Ogilvy Public Relations
Understanding
the past,
present,
and future
of America’s
most promising
generation
By Todd Metrokin
2015 CHEAT SHEET
MILLENNIALS NUMBERS
BY
THE
EARNING & SPENDING
KEY DEMOGRAPHICS
65% are employed*
19.7% live in poverty*
$33,883 median income for full-time workers*
(compared to $37,355 in 2000)
42% identify themselves as middle class***
(down from 53% in 2008)
30.3%
LIVING WITH
A PARENT
HAVE A
TATTOO
MARRIED COMPARED
TO 36% GEN X &
48% BABY BOOMERS
AT SAME AGE
75.3
MILLION
(compared to 14.1% of same age group in 1980)
40%
26%
2015
POPULATION
PROJECTION:
(compared to 70.6% of same age group in 1990)
47%
50%
OF BIRTHS BY
AN UNMARRIED
PARENT
NOW DESCRIBE
THEMSELVES AS
POLITICAL
INDEPENDENTS
27% DEM
17% REP
22.3% hold a bachelor’s degree or higher*
43%
ARE NON-WHITE,
THE HIGHEST
SHARE OF ANY
GENERATION
(compared to 15.7% of same age group in 1980)
21% of consumer discretionary purchases*
82% prefer shopping in stores**
(40% said they prefer shopping with a friend.)
43.5% wait for a sale before buying**
(compared to 52.6% of Gen Xers)
$200 billion est. annual spending by 2017**
* U.S. Census Bureau
** Adult Millennials As Consumers, eMarketer report, 2014
*** Millennials in Adulthood, Pew Research Center, 2014
GENERATIONAL GROUPS
Centennials
b. 1998-present
Millennials
b. 1981-1997
Generation X
b. 1965-1980
Baby Boomers
b. 1946-1964
The Silent Generation
b. 1928-1945
The Greatest Generation
before 1928
Millennials in Adulthood, Pew Research Center, 2014
COLLEGE & CAREER
• 33% say current job is not their career
• 40% are in college
• 70% of college grads leave their
first job within two years
• 50% enrolled would like to earn a graduate or
professional degree afterward
• 21% women vs. 16% men will graduate college
• 36% of those not in school cite cost as a deterrent
• 35% say they don’t have the time
pewresearch.org/millennials
• 60% feel they don’t make
enough money
• 10,000 Baby Boomers retire every
day on average
xyzuniversity.com/workforcecrisis
POPULATION CHANGES
1990
2009-2013
42.8%
30.3%
27.3%
9.9%
Minority
15.4%
Foreign Born
15.3%
24.6%
Non-English Language
Spoken at Home
24.2%
Living with Parent
Who is Householder
U.S. Census Data on Americans Ages 18-34
Ogilvy Public Relations
U.S. Census Bureau
Born between 1981 and 1997,
many Millennials are just now
entering their adulthoods, yet
it already appears they’re the
most researched, measured, and
surveyed population in history.
We’re paying close attention
because we know their choices
will impact the world. How they
vote, where they shop, what
they buy, and which causes they
support are just a few areas
of intense study. While most
of us recognize the potential
of Millennials, years of mixed
messages have contributed to a
great deal of misunderstanding
and misinformation.
One reason for the confusion
is that many of the data
points being shared seem to
contradict each other. For
example: According to eMarketer,
Millennials are more fluent in
digital than other demographic
groups, but a large majority
prefer shopping in physical
stores. They’re more likely
than others to do prepurchase
MILLENNIALS, OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS
research, but also more likely to
buy on impulse, and they value
their independence, yet seek
input and approval from others.i
The confusion could also be
attributed to those of us doing
the reporting; meaning that what
the data tell us may contradict
with our perceptions of Millennials.
These perceptions are informed
by our world view, but are also
influenced by media and opinion
leaders who sometimes perpetuate
the negative stereotypes often
assigned to Millennials.
To be fair, as a Gen Xer,
I understood some of the
frustrations my peers expressed
about working with young
adults. Often, it took the form
of seemingly innocent jokes
and jabs. Eventually, I began
to wonder about the origins
of the jokes and whether they
might mask perceptions that
are dangerous to my work as
a strategist; someone who is
supposed to be able to observe
social behavior free from bias to
deliver meaningful insights.
