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.

Connecting Millennials to Causes with Social Media

While they individually are not significant donors (60% give $100 or less a year), collectively Millennials represent a significant source of new revenue for not-for-profits. Here's evidence: 3 million donors made a total of 6.5 million donations online to Campaign Obama, which added up to a total of more than $500 million. Of those 6.5 million donations, 6 million were in increments of $100 or less.

Gen Y is are literally 'pre-wired' to support causes. First, they are connected. According to Harris Interactive, 75% of Millennials have a Facebook account, 29% check it every day (or more frequently) and 8% use Twitter. Second they are motivated. Gen Y's volunteer rates are unprecedented, with 80% of high school seniors volunteering their time. They are passionate about preserving the environment, enhancing educational opportunities, serving the needy, and 'giving back'. Little wonder professional fundraisers are taking a close look at social media as a means of mobilizing supporters.

Here are ten suggestions for connecting Gen Y with causes via social media. :

1. Invite them to join the Team.

Millennials relate to heroes and young people with ideas. (Think 911, NBC's Heroes, Harry Potter). DO: Show them how they can get involved and contribute in ways other than money. Like other segments, Millennials are more likely to give when they have a personal connection. Feature team members who are having an impact.

2. Give them a Voice.

Generation Y wants to be heard so help them tell their story. Make it easy to join the conversation. DO: Use blogs to encourage two-way conversation. Blogs are usually less formal and more dynamic than a regular websites. Good blogs invite comments and discussion and repeat visits. DON’T FILTER: Allow the negative and positive comments to remain.

3. Make It Personal.

Millennials use social media to connect to people, not institutions. DO: Feature real people. Be authentic. DON’T: Don’t be afraid to be transparent and have a little fun.

4. Use Facebook with Caution.

Facebook is about connecting with friends, not making friends. Use Facebook to continue a conversation you started someplace else. DO: Create a company page or a group or a fan page for your organization or event. Use Facebook to seek volunteers, donors and fundraisers (who find other donors). DON’T OVER DO IT: When people join your group or become your fans, you can send them messages, but not too many. Make them useful.

5. Embrace Twitter.

Twitter an ideal place to to begin cultivating future donors. Do: DO: Start ‘following’ people!! Participate – ask questions and respond. Don’t: Underestimate Twitter. Yes, it's true that Millennials are underrepresented among Twitters 17 million users (Techcrunch, 5.12). Yet we don't think it will be long before they start to literally and figuratively 'get it.' Nearly one in five online adults ages 18 to 34 have ever used Twitter or another microblogging platform. The number of users is doubling every month.

6. Offer lots of ways to contribute.

According to Yankelovich Monitor, 50% of Millennials agree that regularly donating your time to help others in need is a sign of success and accomplishment. DO: Make it easy and fun to participate – flexibility is key. Don’t Over-organize: Millennials will tell you what they want –think Twestivals and ‘groundswells’ vs. big events.

7. Enable directed giving.

Millennials want to know that their giving, whatever the size, matters. Do: Provide options that allow Millennials to ‘customize’ their giving. One size fits all is not appealing. Personalize the appeal. Don’t: Expect them to contribute to the general fund. Don’t put them on the spot. Avoid direct appeal phone calls or too persistent requests.

8. Emphasize quantity over quality.

Focus on building long-term supportive relationships. DO: Re-orient to a model that encourages thousands of $25 gifts, rather than twenty-five $1,000 gifts. Don’t: Wait for them to pay off their college loans – they can make small gestures now.

9.Tailor the media to the target.

Know your audiences (current and future) and ‘court’ them appropriately using multiple touch points, including both conventional and social media. DO: Have a strategy that fits the media to the target. If you neglect conventional media, you might leave out your core supporters. Social media is for the most ‘techie’. Don’t: Over-rely on social media or expect immediate results. You may never see results. Even Twitter hasn’t figured out how it’s going to make money yet.

10. Market with them, not to them.

Think of your efforts as multiplying and activating advocates. Do: Work for ‘retweets’ - Encourage donors and fundraisers to publicize their support and progress to their friends. Find ways to give them ‘social currency’ to spend with their friends. Don’t: Wait until you have it all figured out. Put your advocates to work on your behalf. They are in the best position to know how to talk to their peers.

