking for is a family?"

There's more than anecdotal evidence that a baby boomlet may be on the way. Birthrates per women reached the magical 2.1 population replacement rate in 2006 for the first time since 1971. More babies were born in 2007 than even during the height of the baby boom. Studies of values shows Millennials put having a family as a goal. According to longitudinal survey of high school students conducted by the College Board, 77% of students nationwide say “raising a family” is an “essential” or “very important” life objective. In 1977, by comparison, just 59 percent of students gave the same level of importance to raising a family.

What will Millennials be like as parents, and what does that mean for marketers? I have a few predictions:

Gen Y will be attentive parents, albeit for different reasons than the parental-attention-starved Gen X’ers who’s extreme parenting styles seem to be about making up for what they missed as kids. In contrast, Gen Y, enjoyed some of the most child-centric parenting ever known. There is every reason to think they will continue to dote on their own offspring, most likely with help from grandparents. Boomers are unlikely to back out of their kids lives now just as things get really fun. We may even see multiple generations under the same roof again, by choice and in some cases, by necessity.

Millennials will put their kids ahead of their careers.Young, well-educated young mothers and fathers, will find a way to balance their career expectations against their parental responsibilities. Millennials who have already shown willingness to decouple identity from work. (Think of the character Ryan in The Office relative to Michael for examples.). A young cousin of mine and her husband each have part time jobs in LA to ensure that someone is always home with their r 2-year old son. I would also expect young parents to leverage their expectation of job mobility to enjoy alternating periods of working and staying home, or working from home. The direct implication is that there will be more sharing of responsibilities, including shopping, cleaning and child care, putting men squarely in the target for many CPG products.

Millennials’ interest in healthful, locally produced and organic foods will accelerate. According to Mintel, interest in shopping at Farmers’ markets, in food co-ops and community gardens all jump with the presence of children. For example, 6% of households without children buy local goods at a farmer’s market and 3% at a food co-op. That jumps to 9% and 7% respectively with the presence of children.

Millennials will emphasize family experiences over material things. An emphasis on travel, learning and experiences is characteristic of their generation and a pattern they are likely to carry over into their parenting. Again, this may be a function of necessity as well as values. Whatever the reason, look for houses to be smaller and greener, toys to be fewer and family activities to be more common. When my mom was a kid, she and her family used to go to ‘family camp’, and I have recently heard several young couples say they have been doing similar things.

Millennials will evolve their use of social media to focus on their lives as parents. The need for the support of friends and community, for documenting one’s life through pictures and video and for sharing milestones accelerates with parenthood. No doubt we will see many more applications and parent-specific social media sites spring up to fill the need. Already Promo magazine and Fast Company have noted that Millennials are more likely to turn online to make her life run efficiently. According to Promo Magazine, "Gen Y moms were also more interested than their older counterparts in tools that let them create and maintain their own content." Here's what Fast Company has to say:

Age 27 or younger, Millennial Mom is the newest mom on the block, and she's the first generation to use technology to seamlessly blend work and life. Not long out of college or high school, she's facing many firsts: marriage, babies, insurance, jobs, maybe even owning a house. Hyper-connected and beyond tech savvy, Millennial Mom's world is both physical and virtual, bringing social connection and life-skills management as close as a computer or cell phone. She's busted out of previous generations' isolation challenges during those early, tethered-to-the-house years. You'll find her plugged into Myspace.com or TheNest.com, sharing worries, excitement, and ideas with her online family. Products like mythum mobile coupons and Infinity Broadcasting Visual Radio -- delivered right to her cellphone -- resonate with her values of connectivity and access, seamlessly going where she goes.

A Professor's Lament

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:02:00 +0000

Professors and other teachers who have the privelege of interacting with Millennials may find this amusing...

Professor to Class: For tonight's assignment, please memorize the alphabet and be prepared to recite it in class tomorrow. Any questions?

Which alphabet did you mean?

Is alphabetical order okay, or do you want some other version?

Can we use the song?

Do we have to sing? I'm not really comfortable singing in front of other people...

How long will we have? Will we be timed?

Will we need to dress up for the presentation?

I am learning disabled -- if I bring a note from the can I have extra time for my recitation?

Do you have a grading rubric?

Do you have any examples you can share of how students have done this in the past?

I have a conflict, I am supposed to pick someone up at the airport and want to know if I can recite it in your office day after tomorrow about 2:00PM?

Is this part of our grade or for extra credit?

Is there anything more I can do for extra credit?

Will this be on the final?

Sizing Up the College Market

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:58:00 +0000

According to the College Board, the cost of tuition at a 4-year public university doubled between 1980 and 2006. The pace of increase is accelerating with a 35% increase in the past 5 years alone. (Source: Economic State of Young America). According to the National Retail Federation, college students are expected to spend about $10.5 Billion gearing up for and attending college this year. But tuition is only a fraction of the story. According to a very cool graphic assembled this spring by Westwood College, just 19% of college student spending goes to tuition. Another 26% goes to to room and board. Where does the rest of the money go? Most goes to consumer goods and services – travel, apparel, textbooks, entertainment and ‘discretionary’. The National Association of College Stores says students spend about $750 in their college store, only $488 of which goes to textbooks and course materials.

