The Generation Gap: It's Back!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Millennial Wave to Hit Imported Beer and Microbrews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can Wal-Mart Survive Generation Y?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Three Reasons Gen Y Doesn't Get Twitter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marketing to Millennials in a Recession

At first it was 'a financial crisis' but now everyone calls it a 'recession'. With only 19.7% of new college grads who apply for jobs getting them and 65% moving into Mom's basement, the reality of the 'new frugality' has finally settled in with Millennials. However, new research from JWT (see chart) shows, the recession hasn't yet affected spending across the board. For adults 18-29, some things are indispensible (Internet), others less critical (dining out), and some are completely forgettable (magazines).

Marketing to Millennials now is not fundamentally different from any other time, because Gen Y has always considered itself cash strapped. (I am always amused to hear my students complain about how poor they are). Now, as they graduate and get jobs, Millennials continue to see themselves as careful shoppers, even as they outspend other generations on everything from cell phones to wine. They wouldn't think of making a major purchase without careful and exhaustive research, online and via word of mouth. One of my favorite Gen Y blog posts declared that if you are not Gen Y, you probably overpaid.

With money dearer now, and the tools for discovering preferences of friends becoming ever more accessible and powerful, I expect they will become even more careful in the future.

Of course, it's not just Millennials who are affected. According to new IRI research, the recession has created what they call the "Downturn Generation", a "new generation of Americans adopting practices similar to Depression-era shoppers, implemented both to weather the recession and to keep a close eye on spending long after the recession ends." The strategies characteristic of this 'new generation' sound a lot like practices Millennials have been implementing for years. Here's a sample:

"Consumers are becoming more resourceful and strategic when planning their purchases for meals, wardrobe, home and automobile maintenance and personal care. New approaches identified include consumers turning to the plethora of information available on the Internet to help prepare for purchases, clip online coupons and research reviews, commentary and opinions on products and services before making a purchasing decision. In fact, more than 44 percent of shoppers are using online resources to find coupons today, and 55 percent of them plan to continue this practice into the future."

How do we market to a generation of tight wads who are programmed to avoid impulse shopping? Very carefully.

According to the JWT study, "77 percent of young adults, people18-29, feel nervous and anxious about the impact of the recession."

Extra reassurance is needed for each decision, and that reassurance will be trusted most if it comes from a friend or neutral party. The key is to make sure they find the right information, not necessarily make your brand per se the go to source for the information. In other words, it’s very important to allow them to market to each other. Information is a form of social currency. Give Millennials information they value and they will share it with their friends. According to the article mentioned above, authored by Northwestern Medill Journalism student, Inyoung Hwang, here's how it could work in video games:

Morris Levy, senior at the University of New Hampshire, said even if a new product like a video game sparked his interest, he would hold off on purchasing it until he understood it better. “I’d look into it more – look at reviews online, ratings from different companies and news sources,” he said. Gary Rudman, the president of GTR Consulting, a market research firm, said video game companies will sometimes provide free clips of games to websites like IGN Entertainment. It’s a simple but successful word-of-mouth strategy that allows young people to feel like they’re finding things on their own and then talk to friends about it. “It doesn’t feel like a marketer is forcing something down your throat,” he said. “You’ve gone to a place to find it, you’ve discovered it, and you share it with the world.” Very successful brands understand there’s nothing better than having something “bubble up from the bottom,” according to Rudman.

Music and movie marketers have used this approach to reach Gen Y for years. If it is that effective for entertainment, imagine how powerful it could be for restaurants, wine, automobiles, financial services, higher education, and more.

Do You Think Like a Millennial? Ten Simple Tests.

In the past week, I've been told I think like a Millennial and that I 'totally get Millennials'. As a Boomer, I am very proud of this accomplishment. It's not easy for people my age to think Millenniall-ly, I had to work at it.

Do you think like a Millennial? Here are some simple tests:

1. Is work something you 'go to' or something you just do? Younger workers view work as something you do -- anywhere, any time. They are experts at time shifting, asynchronous communication, and multi-tasking. They see no reason why they can't use Facebook at work and take work calls at home. It's just life.

