Millennials at Work: Striking the Balance

One of the more notable differences between Millennials and other generations are their equivocal feelings about work. While they (and their parents) are anxious to get a good job and begin establishing their adult lives as functioning members of the modern economy, they are also vaguely uneasy about the place of work in their lives. They expect they will need to make serious compromises to land and keep a job.

We identified some of these anxieties in focus groups last spring among young professionals at major companies. Last week, Ad Age featured our findings in an article, "The Inside Scoop on What Spurs Millennial Hires" (9.22.08) Nealy everyone we talked with was concerned with two issues: 'work-life balance' and 'making a difference'. These two concerns were sometimes related, particularly if their job was not seen as offering much opportunity to 'give back'. No doubt the recent financial shocks are causing Millennials to give even greater thought - and worry - to what the work world will mean for their lives. Shrinking job markets make for fewer chances to ask for concessions on vacation time, education perks, and other incentives dear to the hearts of Millennials. This week, in her GenNext blog, Sarah Ewing frankly discusses the tradeoffs she considered in taking a more 'strategic' job with fewer perks. Alex Kniess's posting is titled, "Your Career Should Be Part of Your Life (Not the Other Way Around)". And in his GenNext blog entry this week, Michael Girts, a new AAE at Leo Burnett in Chicago, posted a wonderful video, ""Music and Life" that neatly encapsulates Gen Y's fears about the potential lack of fulfillment they face by continuing to chase workplace succcess. The 1-minute video (you'll be glad you watched it) pairs an Alan Watts voiceover with adorable animation to capture the angst many young workers feel about the school - career -- success trajectory. "Then when you wake up one day when you are about 40 years old and you say 'My God! I'm here, I've arrived. I'm there'. But you don't feel any different than you've always felt... you've missed the point." Are you sensing a theme here?

In our research, this translated into a desire to tell their bosses, "This job is not my life" or "“This job is not my life!” Or as another put it, “My job isn’t life or death – I’m not saving lives, I work in marketing – sometimes people forget that.”

I'm not exactly sure how this insight to the psyche of Millennials relates to marketing, but I think it's important; they are unsure whether to be motivated by the same incentives as the rest of us -- or at least up until this latest economic crisis.

Millennial Target: Jamba Juice

Smoothies may be the quintessential Millennial category --- and Jamba Juice may be the quintessential Millennial brand. Forty percent of all 18-24 year olds, had a smoothie made fresh for them in the past month (Mintel, March 2008). That figure is more than 2X total adults (18%), and rivals past month penetration of Starbucks (44%, Mintel, April 2008). Mention Jamba Juice in one of my Notre Dame marketing classes and you get immediate smiles and conversation. Jamba Juice is a brand that is loved, not just respected.

Little wonder then made to order smoothies are big business -- $591 million in 2007. The average smoothie price is over $5.00. Jamba Juice is far and away the leader with a whopping 56% share, despite its generally higher price (a strong indicator of brand strength by any measure). In September, Jamba Juice was included in Inc. magazine's list of the 500 fastest growing companies.

How did Jamba Juice become an iconic youth brand?

1. Authenticity: I met with a rep from Jamba Juice last spring. She told me JJ is uncompromising in its use of fresh fruit and quality ingredients, despite cost and competitive pressures.

2. Effective use of PR: Until recently, Jamba Juice had never made a TV commercial. Instead, it relies on great placement on shows like Dave Letterman. Click here to see his effort to see how many Spiderman can fit into a Jamba Juice store.

3. Innovative menu items: The addition of breakfast items gives customers another reason to visit.

4. Consistently fun personality: Whether you encounter JJ on the web, on YouTube, or in the store, the attitude is fun and a little quirky. I especially like the 'chalk' feature on JJ's web site. Purpose? Who cares?!

5. Simplicity: Jamba Juice isn't trying to be all things to all people. Research on top brands among trendsetting youth by Outlaw Consulting emphasizes simplicity of design and execution as a trademark of an iconic trendsetter brand.

Shop the Vote: Marketing the Election to Millennials

Are Millennials engaged in this election? Opinions are divided (see earlier blogpost and comments). But whether they care or not, getting out the vote is a marketing issue -- and a marketing opportunity for those interested in reaching Millennials.