However you size it, college, and preparing for college is big business. Department stores like JC Penney and Bed Bath and Beyond each have specific college directed efforts and there are dozens of web businesses like collegepad.com that would love to outfit your dorm. The College Board even offers a handy checklist to make sure you don’t forget the band-aids and Neosporin, much less a bottle opener or DVD player.

It's possible 2009 will see the peak for college spending. Not only has the recession put pressure on decisions about where students apply and attend, it may also alter how they go to school. According to Engage Gen Y, educators, parents and students are taking a hard look at these alternatives to expensive textbooks.

Chegg: Allows students to rent their book for class at a discount of more that 50% and have it delivered to their door. Chegg plants a tree for every book rented.

CourseSmart: Offers digital versions of traditional textbooks from some of the major publishers in the industry.

Textbook Media : Textbooks and study guides provided online through a web-based book reader, offered free to students through sponsorships from national brands.

Flat World Knowledge : An open-source textbook provider that provides online textbooks in a reader to students free of charge. Students pay for premium services.

Beyond text books, as online education becomes more mainstream, the ‘college experience’ itself, as least as I knew it with four years at college living on campus, may become the premium or luxury option, not the default. This summer, my son is taking an online high school ‘health’ course for credit from BYU.edu. If he likes it, it may shape how he thinks about college. And according to Time (July 29, 2009, "Can Community Colleges Save the U.S. Economy?"), community colleges are enjoying record enrollment surges from laid off workers and students looking to save on room and board.

Why Social Media Matters (in Less than 3 minutes)

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:00:00 +0000

This video by Tampa Bay agency, 22squared, is the cleverest explanation I have seen on how social media helps consumers find brands -- and how brands find consumers. While this post (my 200th!) isn't strictly about Millennials, it expresses an essential truth of Millennial marketing - what your friends think matters, and now it's far easier to know what your friends think.

Values Shift: Gen Y Sees Things Differently

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:39:00 +0000

There is more to this chart than meets the eye.

It is the result of a remarkable 20-year study of values by the Pew Research Center.(download entire pdf here). The latest wave of the study was conducted in April/May of 2009. This chart reveals two important findings: a decline in 'social conservatism' among specific age cohorts over time and progressively lower levels of social conservatism among each younger age cohort.

Here's how the report summarizes this chart:

"Younger age cohorts are less conservative than older ones, with Baby Boomers significantly less conservative than the Silent Generation and its predecessors, and Generation Y considerably less conservative than either the Baby Boomers or Generation X. Within age cohorts, the change over time in social conservatism is very modest, indicating that the societal change in these values is mostly a function of newer generations replacing older ones."

What that means is that Gen Y is distinct in its values from both Gen X and their largely Boomer parents. This finding was widely touted Monday, June 29, in many newspaper and online articles. Here is a sampling:

New York Daily News: "Survey shows widest generation gap among American children and their parents." A survey released Monday by the Pew Research Center shows a widening generation gap on issues ranging from religion to marriage, creating divisions not seen since generational clashes over the Vietnam War, civil rights and women’s rights 40 years ago.

Yahoo News. "Study finds widening generation gap in America." From cell phones and texting to religion and manners, younger and older Americans see the world differently, creating the largest generation gap since the tumultuous years of the 1960s and the culture clashes over Vietnam, civil rights and women's liberation.

MSNBC "Study: Generation gap in U.S. largest since ’60s." A survey Monday by the Pew Research Center highlights a widening age divide after last November's election, when 18- to 29-year-olds voted for Democrat Barack Obama by a 2-to-1 ratio.

Sounds serious! Yet, how can these headlines be reconciled with the common wisdom that Millennials get along famously with their Boomer parents? In the past, 'generation gaps' led to physical and emotional distance, but not so for this generation and their parents. Somehow, the culture wars appear to be, suddenly, over. They have apparently learned to 'mind the gap'. While they may not see eye to eye, these generations have no problem with that fact, and it's not that they are unaware of the differences in outlook; according to the Pew Study, almost eight in 10 people believe there is a major difference in the point of view of younger people and older people today.

The reason also has nothing to do with the nature of the differences or how strongly they are felt. Indeed, most said that the biggest differences concerned issues of morality, religion, and the social values surrounding lifestyle, family, relationships and dating -- hardly minor issues. Older people also cited differences in a sense of entitlement. Those in the middle-age groups also often pointed to a difference in manners.

Instead, the reason appears to have everything to do with a flourishing of 'tolerance', especially among younger people. If there is one value young adults hold above all others, it is tolerance. Apparently, this even goes for their parents.