2. When faced with a problem, is your first resort to check the manual or just dive right in? Gen Y knows they can find out the answer to anything anytime anywhere. Their first response to a question they don't know is to Google it. Lack of information is never a problem, because they know how to find out.

3. Do you prefer face to face communication or electronic? Gen Y uses all the tools, email, IM, text, Facebook, Twitter, blogs and more. If it can be handled electronically, why should we meet?

4. When you describe Millennials as 'entitled' do you mean it as a criticism or a compliment? What many Boomers think of as unjustified arrogance, Millennials believe is earned.

5. Do you feel loyal to the company or to your co-workers? Millennials have no sense of loyalty to a firm, but they do feel passionate about their team. They are collaborative to a fault.

6. Are you striving to make a mark or to make a difference? Gen Y's core value is to fight for what they believe in. They want to do well by doing good, not wait until they've done well to do good.

7. Do you laugh at or with Ryan Howard on the Office? Ryan is caricature of what Gen X thinks of Millennials -- overly technology laden, surly, and arrogant. Yet Ryan's humor is some of the most subtle on the show (in fact many of the episodes were written by BJ Novak who plays Ryan). Ex: "I miss the days when there was only one office party I didn't want to go to".

8. Do you embrace or distrust the term 'Millennial'? Millennials really hate being labeled at all. They chafe at the expectation that just because they are young, they are totally up on all things 'Millennial'. They prefer not to be thought of as part of a generation, but as an individual.

9. Do you think of a day as 12 hours or 24 hours? Millennials think of time as a resource to be allocated as needed, not by a clock.

10. Is your glass half empty or half full? Millennials are notoriously civic-minded and optimistic. It's no coincidence that Obama and Pepsi both made optimism cornerstones of their brands. No matter that the average Millennial carries $24,000 in college debt and is most likely underemployed. They see a better world coming.

Full-Service Restaurants Work Hard to Keep Millennials

Our research on behalf of New York-based Rosa Mexicano Restaurants, reinforces the importance of having the right mix of food and atmosphere to attract Millennials. The main reason young adults eat out is to 'relax'. They want a place that isn't too stuffy and the food is exciting and different. What stands out about Rosa's are their signature items: tableside-prepared guacamole (photo left) and pomegranate margaritas. In addition, each of Rosa's eight locations has unique decor and a lively bar. When I visited their Lincoln Center restaurant last month; there was no sign of a slow down.

Unfortunately, Rosa's is the exception rather than the rule. Full service restaurant revenue has declined steadily since 2005, with fine dining being hit hardest. (IBIS, Dec. 2008)

With an average entree price of $19.52, 50% higher than at a casual restaurant, it's no surprise that 47% of consumers say they are "spending less at fine dining restaurants" (Mintel, Nov. 2008). Consequently, fine dining is one of the sectors expected to be hardest hit by the recession. Technomic predicts revenue falling as much as 12%.

Who eats at fancy restaurants? Just about everyone it turns out. It's true that frequency of eating at fine dining restaurants increases dramatically with income; all but the lowest income households eat at them at least a few times a year. The average household eats out at a fine dining restaurant about 8.6 times a year. Younger adults, 18-34 years, are especially important to fine dining restaurants with 10.9 visits a year. Their high level of eating out makes them 17% more important to casual restaurants as well.

Beyond mere frequency, younger age groups are also more likely to have larger dining parties than older age groups, a revenue driver that is only partially outweighed by the fact that "the larger the dining party becomes, the less is spent on a per-person basis." Finally, Mintel reports menu item sharing is more prevalent with younger patrons, "as a form of socializing and experimenting, as well as a way to keep costs down. Older people may be more apt to view the occasion in more intimate terms with a loved one."