First there was Rock the Vote; now there is Shop the Vote. Shop the Vote is a partnership between the filmmaker who brought us "18 in '08", a documentary that provides a picture of this year's 18-year olds and why they should care about this election. I haven't seen the film, but would like to. A 6-minute CNN video (accessible from the home page, with film creator, David Burstein, yielded a great quote representing the message of the file: "I understand your cynicism." 18 in '08's web site is worth visiting. It describes its missions as a "peer to peer youth voter engagement and mobilization organizationsing the film as a voter registration vehicle." The site is comprehensive and engaging, a great example of Millennials talking to Millennials.

The other partner in Shop the Vote is Access 360 Media, which describes itself as "a premier multi-platform media network that connects to more than 173MM young adult (P12-34) consumers each month in the places and through the communication channels that matter most to them: In-store, Online and Mobile." In-store partners include Journey and FYE.

A visit to Shopthevote.org provides many opportunities to get involved in the election:

Links to Obama and McCain campaign web sites

Download mobile media wallpaper and signups for election news delivered to your cell phone

Register to vote

Participate in a poll

Upload videos

The main purpose of the site, no doubt, is capturing email and mobile numbers in exchange for debate alerts and other relevant content -- and presumably ad messages. It's not clear how successful this effort has been, or will be. But as a creative approach to engaging Millennials in the election -- and exploiting a marketing opportunity at the same time -- I admit it is impressive.

Where Do Millennials Shop for Fashion?

Of all the scary financial news in the past few weeks, the scariest for marketers are the dire 4th quarter retail sales predictions. Yesterday the WSJ ran an article, "Neiman Marcus Sees Bleak Holiday: Luxury-goods Retailer Reports a Doubling of Its Quarterly Loss and Warns the Wealthy Are Cutting Back". If that's not scary, I don't know what is, especially since, until recently, luxury goods were retailing's bright spot. Only last week (9.15.08) the WSJ had a story titled "Fashion in a Faltering Economy". Here's an excerpt I found especially amusing:

Neiman Marcus fashion director Ken Downing praised the edgy "'80s moment" he saw on several runways, a trend long absent from stores and one he felt would look fresh to shoppers. At Bloomingdale's, fashion director Stephanie Solomon expected "rich hippie" looks to appeal in spring.

Excuse, me? I don't recall the 80's ever having an "edgy moment"; "rich hippie" sounds like an oxymoron if there ever was one; but I digress.

With all the doom and gloom, it may be interesting to see what is known about Millennial's fashion shopping habits. First of all, they don't shop in department stores, for a score of reasons, among the most prominent being that is where their moms shop. Millennials much prefer smaller, more boutique like shopping venues, even if they happen to be chains that act like boutiques such as Abercrombie, American Eagle, or Limited. The photo above shows my friend, Melissa and one of her friends having a birthday shopping spree on Melrose, far from Nordstroms, Macy's and JC Penney. According to BIGresearch, Melissa is pretty typical: 31% of 18-24 year olds say they shop most often for clothing at a specialty retailer, compared to just 16% of those 25 and older. This month, Fortune picked 3 specialty apparel retailers as their 'five retail winners':

American Apparel: The Los Angeles based apparel chain sells basics with a twist: Its advertisements tout both the company's high quality, hipster-friendly tees and its fair-wage policies. Such meticulous branding has not only distinguished the retailer from Wal-Mart, but has also enabled American Apparel to boost profits 42% this quarter to $6.8 million and same-store sales by 23%.

American Outfitters: Urban Outfitters, which also owns clothing retailers Anthropologie and Free People, increased revenues by 30% this quarter to $454 million and boosted same-store sales by 13%.

Aeropostale: Aéropostale reported a 43% increase in profits in 2Q, and an overall sales increase of 21%, to $377.1 million. Even more shockingly, the New York based chain saw same-store sale growth of 13% this July, compared with a decrease of 12% in July of last year.

Not all specialty retailers are doing as well as these three; Abercrombie & Fitch and Urban Outfitters have both suffered small losses, which Fortune speculates as having to do with higher prices/lower value.

When Millennials do venture into the world of mass merchandising, Target is far and away their favorite. We have discussed the reasons for Target's status as Millennial darling in previous blog posts, so won't rehash here, other than to point out that BIGresearch data provides confirmation: twice as many 18-24 year olds say they shop Target most often for clothes than those 25 or older.

Macy's is thinking of revamping its famous Cellar of housewares in its flagship Manhattan store to appeal to younger shoppers: "By giving teens a separate entrance and their own place to hang out - similar to creating a rec room in the basement - Macy's is hoping kids will feel less self conscious about shopping where their parents shop." (Fortune, 9.24.08, "Macy's searches for the fountain of youth"). This might work, if like Target, American Apparel and Urban Outfitters, they emphasize value as well as ambiance. Millennials have money but they don't think of themselves as affluent. Sniffing out the bargains AND the fashion is more than half the fun.

