Millennial Businesses: Doing Well by Doing Good

Harvard Publishing calls Better World Books the 'real deal' in terms of a triple bottom line - people, planet and profits. They call themselves 'The Online Bookstore with a Soul'. Founded five years ago by three University of Notre Dame graduates (had to mention that right away, so proud), Better World Books is Amazon with a soul. They collect unwanted books from 1800 campuses and 1400 libraries, rescuing them from landfills. They sell what they can, returning a portion of the proceeds to the donating library and a portion to literacy programs. The unsold books go to literacy programs around the world. Books are shipped USPS for $3.97 using Carbonfund.com offsets.

This deceptively simply idea has grown to a $21 million operation with 200 full-time full-benefit employees that has done a tremendous amount of good. From the spring of 2003 through June 2008, Better World Books has collected more than 16 million books, raising more than $5.2 million for over 80 literacy and education non-profit organizations, sending over a million books to partner programs & saving over 8,000 tons of books from landfills. They have also set aside 5% of their stock option pool for their core literacy partners and purchased 2,400 tons of carbon offsets - and growing the company to $21 million in revenue. Now that's a triple play.

Success does not seem to have made the three founders any less idealistic. I quote from their web site:

"We believe that literacy gives people water to drink, imparts knowledge to eliminate disease, and develops self-esteem that enables people to make their mark on the world. Our story has taken us to places we had never seen. Our dream is to continue to work for those whom we have never met." The BWB Cofounders (from left to right): Xavier Helgesen, Jeff Kurtzman & Chris "Kreece" Fuchs

Technology Frustration: It's Not Generational

>"The real-world interaction of the internet and the 'long tail' of the Semantic Web will enable everyone to find the perfect job for them, the right opportunity, so that people in general are happier, healthier, and more productive." - Anonymous respondent

>"The result may be longer, less-efficient working hours and more stressful home life." - Victoria Nash, director of graduate studies and policy and research officer, the Oxford Internet Institute

Which of these two views I agree with depends on whether my Comcast connection happens to be working that day. One of my 15-year old son's friends shared that he wants to have a job like mine someday. From his vantage point, I suppose it looks pretty cushy -- I work for myself, teach 2 days a week (and prepare 2 more), and pretty much work at my own pace. Problem is most of the time 'my own pace' is 24/7. That's okay --- most of the time. The exception is when I encounter a technology glitch that drains productivity and leaves me in a state of frustration. My friends and family are tired of hearing me whine about the many ways AT&T, Comcast, Sony, HP, Apple, Linksys, Netgear and more conspire against me.

So I was heartened to learn that my issues are not generational. According to the Pew Research Center, Millennials have just as much trouble with their technology as those of us who learned computer-ese as a second language. 18-29 year olds experience failures of their Internet, cell phones and computers at a rate roughly comparable to their elders. As I sit here contemplating shifting my digital life over to a new, as yet unfamiliar laptop, I am reflecting on our digital dependency. Our lives and livelihoods are increasingly dependent on touch screens, touch pads and touchy software. I can only hope that there will be a parallel growth in services that make them all play nicely together.

Fussy Drinkers? Wine Brands Matter to Millennials

Wine drinking is exploding in the U.S., driven by lower prices and increased interest on the part of Millenials (see earlier blogpost). Total inflation adjusted sales of wine in the U.S. have increased 20% over the past five years and are expected to growth another 16% in the next five years (Mintel, 2008). Wine outpaced every other non-water beverage category 2005-2007, including beer, although distilled spirits comes close in rate of growth.

So how do Millennials choose a wine? Surprise! Brand names in wine mean more to Millennials than to older wine drinkers. While the 'animal names' may not work with older wine drinkers, popular and memorable names like Yellow Tail can mean a lot to a Millennial. According to Mintel, 29% of 21-24 year olds and 31% of 25-34 year olds say "I prefer wines with casual and fun names such as Red Bicyclette, Three Blind Moose, compared to old-school names such as Bordeaux or Beaujolais." This compares to just 18% for all adults. They are also more brand loyal. Millennials are much more likely than other adults to agree with the statement 'I stick to (wine) brands I know'. The % of 21-24 year olds who say they decide based on brand (55%) is higher than the number who say they decide by price (48%). (See table above).

Millennials' emphasis on brands helps explain the success of a new mobile phone app, Drync-wine. Launched originally in November, last week Drync added an iPhone application with the explicit goal of reaching "70 million tech-savvy Millennials, the fastest growing segment of the wine industry." Here's how they explain how it works:

Drync, LLC today announced the release of Drync-Wine, simplifying the way people research, remember, share, and purchase wine using their mobile device. Built initially for the iPhone, Drync-Wine is the only mobile wine application that scours multiple databases of nearly a million wine listings in real time to identify the exact wine a user is drinking. Perfect for the wine novice and connoisseur alike, Drync-Wine delivers expert reviews, ratings, descriptions, and pricing. Users may snap a photo of the label, save the wine to their own virtual wine cellar, add their own tasting notes, and even purchase the wine all from their mobile phone.

A million wine listings? With that many brands to choose from, this category seems perfect for social networking. Community features allow users to share wine information among friends. Future upgrades "enhanced community features such as twitter integration, enhanced sort and filtering of cellar data and wine recommendations." Sounds smart to me. Click here to learn more from Drync's blog.

Millennials: Email? You Must Be Kidding!

I receive and send hundreds of emails a day and use four different email accounts. In generational terms, I am a digital Neanderthal. The average high school or college student uses 2.4 emails a day according to eROI. Students, on average, read marketing emails on a "rarely to never" basis, with 61% falling into this category, says the report. Only 16% are reading marketing emails on a frequent basis, while 66% of students rarely or never take action on marketing emails.

I know that better use of RSS feeds, Facebook, NetVibes and other Web 2.0 tools would simplify my email life and do wonders for my productivity. But I don't make the effort to do it. However, I completely change my habits when communicating with Millennials. To reach my daughter and son quickly, text is the only way to go. My teaching assistants? Facebook messages. I once sent my TA's Amazon gift certificates to their email address. It took a suggestion to their Facebook account to look for it before they even noticed.

So what are those two emails a day about? According to eROI, it's probably got something to do with their parents. 81% got an email address for communicating with family. Students are now using email primarily to sign up for social networking sites (25%) and receive email alerts (36%) to keep up to date on what's happening on their social networks. What's clear is that email for marketing to this generation is dying, dead and buried. And who can blame them, with Cisco's latest Annual Security Report showing that 90% of email is spam.

Pepsi: The Choice of the Millennial Generation?