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!

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.

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>

Why Brands Make Poor 'Friends'

Millennials use social media -- broadly defined as Facebook, text messages, Twitter, and blogs -- to connect with other people. Each is characterized by a different degree of intimacy, with texting the most personal and Twitter the least. But they are all about people interacting with other people.

Brands and social media are not natural partners. It's not that brands are unwelcome, they just don't seem to belong. That makes them easy to ignore, like a guest who has stumbled into the wrong wedding reception. Here's how young adults described their feelings about friending brands on Twitter and Facebook in two online focus groups March 5:

"Brands that show up on facebook often look like your parents when they (unsuccessfully) try to act cool."

"Seeing a brand on facebook makes me just think is spam mail or a scam.” - Bree

“Yeah I don't really pay attention to the ads on the side of facebook. A lot of them aren’t even accurate.” – Kelsey L

“I've never clicked on the ads on the side on fbook or gmail - not out of principle, but they've just never grabbed me.” – Chris S

“I mean, I think people use it as a user-to-user network. I mean, you call your connections "friends." I don't think I've ever joined a brand's FB group -- unless you count maybe a sports teams, though those are usually fan generated …There's something really offputting about a big brand sending you a facebook group invite. I'd never accept it.” – Mike G

“I think there is a sniff test people give brands when they use such tactics. And I'm not sure what the formula is for passing it” – Courtney S

“I really enjoy being able to "friend" indie rock bands for their music, but I don't really friend any product company, or brand. I always feel like most brands are scamming you in some way when they want to be your friend.”—Andrew A

Brands are working hard to find a place on social networks. And social networks drive a lot of traffic to branded sites. According to Forrester, (Ad Age, 3.17.09) PerezHilton.com and Dlisted get more traffic from social media than from Google. But this traffic has little to do with paid marketing campaigns, and everything to do with the personalities behind them. In contrast, brands seem to have little of value to give back. Millennials are keenly aware of the motivation behind brand communication is to 'sell shit', which is an automatic turnoff.

"If it looks like you’re getting an ad, it’s a turn-off."

"I don’t need incentives … I see that as a front … I want to see that they are run by humans and I can relate to them."

I don’t think I’d friend one unless there was some explicit benefit to being its friend.

“I would want added value from a brand if they are going to connect with me. It has to be worth it. If they added value that they normally didn't because they were on social media then it would make sense.”

There is evidence that Millennials do want to connect with brands as long as the connections are genuine and of value. One study even suggested Millennials would welcome a separate channel for 'friending' brands. Research by Pace University indicates 51% of Gen Y respondents saying they’d "join a separate social network dedicated to managing brand interactions." Until such a channel comes along, marketers will continue to try to find ways to connect with Millennials and Facebook and Twitter. Here is our advice:

1. Act and Sound like a Real Person

"They need to surprise me with their content or genuine nature or candor."

"I think a possibility for twitter posts and facebook pages for companies would be to have actual people doing them – to have entertaining personalities or something."

"If you get the stars of the shows doing it it would work."

2. Interact.

"One cool use of Twitter is with starbucks where they have a person at corporate who will communicate back to you."

"Yeah Comcast has their customer service reps on twitter actually helping people."

3. Make it worth my while.

"Make me feel special."

"Yeah exclusive deals are always good, makes you feel special, get you more engaged."

"Good deals catch my attention too, especially for stories I like!"

"Two for one tickets to events always grab my attention, but again, that’s more locally oriented.

"Yea if products and brands to be my friend I want something like … 89 percent off everything."

"Make me feel smart for buying your shit."

Word of Mouth: Millennials Talk About Social Media

Over past few weeks the buzz about social media, and especially Twitter, has outbuzzed the loudest of buzz campaigns. Much of the noise seems to originate from marketers. According to Pete Blackshaw (Ad Age, 3.11.09), “nearly 30,000 Twitter users self-identify as marketers. Nearly 8,500 use the term "PR," and another 8,000 use the term "social media."

With so many marketers talking about marketing to other marketers, we wondered, ‘is anyone else really listening?’ To get beyond the marketing hype, we conducted two online focus groups to see what Millennials think of social media. We confirmed that they are not as gaga for Twitter as marketers -- just half use Twitter despite our efforts to include tweeters in the groups. And those that do were still figuring it out, although we had one enthusiast.