Who Cares? Millennial Engagement in Election 2008

There's universal agreement that the youth vote is critical to the outcome of the 2008 election, but how engaged are Millennials? Engagement is a tricky thing to measure, but just released data (9.23.08) from Pew Research sheds some light. First, the table shows a strong trend among 18-24 year olds for going 'newsless'; 34% say they watch no news on a daily basis, up from 25% in 1998. (Presumably news on the Comedy Channel doesn't count as 'news', although I'm not sure.) While over 9 out of 10 18-29 year olds say they intend to vote, only 7 out of 10 say they 'definitely plan to vote' and less than two thirds say they voted in their precinct last time they had a chance, and only 4 out of 10 say they 'always' vote. These figures are even lower for 'cell phone only' respondents.

Given these figures, it's clear why the candidates are focusing on social media to engage young voters. Obama is doing far better than McCain, but the gap is closing. According to Hitwise, Obama gets about 56% of the total candidate web site traffic. As of Sept. 9, Obama boasted 510,799 MySpace friends, compared with McCain's 87,652 friends, a more than 5-to-1 lead in number of friends, but down from a 7-to-1 advantage in August according to Live Research. Obama also has a sizeable leads on Facebook with 1,726,453 supporters to McCain's 309,591. Obama's Web site has twice as many videos posted to his official YouTube channel and far more YouTube channel subscribers, by an 11-to-1 margin. But what is surprising to me, is that these figures aren't higher, given the penetration of these media among young people.

The Stanford Daily, in an article yesterday titled "Just How Political Is This Place?", quotes Evan Purcell '09 as saying "it's diffcult to stay informed; politics isn't a big social presence here." My daughter at Notre Dame reported the same lack of interest when I asked how students were responding to the Palin pick. "Mom, we're in a bubble." While I am sure some campuses, like George Washington University in DC, are more passionate about politics, neither candidate should overestimate the 'engagement' of today's young voters in the election -- at least for now.

Millennial Media: Campaign News Sources

What media do Millennials rely on for election news? Political marketers addressing the youth vote would be wise to avoid overreliance on Internet media. Among the 88% of Millennials who are actively seeking or at least paying attention to the 2008 election, there is as much reliance on old fashioned TV news as on flashy Internet web sites. According to a May 2008 study by Crawford, Johnson, Northcott, a respected audience research firm, “Even with all of the media options available to Americans, television still rules – at least as a source for presidential election information.” CJN's research shows National, Local and Cable TV News are the three most relied upon media sources for election news across every age group -- including 18-29 year olds.

What about Internet media, surely young people are more likely to turn to the web for news than their parents or Gen X’ers? Reliance on Internet media for election news across all four age groups polled reveals a surprisingly complex dynamic. It’s not as simple as 'young = Internet, old = TV'.

• Across all four age groups, news organization web sites are the most heavily relied upon. • Those under 45 are more likely to rely on ISP news pages than those 45 and older.

• There is no age difference in likelihood of relying on candidate email, political web sites and local TV web sites.

• The largest age differences are in reliance on YouTube and social networking sites, which skew strongly young, but have fairly low penetration even among 18-29 year olds (less than 1 in 5).

Crowdsourcing Comes to College Marketing

As a parent who spent way too many hours last year with the Princeton Review of Colleges Guidebook, the idea behind Unigo.com is compelling. Why rely on statistics, the college web site, a campus tour and a few anecdotes, when you can hear everything direct from the students themselves? That's the idea behind Unigo.com which launches this month just in time to help the class of 2013 pick a college. The idea combines many concepts familiar and dear to Millennial's 1) No one is as smart as all of us 2) All the information, all the time 3) unfiltered and unedited 4) free. What's not to like?

Here's how the New York Times (9.19.08) describes Unigo's utility to a prospective student:

"Every student who joins Unigo has a user profile, and while that profile might not feature his or her real name, the idea is that by garnering a few pieces of personal information — your major, your hometown, your race, sex and political leanings — a database is created that makes it possible for newcomers to search the site by all kinds of hyperspecific criteria. You can see how many other people from your own high school are looking at a particular college. You can contact the author of a review with follow-up questions. “You can say, ‘I only want to see reviews of Harvard by African-American students,’ and have a choice of 20,” Goldman projected, “or by English majors, and have a choice of 50. So you can not only see a more comprehensive version of the school than you can anywhere else, but you can also see the school through the eyes of someone who’s just like you.”

