Why I Love Teaching Marketing to Millennials

People sometimes ask how I came to be so interested in Millennial Marketing. It wasn't a conscious thing, I started teaching Marketing at University of Notre Dame in 2003 and was struck by how different the students were from my generation. I didn't even know they were called Millennials, I just knew I couldn't teach them the way I was taught. In 2007, I wrote about my experience for Ad Age, "Clued In or Clueless: What Marketing Students Don't Know About Marketing" and "Get the Best Out of Millennials by Tweaking Habits". After nearly 200 Millennial Marketing blog posts , I am still learning and writing new things about Millennials every day. (For links to pdf versions of the articles, visit brandamplitude.com/whitepapers

An article, titled 'How Tweet It is To Teach at Notre Dame', appeared today in ND Today, an internal magazine for Notre Dame employees. I am printing it in entirety for those who might be interested in my reflections on what a privelege it is to teach Millennials marketing:

If you want to talk to this generation of young people, you’ve got to speak their language. That’s why Carol Phillips, a marketing instructor in the undergraduate and MBA programs in the Mendoza College of Business, blogs, tweets and texts like a 20-something.

“The Millennials are a passion of mine,” says Phillips, referring to the term that has replaced “Generation Y” to describe the offspring of Baby Boomers. “This generation is so different. They’re very civic-minded. Their values are not like ours; they are very team-oriented, social and cause-oriented. They are about making a difference and giving back. It is so admirable.”

They also, of course, are quite tech-savvy, which is why Phillips stays almost constantly plugged in to social media via her own blog, Twitter (@Carol_Phillips for those who tweet), Facebook and other new media as an avenue to reach the younger set.

How she came to teach millennials at Notre Dame was “a total accident,” says Phillips, who has also kept her “day job” as president and owner of the Michigan-based brand strategy consulting firm Brand Amplitude, LLC. Her teaching career was launched in 2003 after she was asked by longtime Mendoza faculty member Jack Kennedy to serve as a judge for a project in one of his courses. The two struck up a friendship and Kennedy suggested that she and Notre Dame might benefit from having her on the faculty.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks,” Phillips says of her work in the classroom, admitting that in the beginning she, the teacher, had a lot to learn. “I thought we were going to interact the way we interact in business.”

Not so, especially, as she first found out, when it comes to the dress code. “I learned very quickly that it’s different. I was going to require business attire,” she laughs. “That went by the wayside in the first class.”

Phillips teaches two courses, an introduction to marketing for sophomores, and brand strategy for MBA students. She enjoys both, but for different reasons. “With the MBAs, most of them have some work experience, so they give back to me in the sense of ideas and an exchange,” she says of the graduate students. “With the sophomores, it’s more the reward of watching them get it. Most of them aren’t going to be marketing majors, but every semester a couple of them go, ‘Wow, I had no idea; I thought marketing was just advertising,’ and that’s exciting.”

For Phillips, teaching has very much been a two-way street. Her students benefit from her expertise as a businesswoman, as well as her connections. She’s brought in such classroom speakers as the chief operating officers of Blockbuster and Orbitz, as well as higher-ups from such success stories as Facebook, thanks to her outside working relationships. In return, she has access to her own focus groups in the form of these Notre Dame Millennials. “I gain a line of sight into young people,” she explains, “which is very beneficial in my work.”

Acknowledging that Notre Dame students are somewhat uniquely talented and ambitious among young people, what she’s learned here in the classroom gives her cause for optimism about this generation. “I think it’s going to just be fascinating to watch them,” she says. “And I wouldn’t have known any of this without teaching. It’s a privilege to be here.”

For those who might be interested, you can still see the class blog my MBA Brand Strategy class created last semester.

Go Irish!

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.

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.

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.