In any event, younger patrons are critical to fine dining and casual restaurants, so it's not surprising to learn marketers are finding innovative ways to keep young adults from trading down to fast food or cooking more special meals at home. The Wall Street Journal ("Bar Wars", 4.3.08) reports urban high end restaurants are converting some of their dining space to bars and serving more affordable 'bar food'. Not only are the smaller portions and less expensive ingredients of appetizers more profitable, the margins on beer, wine and cocktails are much higher than on food. Here are just four examples of this new trend:

Alain Ducasse's Benoit bistro in New York recently rolled out a bar menu that includes sliders and $1 deviled eggs.

Daniel Boulud, the Manhattan chef behind one of the city's most formal restaurants, Daniel, plans to open DBGB Kitchen & Bar, featuring 24 beers on tap and homemade sausage and hot dogs, in May or June.

Christophe Émé, chef and owner of Ortolan in Los Angeles, has begun calling about 100 customers a week to tell them about his new bar menu.

Thomas Keller's Per Se restaurant in Manhattan, where the only dinner option has been a $275, nine-course prix fixe menu, launched an a la carte menu for its lounge area last week. Diners are seated around coffee tables.

Eric Greenspan's Foundry, in Los Angeles, featured high end cuisine until 3 months ago when it was turned into a lounge with nightly live bands, cocktail waitresses and promotions such as "fried-chicken-and-waffles night."

Casual restaurants are taking a different road to attracting Millennials, emphasizing low prices and special promotional offers. For example, T.G.I. Fridays is advertising its top ten entrees available on Friday's for just $9.99.

The Office Gets Generational Work Relationships Right

At the risk of undermining my cultural credentials, I hereby admit that I was just introduced to NBC's The Office by my 15-year old son. It's witty, well-written and I love the fact that it, mercifully, has no laugh track to inform you of what's funny. Above all, I am impressed by how accurately it captures the unique perspectives of all three generations: Millennials, Gen X and Boomers.

Gen X: Pam Beasley and Jim Halpert are Gen X'ers -- and the only sane people in the office. Jim and Pam alone are able to see the humor of each situation. Both are hard working but not that ambitious. They willing to sacrifice career advantage for personal happiness (continue to work in the same office). They reject the idea that Dunder Mifflin is their 'career'.

Boomer: Michael Scott, Manager of the Scranton office of Dunder Mifflin, is thoroughly Boomer. His personal identity is deeply connected to his co-workers and his career. He is so earnest about cultural issues in the work place that he inevitably behaves inappropriately whenever there is a racial, gender or privacy issue. He embarasses his younger staff members, and they don't respect his abilities, but love him all the same for being a 'nice guy'.

Millennial: Ryan Howard embodies the Millennial point of view. He is disdainful and incredulous of Michael's seeming ineptitude. He starts as a temp, but his MBA and careful cultivation of upper management, catapaults him to the position of Regional Manager at corporate in New York. This move makes Ryan Michael Scott's boss (a Millennial fantasy if ever there was one!). Once in the job, Ryan unleashes a series of well-intended, but disruptive, technology initiatives (web site, PowerPoint training, Blackberry's. He fails to grasp the impact of his heavy-handed ways which causes opinion about Ryan to shift from tolerated to actively disliked.

The Office portrays real generational tensions. Michael thinks Jim is 'lazy'.

Michael: "I can spend all day on a project and he can do the same project in 30 minutes, so that should tell you something!"

Jim does not aspire to be like his boss, Michael.

Jim: "I think of this as my job. If rose any higher this would be my career, and then I'd have to throw myself in front of train."

Ryan's introduction of Michael to his MBA class makes it clear he thinks Michael is a loser.

In telling it like it is, The Office reveals a truth about intergenerational work relationships: the generations don't have to respect each other's abilities or understand each others' values to care for one another as human beings and pull together for the common good. We could all learn a lot from The Office.

Millennials: Their Place in Generational History

According to Wikipedia, Neil Howe is co-author with William Strauss of Millennials Rising (2000), and many other books on Millennials, "is historian, economist, and demographer who writes and speaks frequently on generational change in American history and on long-term fiscal policy." In short he someone I would go out of my way to hear speak. So I was delighted to find this 16 minute YouTube video of a speech he gave in January at Otis College.