The Beta site is still a little dysfunctional, but the promise, is enormous. The idea of video testimonials is compelling, you can hear the 'virtual' tour on an official web site, then hear the unofficial tour on Unigo. With my ties to Notre Dame, I will be especially interested in seeing this video described in the NYT article: "Two girls at Notre Dame, one an official campus tour guide, visit several spots around campus: at each one, the tour guide gives you the approved spiel, and then her friend tells you what the spiel leaves out."

Meet Two Millennials: Sarah and Mike

This week, Ad Age launched a new blogging feature called "GenNext". I am thrilled to report that two of my favorite former Notre Dame MBA students (now grads) are featured bloggers. Sarah Ewing and Michael Girts were both standout students, and are now about to be stars in the blogosphere. Since I nominated them for this gig, I am confident you will find their musings of interest. Here are some excerpts from each of their initial blog entries. I've included links to their Ad Age bios as well. BTW, Both Sarah and Mike are currently in the hunt for marketing jobs.

Sarah Ewing Ad Age Blogger Bio

Top talent seeks a long-term relationship and will partner with companies whose manners reflect a soulmate, like online retailer Zappos.com. In my interview experience with them, the only prices discussed were potential media buys. Our date included an all-expenses paid trip to Vegas, a trip to the "Soul Doctor" (Zappos' personal onsite psychologist and career therapist) and a Polaroid for my personal scrapbook. In the end, I didn't get the job because they were looking for someone with more experience, but had things worked out, I could easily see myself growing old(er) with them (as can other swooning potential employees). To attract top talent, I recommend these behaviors: 1. Don't make me go Dutch. Please pay for interview travel. It indicates financial stability and employee value. 2. Don't speed date. This is a courtship. Get to know me beyond a rote questionnaire. 3. Break up via phone, not silence. Quickly tell me that we are through rather than dragging it out in ambiguity. 4. Value me for me. As an MBA, I know what I'm worth. Although advertising agencies are notorious for paying under industry average, please do not immediately lowball my desired salary. Treat me like a potential partner. Partners require negotiation. Remember: Any company can find employees. But a charming company who uses these manners will almost always get the most striking partners in the employment pool—and keep them, too. Which do you want to be?

Michael Girts Ad Age Blogger Bio

As I write this, I'm 12 weeks into the 10-week internship [with Leo Burnett]. In other words, they've asked me to stick around. I'm thrilled about it. I've worked hard all summer long. I like the people I'm working with, and I'm interested in the work I'm doing. Early in my internship, I asked my supervisor if I could take a shot at writing a case study for an upcoming new business pitch. Rather than wait for someone to teach me the best way to write a case, I asked if I could try it myself and schedule time with her the next day to review and improve the case--or scrap it if need be. Well, I did it well enough that we used the case, and she asked me to write another. And another. And another and eventually, I was the go-to-guy for new case studies. I was meeting one of the business-development team's real needs. And before the internship was over, I had put myself in a position where it was much easier to keep me on, rather than find some new way to replace me. The interns that are still around are the same interns that seemed happiest all summer long. For all the talk about the perks and the freebies, it seems that what people really want out of their internship is real responsibility and legitimate work experience. Those people who sought the opportunity for real work--and subsequently seized that opportunity--are the ones who enjoyed their internships the most. They're also the ones who are still here.

Millennial Tots Can Enjoy 24/7 Lives Too!

We are all familiar with the 24/7 lifestyle of Millennials, where the social conversation shifts seamlessly from an offline party to an online post-party discussion complete with photos. Why stop for sleep while the party plays on? But what about their kids? I spotted this poster on the New Haven train line in New York yesterday. My immediate reaction was 'Why on earth would anyone need a 24 hour preschool channel?' Then Bingo! Millennial Moms. "Sprout", as the channel has been named, brings together several recent blog themes. Put a baby boomlet among Millennials together with a 24/7 lifestyle and seeing Elmo (or Barney) at an hour of the day makes perfect sense.

A little investigation reveals Sprout is a collaboration between Comcast and PBS. In addition to the cable channel, there is also Video on Demand and Sproutletsgrow.com (not .org). Here's what PBS had to say in its 2005 joint press release with Comcast:

Diana Kerekes, the acting GM for PBS KIDS Sprout said, "Building on the remarkable success of our video-on-demand (VOD) service, we're very excited to be launching our digital cable channel and website today -- making Sprout truly a multi-platform destination for preschoolers and their caregivers."