Okay, I'm not so old that I actually remember Joanie Sommers singing "Come Alive! Your (sic) In the Pepsi Gen-er-ation!" (See video if you were born after 1950). But I do remember some of the great generational Pepsi campaigns that followed. Seriously, is there any brand more closely tied to generational marketing than Pepsi? So it is not a surprise that Pepsi would make a run at being the choice of this new generation. It's starting with the release of research dubbed the "Pepsi Optimism Project" or POP. The research made a big splash by announcing the self-fulfilling finding that Gen Y is more optimistic than other generations.

When asked to select words to describe how they feel, eight in 10 (81%) selected “hopeful” and two-thirds (65%) chose “optimistic.”But Millennials (57%) are also much more likely than Gen Xers (49%), Baby Boomers (38%), and Post-War Americans (27%) to report feeling “excited” about the future.

Astonishing. Who knew?! Roll out the PR machine.

But wait there's more insight ahead:

When Millennials are asked how to describe their views of the word “change,” nearly all of them (95%) make positive associations. They most often associate “change” with the concepts of “new” (79%), “progress” (78%), “hope” (77%) and “excitement” (72%). They are less apt to make negative associations with the word change. “Uncertainty” (59%), “concern” (52%), “stress” (40%) and “loss” (26%) ranked at the bottom of the list of words that come to mind. Two-thirds of Millennials (67%) say that the election of Barack Obama as president is making them feel optimistic about the future of the country.

Someone better tell the Obama folks. Be sure to tell them that Millennials are also optimistic about their health, their career, their finances, even their romantic prospects.

With these kind of insights, I can't wait to see the ads. According to Pepsi, we can expect a "significant, multiyear reinvestment in carbonated soft drinks" and the debut of a new advertising campaign "featuring a consistent theme of optimism that mirrors the current social climate". Let's hope that their research leads them someplace more exciting than a Pepsi and a smile (oops, that was the other brand). As I have written before, this generation has yet to embrace an 'iconic' brand, and no doubt Pepsi wants to be it. But it will take a special effort to break through to this generation, and I am betting that a retread of Obama's campaign is not going to do it.

Millennial Marketing: The beginning of backlash?

A Google search on the term 'Millennial' today returned 1,900,000 hits (this blog was number 31!). With all the hype, I suppose it's understandable that some marketers will view all the fuss as... well, hype! A poll of readers of the enewsletter, SmartBrief, shows half of all marketers agree it's all hype. That is surprising to me. While there is a bandwagon element to the recent outpouring of news on Millennials, I think there is fire under the bandwagon, hence all the smoke (how's that for metaphoria?). Here, again, are a few reason why Millennials matter to marketers:

1. Size. There are as many Millennials as Boomers and remember what a difference they made.

2. Taste. While they do like our music, they have different preferences in just about everything else. They are the trendsetters, especially in matters of entertainment and technology.

3. Politics. Millennial Makeover authors, Haig and Weingrad, got it right. Young voters were the difference and will continue to be for decades.

4. Values. Millennials are motivated differently. They want to make a difference in everything from the workplace to the environment. They just might do it.

My recommendation? Accept the hype and focus on the substance.

iPhone: Expensive Phone or Inexpensive Laptop?

iPhones at Wal-Mart? If the rumors are true, Wal-Mart is about to become just the fourth place you can get an iPhone. While that would have been unthinkable a year ago, today it doesn't look like such a crazy idea.... According to a new Comscore report, iPhones are fast movers among those making $25,000-$75,000. In the third quarter, iPhones were up 21% overall, but they increased twice as fast among moderate income people, +47%. While a $100 phone and $70 a month calling plan (well, if you are careful anyway), may seem extravagant, it looks like a real bargain as an all-in-one substitute for a laptop and Internet account, and that's before you factor in the cool factor.

"Mark Donovan, senior analyst, comScore, said "These data indicate that lower-income mobile subscribers are increasingly turning to their mobile devices to access the Internet, e-mail and their music collections... the iPhone is appealing to a new demographic... satisfying demand for a single device for communication and entertainment... "

Since getting my iPhone in April, I have found myself leaving home without my laptop more and more. It's just not necessary if all I am going to be doing is email, directions and checking breaking news. For people who are just plugging into the mobile digital life, the iPhone is the perfect starter kit. For Millennials, it may prove irresistible.

Minimalist Millennials May Matter Most

As a college professor, my immediate image of a 'Millennial' is a college student or recent college graduate-- a digital denizen with an optimistic outlook. But an October 2008 report by Mintel says college students are just 15% of the 71 million young adults 18-34 in the U.S. 'Affluent Young Adults are just 19%. So who makes up the lion's share? By far the largest segment is what they call 'Minimalists' or 'Unpowered Young Adults'.

Despite their similar age and cultural influences, Minimalists are quite different from their college student and affluent young adult counterparts. They are more likely to live with a parent (25%) and/or relative (14%). 29% are married. Nearly three in 10 (29%) live with a child. They have less spending power and index low on purchase of most discretionary items, high on essentials. They are more likely to be found at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club than Whole Foods and Costco. They are much less likely to purchase online.

Minimalists are less likely to shop across channels because they tend to be more budget-conscious and often prefer to frequent stores where they are sure they can find “bargains” and discounts. Note, as well, that demand for premium foods and beverages and those designed specifically to promote health and wellness is quite low within this segment.

Thank you Mintel for reminding us that stereotypes are dangerous. What Minimalists lack in spending power, they more than make up for in numbers. 66% of any population is too many to be ignored.

Millennial Parents: What Hath We Wrought?

This is funny because there is some truth to it. I have spent many nights editing and encouraging my own teens, but have no memory of any similar support from my own parents. There is objective evidence to support my experience: according to research by Jean Twenge, author of Generation We, as reported in the 11.20.08 Telegraph, today's students do 20% less school homework than their parents said they did in 1975. The interesting part is that they think they work harder!

Prof Twenge and her team compared the 1975 and 2006 results from an annual US survey called Monitoring the Future which polls high school students about their views on life. They found that a third more 17 to 20-year-olds today believe they work harder than their parents did and will be better than them when it comes to being parents, spouses and work colleagues - earning them the nickname the Smug Generation.

The Millennials I know believe the world is more competitive for them than it was for their parents. They also believe that they will be more successful, despite the greater challenges. Perhaps they deserve the 'Smug Generation' label. Then again, perhaps the parents are more to blame than the students?

Millennial Research: Just the Facts

When I first started blogging about Millennial Marketing, there were few research summaries. Now there are almost too many. This new presentation by Resource Interactive is among the best I've seen. It incorporates some fresh in-depth primary research among 72 Millennials with a range of secondary sources - Jupiter, Census, Harris and Forrester. The quotes help break up the statistics and bring the data to life. It's a little long, but the graphics are great and there are some good basic reminders about how to reach Gen Y near the end.