Hint: If you want the larger generational perspective, the whole video is worth watching, but start about nine minutes in if you just want to hear what he has to say about Millennials. >/p>

Tough Sells: Anti-Tobacco and Responsible Drinking

Good news for Millennial marketers! Advertising works! A slew of new studies document both these statements are true:

1) Tobacco advertising and promotion cause young people to smoke

2) Mass media campaigns are effective at reducing smoking among young people, especially when combined with other tobacco control strategies.

Two new studies in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine (Feb 9, 2009), conclude that the National Truth Campaign to Prevent Youth Smoking has been highly effective cost efficient in reducing initiation of smoking among teens. One study found that truth(R) was directly responsible for keeping 450,000 teens from starting to smoke during its first four years, while a second study found that the campaign not only paid for itself in its first two years, but also saved between $1.9 billion and $5.4 billion in health care costs. Impressive.

Unfortunately, there is equally impressive evidence that the better-funded efforts of tobacco marketers are even more effective and cost efficient. New research by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Feb 13, 2009) found the three most heavily advertised cigarette brands - Marlboro, Newport and Camel - were preferred by 78.2 percent of middle school smokers and 86.5 percent of high school smokers. Marlboro is preferred by more high school smokers, 52.3 percent, than all other brands combined.

What's true of tobacco also appears to apply to underage drinking. Despite clever drink responsibly campaigns (I especially like the Captain Morgan pizza delivery ad), better funded youth-oriented alcohol advertising may be contributing to an epidemic of binge drinking on college campuses. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimates that 1,700 college students between ages 18 and 24 die of alcohol-related causes each year, while about 600,000 suffer from alcohol-related injuries. Nearly 25 percent of all college students report academic consequences of drinking, including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers and receiving lower grades overall. (Colleges Crack Down on Binge Drinking).

There is plenty of evidence that college culture on many campuses now celebrates drinking to get drunk. The "official" Motown/Asher Roth "I Love College" music video on YouTube has over half a million views without counting the many unofficial versions. On Sunday night, 60 Minutes interviewed college students about drinking games and attitudes toward drinking. This short clip captures the matter of fact way students accept that drinking to get drunk = social life on campus today. (More 60 Minutes clips and transcript.)

The moral for Millennial marketers? Advertise responsibly!

Millennial Childhoods: The Why's of Gen Y

Millenials

View more presentations from Steve_Mellor. (tags: boomers baby)

There are a lot of presentations that do a great job of describing Gen Y. This presentation By Steve Mellor and Cathy O'Donnell of Harris Interactive is the best I've seen of at explaining why they are the way they are. Definitely worth a read, it provides cultural context for understanding Millennial values and the pressures that shaped them. (My only criticism is that Millennials should have two 'n's').

Millennials: The New Gender Equality?

Women's basketball's biggest star, 22-year old Candace Parker, made a surprise announcement last month: she and her basketball star husband, Shelden Williams, are expecting. Parker was the 2008 league MVP and Rookie of the Year for the Los Angeles Sparks. Why would she have a baby now of all times? Her reply: I want my children to have the benefit of young parents.

This may be a sign of another gender revolution quietly underway. The revolution is a function of Millennial values, and may be amplified by the economic crisis.

Let's start with values. Millennials do not see themselves tied to anyone else's timetable. Many younger women are opting to have children now, before their careers are established. It may be a reaction to watching their own mothers struggle to balance an established career with motherhood. Or perhaps it's just a sign of the confidence these young women feel in their own abilities? Nevertheless, as I have noted before, birthrates are up and young mothers (20-24) are largely responsible for the surge.