Gen Y to Marketers: You Are Missing Your Blue Ocean

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:29:00 +0000

In 2005, a great business book called "Blue Ocean Strategy" challenged marketers to stop thinking incrementally and looking for 'white spaces' in which to compete. The book, now published in 41 languages urged mraketers to identify latent market needs. The authors maintained that too many marketers were playing a losing game by competing in crowded, fiercely competitive 'red oceans' when they should be looking for wide open blue waters.

Gen Y may present a remarkable blue ocean for many industries. Not only are they big, they purport to want something different and new. And many are literally begging marketers to 'think differently' about them.

Just today, Advertising Age carried an article by, Megan Meagher, a 25-year-old account planner at Taxi, New York titled "Millennials Are Evolving; Are You Keeping Up?" Megan doesn't understand why marketers aren't doing more to win over her age group, especially now when the recession has her retinking her spending priorities and brand preferences:

"I'm a changed person, thanks to this recession. I eat more meals at home and actually pay attention to the price of groceries. Living on my own for the first time, I find myself buying and using more household products, from dishwasher soap to stain remover. As a result, I'm newly receptive to advertising in those product categories. But what surprises me is how few marketers -- outside of clothes, shoe, food-and-beverage and entertainment marketers -- actually pursue my age group. I wonder why that is, when much of what I've learned about brand building in my work in strategic planning suggests that marketers that reach out to Gen Y may find that the payoff lasts decades.
In a few years my generation will be the moms and dads of the world, the major household buyers. Within the next decade, we'll be generating $2.77 trillion dollars per year. It's essential for brands to grab us now and reach out in ways we find meaningful. "

The number of marketers with explicit Gen Y appeals is fairly modest, and most tend to be from entertainment, technology or traditional youth marketing categories. For marketers in food, wine, financial services, travel, appliances, household products and for retailers, this article and others like it should be a wake up call to start sailing in the blue ocean -- before it turns red.

Millennial Wave to Hit Imported Beer and Microbrews

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:21:00 +0000

I've never understood why more attention isn't paid to demographics! Thanks to the remarkable efforts of the Census Bureau, we KNOW what the population will look like in 5-, 10- and 15-years (which is, by the way, the reason there is little excuse for overcrowded schools).

Yesterday, I shared SeekingAlpha's conclusion that demographics trends may be unkind to Wal-Mart. Today, I am going to share SeekingAlpha's conclusions about the impact of these same shifts on beer. According to SeekingAlpha.com, Gen Y will " undoubtedly break the beer drinking records set by Boomers in the late 1970s and early 1980s." Here is an editted version of their analysis:

"As 78 million Baby Boomers started to exit the prime 21-34 beer drinking age bracket in the early 1980s, they were replaced by a much smaller potential-beer-drinker cohort, Generation X. This led to years of flat to declining volume in the beer industry. Now, as Generation X ages out of the prime beer drinking age, it is being replaced by the much larger Generation Y. This new generation of potential beer drinkers is currently mostly age 24 and under ... and it is the largest generation in U.S. history. In 2008 alone, more than 3.8 million members of Gen Y turned the legal drinking age of 21, 100,000 more than turned 21 in 2007. Their entrance into the prime beer drinking age bracket may already be making a difference. Industry data indicates that beer consumption has been on the increase since at least 2006."

Which types and brands of beer will benefit most from the shifts? According to their analysis, first and foremost it will be the big U.S. breweries (and their foreign owners), due to their sheer volume - 80% of sales. But the biggest gains will be seen by microbreweries, which are currently just 6% of sales, but already outpacing the rest of the industry. In 2007 the growth rate of microbreweries was estimated at 12 percent, (vs. 1.4 percent for the large domestic brands and imports). In 2008, microbreweries increased volume by another 5.8 percent, and increased sales more than 10 percent.

This analysis brought to mind an email I received from Marty Predd, a twenty-something Research Associate at Brand Amplitude who recently moved to Portland, OR from Indianapolis. He shared this a few months ago when we were working on a project for an imported beer client:

"As you may know, Portland is a mecca for craft beer...we have the most microbreweries of any city in the country, and I can think of about a dozen that are within walking distance of my loft. My girlfriend and I partake regularly and I'm sure we've become beer snobs to some degree. Bars we used to love in the Midwest seem less appealing now when we visit because of their limited selection of mostly huge national beers like Bud or Miller, or mega imported brands like Guinness, Smithwicks, Heineken, etc. With the exception of PBR, which has a nostalgic status in dive bars here, I can't think of the last time we enjoyed a mega beer brand that's not based here in Portland (i.e., Widmer)."

For data geeks like me who want to learn more, Ken Gronbach of SeekingAlpha has written a book,"The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm". I've ordered my copy already.

Can Wal-Mart Survive Generation Y?

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:33:00 +0000

I found a post today on a financial analysis blog, SeekingAlpha.com, It is so provocative and insightful, I am going to share it in (nearly) its entirety.