Digital Millennials: R U Ready

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: digital millennials resource interactive)

Millennials: What is Their Iconic Brand?

I am pondering the question, what will be the Millennials 'iconic' brand? Doug Holt writes in his thought-provoking 2004 book, How Brands Become Icons, that 'to become an icon, a brand must come to represent an important cultural idea or 'identity myth'....The crux of iconitis that the person or the thing is widely regarded as the most compelling symbol of a set of ideas or values that a society deems important.' Holt argues that this symbol is usually NOT a mainstream idea -- rather it grows from a contradiction or 'anxiety' that society faces at a particular point in time. The brand helps those caught up in the contradiction to resolve their identity issue. Snapple, Corona, Mountain Dew and Coke are all more than beverages - they are identity systems that at least at some point in their history, embraced a contradiction. They appealed to a specific value or group and their power lay in an imaginary, populist world that was counter to the prevailing notion of what society deemed good or appropriate.

What will be the counter-culture brand of Millennials? Gen Y offers many contradictions, but the one that intrigues me the most is the gamer culture. It just seems so, well, contradictory to the other values pinned on Millennials. Gamers are not trying to 'make a difference'. They are more loners than team oriented. They are different. And that may make them what slackers were to Gen X'ers, what 'red necks' were to yuppies, what James Dean was to 50's teens. If I were writing a cultural brand brief, I think I'd take a hard look at gamers. The gamer subculture meets many of Holt's criteria for contradiction and anxiety. It is a populist sport - no one gained any status by being a gamer, except among other gamers. Gamers go their own way. They eschew the mainstream brands. Gamer parties are not everyone's idea of fun. You bring your laptop to someone's house and play against them and their friends. In the same room.

I don't pretend to know much about this group, but I know it is big, and not just limited to 12-17 year old boys. In a focus group last month, an engaging 20-something college grad with an advanced degree sheepishly admitted he spends a lot of his spare (and not so spare) time playing Worlds of Warcraft. According to Mintel, he is not alone; 24% of males 18-24 and 13% of 25-34 year old males say playing games is 'a favorite leisure activity'. The first brand that embraces this cultural contradiction could find a ready audience and become the next 'brand icon'.

Millennial Target: Starbucks Project Red

Starbucks appears to have hit it right with Millennials with its Dec 1 RED Event for World Aids Day. So far, nearly 580,198, people have RSVP'ed on Facebook. Whether all of them actually come and sip a 'handcrafted beverage' (and generate a 5 cent donation to Project Red), is irrelevant. Starbucks is already a winner just by getting that many people to raise their hand in support of the effort. At minimum, those handraisers will think twice before buying a latte someplace else on Monday. The event is only the beginning. For the next few months, all holiday drinks will also result in a 5 cent donation. There's a Red Community site where customers can use an 'impact calculator' to see how their donations are impacting the world crisis.

If Monday's event results in lines at Starbucks stores, it will owe its success to doing its its homework on Millennials. The Project Red promotion hits a number of Millennial hot buttons:

1. A worthy cause.

2. Easy to do - doesn't require any extra effort.

3. Social - hey, let's all go!

4. Multi-media - everything from TV to celebrities in Times Square.

5. Lots of ways to participate online and in person -- even a photo op in the store.

While RED is a promotion, it feels bigger, more like a party. That's what makes its appearance on Facebook more permissible than most commercial attempts on Facebook, and consequently something Millennials click on rather than ignore. A lot has been written lately about Facebook's struggles to become a viable advertising medium. Perhaps Starbucks has just given us all a clue as to how to leverage its potential.

What Millennials Will Be Talking About at Thanksgiving

Millennials across the country will be returning home for Thanksgiving. What will they be talking about other than the pie? I strongly suspect the economic crisis will be at the top of the list. For those in college, there will be some anxious discussion of whether it will be possible to stay there. For those out of college, jobs will be top of mind. We just completed a series of focus groups among Notre Dame students and recent alumni about their lives post-graduation. While they are overall optimistic about their future, they have immediate worries about getting a job, keeping a job, or changing jobs, depending on where they are in their career. They yearn to be independent, and want the freedom to make good choices based on what they really want to do, not ones dictated by a poor economy. Many are struggling to pay back loans.

Jessica: "My loan payment is about a quarter of my income each month, it's constantly hanging over my head."

Gwen: "I worry that I'll never go back to school and I want to."

Laura P. "More generally, my biggest worry the economy and job stuff. I feel okay about our mortgage and student loans as long as our jobs remain stable."

Chad: "If I didn't do what I do, i wouldn't be able to pay my debt. And I hate that fact."

Traditional Thanksgiving conversations about 'What would you like for Christmas?' will give way to 'How can we moderate our Christmas spending and still make it feel like Christmas?' Millennials tell us they are finding small ways to save -- eating out less often, forgoing a cell phone upgrade, drinking fewer lattes, taking fewer trips. One Millennial I know has given up his car in favor of Zipcars. But they are still having trouble making ends meet. A study from the American Savings Education Council (ASEC) and AARP shows that 91% of young adults report having financial goals for themselves, only 53% report sticking to a monthly budget. 61% feel their retirement savings is behind schedule. 42% of these young adults give themselves a grade of D or F to describe how well they are saving. Cash in a stocking is likely to be a common request.

Millennial Entitlement: Keeping it in Context

Does this sound familiar? "Why do those in the Millennial generation seem to have such a sense of entitlement?" "Has anyone else noticed the “Paris Hilton syndrome” that is taking over our young people’s brains? The lust and desire for material possessions and fame increases, while the standards of hard work and creativity diminsh."

Gen Y:

Mike: "Older people sometimes laugh when I say I want my job to have meaning.My parents' generation... they often accept that a job is a job. (They) say my generation is spoiled -- I'm spoiled -- because I look for work that means something to me. They were satisfied with the paycheck. I have the luxury of wanting much more."

Katie:I feel like i want a lot more out of my work than what my parents generation ever thought of let alone expected. Older men laugh at the idea."

Justin:

"I often play the work/life balance card to work from my girlfriend's apartment in DC for a day so I can have a long weekend. It is critical to have the balance (between work and life) and I will demand it or find a new job."

The first comments came from the web. The Gen Y comments are from the transcripts of a series of online focus groups we conducted among young professionals last spring. The general theme was that my job isn't big enough for me, I want more from my job than just a job. Millennials feel prepared to make a difference.