The need for 24/7 access to preschool programming is, in my opinion, an outgrowth of the 24/7 Millennial lifestyle. As Gen Y grows up, they will expect the same opportunities for their kids as they now take for granted.

Trouble in River City (Hint: It Rhymes with 'T')

And all week long your River City Youth'll be frittern' away, I say your young men'll be frittern'! Frittern away their noontime, suppertime, choretime too!

-- Professor Harold Hill, aka, The Music Man

Substitute "Twittern'" for "frittern'" and you'll see "either you're closing your eyes to a situation you do now wish to acknowledge or you are not aware" of the impact of the 24/7 media world Millennials inhabit. Ever wonder why Millennials always seem so tired? It's because they are nocturnal, surrounded by what the New York Times last week described as 'ambient social awareness'("Brave New World of Social Intimacy" 9.5.08). Facebook, MySpace, YouTube are ways to extend the social conversation beyond the hours when most face-to-face social conversations take place. The party continues -- online.

I admit I have dabbled in this world. I have strangers following me on Twitter and I am following strangers. I use LinkedIn and Facebook. But I feel like a stranger in a strange land; it is not my natural habitat and I see them as time stealers, not productivity enhancers. That is one of the main differences between my generation and Millennials. Millennials, and those who share the digital mindset, find the blurring of online and offline realities completely natural--and productive.

Marketers are starting to catch on. Last week, I noted several hefty articles on ways to leverage Twitter as a business building tool. My favorite is by Steve Mulder, ("Five Marketing Tips for Attacking Twitter", Mediapost, 9.1.08). He explains why this is important:

Numbers are hard to come by, but TechCrunch reports that Twitter has more than 1 million users (200,000 of which are active every week), and about 3 million messages are posted every day. These are still relatively small numbers, but the activity comes from an early-adopter segment that can be hard to reach using traditional marketing channels.

Mulder points out that brands that use Twitter as a way to extend a brand's personality have an edge over those who are just pushing information. He points to Zappos as a good example.

Will I ever get it? I am not sure. But I plan to try. Now it's time to get some sleep!

What Do Millennials Think of Sarah Palin?

Evidence is mounting that Sarah Palin is making an impact on young voters. While it's not clear whether he selection changed anyone's mind about the candidates, she seems to have emboldened those who already favored McCain to speak out.

Gallup data has shown for months that about a third of 18-24 year old voters are for McCain. However, youthful McCain supporters have been, at least until now, less passionate about their candidate than Obama supporters. A quick glance at the candidates' friends tallies on Facebook shows Obama leading that 'race' by nearly a million friends. However, Sarah Palin has already gathered two-thirds as many friends as McCain. Nancy Meinhardt of Miami, wrote on her 'wall' on August 30, "I think that Sarah Palin is a great choice. McCain was not my 1st choice but after seeing his choice for VP I am sold and ready to work full time on his campaign."

The Wall Street Journal, in an article titled "Palin's Entry Gives GOP Ticket Shot at Capturing the Youth Vote" (9.11.08), reports that 32% of 18-34 year old voters say that McCain's choice of a running mate makes them more likely to vote for him, compared to just 17% who say the same thing of Obama's running mate choice. The Journal goes on to say that Palin makes supporting McCain 'cool' -- or at least less uncool:

"She reminds me of my friends", said Allyson Wartick, 20, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Just two weeks ago, the mood on campus "was definitely, 'Obama is the cool place to be,'" said Jennifer Kacerosky, 21, senior a the University of Florida. This past weekend, though, she went to a football game sporting a McCain-Palin button, and "it was, 'Where'd you get that? I need that!'"

What makes Palin appealing to Millennials? Here are some hypotheses:

First, Sarah is an overnight celebrity and Millennials relate to that -- after all they have grown up believing anyone with talent can become a star (see earlier post "I want to be a star" for more on that subject).

Second, it may be that Palin reminds Millennials of their Moms. This generation is remarkable for its good relationships with their parents, they respect what their Moms have accomplished.

Another hypothesis is her social conservatism is appealing, at least to some young voters. Pew says 46% of 18-30 year olds believe abortion should be banned or limited.

Maybe it's because, at 44, Sarah is young herself. Her achievements don't seem that out of reach, and her particular brand of feminism, which features life-work balance, is in sync with young women's own aspirations for having it all - marriage, family and career.

Whatever the reason, the Sarah factor has made predictions of Obama's lock on the youth vote a little less certain.