What started as a query to
better understand the research
resources I was using has led to
a deeper appreciation for these
maligned cohorts and a better
understanding of the macro
trends that are likely to have a
significant influence on America’s
most researched and perhaps
most promising generation.
I hope that by the end of this
paper, you will gain some
perspective on past assumptions
and how we got there, understand
where the Millennial generation
stands now, and where they might
take us tomorrow.
odd Metrokin is a vice president
T
and creative strategist at
Ogilvy Public Relations in
Washington, DC
3
— ERIC MICHA’EL LEVENTHAL
If you’ve read any of the news
headlines about Millennials over
the past eight years, you’ve
probably noticed terms like
narcissistic, entitled, delusional,
unpolished, and materialistic
used to describe the generation.
One piece that got a lot of coverage and is still being referenced
is the 2010 Time cover article by
Joel Stein titled, “Millennials: The
Me Me Me Generation” in which
he reported that, “Millennials got
so many participation trophies
growing up that a recent study
showed that 40% believe they
should be promoted every two
years, regardless of performance.”
The statistic Stein cited is from a
2008 National Institute of Health
(NIH) study. It’s likely that every
negative word you’ve heard
describing Millennials can be
attributed to an article or study
published in the past eight years.
What you see on this page is just
small a sampling of headlines
from reputable news sources like
USA Today, Bloomberg, Forbes,
MILLENNIALS, OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS
Time, and the New York Times.
And, depending on which study
you reference, they’re all true.
In trying to get a better handle
on the negativity surrounding
this populace, I noticed one
source seemed to be cited over
and over again.
You may be familiar with
Dr. Jean M. Twenge’s work, Generation Me, published in 2006
and The Narcissism Epidemic in
2009, which are based on her
study of 9 million high schoolers
and kids entering college. It’s a
very influential study that is still
5
the foundation for some research
being done today. This is also part
of the problem: Characteristics
applied to those young cohorts at
that pivotal age have been used
to describe an entire generation
regardless of what stage in
development or level of maturity
they are in now.
Her research found a host of
negative traits, including narcissism, more prevalent in the then
very young Millennials than older
generations at the same age. How
does one go about measuring
narcissism? Two methods have
been used as a foundation.
In the 2008 NIH study that
Joel Stein cited, researchers
interviewed more than 30,000
participants to test them for
symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). The study
diagnosed 9.4% of respondents
ages 20 to 29 with NPD. Young
adults in the study tested higher
than older age groups.
Dr. Twenge’s work focused on
a test called the Narcissistic
Personality Inventory. A test
critics say is inherently flawed
and better designed to measure
feelings of confidence and selfworth than actual narcissism.
In one New York Times interview,
Clark University research professor
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett criticized
Dr. Twenge’s work saying, “I think
she is vastly misinterpreting or
over-interpreting the data, and
I think it’s destructive.” He went
on to write in his 2013 critique,
“If it were true that their narcissism
was rising and that narcissism
leads to impulsive behavior, then
impulsive behavior would also be
rising, but in fact it is diminishing
across multiple indicators.”1
MILLENNIALS, OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS
As far as NIH’s use of NPD, even
they admit that, “NPD may be
more prevalent among young
adults due to developmental
challenges in the transition from
adolescence to adulthood.”2
Meaning that the trait may
simply be a natural stop along
our continuum of maturity and,
just as we all thought the haircut
we sported in our sophomore
class photo was cool at the time,
we see the world (and our style
choices) very differently now.
MEANING THAT THE TRAIT
MAY SIMPLY BE A NATURAL
STOP ALONG OUR CONTINUUM OF MATURITY AND,
JUST AS WE ALL THOUGHT
THE HAIRCUT WE SPORTED
IN OUR SOPHOMORE CLASS
PHOTO WAS COOL AT THE
TIME, WE SEE THE WORLD
(AND OUR STYLE CHOICES)
VERY DIFFERENTLY NOW.
The criticism around Dr. Twenge’s
research and the NIH study isn’t
just about a flawed methodology,
it also comes down to interpretation of the data.
Dr. Twenge’s books reflect what
many from my generation and
older generations have felt about
Millennials at one point or another.
