Who's Next for a Millennial Brand Makeover?

Gen Y is different, and not just because they are young. A 5.15.09 Christian Science Monitor article ("Do You Get The Millennial Generation?") drives this point home home: Don't "assume that the members of particular demographic groups, in this instance young people in their mid-teens through their mid-20s, behave the same and hold the same attitudes at all times." The authors of the article, Winograd and Hais, have extra credibility on this point: they were also co-authors of the prescient book, Millennial Makeover, that predicted the political shift that carried Obama and the Democrats into power last year. Their forecast was based on careful attention to changes in generational values.

Now marketers are finally catching on.

ABC Family understood the latest transformation as an opportunity, and re-directed its programming ago to better align with Millennial values. As a result, ABC Family is now attracting some of the largest Gen Y audiences on TV (see earlier post, "ABC Family, A Deft Millennial Makeover".

In contrast, MTV, the channel that literally invented youth programming 25 years ago, recognized the latest generational shift too late and now is playing catch up. According to CST, "MTV has acknowledged that its programming had become out of step with the progressive, service-oriented values of today's youth, the Millennial Generation. It was very clear we were at one of those transformational moments, when this new generation of Millennials [born between 1982 and 2003] were demanding a new MTV," a channel executive explained."

I expect this trend to accelerate, and restaurants, wine and food brands are the latest to catch on. Last week, even Kraft Foods is moving to reposition Miracle Whip to the Foodie Generation with the theme, "We are Miracle Whip. And we will not tone it down." (We will not be quiet. We will not blend in. And when we are in a salad or a sandwich or a panini or crostini, you'll know it. We are Miracle Whip." ) As might be expected from a campaign targeted to Gen Y, Adweek reports that this effort goes beyond TV advertising to incorporate social media. A Firefox plug in called 'Zingr' users to leave short, 160 character comments on various Web pages across the Internet. It's a nice play on Miracle Whip's brand promise, with the app being promoted as "the newest way to add your own flavor to the Web." Leaving a "zingr" on Kraft's site, for example, triggers this message to a user's Twitter network: "I just left a Zing! On brands.kraftfoods.com (Check it out.)

If Kraft can make Miracle Whipp relevant, who's next for a Millennial Brand Makeover? Here are some suggestions:

1. Hardware and Home Centers: As the earliest Millennials reach their thirties, home care can expected to become more of a focus for Gen Y. Hardware and home centers need to start capitalizing on Millennials' interest in eco-friendly products, green living, repair/reuse/recycle, organic gardening and more.

Financial Services: Charles Schwab is talking to Gen X, but we have seen few efforts to engage Gen Y. Gen Y will be looking for investments that align with their values of social entrepreneurism, environmental and political activism.

Travel Services: Millennials have a passion for seeing the world. As their spending power increases, they will be looking for unique travel experiences that align with their values, of 'giving back', mixing their desire to see the world with opportunities to contribute to the places they visit.

Post-Graduate Training & Education: Millennials will take lifelong learning seriously. Many Millennials see advanced degrees and training as an alternative to 'paying their dues' at work. Educational institutions would be wise to maintain relationships with alumni and stay tuned to their ambitions and desire for self-improvement even beyond college.

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!

Millennials: How Altruistic Are They?

This week, I am invited to deliver a presentation on "Using Social Media to Connect with the Most Connected Generation" for the Association of Professional Fundraisers. My thinking was that this would be an easy topic, Social Media + Civic-minded Millennials = Golden Opportunity. It hasn't turned out quite that way.

Sure, I knew from our research among young alumni of several colleges that getting them to part with money when they have so many other demands on their resources (college loans, mobile phone bills, lattes) isn't easy. They tend to prefer causes that are close to home, emotionally and physically and they want to have a say about how the money should be used. Volunteer rates are sky high with 85% of high school students participating in volunteer activities. What I didn't know is that they are notorious difficult to motivate to donate MONEY. Need evidence? Despite average incomes of $29K, only one-third of Millennials gave $100 or more to charity in 2008 (BLB, Yankelovich Monitor, 2008).

Online giving also appears to have its issues. Research by Target Analytics, a unit of software-provider Blackbaud says 58% of non-profits use the Internet for fundraising. Yet when it analyzed data for twelve organizations, they discovered people who go online to donate to a charity for the first time, such as after a disaster, often do not return to make additional gifts. Of those who do, 37 percent never made another gift via the Interne and instead favor other channels for giving.

An article in the Washington Post, 4.22.09 titled "To Non-profits seeking cash, Facebook App Not So Green", reported these discouraging facts about charitable giving on Facebook:

"More than 25 million of Facebook’s 200 million worldwide members have signed on as supporters of at least one cause, making it the third-most popular of the more than 52,000 applications on the site …

But just 185,000 members have ever contributed through the site.

