Editor’s Note: there are several infographics provided: How Millennials and Baby Boomers Consume User-Generated Content (UGC) via Adweek

• Posted: January 9, 2017

From an A-list celebrity tagging his new designer duds on Instagram to your next-door neighbor raving about her favorite new meal-delivery service on Facebook, most everyone uses social media to talk about brands.

But how different generations of people create, consume, and share this type of user-generated content varies widely. To help marketers better understand the divide, earned content platform Olapic conducted a survey to find out how consumers of different ages—especially millennials and baby boomers—view UGC.

While their responses varied, one thing was widely agreed upon: “76 percent of consumers believe the content that average people share is more honest than advertising from brands,” said Olapic co-founder Pau Sabria. “That should serve as a wake-up call for brands to start exploring the use of authentic content in ads and marketing to build trust and create a more meaningful dialogue with their customers.”

Access full article from Adweek

You may not agree with everything the author says, but… 
Connect with Millennials and be a force for good (source: The Drum via 4 A’s SmartBrief)

• Posted: June 21, 2016

Who are the heroes of today?

Today’s 20 and 30 somethings are socially conscious activists and advocates. Millennials don’t need heroes, because they are a “hero generation”.

For marketers, Millennials are difficult to reach and engage because of their fragmentation, diversity and corporate skepticism. They’re quick to run from brands, corporations and organizations that aren’t genuine or relatable. They want brands which share their values, which give them a platform to make a difference.

And here’s the opportunity for marketers. In a world where traditional institutions are crumbling, brands can fill the gap with their own citizenship and social purpose agendas. Affiliation with a cause is more important to this generation than to any previous; it’s not about what you sell, but why you sell it. And how you sell it too.

http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2016/06/08/where-have-all-heroes-gone

RIP Millennials: Marketing Will Be ‘Age Agnostic’ Next Year-Hotwire PR Study Finds Companies Will Target On Passion, Not Numbers

• Posted: November 23, 2015

According to the study, “Communications Trends Report,” released by Hotwire PR, marketing and communications professionals will focus on reaching millennials based on their passions rather than as a single demographic group. Brands will seek to engage consumers with age-agnostic content that emphasizes values.  This Advertising Age article by Lindsay Stein analyzes other findings from this study.

Additional trends from the Hotwire PR study include:

-The advertising industry is not prepared for mobile ad blocking, especially since Apple enabled apps that stop ads from popping up on smartphones and iPads through its iOS 9 operating system.

-The rise of virtual reality.

-The most successful campaigns in 2016 will offer relevant and useful services.

-Values will continue to be at the center of the communication strategies of many brands.

-Expanded use of hyper-targeted content will result in specific messages for each consumer subset within an audience.

This article discusses additional key marketing and communications trends for 2016.

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Millennials Are Most Trusting When It Comes To Advertising

• Posted: October 26, 2015

Nielsen’s recent global report on “Global Trust in Advertising: Winning Strategies for an Evolving Media Landscape” found that trust levels in advertising for the past two years have remained fairly consistent across paid, owned, and earned media.   This press release about the report points out that Millennials (age 21-34) exceed the average consumer in terms of levels of trust in almost all advertising formats/channels.  Not only did Millennials have the highest levels of trust in online and mobile formats, but they showed the highest levels of trust in most forms of traditional media.

Millennials are also the generational group who are the most willing to take action on 16 of the 19 advertising formats.  According to Randall Beard, President, Nielsen Expanded Verticals, “Millennials consume media differently than their older counterparts, exercising greater control over when and where they watch, listen and read content—and on which device.” He also stated, “But even if they rely less heavily on traditional channels, their trust and willingness to act on these formats remains high. While an integrated, multi-channel approach is best across all generations, it carries even more importance when reaching Millennials.”

Survey respondents, in general, reported that their action levels as a result of advertising actually exceeded trust levels for 14 out of 19 advertising formats reviewed.  According to Nielsen, this suggests that trust is not always a prerequisite for purchase.

This survey is based on the behavior of respondents with online access.  The full report is available by completing a form on Nielsen’s website.

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An Hour-By-Hour Breakdown of When People Post on Instagram

• Posted: October 13, 2015

Christopher Heine, writing for Adweek presents major findings from a study of Instagram users by Mavrck.  This study analyzed 1.3 million Instagram posts and reveals details of the posts.

This study revealed:

-Marketers might achieve greater engagement with consumers between 6 a.m. and noon.  While posting volume is relatively low during these hours, users are still regularly reviewing their feeds on their smartphones.  There is less competition for their attention during these hours.

-Midnight is the most popular time to post.

-Millennial women between 25 and 40 years old are the best “micro-influencers.”

-The most popular hashtags: #TBT (throwback Thursday) and #WCW (woman crush Wednesday).