And therein lies the problem.
How older generations view the
actions of younger generations
may present an inherent bias
that should not be overlooked. If
this body of research is flawed—
research that has been the
foundation of so many of those
earlier articles—then perhaps all
of what followed after it should
be reconsidered.
Finally, we go all the way back
to where the focus on Millennials
arguably began: to the work of
Neil Howe and William Strauss.
Howe and Strauss are credited
for giving Gen Y the Millennials
moniker when they applied their
theory on generational trends to
the study of Millennials.
In their 2000 book, Millennials
Rising: The Next Great Generation,
Howe and Strauss forecasted that
Millennials were in line to be the
next “hero” generation because
they follow a pattern common
to the last four hero generations
in American history. The pattern
early in life is as follows: A hero
generation arrives just after an
era of society-wide upheaval in
values and culture that many
historians call a spiritual awakening, and passes through childhood during a time of decaying
civic habits, ebbing institutional
trust, and resurgent individualism.3
Dr. Twenge considers this work a
misguided attempt to ignore the
many negative attributes prevalent among Millennials.4 That
may be, but Howe’s and Strauss’
insights are supported by recent
studies. Millennials are proving
to be the engine driving many
of the world’s social, economic,
and political movements. They’re
building networks and leveraging
them for the greater good.
6
— JANE ADDAMS
So how do we understand
Millennials today? With a legacy
of negative messaging from the
media, it’s no surprise that this
generation recites many of those
negative messages back as the
attributes of their generation.
But it isn’t all bad. In fact, we’re
seeing the qualities of Howe’s and
Strauss’ hero generation emerge
in many different ways and on
the global stage as Millennials
mature and move into adulthood.
The United Nations shares this
view in its 2012 annual report,
saying, “Millennials are increasingly
acting as the agents of change
in society, calling for institutions
that are more responsive not only
to their needs, but to national or
global concerns, and providing
the energy, creative ideas, and
determination to drive reform.”5
I think the challenge may be with
the way older generations see
Millennials engaging today—how
they apply their enthusiasm,
grow support, and the platforms
they choose to leverage—may
MILLENNIALS, OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS
seem less relevant compared to
what they believe is necessary
for engagement and reform.
Millennial Lindsay Stransman
described the disconnect in an
email to me, “As a 2012 New York
University grad I came straight to
Ogilvy (without parents’ couch
downtime) and I always felt that
I had to defend the drive and
passion that fuels my generation.
It’s no longer honest to say
that because we’re tech savvy
we’re passive. It’s actually the
platform that makes us so
engaged, individualized, and
able to make change.”
The world is experiencing swift
and seismic changes; technology
has democratized information,
revolutionizing the way we do
business, and connecting people
in ways that I couldn’t have
imagined happening in my lifetime. Growing up with technology
has impacted Generation Y in
ways we’re just now beginning
to understand. Lindsay’s point is
emblematic of a change I believe
we need to make in the way we
develop our research approaches
and insights on Millennials.
IT’S NO LONGER
HONEST TO SAY THAT
BECAUSE WE’RE TECH SAVVY
WE’RE PASSIVE.
IT’S ACTUALLY THE
PLATFORM THAT MAKES
US SO ENGAGED,
INDIVIDUALIZED,
AND ABLE TO
MAKE CHANGE.
If we were to create a word cloud
describing Millennials using more
current research, we’d see a very
different set of attributes emerging.
8
Instead of selfish,
we would see egalitarian.
Equality as a value is at the top
of many surveys in relation to job
satisfaction and social issues. It
ranked third—behind terrorism
and the economy—as a top global
concern in a recent 2015 Ogilvy
survey.6 Respect for individual
differences also contributes to
what GfK recognizes as a greater
sive 63% of Americans ages 20
to 35 volunteered for a nonprofit,
and 70% said they helped raise
funds on behalf of a nonprofit.8
A 2013 World Vision survey also
revealed that 56% of males ages
18 to 34 had given a charitable
gift, compared to only 36% of
older men.9 Considering that this
generation is facing a greater
financial burden than any other
in recent history, such altruism
PROBLEM SOLVERS
continues across other expenditures as well. Millennials are also
eating out less often and are
more comfortable saving money
by sharing resources and renting
services rather than owning. This
doesn’t mean they don’t share
the American dream of home
ownership. To the contrary, it
seems the delay to own real
estate is a very practical and
responsible decision. According
savvy
CREATIVE egalitarian
pioneering
CONNECTED ALTRUISTIC
experimental COLLABORATIVE
FAMILY-CENTRICBOLD
prioritization on equality as well
as the growing acceptance for
mixed and same-sex couples
and families.7
Instead of narcissistic,
we would see altruistic.