Managers interpret this yearning for 'more' as over-ambition and unrealistic expections. The biggest frustration I hear when I speak with managers about their Millennial employees is an inability to meet high expectations on the job. Managers feel pressured to give young workers more responsibility, more praise, more rewards, faster than they feel comfortable. One senior brand agency exec I spoke with last week described his anguish over having to fire a talented and promising young Millennial because he was exhausted by the constant demands for more responsibility that he didn't feel the employee was ready to assume.

One generation's idea of 'spoiled' is another's idea of 'better prepared'. Here's blogger Cliff Mason's response to a review of Ron Alsop's new book, "The Trophy Kids Grow Up." Cliff blogs for CNBC at MillennialMoney.

"We all know the rap about us so-called millennials: we're spoiled, we have entitlement issues, we think we're better than everyone else, we have unrealistic expectations about entering the workforce. Apparently we were coddled too much by our parents and teachers, or at least that's what the baby boomers keep telling me.....At the end of the day the millennial generation is better educated, more adept at using technology, and much more media savvy than generation X or the baby boomers. Maybe we feel superior because we actually are?"

I may have to agree with Cliff. At the very least, it's worth giving him and his generation the benefit of the doubt. After all, it may be true!

What Are the Cool Kids Doing Online?

Millennials spend 12-14 hours a week online searching for information, watching video, updating their profiles and messaging their friends. They are confident "neti-zens" who have never known a time when up-to-date info about friends, grades, tonight's biology homework, favorite political candidates and the latest SNL episode wasn't instantly and freely available. It's worth understanding what they like online now, because Millennial's online tastes are very influential. According to Deloitte's 2007 State of the Media Democracy Survey, word of mouth is the most common reason for Millennials to visit a website. When they find a particular television show or website that they enjoy, they tell an average of 18 people, compared with only 10 people for all age groups. So what online brands are hot with Millennials today? New research from Outlaw Consulting among 100 hand selected Gen Y Trendsetters sheds some light. The biggest surprise here is that there are no real surprises here. Facebook is number one, even among trendsetters, who at the beginning were vaguely uncomfortable doing something so, well, popular. It just seemed so vain. That apparently has changed however, due to the ubiquity and ease of use.

>"Facebook has become more of a fact of life, a way to communicate and schedule events—consider it this generation’s version of Microsoft Outlook, but with an emotional side. “There is an entire army of friends who I don’t see regularly but still care about. It means a lot to automatically be able to see their photos from time to time, and keep abreast of who’s where. Facebook provides a warm blanket for me. It makes me feel more connected, less alienated.”

In our research with recent college graduates, we learned Facebook has become essential for remaining in touch with newly scattered friends. While the Facebook habit is strongest among those who actually used it in college (those who graduated less than 4 years ago), we expect the trend to continue.

Other popular trendsetter sites pose similar paradoxes. Ironically, trendsetters want to tap into the 'wisdom of crowds' available, where else, on EBay, Yelp, Wikipedia, Craigslist.

“There are tons of different opinions on there, but you can sift through and get a feel for the truth. I don’t know what I did before Yelp.” “Whenever I have an item in mind, I check eBay. It standardizes the pricing. If you want to know what the public thinks an item is worth, eBay will tell you.Gen Y trendsetters will gladly sacrifice 100% accuracy for direct access to the public’s version of reality, whatever it may be. They believe they know when to trust sites, and when to seek another source. In the meantime, they credit these sites with doing no less than changing their lives. The model of the open platform giving voice to a crowd will be close to their hearts as this generation comes to power.

The rest of the list is equally unsurprising. CNN, NYT, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Flickr and Pandora round out the list. Where are the obscure, the trendy, the not on the map ideas? Perhaps that is the big finding. The Internet, arbiter of every personal whim and taste, may be more mass than we even suspected.

Millennial Theatre: Speech and Debate

It may be the first true "millennial" play. "Speech and Debate" by Stephen Karam captures the Millennial point of view, right down to text messaging and blogging as important elements of the plot. The story features three earnest, tech savvy high school senior misfits who find each other on the web through a serendipitous convergence of, ahem, interests. They find themselves weirdly entwined and move awkwardly toward a deeper mutual understanding in an ending that surprises us all. The repartee is fast and witty and very 2007. The portrayal of the relationships between the three main characters and their relationships with teachers and reporters, is hilarious and very much in line with how Millenials view Boomers - quaint, clueless and easily to run cirlces around.

The play debuted late last year off-Broadway in New York and has also been staged in Chicago and on the radio. I heard a production on the radio Saturday night by LA Theatre Works. It is reportedly being produced as a movie. If that is true, I predict it will be bigger than Hamlet 2 and Juno.

TV vs. Video: What do the Numbers Mean?

Nielsen reported monthly hours of viewing for all age groups (see below) in May 2008 in it's "Third Screen Report". You'd have to be blind not to notice the age differences. Based on this and other TV viewing reports, I have a theory about what is happening to TV viewership among Millennials. It goes like this:

1. Appointment-style primetime TV viewing habits are pretty much dead, even for 'destination shows'. According to Millward Brown, nearly half of Millennials (45%) use a DVR 'regularly' or 'fairly often' and another 25% say they are considering buying one in the next year. The Heroes season opener derived 33% of its viewership from time shifted viewing.

2. Primetime viewing is largely social. According to Knowledge Network, 39% of Millennials watch primetime outside of their own home at least once a week, compared to just 11% of young boomers and 21% of Gen X'ers. I presume outside of home means other people's homes, a gym, bar or other social gathering place. 55% watch primetime with other people in the room, vs. 41% for young boomers. This suggests other technologies have a stronger claim on Millennials' 'alone' viewing time than primetime TV, another signal (pun intended) that TV is becoming marginalized for 'right now' viewing.

3. Internet video is becoming a reasonable alternative to TV for personal viewing. Over one quarter (27%) of Millennials go to websites to watch video vs. only 9% of boomers (Millward Brown). According to Nielsen, 18-34 year olds spend an average of 3-4 hours a month watching Internet video. My college-age daughter loves Masterpiece Theatre, but does not feel compelled to watch the latest episode at 9:00 on Sunday night when she can view it anytime on the web. My high school age son is as likely to watch a movie he downloaded to his laptop as TV or a DVD. I can't recall the last time he purchased a DVD. He is very interested in Apple's iTV. (Is that the next 'must have' Christmas item?)

4. The so-called 'third screen', mobile video, may move to second place soon. Nielsen reported that as of May 2008, 18-34 year olds with video enabled phones viewed video this way 3-4 hours a month, a figure similar to that of video on the Internet. Younger people with video enabled phones watched even more.