A recent comment in response to my July 21 post, "What the Cool Kids Want: A Baby?", provides extra evidence that this emphasis on family may be relatively new, and influenced by cultural icons having babies and making it look attractive. Here's what 'Anonymous' has to say:

"I'm a first-wave millennial, a newlywed, 24 years old, so child-bearing has been on my mind the past year or so. This blog is really interesting because I've noticed a 'change in the wind' with women my age. Whereas growing up as a preteen and high schooler it seemed like having a kid was a curse, along with the whole 'domestic' lifestyle. Shows like FRIENDS, and Seinfeld showed that it was clearly stupid to waste your life being married and having babies. For first-wave Millennials like myself however, we were coming of age just as all the characters on FRIENDS were starting to settle down and even have babies. I think girls my age thought "Why am I going to waste a decade trying to find myself, when in the end what I'm looking for is a family?" Also- I think the number of unmarried women having babies (ages 25-29) are the 'inbetween' generation from Gen X to Millennial. It seems like they are less wary of taking on the single-mom life, and opt for abortions less and less. I think there is still a bit of a cynical attitude towards marriage in that age group however. I think people in their early 20s are starting to warm up to the idea of marriage (influenced partly by TV romances like Pam & Jim on NBC's The Office). I think people are starting to realize that maybe marriage can be a good thing- an idea Millennials didn't grow up with."

Why do I say the trend may be accelerated by the economic crisis? In the past, economic woes led to smaller families. However, this crisis may be different, due to its unequal impact on men and women. According to Lionel Tiger, a Rutgers anthropologist, fully 82% job losers are men ("From Liberation to Obligation" Wall Street Journal, Feb 7). Tiger's prediction is that the economic crisis will put a heavier burden on women. I disagree. It's possible more men will opt to stay home and watch children, freeing moms rather than encumbering them. If more young men do stay home, it may become more socially acceptable, 'liberating' women to work without the usual juggling. Of course, it could the opposite way, with men opting out of family life altogether (Tiger's thesis).

While a 'heavier burden on women' may be true of Gen X and older groups, I don't think it will be the case with Millennials who have already shown their willingness to decouple identity from work. If I'm right, Gen Y may finally bring the kind of gender equality feminists in the 60's only dreamed of.

Marketers have been slow to catch on to men as a target for CPG products traditionally marketed to women, but that may be changing. Advertising Age today exhorts marketers to embrace and possibly facilitate the change. ("Why Package Goods Companies Should Market to Men", Ad Age, Feb 9)

Marketing to men and portraying them as caretakers of and shoppers for the family can attract additional consumers to a brand while encouraging men to become greater participants in the maintenance of their families and homes. And the more men are accepted and accept themselves in that role, the more they'll be interested in brands that solve the needs or enhance the enjoyment of home and family care. And, of course, the more they'll shop for those products.

Basing strategies for tomorrow on current marketing data, sensible as it may seem, is shortsighted, even dangerous. ...Reaching out to a seemingly less lucrative, smaller target market such as men isn't quixotic but rather a strategy to attract more consumers, encourage greater innovation, and even affect the roles men and women shape for themselves, now and in the future. Instead of emulating those Detroit execs who ignored or resisted change, why don't we embrace, guide and, ultimately, benefit from it?

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.

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 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.

Role Reversal? Marketing to Millennials Through Their Parents

Every marketer knows parents' purchase decisions in everything from breakfast cereal to cell phones are often strongly influenced by their children. Wise marketers have leveraged this by marketing directly to their kids, even though they are not the ultimate decision-maker. With close relationships between hovering parents and young adults increasingly the norm, the opposite strategy may start to make sense: influence young adults' decisions through their parents.

Colleges have long known the importance of parents to the application and decision process. Now HR managers are also directly addressing parental concerns after noticing parents were helping their adult children negotiate pay and benefits, angle for promotions and evaluate job offers. According to BNet, Office Depot is planning to include a reassuring message to parents on its web site; Merrill started sponsoring a Parents’ Day in 2006. The company flies parents and caretakers of diversity students to Manhattan, teaches them about the business, provides a tour of the Big Apple, and emphasizes company support and benefits, such as free meals and transportation for employees working overtime. The program has been so successful they are considering expanding it. Last year only one student whose parents attended the event didn’t accept the firm’s subsequent job offer.