“I have yet to get a twitter, but I'm on the fence with it”.—Andrew A

“Twitter for news and deals, facebook for friends, I read digg to laugh at what people think is an important news article. Though I don't tweet enough.” – Dustin H

“I haven't gotten into twitter yet. I'm afraid of it. I am afraid it will consume me.” – Justin D

“I have not ventured into the land of twitter yet.” – Courtney S

“I'm a little frightened to use Twitter... it's like, should everyone know exactly what I'm doing all the time?” – Mike G

Millennials define social media very broadly as anyting where you interact with other people. That includes message boards, text messaging, Skype, and blogs in addition to Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter. It even includes Amazon Reviews and video games.

“Social media is that media that connects you socially with friends mainly and some family. it makes it social because a large percentage of your friends relative and colleagues use it too.” – Courtney S

“facebook - friends, twitter - interesting people/networking, linkedin - ponzi scheme (I don't think real networking happens this way)… I agree with Chris--amazon reviews are def social media and have big pull on influencing my purchase decisions – Dan S

“Facebook, it's learning about culture and stuff through visiting the personal profiles of people in your area, or who you know.” – Kelsey L

“When I think of social media I think of points of view… social media is media that illicits me to talk, not just take in info.” – Ben T

Instant messaging seems to have fallen into disuse, a victim of text messaging.

“I used to use AIM all the time, but I don't know very many people who use it anymore.” – Holly H

“I can't believe Yahoo! is even up there. Does anyone even use Yahoo! anymore?" – Justin D

In fact text messaging appears to be the preferred way to connect personally, relegating Facebook to the place to maintain less immediate or personal ties with distant or long ago friends.

“I also text, but only my close friends....my casual friends I message facebook.” – Bree

“Well facebook keeps me updated on their lives, but it doesn't feel very personal. I'm more of a texting person when it comes to that - Kelsey L

“Yeah, I’m with Kelsey. The internet is a tool I'm likely to use to reach old friends or casual acquaintances. People that I don't see on the day-to-day.”- Mike G “I'm also much more connected now with old friends than I ever was before e-mail and now with facebook (which seems to have replaced e-mail as the stay-in-touch-with-friends application.” – Chris S

“If I want to be more connected I call or text.” – Natalie B

While it’s theoretically possible to be ‘too’ closely connected online with friends, in practice Millennials feel they have it under control. Most Millennials say they are as connected online as they want to be -- about a 6 on a 10 point scale. Control appears to underly some of the appeal of Facebook.

“prob a 6, which is where I want to be--we have the choice to be less connected if we want--every once in a while I check out for a week or two and go on a subconscious Facebook fast and read a book or two.” – Dan S

“A 5 - not too connected, except with some who have bad facebook habits but I can turn their exposure down if I want.” - Chris S

“Yeah, I think online can keep you disconnected sometimes. It lets you keep a "safe distance" that's not there if you have to pick up the phone. – Mike G

“It's fine because I can set the terms.”- Scott K

Fast Food Marketers Target Missing Millennials

Everyone is cutting back on eating out these days, but Millennials are leading the way in frugality. As of March last year, 18-24 year olds visited fast food restaurants an average of 3.0 times a week, down from 3.7 times in 2007. Even more telling, 18-24's were the only group to show a decline. We expect that number to drop even farther by March of 2009.

What are QSR marketers -- other than high profile Burger King -- doing to win back this important segment? A lot it turns out.

1. Pizza Hut: Pizza chains are among the hardest hit by the recession (WSJ, "A Smaller Piece of the Pie", 2.23.09). Pizza Hut is taking direct aim at Millennials with its "Pizza Hut Interface" launched October 2008. The Interface allows Facebook users to order their Pizza Hut favorites without ever leaving Facebook. According to AllFacebook, Pizza Hut is the first national pizza chain to offer this method of ordering. In 2008, Pizza Hut awarded $50 gift cards to Pizza Hut friends on Facebook on a weekly basis. Currently, Pizza Hut is running a “Passport to Italy Sweepstakes” through its Facebook page to celebrate the launch of new Tuscani Lasagna. According to Bob Kraut, VP of Marketing Communications, Pizza Hut is pleased with the results.