While the changes now are mostly confined to Millennials and their younger siblings, you only have to think of the explosion in text messaging to know it won't be long before their parents follow. If these patterns hold, we are moving toward a model where the venue is less important than the content. Soon, it will all be simply 'video entertainment', with viewing devices presenting alternative formats for watching the same stuff. Each format will offer different advantages in the user experience, but the same content. In that world, does it even matter that Heroes and SNL are on NBC? From a branding standpoint, channels simply won't matter. It will all simply be 'video'.

Gen Y: The End of the Home Ownership Dream?

What a great time for first-time home buyers, right? They have the good fortune to buy at what may be close to the market low (we hope) without having to sell at that same low point. Well, as usual with Gen Y, it's not that simple. While the average age of first time home buyers is 26, realtors shouldn't expect waves of Millennials to be knocking on their doors. While the under 30 set may enjoy high incomes and high hopes for future earnings, both their attitudes about homeownership and the reality of high debt are certain to impact their likelihood rushing in to snap up real estate deals.

First is attitudes. Millennials do not aspire to the homes many grew up in. They see a big backyard and lots of square footage as a maintenance nightmare. Smaller living spaces and open space floor plans are likely to be their preferred way of life, for environmental as well as lifestyle reasons. The NewsObserver recently interviewed several Gen Y members on their dreams of homeownership. Here's what they said about the desirability of living in a big house:

Stephen: No. I want a smaller space so it's easier to take off and go. A house that's low-maintenance is good. Generation Y traveled a lot in college and will continue to do so through life. So a big yard isn't a plus, either.

Ryan: No. I think that seeing so many of our generation's parents divorce makes us understand that family togetherness is important. So as we start having kids you will see us avoid homes with a living room, family room and finished basement rec room in favor of open-plan homes where the family can share space.

Carrie: Definitely not. The huge space thing as a status symbol is gone. Well-used efficient space is best. I want a house that reflects who I am and where I've been. In big houses, people buy meaningless stuff just to fill them up. Living in a cookie-cutter subdivision with vinyl siding and no trees is not palatable to me.

Second is finances. Even if they aspire to home ownership, it's harder now to amass the necessary down payment of $30,000 or more. It's been widely reported that the average college debt is $20,000. Many struggle to pay it back, while making ends meet. Many still accept support from parents. Higher income Millennials in our focus groups, those with MBA's and good paying jobs, tell us of staggering college debt loads -- $60,000 or even $80,000. While these civic- and community-minded young adults are motivated to dontate to their college and other causes they believe in, they sheepishly admit it just isn't possible right now.

Add inexperience in budgeting and planning, credit card debt and the uncertainty of the job market, and the picture becomes even more grim. Consider these statistics from MSN (Why Gen Y is Broke):

The median credit-card debt of low- and middle-income people aged 18 to 34 is $8,200

People between the ages of 25 and 34 make up 22.7% of all U.S. bankruptcies (but just 14% of the population at large).

While the facts are sobering, Millennials are cautiously optimistic rather than dismayed. They have the long view, and are confident in their skills and abilities. As one young potential home buyer shared with me, 'With so much for sale, we can afford to be picky right now and get a really great deal.'

Millennials to Marketers: I Want My SMS!

For most college students, text messaging has replaced email and talking as the preferred mode of communication. ExactTarget's 2008 Channel Preference Survey of 1,500 internet users ages 15 to 65 shows those under the age of 25 prefer SMS to both email and instant messaging.

Text messaging combines the mobility of a phone with the instant gratification of IM. According to an Opinion Research Corp study, those under 30 are 4 times more likely to respond immediately to a text than an email and 91% of text messages receive a response within one hour.

Who are they talking to? Friends of course, but according to a study by Sprint, 51% are texting their parents. Fifty-seven percent of 50-64 year olds have children in the 18-24 age group, so it's not surprising that Boomers are texting their college age students for a quicker response. (Certainly this is true in my family. My text messaging use has skyrocketed since my daughter left for college in August.)

But marketers should not expect to be making much use of texting as a medium for reaching college students with marketing messages anytime soon. Millennials are strongly protective of their text messaging lives. In our research, they repeatedly tell us non-personal messages -- even messages from their university -- are not welcome. Likewise, Exact Targeting says College Students "believe private communication channels (e.g., SMS, social networks) are off-limits for marketers. College Students want to keep personal and business affairs separate. Marketers should remember that email is the channel for "official" communications."

Big News! Millennials Disproportionately Influential

Okay, so it's not big news. The Obama win shows how influential young voters are in politics. Research from Rubicon Consulting group shows how influential they are in marketing. Rubicon's report, "Online Communities and their Impact on Business: Ignore at Your Peril" provides these statistics on just how important they are:

About 80% of the user-generated content on the web, including comments and questions, is created by less than 10% of web users, a group we refer to as the most frequent contributors (MFCs). The rest of the web community sits back and watches the interactions as a mostly-passive audience that only occasionally injects a few comments"

Half of all MFCs are under the age of 22.

MFC's look a lot like Millennials: They're more ethnically diverse; more technically skilled; more likely to be single; more likely to work in technology, entertainment, or communication companies; and more likely to be Democrats.

The Rubicon report emphasizes that far from being a problem to be solved, the fact that most web communities are dominated by a few active voices and a lot more 'voyeurs' is something marketers can leverage by targeting MFC's. There really are influencers - a lot of people are reading the opinions of MFC's and using them in their purchasing decisions across a variety of product categories, especially electronics, vacations, movies, restaurants and jobs. The chart below shows that this is especially true for Millennials. For nearly every category, the influence of online word of mouth is strongest for those 18-22.

Research Insights: Brands that Connect With Millennials

Understanding how and why brands connect with Gen Y is critical to Millennial marketing, but research on the subject can be hard to come by. Primary brand research is often closely guarded. That makes figuring out what Millennials want now and, more important, will want in the future a challenge for those without money to spend on getting out and talking to them. Here are three great, free resources on Millennial brands:

1. Outlaw Consulting Trend Reports: Outlaw specializes in researching Millennial trendsetters. They have been doing this longer than anyone I know and provide great content on their site in the form of their in-depth newsletters. These newsletters are full blown reports. Last year, they profiled the top 15 brands.

2. Businessweek recently shared their list of brands with global girl appeal ("How Brands Become Girl Approved", 9.18.08) as part of an overall survey of global brands. There were the usual suspects: Coca-Cola, Apple, Starbucks, and Google. But there are also a few surprises -- Ford, Citi, H&M, Motorola. Actually, I am not so sure about the surprises and neither are they. But what I especially liked was the slide show, the synopsis of what each brand means to girls and suggestions for what it could mean.