The basic question is whether Millennials will find Wal-Mart's value proposition appealing -- and if they don't, what are the implications for Wal-Mart's future? I don't know whether or not Millennials will or will not embrace Wal-Mart, but as Ken Gronbach, the author of this post points out, it's not a slam dunk. In fact, after I posted the link on Twitter, one of my Gen Y followers replied to the question, "I hope not!"

"(Wal-Mart's) retail concept is not about selection or breadth of assortment and it is certainly not about short runs of anything. This concept, therefore, would struggle with the fashion tastes of a new market and therein lies the problem. Generation Y, born 1985-2004 and currently between the ages of 5-24 and the biggest generation in U.S. history is the new market. And new markets generally have very fickle tastes. If they don’t want something, it doesn’t matter if it is free–they just don’t want it. Wal-Mart is very used to dictating what their customers should buy–large quantities of very cheap retailer’s choice items."

"Wal-Mart is a Baby Boomer-based company. Boomers were born 1945 to 1964, and Wal-Mart has decades of experience catering to the clearly defined tastes of this generation who are currently 45- to 64-years-old. Wal-Mart has figured out what the mature Boomer market buys. They have also refined this demand to the narrowest selection possible, almost telling Boomers what they will buy. Boomers in turn are okay with this because when you are between 45- and 64-years-old you have pretty defined tastes and preferences that influence your buying of stuff. If Wal-Mart does not have what a Boomer really wants, but does have something close at a very low price, the Boomer will buy it."

"So where is the rub? It’s simple. When consumers hit about 50 years old, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, their demand for stuff begins to subside. At 60 years old a person pretty much has all the stuff he or she needs and then some. At 60, one’s body has stopped changing so one can wear clothes longer, a lot longer. If you want to see what was fashionable thirty years ago go to a Miami retirement community. The point here is that the bloom is off the rose of the Boomers’ consumption of things. The Boomer population is a huge bell shaped curve with many Boomers turning sixty at its leading edge and with its very top cresting at 50-years-old in 2007. All of this means that Wal-Mart needs to find a new market fast if it wants to continue doing business."

"But where does Wal-Mart turn? The two U.S. generations over 60 do not have the critical mass to serve their infrastructure, and besides, for the most part they have stopped consuming. The U.S. population now 25- to 44-years-old is a non-homogeneous combination of the small native born Gen. X (nine million fewer than the Boomers) and the free standing market of Latino immigrants."

"So who’s left? It is Gen. Y, the largest and most powerful generation of consumers this nation has ever seen. Will they be the solution to Wal-Mart’s sales problems?"

"No. Gen. Y is an emerging market, a huge bell-shaped curve with its peak at age 19. They are inhaling entertainment products, fashion, food, electronics and transportation. Selection is everything to them. They do not care about low price unless it is exactly the item they want. Their tastes change daily. They don’t know what they will want six months from now. Wal-Mart’s limited selection, low price offering to the Boomer will not and cannot translate to Gen. Y."

"Oh yes, and one more thing. Gen. Y is on track to become the greenest and most humanitarian generation in U.S. history. If one wants to do business with them they had better be very green and very nice to their fellow mankind. And popular perception is that Wal-Mart has a dismal record on both accounts. Perception is reality. This fact could seriously injure Wal-Mart’s business all by itself."

Gen Y: Young and Poor in America?

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:51:00 +0000

At my stage of life, with kids in college and in the midst of a recession, I am thinking more of downsizing than upsizing, paying down rather than taking on. I have just about every non-consumable item I'll ever need, and I prefer to 'repair' over 'replace' unless absolutely necessary. The economic engine will have to look elsewhere for a jumpstart.

Several new reports suggest the jumpstart won't come from Millennials. Each analyzed publicly available government information to assess the economic condition of today's young adults relative to past generations at the same age. Warning! The reports make depressing reading. Here are some 'highlights':

Economic State of Young America. This report, by DEMOS, a Washington DC-based research group, takes a comprehensive look at jobs & income, health care, debt and savings, college access and attainment, housing and raising a family. It found 20-somethings in 2005 were worse off than those of 1975 in every area except education, and even the trends for educational access are alarming.

Typical earnings (in constant dollars) for young men have declined over the course of a generation, falling 19 percent between 1975 and 2005 and falling 34% for young men without a college degree. Typical earnings for young women increased a mere 4 percent over the same period. Much of the decline came recently, between 2001 and 2005, despite increases in educational attainment.

The income figures, while bad, don't tell the whole story. There has also been a decline in benefits and job quality. In 2006, 34% of young adults 18-34 years old did not have health insurance coverage. Pension coverage has fallen from 36 percent in 1979 to 18.8 percent in 2004.

Increasing debt levels, both credit card and student loan debt, are handicapping young adults' ability to build wealth. The proportion of young adults with college and the amount of debt has skyrocketed. Although amounts vary by state, in 2006, 58% of students graduated debt that averaged $19,646 nationally. Households age 18 to 34 carrying education-related debt had median financial assets that were 28 percent lower than those households without such debt.