Taco Bell Rings the Bell with Millennials

Taco Bell announced this week it is extending its "Feed the Beat" Indie Rock Band promotion for its late night "Fourth Meal" for a third year. My thoughts on why this is a smart promotion were mentioned in Ad Age today. Why do I think it's smart? Well, it's reasonable to assume after two years, they must have a pretty good idea that the promo works. How could it not? This seems to hit multiple Millennial sweet spots all at once:

1. Simple and Undemanding. The rules are simple: register for $500 worth of late night coupons and a chance to a chance to be promoted by a record producer next spring, no strings whatsoever.

2. Immediate gratification. Winners will be announced in October.

3. Social. Bands have fans. Fans like to eat, too. Winners will be selected via online vote, which will encourage the bands to activate their networks.

4. Indie Rock Bands. Music is a top passion for Millennials, as blogger Charlie Moran points out in the Ad Age article.

5. Late Night. Millennials live 24/7 lives, as the time stamping on most papers they turn into me for class attests. A "Fourth Meal" makes sense to them. As I mentioned to Emily York, the Ad Age reporter who contacted me, "it's particularly savvy because members of that generation have round-the-clock opportunities we didn't dream of at their age."

Taco Bell's marketing investment in this promotion is modest: 100 bands X $500 in late night coupons ($50K), URL for registration and voting, placement on sauce packets, PR. The return is potentially great, if only in registered band member names and voters! The PR potential is big and very well-targeted. It all seems to point to a potentially huge ROI, as well as some terrific potential for brand-differentiation. I predict we'll see this promotion extended a fourth year.

Listen Up! What Millennials Wish They Could Say to Their Bosses

Last spring, Brand Amplitude conducted focus groups among professionally employed Millennials around the country. We asked, “If you could tell your boss one thing, what would it be?” Here's what they said. (Are you listening bosses?)

1. “Teach me!”

“I feel like boomers don’t teach as much as they could… Millennials want to learn.”

While they do believe they are more knowledgeable in certain areas – such as technology – they realize that they have a lot to learn from older generations. As one Millennial, put it: “Go ahead and tell stories, share your wisdom, or teach them something you wish you would have known when you were their age.”

2. “Mentor Me!”

“The whole concept of ‘reporting’ to people is very parents’ generation… [we] are more team focused.”

Relationships and corporate cultures are especially important to Millennials. They want want to feel cared for as individuals -- not just employees. In short, they want mentors, coaches and teammates – not just bosses. Participants expressed more loyalty to the people they work with than to their company. As one brand manager put it, “I feel connected to the people I work with, not necessarily the company.” Another said, “People make everything worth doing.”

3. “This job is not my life!”

“My job isn’t life or death – I’m not saving lives, I work in marketing – sometimes people forget that.”

This statement received unanimous agreement. It followed a conversation about expectations regarding flex hours, vacation time and work/life balance in general. All expected a minimum of three weeks vacation from the start. Most expected a flexible work schedule and the opportunity to work from home when they didn’t need to be in the office for meetings. It’s interesting to note that Millennials know they’re spoiled. While they can appreciate how fortunate they are, they don’t feel the need to apologize for it. They believe that work life balance will make them even more productive.

4.“Trust me!”

“I would tell my boss that they need to place more responsibility in the hands of younger employees.”

Millennials want to feel empowered to make a difference in the business. They yearn for autonomy and the authority to have a real impact. Millennials feel especially discouraged when they are micromanaged. A manager’s goal should be to find that magical middle ground – the perfect balance between giving employees generous feedback while simultaneously giving them the freedom to make decisions and solve problems on their own.

5. “Reward me!”

“I’m as loyal to them as they are to me.”

It’s important to clearly communicate performance expectations and how performance will be rewarded. It’s also key to be true to your word! The fastest way to lose a Millennial’s loyalty is to renege on a promise. It seems to be especially important to Millennials to know the right incentives are in place. Millennials welcome open conversation about compensation and incentive programs. Some want a raise, but others prefer a results-based bonus structure, more vacation time or public recognition.

6. “Don’t Take Me For Granted!”

“My company doesn’t realize that their most qualified people can and will leave for a better work environment.”

A common perception about Millennials is that they aren’t very loyal. Yet when we probed about workplace loyalty, we heard many say they would like to be loyal, but only to companies that ‘earn’ their loyalty. Millennials feel their parents’ generation was loyal to a fault. Millennials believe they have more options, so they insist they will only stick with a company that earns their devotion.

Special thanks to Carolyn Torres, Millennial, Notre Dame MBA graduate and Product Development Manager at Whirlpool for moderating these groups! (That's Carolyn's picture, fyi!)