3. Graham Brown also has a long record of understanding youth culture, especially mobile marketing to youth. His blog, mobileyouth.org contains a wealth of data and links to slide presentation on youth culture and mobile marketing. For a sample, check out this presentation to Vodaphone on slideshare:

Mobile Youth Presentation to Vodafone by MobileYouth.org featuring trust, loyalty, net promoter score

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: mobile marketing)

I especially value the links to four slideshare presentations on the Gen Y appeal of four specific brands: Scion, Jones, EA games and Red Bull. He describes these as 'brands with uncommon sense'. Here is the Red Bull presentation.

326475 - Red Bull, "It's Not A Drink, It's a Lifestyle".

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: yagerbombs nightclub)

New Mobile Media Apps Keep Millennials Moving

In past blog posts I have pointed out that Millennials are big users of radio, the original 'mobile media' (9.09.08, Millennial Media: Radio and Magazine Deserve a Second Look). Last year, time spent with radio by 14-24 year olds increased 11% while time spent listening to iPods decreased 13% (Age Age, 10.20.08). Now I read that Microsoft's Zune is partnering with the radio industry to leverage the popularity of both FM radio and MP3 players. The idea, called 'song tagging', is very cool. An FM radio tuner is incorporated into a cell phone or MP3 player so when consumers hear a song on the radio, they can buy it right from their device. So far, it has rolled out to just 450 stations nationwide, but there is a push to sign up more.

Whether Apple adds FM and social tagging to the iPod and iPhone remains to be seen. However, according to digital media expert, Adam Broitman of Crayonville, new apps for the iPhone that leverage the social media capabilities of the PHONE itself are coming. Broitman writes this week in imediaconnection article, "The Best Branded iPhone App Available", that Obama Team hit all the core elements an iPhone App should posses: Added Value Content, Localized Content, Localized Social Networking and use of the phone's core functionalities like GPS and text. Here's what Broitman has to say:

"The Obama application allows users to call other people (from within the application itself) in order to urge people to vote for Obama. The application records the number of calls made and displays them in the app and on the web. It integrates your phone book right into the app, truly exploiting the most basic function of the iPhone—making calls. Seeing this application was and “ah-ha” moment, as well as “duh-why didn’t I think of that” moment. With the coming of Android applications and the growth in the social networking sector, we are going to see a great deal of innovation in the space—keep an eye on it." (Adam also blogs at amediacircus )

What, you may ask, is an 'Android' application? Android is a year old open mobile software platform that has been subscribed to by 34 handset manufacturers. I also saw it mentioned by Antonio Lucia, CMO of Visa. "...Some of the first reiterations of the user interface will be featured with Android." Android is the basis of the G1 "Google Phone" introduced last week by T-Mobile. I also hear Android mentioned in a report this morning on NPR and in an article about Visa in last week's Ad Age. Get ready for a flood of more articles showing how Android is supporting Millennials' desire for extreme mobility.

Millennials' Biggest Issue and What It Means

What is the most important national issue for Millennials? Harvard Institute of Politics posed this open-ended question in its 15th annual poll among 2,400 18-24 year olds in September/October 2007 and again in 2008. (Thank you! John Della Volpe at Social Sphere for sending this!) The answer (see chart) is the state of the economy (53%). The economy trumps the war (9%) and healthcare (5%) by a wide margin. This is not a surprise, given that the poll was conducting during the financial crisis and two economy-focused presidential debates. The surprise is how different things looked a year ago, when the war was the top issue and the economy was mentioned by only 5%. Admittedly, my priorities have shifted a bit as well, so this is not solely a Millennial phenomenon. But it's interesting to explore how this new awareness is affecting Gen Y, beyond the presidential election. In this regard, nothing has really changed: according to the poll, 18-24 year olds choices are pretty pretty much the same as they were before crisis.

I have firsthand evidence they are thinking about the crisis. I asked a young man I met in the Dallas airport last week who attends Farragut HS in St. Petersburg whether they were discussing the crisis in his economics class. He replied with a grin, "It's ALL we talk about."

My daughter who is a college freshman reports her friends are concerned about their parents ability to pay tuition and that scholarships and loan availability will be affected by the new economic reality.

On the job front, business schools are reporting an uptick in enrollment. According to a report, Grads Fear Gloomy Job Prospects, by Medill at Northwestern, there is additional pressure on students college career centers . (Check out the great video of students across the country talking about their job prospects). We are about to conduct a series of focus groups among recent alumni on behalf of Notre Dame's Alumni Services; I expect to hear there is extra pressure on young employees to perform, making the already stressful transition from college to work even more taxing.

Here are some other predictions:

High school students will begin to defer going to college in favor of jobs or to wait until older siblings have graduated. Applications may be down this year for the first time in many years, despite the demographic bulge for the class of 2013. Others who normally would go for a 4-year school will opt for community college.

We will see parents become even more important to young graduates. Already 50% of men and 33% of women 18-29 live with their parents. Look for this to increase, with no increase in raised eyebrows.

We may even be relieved from hearing more whining about Millennials' unrealistic workplace expectations over the next few years.

Finally, Millennials' civic mindedness may also combine with necessity to drive more to public service. Many may prefer underemployment that helps 'make a difference' to unemployment. The Harvard Institute poll I referenced earlier confirms other studies in this regard, and goes on to specifically outline what they might do to serve:

"Three-in-five (59%) of America’s youngest citizens (18-24 year olds) say that they are personally interested in engaging in some form of public service to help the country -- 19 percent very interested....In addition, the subgroups that seem most intense in their interest to engage in national service are African Americans (25% very interested) and Hispanics (24% very interested). Among the 59 percent who say that they are interested, following are the ways in which they would consider engaging: • 75 percent, part time in their community • 47 percent, work for the federal, state or local government • 32 percent, use the Internet to collaborate with government • 32 percent, get involved in a political campaign • 25 percent, join the foreign service • 23 percent, join national service program full-time like Teach for America or City Year • 17 percent join the military, and • 17 percent run for political office.

Those are some impressive figures. If Millennials follow through, there could be a silver lining to the crisis after all.

Why Digital Media Hasn't Replaced TV Yet

As the Car Guys say, I just 'wasted another 30 perfectly good minutes.' This time I was enjoying nine of the most popular viral videos selected my friend Jim Nichols for his blog at imediaconnection.com. Jim is senior partner, strategist at Catalyst:SF. We have been friends a long time and are currently competing for oldest surviving relic of what are now considered the 'good old days' in advertising. Jim also blogs daily about digital media at www.oldestliving.com. We can recall when you argued vigorously over whether the strategy was 'good taste that's good for you' or 'good tasting goodness', prepared three commercials and headed for the bar. (This was after the Mad Men era by about 15 years, but I was trained by those guys. It is uncannily accurate in substance and detail.)