The median gift through Causes is $25.

The majority of Causes’ participants have received no donations through the site.

Fewer than 50 of the 179,000 groups on Causes have raised $10,000

Despite this discouraging news, I think social media offers great promise for non-profits seeking to engage Gen Y in their cause. They grew up with the Internet and will expect social community features on non-profit web sites. Non-profits that develop strategies for engaging them now will have an important edge in the future, when they are less economically pressed and more willing to donate money. Meanwhile, organizations can use a social networking community to keep Millennials involved and encourage them to actively participate in other ways, which may even lead to cash down the road.

Tomorrow: Strategies for Using Social Media to Engage Millennials in Non-Profit Communities.

Millennials: Not Lazy, Just Misunderstood

Of all the criticisms leveled at Gen Y in the workplace, the one that stings the most is 'lazy'. Overconfident. Ambitious. Entitled. They can live with those criticisms. But Gen Y knows in its overachieving heart it is anything but "lazy".

True, they readily acknowledge they do not want to work 2000 billable hours a year, and this reality has created resentment on both sides of the generational divide. Adrian Dayton, a young attorney I met on Twitter, posted an interesting dialog today in his blog, Marketing Strategy & The Law. It reports a panel discussion among Millennial attorneys and their bosses. This dialog illustrates very well just how wide the gap in understanding can be:

“Generation Y is entitled, lazy, selfish, tech savvy, and incompetent,” is how Scott Greenfield, one of the finest criminal defense attorneys in NY, started off the panel.

“I spent years as an associate, I hit all my metrics- but I didn’t want to become partner. It's no secret that focusing on making as much money as possible ruined many of these older partners’ personal lives.” said Anthony Zana, he is now Corporate Counsel for Intergraph Corporation- where he left behind the billable hour.“I’ve seen too many successful partners on their 3rd and 4th marriage- and I did not want that to be me."

“I think the problem is that they don’t know how to work, our firm has hired 15 attorneys in the last few years from Generation Y, and not one of them is still working for us.” said Moderator, Dan Hull.

“Well, I have had a totally different experience at my firm. As far as I can tell when I give greater flexibility to my Gen-Y attorneys, they are willing to repay it ten-fold, and make the sacrifices that are needed,” said panel member William P. Morelli, General Counsel at Ingram Industries Inc. in Nashville.

“Flexibility? I built this firm, I’m not going to let Gen Y dictate the terms of their employment.” Scott Greenfield fired back. “Generation Y uses this term life-balance as an excuse for their incompetence.”

Moderator Dan Hull agreed, “We have a very clear written policy at our firm, work - life balance is the attorney’s problem, not the firm’s.”

At this point I raised my hand, “If an attorney works 2,000-2,400 billable hours a year, there is not much room left for balance.”

“But the attorney that works over 2,000 hours a years, is going to learn to be a pretty damn good attorney,” replied Dan.

Boomer and X'er bosses view unwillingness to sacrifice as 'laziness'. Yet Gen Y is not willing to concede that just because they seek balance, they are any less committed. According to Adrian, they are just as motivated, but their goal is different. "We are not motivated by money. At least not as much as our parents were. The currency we are most interested in is lifestyle. Some of us are brilliant and hard working, but you have to dangle the right carrot in front of us."

So what is that 'right carrot'? Money? Time Off?

No, it's Voice. And Context.

This week, I've had the pleasure of talking with three hardworking Millennials. Each has agreed to accompany me to The CMO Summit in New York on May 19 and we've been preparing what to say. The panel will discuss "10 Things Millennials Wish They Could Tell Their CMO". Like Adrian Dayton, my panelists (marketers with 4-7 years experience) insist they want their companies to get the best of what they have to offer. They also insist that harnessing their ideas has less to do with hours on the job than it does with adequate opportunities to be heard and contribute.

The Feb Harvard Business Review case, where Gen Y employee, Josh, is compelled circumvent his Gen X boss, Sarah, and speak directly to the CEO to advance his ideas resonates deeply with Millennials. Most have felt that way at some point in their career. Here's how they express it:

"I hate to be shut down without a hearing."

"Why do I have to go to one person before going to the next?"

"It's the difference between 'voice' and 'say'. I don't expect to make decisions, but I do expect to be able to influence the decision with my ideas."

"Pecking orders seem archaic to me. I have an innate respect for senior management, their success and knowledge, but don't understand why I am expected to be afraid to talk to them."

Millennials have lots of ideas, and many are related to being more efficient. Compelling them to trade lifestyle hours for what are seen as unecessarily long work hours is the surest way to frustrate a motivated Gen Y worker. In their view, if something is not working, why not fix it? What's more, why not fix it immediately? Sometimes this is interpretted as 'attitude', but for Millennials, it is common sense. They are more than willing to work hard when necessary. They just want assurance that it is really necessary, and are deeply offended when told to be a 'good soldier' or 'pay their dues'.