45% of young adults between the ages of 25 and 34 say they use credit cards for day to day living expenses, most likely a result of lower income, student loan debt and the high cost of housing. In 2004, 25-to 34-year olds averaged $4,358 in credit card debt—47 percent higher than it was for Baby Boomers who were in that age group in 1989. Compared to a generation ago, a higher percentage of young people are spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent (designated threshold of affordability). In 2005, 43 percent of 25-to 34-year olds spent more than one-third of their pre-tax income on rent, up from 18 percent in 1970.

"A Generation Apart: Expenditure Patterns of Young Single Adults: Two Recent Generations Compared.". The main source of data used in this article is the Federal government's Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE). The data has been collected periodically for decades, which makes it perfect for generational research. The complexity of the data makes conclusions about income difficult. But it does show clear evidence of changing demographics and spending patterns. There were fewer young adults in the population in 2004–05 than there were in 1984–85, and they were marrying later in life possibly due to financial stress. The report makes much of the quadrupling of tuition prices at a time when overall CPI merely doubled, making education more expensive as a proportion of earnings, or future earnings.

Over the period examined, the proportion of expenditures going to shelter and utilities increased (consistent with the report cited earlier) and the shares for food at home and for food away from home both decreased. The expenditure category showing the biggest decrease by far was travel. The percentage reporting any travel expenditures decreased sharply, from more than half (53 percent) to about one-third (35 percent). Travel as a proportion of total outlays decreased significantly from 5% to 3%.

There is much more here, and I urge anyone marketing to Millennials, particularly discretionary purchases, to take some time to review these reports. It gave me perspective on why the young people I talk to all think of themselves as 'poor'. The reality is maybe they are?

Three Reasons Gen Y Doesn't Get Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:38:00 +0000

I love Twitter, but, my 18-year old daughter still insists she doesn't "get it". She explained it to me yesterday this way: for her, Facebook functions as a general organizing tool, much as Outlook does for me. Facebook is her calendar, contact book, and primary messaging platform. Any communication gaps are filled by GoogleTalk, text messaging, and if all else fails, dialing. Twitter adds nothing meaningful to this mix -- especially since her friends don't use it. Twitter is a hard sell, and I have finally given up.

The data has consistently shown 18-24 year olds lagging in Twitter adoption. Earlier this year we did focus groups among Millennials on Social Media usage ("The Millennial View of Social Media: Why Should I Be Your Friend?". We were especially interested in talking to Twitter users - but they were hard to find. I suspect if we repeated the study today, they would be equally hard to find.

A CNN article by an intern, Sharon Vaknin, titled "Generation Y: We're Just Not That Into Twitter" provides another view. Vaknin agrees with my daughter that Twitter has nothing to add over Facebook, but suggests a second theory for the lack of interest. Picking up on the Theory of Millennial Narcissism, Vaknin says Twitter offers little opportunity for 'self-branding':

Twitter's microblogging platform is what many Gen Y's may describe as "like Facebook, but just the status update." What is the point of that? We like to consolidate, so Nemeth explains that he doesn't "want to join another community, just tell people what (he's) doing." We have everything we need on Facebook. Based on Twenge's theory, a good explanation of my generation's lag in joining the Twitter mania is that there isn't an obvious way to achieve a self-brand on Twitter.Participating on Twitter requires a fan base that knows why you are unique, special, and deserve attention. Fan base aside, the Web site's interface paves a short path for cyberstalking--there is nothing to find past a user's status.

For example, Sally went to a great party last weekend, but where are the photos? Who went with her? These features, which Gen Y's value so much, are missing. As much as I like to know what my friends are doing, updates on Twitter happen so fast there really isn't time to react. More importantly, my friends don't have time to react to my activities.

Largely as a result of the digital communication tools on which we were raised, a big part of my generation wants to know what the cyberworld thinks of us, and we want its inhabitants to pay attention to us. How can they do this if they're following 300 other people? For the Millennials to make the move, Twitter will have to find a way to integrate the self-branding features MySpace gave birth to and Facebook nurtured. Even if they're packaged in 140 characters or less.

I have a third theory for Millennial disinterest. Millennials aren't accustomed to making online friends. For years, parents warned kids and teens against talking to strangers online. The origins of Facebook were that unlike MySpace, you could only have one identity on Facebook and it required a .edu email address. That meant it was 'safer'. The very idea that I am sharing my email address and phone number with people I only know from their 'tweets' is a little creepy to those who were warned from an early age of online predators. How do you know they are who they say they are? Suddenly, it's okay to make friends with people you don't know?

I have no answer for this, and I am a little surprised at the personal risks I have taken. But in my defense, unlike email and online chat rooms, Twitter seems spam-free and offers an unusually civil level of discourse. After all you have control over who you follow and block others from following you (although I have had no real need to do this yet).