I am currently pondering the question Jim posed to me in an email a few days ago. Here it is:

As you know, digital’s share of brand marketing dollars is far smaller than the share of time consumers now spend with digital media. Are brands lagging, or is digital lagging in providing actionable solutions for brand marketers?

Mmm. It's easy to say it's because today's marketers aren't embracing new media, but I don't think that would be right. The numerical case for digital media is too compelling. Millennials spend much more time online than watching TV. Yet TV is still the 800 pound gorilla. Why?

The more likely answer is that digital media has a hard time competing with TV as a branding medium, and branding is the main reason for using TV. Historically branding is not as accountable for immediate short term results, so TV often gets a free pass on ROI.

Before you jump on me about digital being a branding medium, I have seen the research, and let me be clear, I am not saying digital can't be used for branding. It's just that TV is/was so perfect: Captive audience, full sight, sound and motion. High production value. Trusted information source. Tremendous reach. Digital media, is well-targeted but lacks the reach and emotional impact of a full screen TV.

Digital media will get there. Search is already maturing as a medium. Online video is getting there. Social media which is now more social than media will develop some best practices that will attract the early adopters and late adopters, especially once word of mouth measurement systems become more standardized. Meanwhile, I wasn't in advertising when there was still a 'TV department' and broadcast operations was done by admins, er secretaries, in their spare time. But Mad Men is a good reminder that this isn't the first time advertisers have had to come to grips with something new.

Meanwhile, here is my favorite viral video from Jim's list. If you want to waste, ahem, spend, 30 perfectly good minutes of your own, I recommend visiting his blog post today! It won't be time wasted!

The Word of the Day: "It's Generational"

"There's no doubt that we represent the kind of change Senator Clinton can't deliver on. And part of it's generational," Barack Obama on Fox News November 2007.

"I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Senator John McCain." -- Colin Powell on Meet the Press Sunday.

Obama's Gen Y appeal has accelerated public awareness that Millennials are not just younger versions of their Boomer parents and Gen X siblings, but the result of a massive generational shift. Obama was named "Marketer of the Year" by Ad Age today largely because of his savvy use of his knowledge of Millennials. I agree with Winograd and Hais that Millennials are not politically motivated this year because of the appearance of Obama. They would have been involved regardless. But Obama's marketing has been pitched perfectly to this group in everything from message to medium, and that is not an accident. Team Obama did careful research, created focused brand messages and showed clear strategic understanding that Millennials matter. Here is what Winograd and Hais, authors of Millennial Makeover, had to say on their blog Oct 8:

...the political attitudes and identifications of Millennials were clearly evident long before the Obama candidacy gained widespread visibility. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in March 2007 indicated that Millennials identified as Democrats over Republicans by nearly a 2:1 ratio (52% vs. 30%). And, a study conducted at about the same time by the Millennial Strategy Program of communication research and consultation firm Frank N. Magid Associates showed that Millennials were the first generation since at least the GI Generation to contain a greater number of self-perceived liberals than conservatives. All of this at least raises the possibility that the high level of Millennial political involvement is significantly based on the Democratic and liberal affinities of the generation and would be strong even without Obama's strong candidacy....Millennials are intent on working together to create a better America than the one Boomers have left them as an inheritance. Their confidence, political activism, and unity will begin to initiate that change on Election Day this year thanks to a record turnout of young voters. The 1.7 million vote plurality given to John Kerry by young voters in 2004 will grow to between 8 and 10 million for Barack Obama when this involved and unified generation goes to the polls on November 4.

The Biggest Youth Marketing Campaign of 2008

The undecided bloc has shrunk from 14% to 7% and the polls are showing Obama ahead by a furlong as the race rounds the final bend. Both sides know that the biggest risk to Obama's election is youth voter complacency. We are about to see the the biggest youth marketing campaign of the year: Get Out the Vote. Many of these efforts rely on celebrity influence: Comedienne Sarah Silverman is asking young voters to visit or call their relatives in an imaginative effort called The Great Schlep. Her video calls for young people to visit their relatives in Florida and convince them to vote for Obama. If you can't visit, call (mini-Schlep). The Great Schelp was featured on Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood and on Facebook. Hip hop artists, The Beastie Boys, are staging a series of get out the vote concerts featuring Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Ben Harper and Crosby & Nash. The concerts will be held in three swing states: WI, MN and VA. T.I., Ludacris and Ne-Yo will tour the country to educate potential young voters for two special episodes of 106 and Park that are scheduled to air in October. A MySpace- and HeadCount-sponsored contest among colleges to see which can sign up the most voters. Death Cab will perform on the winning campus.

Will all this effort make a difference? We won't know until election day. What is apparent is that getting out the vote could make the difference in who wins.

Gallup figures released today (10.19.08) look at the race according to two scenarios. In the traditional approach, voters' intention to participate in the current election as well as their voting history in previous presidential elections is considered. This method shows Obama leading McCain by just three points, 49% to 46%. The second approach considers only voters' self-professed likelihood to vote in 2008, and does not factor in whether they voted in past elections. This approach assumes new registrants and infrequent voters will turn out on Election Day to a greater extent than has been the case historically. Using this approach, Obama leads by seven points, 51% to 44%, twice the margin as the first scenario. No wonder Obama is concerned about complacency, despite his clear lead in the polls.

You're Doing Great! Keeping Millennials Happy at Work

On Wednesday I gave a speech on Millennials to an audience of advertising professionals and students in McAllen, TX in the Rio Grande Valley. The topic that sparked the most conversation by far was intergenerational conflict in the workplace. Younger and older audience members both nodded in enthusiastic agreement when I described Millennials as less time-bound, needing more feedback, more flexibility and more frequent rewards. But they disagreed on whether or not this was something the workplace was really ready -- or willing -- to provide.

As a parent and a college professor, I can offer some perspective on why young people come to the workplace with such different expectations. High school learning, and grades, are based on highly structured learning approaches. Educators call this 'duality' -- a student's job is to learn what teachers know. It's about getting the 'right' answer in the right format. Think of students as teacups with teachers pouring the tea and you will understand duality. One of the earliest transitions college students need to make is to a more 'relativistic' learning approach, where students collaborate more in the learning experience and there is less clarity about one right answer or format. I have often watched students struggle when I am unable to tell them there is a right answer, and right number of pages for their essay, a correct format. The final phase is 'commitment' - they understand that some answers are more right than others but it is important to remain open to other possibilities. Being sure is a sure sign you are probably not on sure ground. By the time they get to the workplace, Millennials are masters of all three modes of learning. They are good at figuring out the rules so they can get it right (dualistic) but also sense that they may have a righter answer than their boss.