Millennials are just beginning to make their first significant adult purchases -- automobiles and appliances, student loans, health and life insurance, a home, financial investments, and automobiles. As they make these decisions for the first time, they will turn to their parents for advice. Smart marketers will anticipate the influence parents are likely to have in these decisions. After all, 50% of 18-24 year old men and 33% of women still live at home, and many continue to receive financial support from their parents. Increasingly, consumer decisions may look more like corporate 'buying center' decisions, with multiple influencers and lack of clarity around who is the true decision-maker.

The Gen Y Digital Divide: Natives vs. Immigrants

Millennials are different in ways large and small -- in upbringing, values, beverage and leisure preferences, work habits, social attitudes and more. But perhaps the difference that is most important for marketers is information savvy. Millennials prefer to think of themselves as the Internet Generation. Gen Y members could operate a mouse before they could read. They absorb each new innovation with lightening speed, speeding the innovation cycle to dizzying levels. They don't value information per se, because information is free. Instead, they value the ability to organize, create and share information. They don't search, they expect relevant information to come to them. Ultimately, technology may be the underlying driver of all the other differences. The Journal of Brand Management, in an insightful 2008 editorial eloquently described this generational divide:

"The under thirties 'are more savvy, more materialistic, more media-saturated and more impatient than any generation that's preceded them. Gen Y-- the so-called options generation -- wants the freedom to exercise choice. ... But the picture is more complicated than this: it isn't simply that the young are savvy and the old aren't. Indeed, many in the older generation are savvy and technologically sophisticated. Moreover, older consumers are striving to be younger....Perhaps the real difference between the generations is Gen Y and Gen M take digital, interactive technologies for granted -- they are cyberspace natives -- whereas older generations are like immigrants who have at differing rates and with differing abilities, had to learn about this brave new world. Superimposed on these generational differences are variations in gender socio-economic status, access to technology, educational attainment and ability -- the components that go to create, on the one hand, digital communities, and, on the other hand, digital divides."

Despite all my attempts to stay technologically current (hey, I use Twitter!), I was reminded of my 'immigrant' status yesterday in a conversation with Millennial, Connor McCue of Generation Think Tank in Boulder, CO. Connor had urged me to add an RSS feed to this blog, which I did and thanked him for suggesting. I went on to brag that I had also added bookmarking capability, but rather than being impressed, he asked me a few questions about my own use of technology that made it clear to me that I am still speaking pidgen Internet, relative to Gen Y, regardless of how fluent I may appear to others my age.

Here is the point: even the least technologically sophisticated Millennial is probably well beyond the skill level of the most sophisticated 50 year old. When building brand relationships, it is now critical to use access to and comfort with technology as a segmentation dimension, in addition to the usual behavioral and attitudinal factors. The technological factors may be more important to engaging with brands than demographics. This complicates the marketing challenge, but will lead to more nuanced marketing.

Millennial to Marketers: Be Meaningful, Be Quick, Be Shiny

I just read an amazing article from Marketing (May 26, 2008) by Naomi Wohl, a young strategic planner at Ogilvy in Toronto. Millennials have a unique sense of timelessness. They want it now, and 'forever' has little meaning. Naomi explains why. It's a little long, but I want to share most of it as it was written. I hope you enjoy it as much I did. She captures an essential truth of this generation that I haven't heard expressed this well anyplace else. Enjoy!

The concept of forever is lost-literally. Timelessnessgone. Moments that will last a lifetime-MIA. We are in the Age of The Here and Now. The Age of Moment to Moment. The Age of ADD. ....Nothing creates fleeting experiences like our current culture of technology. Why buy a car when you can lease it? Why sign a cellphone contract when you can pay as you go? The newest iPod and flat-screen TV models are being designed just as their predecessors arrive on shelves. We buy in anticipation of getting the upgrade. We revel in the current model's inadequacies because we're so amazed at how quickly they can be improved. We live in a time in which lifetime warranties are meaningless. ...

And who bears the brunt of this phenomenon? It's the very same people engineering it-Generation Y. We are aged 18 to 28, and possess or have access to amazing stores of knowledge -- though it is matched by an even greater indifference. We are a generation of silent overachievers (pretending we don't really care), genetically and culturally encoded to think fast, want more, and crave new. We were built for this time; an ephemeral culture created by us, for us.