Work smarter, not harder is their answer to the charge of 'laziness'. But, if there has to be inefficient busywork, the least they expect is to have a reasonable explanation why. For Millennials, context is almost as important as having a voice. Knowing the reason, helps them keep faith that their work has meaning and purpose. Without context, they are likely to simply check out.

"I can't stand emails that say, 'Can you take care of this? thx.' Take a minute to explain what you need, why you need it, what I can do to make it great."

As I listen to Millennials talk about what motivates and demotivates them, I can't help but wonder if we all wouldn't be better off thinking like Millennials.

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.

Millennial Wave Hits Wine

Those of us in higher education were among the first to notice Millennials were different from other generations. Then it was politicians. Now managers, recruiters and HR professionals are scrambling to adjust. What's next? Most likely food and wine marketers.

Millennials are discovering wine in record numbers. Domestic wine volume increased 11% between 2003 and 2007, and imported wine volume increased 27%. According to the Wine Council, Millennials accounted for 46% of the growth (see chart). Savvy wine marketers are aware of the sea change and, excuse my torture of the metaphor, are preparing for what is shaping up to be a tsunami of wine drinking.

Those reading along with me over the past year, already know that Millennials' love of wine is unique to the U.S. - in fact, French Millennials are forgoing wine. You will also know that it is part of a larger affinity for gourmet, premium and imported food and drink in general.

But what do we know about Millennial wine drinkers, and especially about enthusiasts that can help wine marketers?

First, wine drinking appears to start in earnest as Millennials graduate from college and start careers. Incidence of wine drinking increases from 23% among 21-24 year olds to 32% among 25-34 year olds (Mintel, Oct 08), approximately the same as adults in general (35%). However, the wine preferences, attitudes and behavior of Millennials are quite different. They are more sophisticated in their preferences, and more willing to spend to indulgence their preferences.

* Millennials who drink wine are twice as likely to belong to a wine club (20%) and to drink at wine bars in the past three months (38%) than older groups, (Wine Council).

* Forty-one percent of Millennials who drink wine say they drink imported wine most often vs. only 24% of Boomers and 31% of Gen X'ers. For example 31% of Millennials have drunk a wine from NZ, compared to only 15% of Gen X'ers (Wine Council).

* Millennials are much more likely to purchase their wine at a winery (33%), specialty liquor store (40%) or gourmet food store (20%). (Mintel)

* Millennials say they spend about $10 more per bottle than average across a wide variety of wine buying occasions. For example, Millennials say they would spend $40 on a bottle of wine for a special occasion compared to just $24 for all adults. (Mintel)

* Forty percent of 25-34 year olds agree that more expensive wine tastes better compared to 31% of adults on average. (Mintel)

* Millennials' criteria in wine selection tends to favor more familiar wines and wines with fun, casual names. (Mintel)

These facts don't completely relate the sheer enthusiasm of young drinkers for wine. They see wine as part of their move into adult life. It is a passion that drives them to look for new ideas and authentic experiences. For example, here is a comment left by Therese on this blog:

Really enjoyed this. I'd have to say that especially as a millennial, drinking wine is also about the experience. This helps explain why I LOVE and other "millenniels" LOVE drinking imported wine. What better way to escape from stress than to sit outside with friends drinking a Spanish Rioja, eating tapas and discussing life's little pleasures?

For wine marketers, the biggest adjustment will be learning work with younger drinkers' high degree of connectedness. Millennials are naturally social. They share their interests in everything from music to philanthropy through social networks, and it looks as if wine will soon be getting the same treatment. Twitter tasting networks and Millennial wine blogs are appearing almost daily. I have already mentioned the Millennier and Just yesterday, Yvette launched her new blog, millennialtastelive, with this introduction and an invitation to all Millennials to share their love of food and wine.

While researching popular wine groups, I found they were heavily slanted toward the more mature wine consuming demographic, particularly the group Twitter Taste Live, now Taste Live! Wine is popular among Millennials for three reasons: Wine is a social drink and Millennials are arguably the Social Generation There is so much variety in wine and Millennials tend to be attracted to constant change: "What's new?" "What's hot?" and "What's different?" And simply: Wine tastes good! It is my hope that this blog and Twitter Feed helps 20 and 30 somethings connect with one another to share our common bond of love of wine and propensity for social networking for the pure FUN of it MINUS the snobby elitest crap.

Efforts to engage this group will need to go well beyond the traditional web site. They are looking for wine knowledge and experiences and ways of sharing them with their friends. Marketers will need to explore leveraging existing networks, such as the 45,000 member online group, Womenwine, or creating new ones. Millennials want social currency they can 'spend' - and savvy wine marketers will be there to provide it.