On the philanthropic side, young
adults are outpacing their
predecessors in many ways.
According to the 2013 Millennial
Impact Report, 1 in 4 gives to
international charities and 83% of
Millennials made a donation to an
organization in 2012, An impres-
MILLENNIALS, OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS
is all the more impressive. As for
the notion that they donate or
volunteer just for the Facebook
bragging rights, only 3% of
Millennials are looking to share
the experience on social media.
Instead of coddled or entitled,
we would see savvy.
A 2012 study by NPD Group
revealed that more than 20%
of Americans ages 25 to 34
are saving on rent or mortgage
payments by living in multigenerational homes.10 Frugal behavior
to the same NPD study, “69%
believe someone is ready when
they can afford to buy while also
maintaining their lifestyle. For
61% of respondents, the readiness indicator is when they’ve
landed a secure job. Seventy-one
percent surveyed believe that
home ownership should be
earned, not something they are
automatically entitled to.”
9
— RALPH ABERNATHY
According to GfK, 83% of the
babies born in 2015 will be to
Millennial or Gen Z parents, and
the median age of the first-time
home buyer is now 31 years
old11—proof that Millennials are
beginning to experience the first
major milestones of adulthood.
As they age and mature, our
understanding of them must
also evolve.
What is next for Millennials?
With projections saying their
population will peak at 81.1 million
by 2036, businesses, governments, and institutions should
prepare for a generation on the
brink of eclipsing all others in
size and complexity. That’s not to
say we should view Millennials as
one homogeneous group. Further
segmentation is vital for meaningful insights on your target
audience. Some researchers
have gone so far as to say that
Millennials should not be studied
as a single generation and should
be broken down into smaller
subgroups to be valid.
MILLENNIALS, OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS
Looking ahead, it’s impossible to
know for certain the impact the
Millennial generation will make
on our collective future. However,
there are three areas where large
cultural changes happening now
are likely to have a significant
effect on society—and consumer
behavior—in the coming years.
FORECAST #1:
THE RISE OF
FAMILY FLUENCY
If you don’t speak “family” now,
you soon will. Family-centric
activities are already trending
high according to recent lifestyle
studies, so the fact that Millennials say they’re happier spending
time with their families seems
like common sense. But if you
also look at population forecasts,
family as a value and driver is
sure to intensify.
There are now 10.8 million
Millennial households with children.
Nearly half of all Millennial women
are moms, accounting for 46%
of the women in their age group.
Furthermore, Millennial parents
account for 80% of the 4 million
annual U.S. births,12 so the number of new Millennial parents will
grow exponentially over the next
decade. If we look at a Millennialdriven platform like Kickstarter for
signs, it is interesting to find that
the top-funded project in 2014
was for Reading Rainbow, where
over 105,000 people pledged
$5.5 million to bring the program
back into children’s lives.
Population studies indicate another
seismic change on the horizon.
The Census Bureau projects
that the U.S. population will be
majority nonwhite around 2043.
This generation owes its diversity
in large part to immigration from
regions in Latin America and
Asia, which adds more numbers
to their group than any other
population. Many of these
populations value the family unit
as the foundation for society.
Combine the impact of these
two changes in Millennial demographics and you can see why
family needs to take prominence
when we discuss future trends.
11
As Millennials continue to shift into
parenthood in greater numbers,
they will no doubt introduce new
concepts to parenting and family
just as they’re redefining institutions today.
We can already see some changes.
Smaller numbers of this generation are getting married and as
you might expect, their definition
of family has expanded to include
same-sex couples and friends.13
While the definition of family has
expanded, familial bonds have
tightened. Half of all Millennials
say they see their parents in
person every day, and nearly
as many (45%) talk with their
parents on the phone daily.14
According to Pew Research
Center, this kind of ongoing
parent-child contact is well above
that of all older generations.