We repel things that last longer, and as a result, our attention span is getting shorter. I'm emotionally attached to my PVR. My high-speed Internet isn't fast enough; I've had to upgrade to "Extreme." I multi-task. I have developed an uncontrollable jittering knee when other things and people move too slowly. Do I sound anxious? Irritable? Maybe some pharmaceutical company is working on the drug for my Gen Y disease. Dear marketers, if you want to reach me, you'll have to catch me. And please be quick about it.

For us, the concept of friendship has even changed from terms like "BFF," to join my entourage on Facebook. As for relationships, the success and growth rate of online dating sites suggests we're searching not for the partner who is a fit forever, but for the partner who is a fit nght now.

And yet, despite our current transient attitude, we are desperate to make the moment last. For those of us who want to try our hand at singing, dating, dancing, fashion designing, modeling, inventing, cooking or 5th grade math-prime-time programming can make us famous. In the wake of impermanence, fame enablers like reality TV, YouTube videos, or even Guitar Hero, give us a chance to be a rock star. Even if you only get to enjoy the fame for a moment, there's a chance to make that moment last.

And last and last. Because thanks to the environment, all of a sudden forever matters again to Gen Y. Our long-term temporary thinking has led us into a permanent crisis, scrambling to reverse our hardwired non-committal nature with an undying pledge to preservation and conservation. The environment is the quintessential cause rallying the masses today. Never have we collectively been so dedicated to sustainability. We can fill the blue box at home, join the MySpace group for alternative energy and buy organic. If everything else in our lives is so temporary, why is this cause so captivating? Maybe we long for something to matter. Maybe we fear our lives will come and go as inconsequentially as all the fleeting experiences that filled them. We're desperate to make something last. So we'll endorse the cause and work to create a world that will never know we were even here.

For you marketers, trying desperately to grab my Gen Y attention as I rush by, here are some tips.

Firstly, your brand needs to be the new transformer of our time-capable of renewal and regeneration while demonstrating that essential I-can't-live-without-you shiny feature. Next, don't linger. Tell me what you want to tell me, but tell me quickly, because I'm already looking in someone else's direction. And finally, be meaningful. Be the inside joke that only Gen Y gets; self deprecating but not insulting. Be Optimus Prime. Be my hero, and I'll be your rock star.

Why Millennials Matter

After 74 posts on the values, purchase habits and preferences of Millennials, it's probably worth a short post on what I hope should be obvious by now: why it matters what Millennials think. Not only is this generation similar in size to the Boomers, they have enormous purchasing power. Today's 18-29 year old has an average income of $29,000, and their earning power is growing faster than for other age cohorts. Most important, Millennials are meaningfully different in their values. Those differences will increasingly come to define products, marketing approaches and politics for the entire country. (p. 209)

Let's start with politics. In their terrific (and prescient) book, Millennial Makeover, Winograd and Hais write:

"Political behavior resarch has consistently indicated that once most individual, and hence most generations, take on a party identification, they maintin it throughout their lives. As sociologist J.V. Namenorth noted, "Value orientations do not change much during a generation's life time. Committed during its early stages a generation most often carried its value commitments into the grave". If the Democrats can maintain this initial generational allegiance during the next two presidential elections, they should gain a decisive electoral edge for decades to come."

Likewise, marketers know that brand affinities established early in a consumer's life can persist for decades. This is why Bride's magazine stays so fat year after year.

With so much at stake tomorrow, it's little wonder marketers need to find what moves Millennials today. Some of their lifetime values are already becoming clear: Tolerance, the environment, authenticity, family, global perspective, team-work, immediacy, ethics. Others are still emerging. It remains to be seen how the current financial crisis will shape their career aspirations and life goals. Certainly there are fewer MBA's looking for a career in investment banking this week, than a month ago. And the dream of homeownership may not be as compelling for today's young people as for Gen X.

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?