Whatever the reason, it is clear that until Twitter offers a compelling value proposition, it is not going to attract younger users. Long live Facebook!

Millennials: Moving Home is an Option

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:20:00 +0000

The conversation about Millennials lately has centered on work expectations, the high cost of turnover and "How to Keep Gen Y Workers on The Job". Gen Y's inclination to leave a job that doesn't meet expectations seems to be the impetus of much of the advice about managing Millennials at work (as opposed to, say, a desire to maximize their contribution, or create a genuinely Gen-Y friendly environment or handbook).

That Millennials have different expectations is widely assumed, although not really proven. A recent academic exploration of Gen Y attitudes by academics at the London School of Business ("Gen Y: The Reflexive Generation") concludes Millennials may not be so much different in what they want than older workers, but they are more likely to give voice to their expectations and their frustrations. Why? Because they were raised to expect more from their career than just money or advancement. They are looking for meaning and self-improvement and to speak out when their needs are not being met.

"Many of the elements we uncovered, such as being in charge of one’s own work, career and life, are probably applicable to many people. This generation might be more vocal in expressing their needs, but we should not forget that the period of time in which they grew up shaped this mindset.

One of the overriding impressions of the men and women of this generation is their frustration with performance management practices which are too slow, too bureaucratic and too hierarchical.

They place a great deal of emphasis on intellectual capital (the knowledge and insights they have), social capital (the depth, richness and extent of their networks) and emotional capital (the means by which they understand themselves and build self knowledge). For this generation the emphasis is on ‘work to learn’ rather than ‘work to live’.

I agree that the differences in expectations are shaped by their upbringing. But I would go further. Millennials also have the financial freedom to demand more of their jobs as a result of enjoying a parental safety net.

According to some reports, as many as 65% of recent college graduates are returning home. Unlike earlier generations, Millennials feel welcome to return home and moving home carries no stigma. For their part, parents are eager to (continue) to help their kids get a good start in life. According to a study by Vibrant.com, 37% of Boomer women have an adult child living with them and 44% are helping a child or grandchild financially.

Saving thousands of dollars a year in rent provides many with the option to take a unpaid internship, a volunteer position, or wait for a better job. Even those who have good jobs are deciding living at home is a reasonable option. A successful Chicago hairdresser I know recently moved back in with her parents in order to be able to afford health care. And another young employed worker plans to stay with his parents until he saves $30,000 to start his own business.

These are considered rational sacrifices, if they are sacrifices at all. After all, Millennials famously like their parents.

Fast forward 20 years and it's possible the tables could reverse! Boomer parents, who selflessly paid for advanced degrees and provided shelter in time of need, and who experienced significant savings depletion in 2008, may call on their adult children to return the favor. My guess is that Millennials will have no problem taking in Mom or Dad.

Observing Teen Media Use in its Natural Habitat

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:10:00 +0000

I have two Millennial-age kids, one in high school and another is a college student. This summer they exhibit the sleep habits of nocturnal wild animals. If they were dropped into Hong Kong tomorrow, they would experience no jet lag.

Technology knows no time zone and is hard to quit once you start. Combine entertainment with social connection and you have a sticky brew. My son dramatically removed the TV from his room during final exam week, but has yet to restore it. I now see why: he doesn't need it! His laptop functions as super-functional TV/DVD/ player with communication built in.

New research from OTX (and conversations with other parents) assures me my kids are fairly typical. Andy Pipes, in blog post titled "Technology, Kids and Telly", summarized the OTX findings on 12-24 year-olds like this:

* They personally own 8 devices (including MP3 player, PC, TV, DVD player, mobile phone, stereo, games console, and digital camera)

* They frequently conduct over 5 activities whilst watching TV

* 25% of them agree that “I’d rather stay at home than go on a holiday with no internet or phone access”

* A quarter of young people interviewed text or IM (instant message) friends they are physically with at the time

* They have on average 123 friends on their social network spaces

* And the first thing the majority of them do when they get home is turn on their PC

Although the research is from London, all of these findings ring true with my experience, including the points about vacation and texting friends sitting next to you. According to the OTX report, youth’s obsession with technology is less about the technology and more connection and communication.

"Young people’s immersion in these devices and the time spent on them is not due to an obsession with the technology per se, but largely due to the gadgets’ ability to facilitate communication and to enhance young people’s enjoyment of traditional pursuits. For most, the focus of their passion is not so much the device itself, but more about how it can help them connect, relax or have fun. The technology itself is “invisible” to the young consumer.

How is all this 'communication' affecting offline relationships with friends and family? According to the Annenberg research (reported this week by AP) Internet time is more likely to cut into family time than time with friends."

In 2000, when the center began its annual surveys on Americans and the Internet, only 11 percent of respondents said that family members under 18 were spending too much time online. By 2008, that grew to 28 percent....In the first half of the decade, people reported spending an average of 26 hours per month with their families. By 2008, however, that shared time had dropped by more than 30 percent, to about 18 hours."