In the last month, we’ve gone from 700,000 fans to 750,000 fans, which makes us the largest restaurant fan page on Facebook. We want to strike a fine balance between communicating with our fans and giving them meaningful offers, without overcommunicating to them and becoming a nuisance. We want people to see our Facebook page not as something they become a fan of and then forget about, but a place they come back to on a regular basis for the latest news and deals from Pizza Hut. To have a live measurement of the number of fans we have interacting with our brand and the ability to create an ordering application within the site makes Facebook an extremely effective online channel for us. We’re very pleased with the results we’ve seen so far.

2.Culvers: Last month Culver's launched its first ever national ad campaign, starting with E!'s pre-Academy show. The premise is that there is an 'outbreak of niceness' at Culver's. While this is not Millennial-specific message, it is definitely Millennial-friendly. (Pepsi, anyone?) The campaign includes social media: a Twitter feed and Facebook page, although only the eClub sign up is on their home page and the effort is not as integrated as the Pizza Hut effort. Company vice president Chris Contino: "We still aren't sure that it works for quick-service restaurants, because so much of the buying is impulse, but we're hoping to hit on something that makes sense."

3. Arby's: Arby's is betting on new products, especially an "All-American Roastburger" sandwich positioned against hamburgers. Launched in February, it will sponsor an NCAA tournament bracket on Facebook through CBS SportsLine. Arby's spokeswoman: "Facebook engages more than 80 million active users, and 1.5 million people signed up for Facebook NCAA tournament brackets in 2008." Online ads on CBS SportsLine and NCAA.com this month will support the effort, along with March Madness network TV and radio (CBS, Sirius). A PR program for called "Change Your Clock/Change Your Burger" on March 8 will promote a free Roastburger with the purchase of a soft drink. It will be interesting to see how (whether) they leverage the 'news' value of daylight savings on Twitter...

4. Taco Bell: Taco Bell is the second favorite fast food restaurant among 18-24 year olds, right behind McDonalds. Millennials love Taco Bell for their ingenuity in mixing the same basic 7 ingredients into a constant stream of 'new' products (Crunch Wrap Supreme, Fully Loaded Nachos). This gives them a constant stream of 'news', which combined with lots of items for $.79, $.89 and $.99 makes for a experience you can enjoy frequently. Taco Bell has smartly leveraged their late night hours to connect with Millennial bands and their fans with their 'Fourth Meal' promotion, "Feed the Beat".

Millennials Face the Financial Crisis II

No, I am not going to talk about Skittles' Twitter debacle as it is still underway (stay tuned). Instead I want to revisit a topic I first addressed January 27, how the financial crisis is affecting Millennials. I speculated that this may be the defining event of their generation, and made five predictions:

1. Many will return to school.

2. Many will seek alternative jobs in the not-for profit sector.

3. Many will try to supplement their income with side jobs.

4. Many will redirect their careers.

5. Many will move back home.

6. Some will sign up for military service.

While I stand by these predictions, they don't address the more subtle impact the crisis is having on Millennials' values and outlook. An article in the LA Times yesterday, "The Millennial Generation Test" speculates a prolonged recession may start to contradict Gen Y's basic assumptions about how the world works. Perhaps not everyone does get a trophy? -- or even a fulfilling job. Will the Millennials become even more resilient? Or embittered? There are voices on both sides of the argument.

UC Irvine researcher Ellen Greenberger is the lead author of a recent study that found that a third of college students thought they deserved a B just for attending lectures, and that 40% said they deserved a B just for completing the required reading. She worries that this generation will be deeply embittered. "The insults of this recession might be seen as a personal affront to their high expectations," she said.

Morley Winograd, coauthor of "Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube and the Future of American Politics," has no such concerns. "This is not an embittered and cynical generation," he said. "Although they did tend to be protected as children, they were also taught to compete and to perform. This will only make them more determined.

I don't presume to know the answer, but there is mounting evidence the financial crisis has Millennials' full attention. It is affecting their lives and narrowing their choices. Parents who have devoted their lives to protecting their kids from the hard knocks of life are now confronted with hard choices on everything from allowances and family vacations to college educations. Students see their programs squeezed by fewer resources. New graduates face the reality that many more qualified unemployed workers would be happy to claim entry level jobs once reserved for them.