-Age matters on Instagram.  Every extra year in age among influencers (people with thousands of followers) correlated to a 0.15% decrease in followers.

For each 1% increase in the number of users they follow, influencers gained a 0.79% increase in followers.

 

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For more on this topic, check out the Advertising Tab in Morning Coffee.

 

 

Venmo, BuzzFeed, Tinder, and Snapchat Among The Top 20 Apps with Highest Concentration of Millennials

• Posted: October 13, 2015

Adam Lella, writing for comScore’s Insights blog, summarizes a recent report by comScore, The 2015 U.S. Mobile App Report.  Some of the report’s insights focus on the digital habits of Millennials. Consumers 18-34 exhibit behaviors that differ from the digital behaviors of the general population.

Millennials spend 86 hours per month on mobile apps, which is 23 more hours than older consumers, and this report presents the apps with the highest concentration of Millennials, including:

-Yik Yak

-Venmo

-InstaSize

-BuzzFeed

-Tinder

-Snapchat

 

Most of the ranked apps have a social element to them.

According to Lella, “Perhaps the most important takeway from this analysis might be that Millennials tend to live more digitally-connected lives than older generations do.”

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Millennials: They’re Just Like Us?

• Posted: October 13, 2015

Anne VanderMey, writing for Fortune, examines the spending habits of Millennials (25-to-34-year olds) compared to the spending habits of Boomers, when they were the same age.  She based her research on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey.

Among the points that VanderMey presents:

-In 1985, the spending of young adults represented approximately 101% of their average earnings. Today, the total average expenditures of young adults represent 91% of their earnings.

-In 1985, Boomers spent 6% less than the average American on apparel.  Last year, Millennials spent 7% more than the average on apparel.

-Young adults in 1985 spent 58% more than the average American on rent.  Last year, Millennials spent 69% more than the average American on rent.

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How to Sell Your Ideas to Millennials

• Posted: October 13, 2015

Ian Altman, a contributor to the Forbes website, spoke with researchers on the subject of Millennials.  Altman points out that each generation’s experiences and perspectives influence their purchasing and behavior, both as customers and as employees.

According to Jason Dorsey, Lead Millennials Researcher at the Center for Generational Kinetics, “…Millennials are not tech savvy but tech-dependent.  This is a huge distinction everyone from managers to marketers needs to know.”

Rayanne Thorn, VP for Marketing, Dovetail Software, and editor for intrepidHR, provides advice on Millennial employees. “They like to adapt and adopt, they have grown up with technology.  Engage with them appropriately and organizations will reap the rewards. . .”

Brad Szollose, author of Liquid Leadership, comments on Millennials and brand loyalty. “Whereas boomers were loyal to brands based on advertising, Millennials are attracted to brands who think and act like they do.  If you are hip enough, Millennials are willing to pay more to be associated with you than with others.”

Altman outlines the additional expectations of Millennials as well as the benefits that this generation offers brands and employers.

 

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Multicultural Marketing to Become Mainstream in a Millennial World

• Posted: August 31, 2015

Yuyu Chen, writing for ClickZ, highlights the reasons why effective multicultural marketing to Millennials has become increasingly critical to many companies.  Both the spending power and the demographics of African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic Millennials have made it critical to connect with these consumers.

Among the brands that have been building connections with multicultural Millennials according to this article are: Honda, Toyota, Wells Fargo, State Farm, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, and Kimberly-Clark.

However, there are challenges to effective multicultural marketing, which include language barriers and cultural nuances.

Among the important factors to be considered when developing multicultural campaigns, according to Lia Silkworth, Executive Vice President and Managing director of Tapestry, a division of SMG Multicultural:

-Deep cultural insights.

-Knowledge of the media habits, behaviors, and interests of the target segment.

-Research is important in order to create authenticity in marketing campaigns.

Chen points out that an alternative to targeting individual multicultural segments is the total market approach.  This holistic marketing approach involves incorporating ethnic insights into overall marketing communications.

 

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For more on this topic, check out the Advertising Tab in Morning Coffee.

Millennials Highly Desired by Marketers

• Posted: July 13, 2015

This New York Times article by Hilary Stout discusses the degree of urgency with which marketers are studying, analyzing, and pursuing millennials, a generation born between 1980 and 2000.

This generation is larger than any other demographic group at 80 million consumers. They will spend $1.4 trillion annually by 2020 according to Accenture, and their current life stage involves entry into the workforce, marriage, parenthood, and related major purchases.

However, Stout article also points out that there are downsides to solely pursuing the youth market.  Millennials have less wealth and more debt than other generations did at the same age.  Baby boomers are more affluent and spend more heavily.  Also, millennials are not the only digital natives. Older generations have become frequent users of digital devices and respond to campaigns via digital channels.

Non-millennial consumers who feel that companies and brands are “neglecting”  them may respond in kind.

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