Engaging with Millennials in the Right Way

Engaging with Millennials in the Right Way

September 2015

© XPotential 20152

Who are the Millennials?

• Most experts agree that Millennials encompasses those born from the early ’80s to the early 2000s.�

• They are both the 20th century’s last generation and its first truly digital one.

• Millennials are the offspring of the baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964).

Source: www.education-portal.com www.visioncritical.com

• Millennials are poised to become the most educated generation in history, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.

• People sometimes refer to the Millennials as Echo Boomers, Generation Y, the Internet Generation, iGen, and the Net Generation.

© XPotential 20153

What are the Challenges in Engaging with Millennial Consumers?The millennial lifestyle is mostly about multitasking, accelerated communication,

constant connection, and immediate gratification. It is a lifestyle that typically contradicts traditional marketing and research methods.

• Always multi-tasking• Constant connection• Short attention span

• An appetite for collaboration• A very diverse group

Source: www.visioncritical.com

© XPotential 20154

1. Always Multi-Tasking

Many younger Millennials are screenagers’, multi-tasking consumers who utilise multiple screens and multiple devices at the same time

© XPotential 20155

The Multitasking Life

On average, Millennials tend to use three different devices at the same time—with at least two of those devices having screens (e.g., computer, iPad, phone, TV) and at

least two of them communications-oriented (e.g., phone, email,

Facebook, or other IM).

Source: www.trendspot.com

© XPotential 20156

High Expectations and Little Time

• Millennials navigate busy digital lives, their brains have been rewired to organize and consume content differently.

• This raises their expectations of what content needs to be delivered, and how quickly it gets there.

© XPotential 20157

2. Constant ConnectionMillennials are a generation that grew up with the Internet,

and are known for their tweeting, snapchatting, friending, checking-in, texting, and selfie-taking

• They sleep with their mobiles and post status updates from the bathroom

• 74% feel that technology makes their lives easier

© XPotential 2015

Connected but Listening?

• BUT it doesn't mean that they're listening…

• Millennials only absorb a fraction of what they hear, read, and see, because they live in a world of information overload.

80% of millennials are known to use two or more Internet enabled devices while watching TVSource: www.adage.com

© XPotential 20159

• Millennial Shoppers are more likely to use mobile phones when shopping online and are also most likely than any other age group to browse products on their smartphones when they visit a store.

• Millennials expect a seamless online experience regardless of the device and what they are doing.�

Connected Everywhere

© XPotential 201510

The New Morning Routine?Toothpaste, toilet paper, texting…

Source: Cisco Connected World Technology Report

© XPotential 201511

Connected or Addicted

Source: Cisco Connected World Technology Report

© XPotential 201512

3. Short Attention Span

One of the defining characteristics of Millennials is their short attention span. This trait is apparent in the dominant communication tools that millennials use;

text messages, Twitter, and IM all encourage concise messages.

© XPotential 201513

Even a Gold Fish Has a Better Attention Span than the Millennials!

• In the digital age, where the news is limited to 140 characters and conversations take place in the form of emojis, our attention span has shortened. A recent study by Microsoft Corporation has found this digital lifestyle has made it difficult for us to stay focused, with the human attention span shortening from 12 seconds to eight seconds in more than a decade.

• The inability of the Millennial generation to focus stems from the ever-increasing availability of digital media at their fingertips.

• These savvy digital natives can view multiple screens, use social media, and consume the latest news, devoting seconds to each task.

© XPotential 201514

4. An Appetite for Collaboration

A consequence of growing up with the Internet is that Millennials prefer democratic, collaborative processes.

Millennials love being part of a team. They want to participate, and they want their views to be heard.

© XPotential 201515

They are very open minded when it comes to native content, and will gladly share it with their social networks

84% of millennials said social opinions influence their purchase decisions

Sharing

© XPotential 201516

5. A Very Diverse Group

It is dangerous to look at millennials as one cohort. While they belong to one generation, Millennials fall on a wide spectrum of tastes, behaviours and

income levels.

© XPotential 201517

Content that is geared towards the Millennials has to be exciting, engaging and shareable because they are bombarded by information everyday

45% of Millennials are underwhelmed by content served up by brands and don’t find it compelling enough to share

© XPotential 201518

Millennials form fierce brand loyalty, with 70% saying they always come back to brands they love.

© XPotential 201519

However, brands need to understand their needs, preferences and passions

Millennials expect companies and brands to understand their needs, their preferences, and their passions

© XPotential 201520

7 Key Characteristics of Effective Marketing to Millennials:

• Be authentic.• Be relevant.• Be a necessity.• Be a value.• Be socially responsible.• Be shareable.• Be an experience.

Source: Carol Phillips, Notre Dame professor and president of Brand Amplitude

© XPotential 201521

A Brand that got the Millennials Right: Tide Pods by P&G

Millennials want products that provide convenience and are energy-efficient, which may explain why Tide Pods have done so well among this generation.

Tide Pods focused on the innovation behind the product, as well as its no-fuss qualities.

The commercial boasted that Pods “provide excellent results with minimal time and effort,” a message that speaks directly to Millennials’ quest for convenience

No longer would apartment dwellers have to lug the entire bottle of laundry soap to the laundry mat or worry about wasting soap by pouring too much into the washing machine.

© XPotential 201522

What Tide did Right

Solved a need for Millennials and created the marketing message to back it up.

© XPotential 201523

So How You Can Create an Inspiring Conversation with the Millennials…

© XPotential 201524

Here is How…

www.bazaarvoice.com

www.searchenginejournal.com

Source:

Create an experience in which Millennials

can participate, develop and share

your brand

Make sure you communicate with them where they

are

Give them something to talk about -

Content/advertising should enhance - not

distract - from what you have to offer

Short and fast content with immediate response and

accessibility is key and drawn to visual content

more than text.Align your brand with a cause, so that Millennials

will align with you

XPotential (UK)4/5 Market Square,

Marlow, Buckinghamshire,SL7 3HH, United KingdomTel: +44 (0) 1628 485 847

info@xpotential.co.uk

XPotential (Brazil)AV. Divino Salvador, 716Moema – São Paulo – SP

CEP – 04078 – 012 Tel: +55 (0) 11 5051 9194

info@xpotential.co.br

XPotential (Thailand)Q.House Lumpini, Level 27,

1 South Sathorn Road, TungmahamekBangkok 10120, Thailand

Tel: +66 (0) 2610 3706info@xpotential.co.th

XPotential ANZP.O Box 237, Hampton,

Melbourne, Victoria 3188,Australia

Tel: +61 (0) 404 098 892enquiries@xpotentialanz.com

© XPotential 2015