This week YPulse posted the question, "How Has The Recession Affected You?" to its youth advisory board. The video above is a great window into the pain of the financial crisis as it is experienced by twenty-somethings. They also shared this from Nina, a high school freshman in Washington state:

"I go to a public school in a wealthy community where money has never been a problem until now. For the 2009-2010 school year, they may have to drop up to 17 teachers throughout the district. And even though many of my friends are not going right out and saying it, I know that it has been affecting them, too. Over the past couple of months my lunch table has converted from hot lunches to bag lunches. Also, as a group, we have opted for low-cost activities, such as wagon racing, watching old movies at home, and perfecting that classic teenage-skill of loitering. Last year when my girlfriends and I went to the mall, we bought junk like lip gloss, cheap earrings, an ugly hat that we'd never actually wear. Now when we go, we just look, or go to Nordstrom and try on wedding dresses."

Now that's frugal! They aren't the only ones, Scarborough Research shows teens are cutting back in many ways:

15% of teens dropped out of a sport or recreational activity

13% missed doctors’ appointments

11% stopped or cut back on taking vitamins

33% changed eating habits. The most frequent change cited is a reduction in eating out, particularly at quick service restaurants

20% have cut back on eating organic food

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!

Being A Millennial: It's Not That Easy

Found on the Blog: The Perennial Millennial, by Blake Sunshine. I like how Blake reminds us of the danger of stereotypes... not all Millennials are hip or on Twitter, or even want to be!

I know what you are thinking as you read this post’s title: WAH WAHHH being a millennial is sooooo hard. But, what you may not know is that being a part the youngest, smartest and most influential generation comes with heaps of responsibility. Mostly, as a millennial, especially in the work place, you are expected to be perfect. So in order to live up to our name here is some advice for others on what it takes to be a good millennial:

1. You have to know everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. You have to read newspapers, watch tv and follow every blog. You also have to offer business insight with each new article you read and share it with all of the other folks you work with. You have to know old, you have to know new, you have to know it all.

2. You have to be hip. Besides being on the cutting edge of almost every trend in your business area, your coworkers also expect you to be hip. They want to ask you about new songs, celebrities and what Zac Effron was wearing at the Oscars. You have to be hip, even if in your real life you aren’t really hip at all.

3. You have to be online. It’s a pretty safe assumption that as a millennial you know way more about being online than your colleagues. But the real truth is that most millennials could care less about any social networking tool but Facebook. So when people want me to teach them about Twitter or other new online tools I am usually learning about it right before I teach them.

4. You have to pretend it all comes naturally. In addition to the above mentioned difficulties, the hardest part of being a millennial is pretending like it’s easy! And it’s not, trust me.

So next time you see a millennial take it easy on them. Being perfect 24/7 is hard work!

Actually, Blake, you do make it look easy. I did find your blog via Twitter. And who is Zac Effron anyway? But I understand your point. Thanks for sharing.

Career Advice for Millennials from Daniel Pink

Career Advice '08

View more presentations from garr. (tags: career advice)

Here is a great example of how to talk to Millennials. This presentation, while long, can be viewed in 5 minutes or less and speaks right to the anxieties we hear among Millennials about their career paths. Namely, the fear that there is no path. This presentation, created by Garr Reynolds, provides some solid advice in an entertaining, Millennial-friendly way. The content is based on Daniel Pink's new book, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, the Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need, 'with some other stuff thrown in'. (FYI, the book itself is written in Manga.) Bravo.

Hearing Millennial Voices: Gen Y Marketing Bloggers

I have been meaning to post a list of marketing blogs by Gen Y authors for some time now. But I get so absorbed reading the blogs, that I get sidetracked and write about something else. So here are some of the more interesting Millennial voices I follow, in no particular order:

1. NakedGen Mapping: Heledd Straker and Christopher Lomas, founders Naked Generations, London. Sample: 'Jon Favreu: BoY GENius':

In the struggle to cut costs and grab what little resources are still available, many businesses are tightening their belts and changing their management strategy, from a ‘looser’ style, as preferred by Generation Y, to a more ‘authoritarian’ approach - thereby exerting maximum control relieving the feelings of fear of wasting precious time and money. Jobs have also suddenly dried up for Generation Y: 40% of the predicted three million unemployed at the end of 2009 will be under 25[1]. Does this mean that Gen Y needs to both ‘pipe’ and ‘knuckle down’, at least until the storm has blown over?