Millennial Media: Magazines and Radio Deserve A Second Look

Want to reach Millennials? Don't assume you can only find them online. According to MRI (Fall 2007), 18-24 year olds are more likely than older adults to be in the top 40% of Radio listeners and Magazine readers. (See chart)

Many magazines are more than twice as likely to be read by 18-24 year olds than by adults in other age groups. Cosmopolitan enjoys penetration of 21% among this age group (and most likely even higher penetration of among just women). Magazines other than Cosmopolitan with penetration among both genders of over 10% include: Maxim, ESPN the magazine, Seventeen, Vibe, Rolling Stone, Glamour, US Weekly, Babies and Bridal (in that order). Other magazines indexing over 200 (2x higher than average) include Sports Illustrated, Game Informer, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue, Cosmo Girl, American Baby, Allure, In Touch Weekly, Men's Fitness, Game Pro, Teen Vogue, Modern Bride, Fuse, WWE Magazine, Elle, PC Gamer, Marie Claire, Penthouse, Latina, Lucky, Spin, and Dirt Rider. Likewise, radio is a natural choice for mobile Millennials.

This is good news for marketers. While newspapers, TV and outdoor are all problematic, there are good traditional media alternatives other than the Internet for reaching young adults. The ability to target narrowly by interest makes radio and magazines a great deal for Millennial marketers, and worth a second look.

Millennials Offended by Unflattering Generational Image

Last November, CBS aired an unflattering Millennial portrait with its "The Millennials Are Coming" report. The generation was criticized for its coddled upbringing, lazy work habits, and unrealistic expectations. Here's a sample:

"It's a perfect storm we have created to put these people in a position where they suddenly have to perform as professionals and haven’t been trained," Mary Crane [former White House chef who trains Millennials] says. Basic training, like how to eat with a knife and fork, or indeed how to work. Today, fewer and fewer middle class kids hold summer jobs because mowing lawns does not get you into Harvard. They have climbed Mount Everest. They've been down to Machu Picchu to help excavate it. But they've never punched a time clock. They have no idea what it's like to actually be in an office at nine o'clock, with people handing them work. You now have a generation coming into the workplace that has grown up with the expectation that they will automatically win, and they'll always be rewarded, even for just showing up."

Ouch. Little wonder Millennials were offended. However, the picture doesn't have to be this negative for them to take offense. When I first published an article in Ad Age last November about what my students DON'T know about Marketing, I was surprised how offended they were. Here's a sample of the response:

"I pity all the people (including the author of this article) who so severely underestimate us. I think those who assume we will curl up in a ball crying every time we don't get handed a cookie for good behavior are in for a big surprise in the years to come." -New York, NY

This 3 minute spoof of the 60 Minutes piece on YouTube provides a mocking view of what older generations think of Millennials. The piece includes a hilarious interviews with a Millennial in his native habitat, 'his parent's basement' who has no idea what the earnest interviewer is talking about. It also features an interview with Millennial expert, Dr. Alan So, author of "Generation Why Not Call Them Millennials?". Dr. So patiently explains that Millennials are not equipped to communicate in person because with all their technology 'they've never had to'. This generation is well aware of their flaws. A recent survey (see earlier post, How Gen Y Sees Itself) revealed that Millennials are just as critical of themselves as anything their elders say about them. However, they understandably don't want those flaws pointed out. Who can blame them?

Millennial Target: Bill Gates & Jerry Seinfeld

Today's Ad Age discusses the first spot in a new campaign for Microsoft that features Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. In an earlier post, I speculated the pairing would appeal to Millennial's fondness for underappreciated, surprisingly talented nerds. The first spot does not disappoint. While the Ad Age article calls Gates' performance 'hokey', that is precisely the point. The agency, Crispin should be applauded for celebrating the awkwardness of its biggest brand asset, Bill Gates, rather than ignoring it or trying to be as cool as Apple. I predict Millennials will embrace this new campaign. Now whether it causes them to rethink their fanatic love of Apple is another question, but this is a good first step. I look forward to seeing where they take it next.

Buy Cool Stuff, Do Good

Many brands have incorporated social responsibility into their marketing, and this approach is known to influence at least a portion of Millennials. In most cases (Tom's Shoes being an exception), customers are required to DO something -- like recycle their old sweats -- to contribute. With what RetailHitsandMisses blogger, Judy Hopelain, calls 'Millennial perfect pitch', EBAY announced today the launch of a new shopping site, WorldofGood.com, that makes doing good as painless as shopping online. With the tagline, "Where Your Shopping Shapes the World", this new site makes it easy to support whatever cause you like! Want to buy products that are made of eco-friendly materials, support local community services, preserve native plans and native trditions, adhere to fair trade practices, conserve energy and do not harm animals in production? You can find them here. Want to join a community that shares your passion for a cause? EBAY uses its formidable community building skills to make it easy to do just that. There's even a Facebook link and easy way to tell others about WorldofGood.