How might this affect the behavior
of Millennial parents? According
to a 2013 study by Barkley,
Boomers, which are often cited
as the inventors of the helicopter
parent phenomenon, may have
provoked something of a backlash now that their Millennial
children are parents. Sixty-one
percent of these young parents
agree that kids need more
unstructured playtime. Only
21% think their own kids are
overscheduled.15
Lastly, one very important
distinction for Millennial parents
will likely be their approach
to the challenge of work/life
balance. They’ve already had
an impact on business culture
where flextime, teleworking, and
casual dress codes are becoming the norm, so how will they
manage the additional demands
of parenthood when 71% already
believe work demands interfere
with their personal lives?16
MILLENNIALS, OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS
It’s not a stretch to predict that
businesses and brands that help
them resolve this tension are likely
to gain favor among working
Millennial parents.
FORECAST #2:
A NEW EQUALITY
STANDARD
When Ogilvy asked American
Millennials, unaided, what they
feel is the most pressing issue or
problem facing the world today,
inequality—racism, sexism,
intolerance, and human rights—
was the third most common
response. This concern is shared
by Millennials around the globe.17
As countries unite to solve
ongoing debt, environmental, and
security crises, wired and aware
Millennials are expressing their
global citizenship by supporting
their international peers who are
demanding fewer restrictions and
access to the internet. Businesses
operating in the global marketplace, like Google and Apple, will
continue to have their policies
and labor practices publicly
scrutinized. Brands that ignore
or misrepresent their Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR)
commitments will do so at
their own peril.
Support for equality as a social
issue seems to be paying off
for brands targeting Millennial
shoppers. You may recall the “This
is Wholesome” campaign from
Honey Maid, which celebrated the
diversity of the modern American
family and featured male samesex parents as well as a multiracial
family. The ad and follow-up video
garnered an impressive ROI. As
Google’s Brendan Snyder recently
reported, “Searches for Honey
Maid increased 10 times during the
last week in March, with sustained
interest into May. In support of
the campaign launch, Honey Maid
drove penetration growth among
Millennial households +1 point,
according to Gary P. Osifchin, the
brand’s senior marketing director.”
Snyder also reported on some
surprising metrics from Google’s
consumer survey from August of
2014: 45% of consumers under
34 years old say they’re more
likely to do repeat business with
an LGBT-friendly company. Of
them, more than 54% also say
they’d choose an equality-focused
brand over a competitor. In fact,
today’s young Millennials—47% of
consumers under 24 years old—
are more likely to support a brand
after seeing an equality-themed
ad (compared with 30% of all age
groups combined).18
BUSINESSES OPERATING IN
THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE,
LIKE GOOGLE AND APPLE,
WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE
THEIR POLICIES AND LABOR
PRACTICES PUBLICLY
SCRUTINIZED. BRANDS THAT
IGNORE OR MISREPRESENT
THEIR CSR COMMITMENTS
WILL DO SO AT THEIR
OWN PERIL.
We’re seeing this concern for
equality influence American
Millennials’ charitable giving and
volunteer decisions, opinions on
how we should distribute global
12
aid, and is driving the rise in
support for same-sex marriage
and immigration reform.19
In the workplace, it’s estimated
that Millennials will be close to
50% of the U.S. workforce by
2020.20 Smart businesses have
adopted policies that provide
better work/life integration to
attract the most talented and
skilled candidates.
But Millennials want more.
Achieve’s 2014 Millennial Impact
Report notes that a company’s
diversity is a leading factor for
Millennials when deciding to
apply for a job. A factor in which
American businesses are woefully
inadequate. One example being
that women represent fewer
than 5% of CEOs at major U.S.
companies.21 A fact that was likely
not lost on Beyoncé when she
tweeted to her 14 million followers,
“We need to stop buying into the
myth about gender equality.
It isn’t a reality yet.”
Currently, about 28% of Millennials hold management positions.22
That number grows every day,
but are businesses ready for
them? According to a 2011 global
study by SpenglerFox, 50% of
human resources departments
had not adjusted recruiting or
compensation in the past three to
five years.23 Incentives will need
to evolve to appeal to Millennials
as they assume more responsibility
but they’re also likely to lead in
some very different ways.