2. The Marketing Student: David Fallarme, Student, Ontario Canada. David is a master of clever titles ('Not Part of Geny Y? You're Paying Too Much'). The entries live up to the titles. Sample: 'Gen Y Prefers Crowd Wisdom Over Experts':

The recent news about Bike Hero being fake reminds me that Gen Y has extremely fine-tuned BS detectors — it seems that we think something is even remotely fake, it probably is. It’s almost disillusioning and insulting to think that agencies are continually trying to camouflage adverts. Why pretend to be something? The magic is always lost when you discover something to be a lie, even if it’s just a YouTube video or a funny blog. It’s a very fine line between corporatizing something natural versus being a contributing participant. For brands trying to infiltrate Gen Y and its media, the key factor is, and has always been, sincerity.

3. Ask A Millennial: Adrienne Waldo, 22, New York marketing professional. Sample: 'Dentyne's "Make Face Time" Campaign'.

I am absolutely crazy about the most recent Dentyne campaign.It is fun, warm, unique and targets Millennials without being patronizing. I think the essential goodness of this campaign comes from its genuine nature. It doesn't seem to ostracize any one specific group, which tends to happen more often than not when a campaign is online-themed (I'm thinking of ads that use cyberspeak - of which I am not fluent). I imagine it will resonate equally with two completely opposite groups of people - those who spend a lot of time online, and those who hardly use the web at all. But don't get me wrong, the rest of us love it too. The commercial ties in well with the print. The song selection, "Summer Day" by Coconut Records, comes across pleasantly quirky, the setting is beautiful, and the whole thing leaves me feeling happy (in stark contrast to the Pepsi commercial from yesterday's post). On top of all that, Dentyne designed their web site so that it shuts down after three minutes. It would be a risky move, except they were smart enough to freeze the timer on the product page.Altogether a fantastic campaign.

I also love Adrienne's comments on the Pepsi / Arnell logo flap: 'Breathtaking? I Think Not'

The marketing world is all abuzz about the 27-page document supposedly composed by the designer of the Pepsi logo. Here's what I think: it's among the most ridiculous documents I've ever seen. If it's real (although I'm registered with the "It's Clearly a Fake" party), then Pepsi should have taken the most extreme precautions to be sure it never got leaked to the public. If it's fake, then someone has way to much time on their hands and I feel sorry for them.

Fair warning: These are my picks today. There would have been three or four others, but they seem to have stopped blogging? So catch these voices while you can.

Millennials Face the Financial Crisis

(video from DigProjects)

The financial crisis of 2008 to ??? may turn out to be the defining event of their generation. Todd Woodward, a savvy Millennial Marketer, believes the crisis may be the event that distinguishes Millennials from the generation immediately following behind them. No doubt the childhood experiences of today's middle schoolers and younger children will be quite different; the Millennials were the children of plenty and the next generation will likely be the children of scarcity.

So how will Millennials cope with the financial crisis? Last week I suggested that they are unlikely to make immediate or drastic changes in their spending habits (or savings) because they already consider themselves cash-strapped. Here are a few more predictions:

1. Many will return to school. According to GMAC's 2008 Application Trends report, "economic changes and GMAT test-taking patterns suggest that the highest level of growth in (graduate school) application volume may occur next year (2009), after which a slowdown is likely to begin."

2. Many will seek alternative jobs in the not-for profit sector. With career advancement iffy, many will decide to focus on other 'rewards' for working. Making a difference is a key Millennial value. Many will reason that there will never be a better time to try. GMAC's annual Corporate Recruiter survey (11/09) says "Overall, salaries for 2009 MBA graduate hires will likely remain at the 2008 level. Yet, the majority of nonprofit and government organizations as well as energy and utilities firms plan to increase average annual base salaries for new MBAs in 2009.)"

3. Many will try to supplement their income with side jobs.. Instead of spending less, Millennials will become creative about generating income from what 26-year old Arneta in the video above calls 'a side hustle'. Arneta styles hair, her boyfriend makes videos. She believes many Millennials will become more entrepreneurial, and so do I. As she points out, a side hustle not only generates income, but also provides experience.