While WorldofGood will appeal to more than just Millennials, it indeed seems custom made for a generation that has money to spend and seeks to make a difference. Already this site has attracted hundreds of bloggers. We predict that word of mouth will move this site to the forefront of Gen Y's consciousness very quickly.

Millennial Target: Hot PINK

Victoria's Secret's PINK brand is hot. With sales approaching $1 Billion, it is growing faster than VS overall according to Ad Age (7/7/08). PINK's Facebook Group boasts 509,478 fans, one of the largest on the site. This fall, PINK started directly targeting the collegiate crowd with a COMPREHENSIVE approach that leaves no stone unturned, with apps for your facebook page, style guides, videos of favorite bands, logowear from 33 universities, video personality profiles, events (PINKAPOLOOZA) text messaging sign up, free customizable goodies for your myspace page or computer, insider blogs, a maglog, cause marketing, a $5 planner promotional offer -- even horoscopes. Nothing was left out. And the overall sense is that they won't stop here, there's lots more to come. (I was interested to note that Notre Dame is not one of the participating schools, you can see a list click here; be sure to click Roll Call to hear the charming Behati from Namibia read the school names to you, definitely worth watching).

Overall, the site feels more like a social network than a comercial site, and that apparently is the intent and its appeal. I admit I found 30 minutes of total entertainment. It makes college look so COOL! Who wouldn't want to be part of this scene? Cool is apparently is the goal, according to Sara Tervo, PR Director:

With fickle teens jumping from one fashion brand to another, it's a balancing art to stay relevant and "cool" in the eyes of this consumer group. "What VS Pink does is it listens to the customer, pays attention to the fashion trends, and stays true to the brand," says Tervo. (PR Week, 2/11)

Brands who want to approach the college market would do well to look at VSPINK.

Millennial Media: What Are They Watching?

According to Alloy Media, 24% of teens are on the Internet 15 or more hours a week, and the average time spent is 11.5 hours. They also watch a lot less TV than the rest of us. According to MRI's Mediamark Reporter, the top TV Quintile of 18-24 year olds are indexes just 66 vs. Total Adults. So what, in fact, are they watching, online and ontv?

MRI Medimark Reporter (Fall 2007) shows MySpace and MTV are the most highly penetrated channels with over 40% of 18-24 year olds watching (see table)with VH1 and YouTube are right behind. The surprise for me was the high popularity of [Adult Swim]. With 21% penetration and an index of 368, its penetration rivals that of Facebook.

For those of you over 30 who may not be familiar with [Adult Swim], it's what runs between 11PM and 6PM Eastern, 7 nights a week, on the Cartoon Network, the HBO of animation. While it began as a spinoff, today it is a channel in its own right. Adultswim.com carries a variety of streamed video, games and social media opportunities. Here's what that most knowledgeable of sources, Wikipedia, has to say about it:

Adult Swim, (usually stylized [adult swim] with its signature square brackets), is an adult-oriented television network sharing channel space with Cartoon Network in the United States.[1] The programming features animated shows, including original programming, syndicated shows, and Japanese anime, generally with minimal or no editing for content. The shows are geared toward a 16+ audience, in contrast to the child and pre-teen daytime programming on Cartoon Network. The shows and commercial breaks are usually interrupted by "bumps", or moments where short jokes or internet fan feedback (which they sometimes respond to in a sarcastic manner when it is negative) are broadcast in simple white letters over a black screen. The network is programmed by Williams Street Studios, who have created Toonami and Miguzi; they play American animated series and shorts geared towards adults, and in the past have played a wide variety of Japanese anime series, OVAs, and movies. Promotions for Adult Swim are targeted towards the college age and 20something/30something group, constituting the majority of their viewers. According to a September 1, 2004 article in Promo magazine, representatives travel to 30 universities across the U.S. to promote the Adult Swim lineup, including handing out posters for students' dorm rooms.

David Carson reports in today's Ad Age that online video has a bigger audience than cable TV. Sites like YouTube.com, MTV.com, and Adultswim.com are making the idea of one channel, three screens seem more like a reality all the time. Reaching Millennials may be a matter of allowing them to direct the content they want to the screen -- TV, computer or mobile phone -- they want.