So what does that mean for bridging the generation gap at work? There is a lot written on this very topic and I won't reiterate it here. But the heart of it all is structure and feedback. Millennials want to know what it takes to be successful, and where they stand at all times. Detailed guidance on job performance standards with frequent helpings of feedback along the way -- not just in a 6 month review -- are the surest way to keep Gen Y workers happy. The Wall Street Journal, "Employers Rethink How They Give Feedback", Oct 13, reports:

"In a recent survey, 65% of "Generation Y" workers at Ernst & Young said "providing detailed guidance in daily work" was moderately or extremely important, compared with 39% of Baby Boomers. An overwhelming 85% of Gen Y employees said their age-group peers want "frequent and candid performance feedback," while only half of Boomers agreed.There's a difference between the generations in how to provide feedback," says Ben Rosen, a professor of organizational behavior/strategy at the University of North Carolina who worked on E&Y's survey. "Gen Y wanted a lot of feedback -- from their immediate bosses and anyone else." These younger workers "grew up where everyone gets a trophy," Mr. Rosen says. Managers say younger workers don't mind criticism, as long as they hear something. "I've never had any trouble giving feedback to Gen Y folks," says Billie Williamson, a partner who oversees diversity and inclusiveness efforts for E&Y."

The article describes how E&Y is adapting to this need for feedback:

Ernst & Young LLP a few years ago launched an online "Feedback Zone," where employees can request or submit feedback at any time. The system prompts employees twice a year to request feedback. The accounting and consulting firm assigns every employee a mentor and offers training for supervisors who routinely give feedback. Lisa Nussbaum, 23, frequently requests feedback and advice from managers and colleagues. Ms. Nussbaum, an associate project manager in E&Y's New York office, confers weekly with her career counselor about her schedule and to request feedback.She says the frequent discussions prompt others to make suggestions. One colleague suggested Ms. Nussbaum try to improve her writing skills. Ms. Nussbaum enrolled in a business-writing course. Six months later, she says, the colleague remarked that her writing had improved."

According to the article, International Business Machines Corp. and Accenture also now offer training to hone managers' critiquing skills. Feedback has always been an important managerial tool. With Millennials, it may be critical.

Millennial Resources: Gen Y Bloggers

I am not a Millennial. But I know a lot of Millennials. Here are my favorite Millennial authored blogs. Each has a marketing slant that makes it well worth putting in your NetVibes folder or Technorati favorites:

David Fallarme,

www.themarketingstudent.com Sample post: Gen Y will be the Helicopter parents from hell

"Gen Z: don’t even think about lying to your Gen Y parents, we’ll have documented evidence. Of pretty much everything you do."

Sarah Ewing, www.adage.com/gennext

Sample post: Political Advertising Should Be Held to Higher Standards

"Using the same logic that regulates the rest of the advertising industry, why should these campaigns not be regulated?"

Michael Girts, www.adage.com/gennext

Sample post: View from the Inside: Part I

I like to tell people that they gave me a corner office. It's my clever way of saying I sit in the corner. At the end of the hallway. In a makeshift cubicle. Using an in-store display featuring the Incredible Hulk. That's right, it's just me and the Hulk crammed at the end of the hallway. It's okay.

anastasia, www.ypulse.com Sample Post: 11 take home points from what teens want

"Teens today grew up taking their Keds off at the airport in case of shoe bombs. They had leashes, Baby on Board signs and eat all organic. I call this Teacup Parenting. Marketers need to be aware of how delicate and fragile these teens are. They feel like everything is a big deal and they worry a lot. This is why trust, brand building and authenticity are crucial."

Mindcomet, GenYVooDoo Sample post: Are Execs on point with Millennial Marketing?

"Unsolicited text messages I find a nuisance, but I suppose if I signed up to receive some sort of offer through text message it would be less bothersome."

Jeff Taylor, MillennialMarketer.com

Sample post: Microsoft vs. Apple: Competing for Gen Y's Digital Lifestyle

"I am writing to give you an inside look on how marketing and advertising efforts targeted at Gen-Y are seen by us."

Millennial Market: SlideShare Resources

Hola! Today I am in McAllen, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley to share a presentation on Millennials with the AAF Club. It's hot, and the food is great. I also have a better sense of what a market with an average age of 28 looks like. The slides were uploaded to SlideShare (link below). If you also want the text of the speech, contact me and I will send it to you. Meanwhile, I have I've included links to two other Millennial-focused presentations you may want to check out. Warning: They are very heavy on social media. Tomorrow: Blog resources. Adios!

Clued In Or Clueless: A Marketing Professor Talks About Millennials

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: millennials millennial)

Next Generation Participation

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: collaboration brand)

Marketing To Millennials

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: demographics statistics)

Millennial Marketing: Commonalities More Important Than Differences

Segmentation has its limits as a marketing tool. As marketers we are trained to look to focus on the differences, but unless the differences are meaningful, overreliance on segmentation can lead to a lot of wasted effort. It may not be as sexy, but searching for the universal, common ground can lead to even more profound insights, and more impactful and efficient marketing.

The power of the universal is the point of a new book, Metaphoria, from Gerry Zaltman and Lindsay Zaltman. They maintain that focusing on surface level differences and "ignoring alikeness as an important driver of thought and behavior leads to depth deficits in strategic thinking." (p. 8). In other words, we are 'deeply alike' and strategies built on commonalities are more powerful than those built on differences.

I believe this insight is especially true of Millennial marketing. As a generation, Millennals cherish their individuality, but are secure enough in who they are that they have no problem identifying strongly with a larger group, ethic or brand, especially if that group, ethic or brand shares their values; they like being part of something bigger than themselves. I can easily see this generation becoming more attached to their colleges as alumni and to other causes and institutions they support than previous generations.

Millennials share a set of common values that has enabled a few brands to deeply connect with a broad range of young consumers: Google, Apple, Heroes, and Teach for America come immediately to mind. These connections are based more on similarities among Millennials than differences. Those similarities can be traced to common upbringing that stressed team work, embracing of diversity (which is quite different from tolerance), respect for institutions, and the importance of 'making a difference' (i.e., or as Google famously said, 'do no evil'). Millennials also share a faith in technology as tool for connection and productivity. Perhaps most significantly, it shares a deep belief in its own capacity for bringing about positive change. This belief is what underlies their strong will to be 'heard'. With Obama perhaps now less than a month from what is looking like a Millennial-inspired victory, we may be hearing more from and about Millennial universals in the near future.