4. Many will redirect their careers. An article in today's Wall Street Journal ("Summer on the Street, Before the Fall") describes the lives of three summer 2007 interns at Morgan Stanley in New York. Today only one is working full-time at Morgan Stanley after graduating in May. The others? One delayed his graduation from Rutgers to take more business and accounting courses. The other had a subsequent internships at Lehman Brothers in the media-relations department and now has a wedding and fashion photography business. I expect to see students in the MBA program at Notre Dame who might before have been fixed on finance careers start taking a harder look at marketing and management.

5. Many will move back home. Helicopter parents will continue to provide a social safety net for Millennials in need. And Millennials will not feel uncomfortable about moving back in with Mom if it comes to that.

6. Some will sign up for military service. Time magazine reports (2.2.09) that the US military surpassed its 2008 recruiting goal. A total of 184,841 new recruits were added to active duty service with the National Guard recruiting the most and overshooting its goal by the most. Second in line was the Army Reserve.

How Marketers Can Connect With Millennials

I am frequently asked to comment on how Millennials view their lives. To many 'older' people, Millennial lives seem 'complicated'. All those gadgets! The constant connection and 24/7 activity looks exhausting. Aren't they overwhelmed?

After hundreds of online and face-to-face interviews with college students and young professionals over the past six months, I can confidently say that 'complicated' is not how Millennials describe themselves.

Gen Y says their biggest challenge is 'busy-ness', the sheer volume of things they want and need to do. There simply isn't enough time to do it all. As a result, they see their lives as 'hectic', 'exciting', 'dynamic' and 'fun'. However, busy-ness also is the main barrier to achieving things that are really important to them, like staying in touch with old friends, making new friends and finding time to lead a 'balanced' life. Here is a sample of how they think of their lives and challenges:

Moderator: Now tell us what 3 words best describe your life right now..I know this might sound weird - but just say whatever comes to mind!

Jessica S: hectic, exciting, perfect Jason J: Dynamic, Fun, Anxious Doug: Fun, Non-Stop and Dynamic Lindsay J: busy, uncertain, overwhelming Alex S: interesting, action-packed, dynamic where action-packed = busy John C: Transition, Stress, Excitement Mary A: exciting, fun,hard Justin D: Margarine, content, excited. Katie H: busy, fun, happy Mike G: Three words that describe my life: dynamic, in-flux and wandering.

Moderator: a lot of you said "busy" - what are you mostly busy with?

Lindsay J: work, social, personal (moving) Jessica S: everything - work is busy and family life is busy - that makes for a feeling of going non-stop - I"m also moving and getting married Doug: Busy would entail for me...work (travel, responsibilities) and social life

Moderator: a lot of you said "exciting" - what makes your life exciting?

Mary A: new experiences everyday Katie H: constantly running around John C: just having a lot of fun and not sure what is coming next but it all is pretty fun and new.

Moderator: what makes your life hard or stressful?

Katie H: work and personal, wanting and trying to be in too many places all the time Mary A: meeting new people at both places and making connections John C: life is stressful because of trying to balance success at work with having a personal life. Work is also stressful because it seems to never end.

While finding time and achieving 'balance' is their biggest challenge, Millennials tell us they experience three other sources of stress:

1. Creating Meaning. Millennials yearn to make a difference. Many find it hard to do this in their work lives, so they search for ways to make a difference outside of work through volunteer work.

2. Making New Friends. Surprisingly, many post-college age Millennials say it is tough to meet new people and form meaningful friendships.

3. Meeting (High) Personal Expectations: Millennials are their own harshest critics. They are accustomed to achieving their goals, and often feel discouraged with their jobs when they don't get the responsibility or career progress they think they are capable of.

Marketers who demonstrate an understanding and sympathy for these stressors will find it easier to engage Millennials. Brands that help them ease or resolve their challenges will earn customers for life.

Millennial Marketing: The beginning of backlash?

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

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

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

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

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

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

iPhone: Expensive Phone or Inexpensive Laptop?

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

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

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

Millennial Research: Just the Facts

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

Digital Millennials: R U Ready

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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.

You're Doing Great! Keeping Millennials Happy at Work

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

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

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

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

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

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

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