The OTX research aligns with this finding. Here is Andy Pipes again:

>"These activities seem to be making up for not spending as much physical time with their friends as they’d like - which seems to be most of the time. On the weekends, when typical young adults have the most free time, they are still spending more time hanging out with their mates and watching television than any other activity - the difference is that this generation tends to be engaging with their connected devices a lot more whilst doing those cherished activities."

I suppose i can take some comfort in that. Meanwhile, I don't miss hearing the refrain of summers past: "Mom, I'm bored. There's nothing to do!"

Class of 2009: An Unscientific Profile

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:27:00 +0000

Journalism met ethnographic market research this week in an article in New York magazine, "Class of 2009". In four short, highly graphic pages, the article reports the findings of a survey of 200 college students and young adults.

The sample, while unabashedly unscientific, represents a range of New York schools, including NYU, Brooklyn College, the NYPD Police Academy, Wharton, Yale, and even Friends Seminary. The survey questions show a lot of imagination ('what does 'hooking up' mean to you?', 'what do your parents not understand about you?'). The result is a provocative portrait of Gen Y circa 2009.

The main finding according to the author, Emily Nussbaum, confirms that Gen Y exhibits a surprising degree of optimism. Most of those surveyed think the recession will not last more than two years, and 91% expect to be better off in five years -- even though only 58% have a job lined up post graduation.

"Nonetheless, the results of this imperfect survey were revealing. We were startled by the fact that, circumstances be damned, we found very little bitterness at all—caution, yes; worry too—but judging from the responses to our questions, this is a reflexively optimistic cadre of graduates, feeling, if anything, existentially freed up by this era of radical change. They’re nervous about the job market but figure it’ll sort itself out. They describe their parents with shocking regularity as their “best friends.” They’ve lived online for so long it’s a default setting, one they believe lends them a more global-minded perspective than that of their elders. Their tone overall was more bemused than outraged: “I’m a mixture of excited and nervous for the future,” says Forrest Petterson, a graduating senior at Friends Seminary. “But there’s no point in getting upset, because it’s not the end of the world.”"

I found the questions about Millennials attitudes toward their parents especially creative and revealing. We know that Millennials admire their moms, move back to a welcoming home when necessary and overall enjoy their parent's company. But this is the first data on how much they see themselves as like their parents. 86% say they share their parent's political views and 43% say they are 'as religious' or 'more' religious than their parents. Other highlights:

49% say they are less frugal than their parents

52% 'often' discuss money with their parents

48% 'often' discuss politics with their parents

6% 'often' discuss sex with their parents (some things apparently don't change!)

Is Your Brand Millennial-Ready?

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:25:00 +0000

I am often challenged to justify my opinion that Millennials need to be addressed as a unique target.

My first response is to point out just how many of them there are. As a result of an 'echo boom' in births that began in the late 70's, by 2008 there were over 58 million young adults 21+. (see chart). Fast forward five years and there will be 3.5 million more, a 6% increase. That's 61.5 million consumers in their prime earning and spending years. At the same time, the number of people 35-54 is projected to decline by 2 million.

Many industries -- technology, education, food, wine, beer and spirits -- have felt the impact of Millennials for several years. Looking ahead, we anticipate financial services, travel, and home goods/fashions to be next. Marketers in these categories often doubt whether Millennials are really all that different, or will require significant adjustments in their value proposition or marketing approach. Perhaps they are right. But what is the basis for thinking that the status quo will remain either status or quo? Better to expect a "Black Swan" than to be surprised.

As you consider whether your brand is "Gen Y-Ready", here are five questions to consider:

1. Impact: How important are 21-34 year olds to my category now? Five years from now?

2. Wants & Needs: What is different about this generation's values or upbringing that could impact their decisions about my category? About brands?

3. Influencers: Who are the individuals or communities that influence millennial opinions in my category? Do we have ways to monitor their opinions?

4. Internal Audience: What do Millennials in our organization say about our value proposition? About the best way to reach people like them?

5. Benchmarks: Which brands in other categories are succeeding with Millennials? What can we learn from them?

If you find it difficult to answer these questions, I strongly urge you to get prepared. The Millennials Are Coming!

T-Mobile Is Calling Millennials

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:23:00 +0000

Mobile phone sales plummeted in the first quarter of 2009, and a new Pew Research report released last week, says one-third of 18-29 year olds have changed cell phone plans as a result of the recession, a higher rate of change that was seen for any other age group.

These changes are likely to have the greatest impact on T-Mobile. Not only is T-Mobile the #4 U.S. provider behind AT&T, Sprint/Nextel and Verizon in both size and spending, it is also the only provider that skews significantly younger; 33% of 18-24year olds claim to have used T-Mobile compared to just 22% of the total population (Mintel, August 2008). With so many accounts in play, I thought it would be worth looking at what T-Mobile is doing to reach Millennials.

The most visible effort is the video of the "T-Mobile dance" stunt created in Liverpool's train station in January (see above). A second stunt April 30 featured13,000 karaoke singers in Trafalgar Square last month. The spots have a great tagline - "Life is for Sharing" - and were a viral web sensation. The Life is for Sharing YouTube channel continues to bring in traffic and videos. Adrienne Waldo's provides a great Millennial view on this campaign in her blog, Ask A Millennial.

This is what happens when a company puts a little thought, effort, money and heart into their marketing. They are getting hundreds of thousands of views a week and sitting solidly at the top of AdAge's Viral Video Chart. People are watching these videos over and over and sharing the gospel - blogging, tweeting, posting, forwarding and linking these videos into every nook and cranny of the web. What did T-Mobile do differently from the countless other brands trying to infiltrate the masses virally? They abandoned the stereotypes of "savvy internet users," realized that the people who use the internet are humans, and created their ads accordingly. I also have to give them mad props for their excellent song choices. Bang up job, T-Mobile, cheers and all that. Now, if only your service was as good as your marketing...

To see a great commercial inspired by the T-Mobile effort, watch this spot filmed in Antwerp, Brussels that features Julie Andrews singing Do Re Mi (don't ask, just watch it.)

I took a look at some of their marketing and was very impressed. Beyond a great branding effort, T-Mobile is addressing the current cost consciousness by directing customers and prospects to a third party site, BillShrink.com for a Mobile Makeover. By entering basic information on usage and rates, you can see if there's a way to do better on your cell phone bill. This seems risky unless you actually do offer better rates. I found the T-Mobile web site very intuitive and easy to use, in contrast to others I have visited. Finally, a quick check of JD Power shows customer service at T-Mobile is a strength: JD Power put T-Mobile first in customer satisfaction in its Feb 2009 report, primarily due to shorter wait times.

Now let's just hope that the rumors that T-Mobiles servers were hacked over the weekend are not true! It would be a shame given their overall great marketing effort.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Phillips) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:30:00 +0000

A review, by Ariella Phillips, Student, University of Notre Dame, Class of 2012

"With my freeze ray, I will stop the world.....

That’s the plan/ Rule the world/ You and me/ Any day

Love your hair.”

Dr. Horrible’s Sing A Long Blog is a production that is utterly Millennial. Not quite definable, it’s a movie/blog/musical/webcast/thing. It was never shown on TV, never advertised, a case of completely out-of-the-box thinking and approach. Despite the low budget (it was made during the writers’ strike), the quality of the music and acting is top notch. And every college student has seen it.

If you haven’t seen it, here’s the link. It’s a little long (40 minutes) but if you have 10 minutes it’s worth watching through the first song, “My Freeze Ray.” In case you don’t have time, here’s why I think Dr. Horrible appeals to Millennials.

The message.

We want to change the world. We’re a little fuzzy on exactly how, but as Dr. Horrible says in the first few minutes, “the status quo is not… quo!” We’re a little innocent on this point, almost naïve. Still, we know there’s something wrong with our world, and we are going to fix it, either through Penny’s volunteering with the homeless and vegetarianism, or Dr. Horrible’s freeze ray.

The Medium.

Dr. Horrible is on OUR media, the Internet, which Millennials take special pride in. Yeah, yeah, we know our moms are on facebook now, but gosh darn it, we’re the ones who know it best. Dr. Horrible starts off talking to a computer cam, blogging his email responses on his exploits in world domination and love. If you look closely, you’ll see the remote for his heist is an iPhone. Technology is something all millennials use, know, and exploit. Even if we don’t have a transmatter ray, it’s our superpower.

The Nemesis.

Captain Hammer, the Corporate Tool, is Dr. Horrible’s "true nemesis". Captain Hammer is the ultimate boomer. Or gen X-er. Or just a jerk. But he represents everything our generation isn’t. If Millenials are trying to make a change, there is the status quo, thwarting us at every turn (Hammer: “It’s curtains for you, Dr. Horrible; lacy, gently wafting curtains”). Really, we’re sick of our Captain Hammers. Please forward the memo to all the boomers, gen X-ers, and the rest who say we can’t make a difference.

The Attitude.

Millennials are constantly struggling to prove to the rest of the world that we can make a difference, that we’re not the pampered, “everyone gets a trophy” generation, but one that will make an impact. We empathize with Dr. Horrible as he strives to show Penny he’s “not a joke, not a dork, not a failure.” Millennials who survived the gauntlet of college applications understand his anxiety to gain admission to the Evil League of Evil. Those who survived the gauntlet of the workplace understand Penny’s tale of all the times she was turned down and fired from jobs. Dr. Horrible tells Penny over frozen yogurt of wanting to do great things, and be an achiever, but it seems he just won’t be given the chance to prove it. It’s a worry of all Millenials. We just want to be given a chance to show what we can do – and we’re terrified it’ll never happen.