Millennials have expressed
disdain for hierarchy in the
workplace, preferring instead
to access networks and work
collaboratively. One trend
already receiving attention is the
practice in which the corporate
ladder is replaced by a corporate
lattice, which essentially flattens
MILLENNIALS, OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS
the traditional hierarchy and
provides leadership opportunities
to multiple experience levels
regardless of rank on the
company org chart.
50% consider themselves political
independents, an increase from
40% in 2007, while 29% of Millennials are religiously unaffiliated
compared to Boomers at 16%.24
This movement toward equal
access and opportunity based
on a new definition of merit is
a paradigm shift that will cause
quite a few waves in the cogenerational workplace. Especially
if compensation programs like
“pay for potential”—which adds
skill, value, drive, and capability
for growth to the performance
metric—become more popular
in organizations that seek to halt
the Millennial drift.
Financial institutions are also
grappling with their mistrust.
According to an index published
by the research group Scratch, the
banking industry is at the highest
risk of disruption due to low levels
of trust, saying that “All four of the
leading banks are among the ten
least loved brands by Millennials,”
and that of the 10,000 respondents, “73% would be more excited
about a new offering in financial
services from Google, Amazon,
Apple, Paypal, or Square than from
their own nationwide bank.”25
This generation is getting
squeezed by unprecedented
student-loan debt and new
family responsibilities. They’re
understandably concerned by
the growing economic disparity
and their own financial prospects.
Looking ahead, the issue of
inequality will take on more
meaning and for an everincreasing portion of society.
FORECAST #3:
POWER TO THE
TRUSTMAKERS
Perhaps intensified by increased
access to information and the
24-hour news cycle, scandal and
upheaval seem to be the theme
of the century so far. Young
adults today grew up having a
front-row seat to our nation’s
Great Recession, the televised
meltdown of our banks, and the
failures or stagnation of many
of our most trusted brands and
institutions. The effects can be
seen in Pew Research Center’s
2014 report Millennials in Adulthood, which portrays a generation “unmoored from institutions”
at dramatically increasing rates;
This sense of detachment and
distrust has created a vacuum,
contributing to an environment
where disruption is now the
norm and where hackers gleefully pull back the curtains to
expose corporate misbehavior.
THIS SENSE OF
DETACHMENT AND
DISTRUST HAS CREATED
A VACUUM, CONTRIBUTING
TO AN ENVIRONMENT
WHERE DISRUPTION IS NOW
THE NORM AND WHERE
HACKERS GLEEFULLY
PULL BACK THE CURTAINS
TO EXPOSE CORPORATE
MISBEHAVIOR.
13
How can brands build (or rebuild) trust to become the new
trustmakers?
One way is the current trend
where organizations adopt CSR
practices. Knowing that Millennials
over-index in their preference for
brands and businesses that do
good,26 this strategy will likely
continue and grow to become
a standard practice.
A more difficult yet related
approach is transparency and its
cousin, authenticity. Millennials are
remarkably savvy consumers. Not
only are they aware of marketing
tactics, they comprehend brands
and research the companies
and products they’re considering
prior to making a purchase.27 This
behavior makes transparency all
the more important. It also makes
the threat of CSR greenwashing
claims more likely. Companies will
continue to struggle with transparency and ethics for the foreseeable future. Those that fall short of
Millennials’ expectations will suffer.
One approach that brands as
well as institutions should look
to leverage to build trust and
increase transparency is the
concept of open innovation.
For those who aren’t familiar with
it, open innovation encourages
sharing resources and bringing
together ideas from the publicand private-sectors. University
of California professor Henry
Chesbrough favors open innovation because, “The boundaries
between a firm and its environment have become more permeable.” Applying this concept to
R&D and product testing phases
similar to a beta-testing approach
would bring together customers
and partners “behind the curtain”
and could provide them with
a better understanding of the
brand as well help drive trial
and adoption of new products
and services.
Millennials’ openness to, and in
some cases, preference for ideas
that come from outside traditional
channels has given rise to a whole
class of entrepreneurs
that leverages platforms like
YouTube to build personal
brands. These new influencers
utilize their personalities and
skills to entertain and educate
fans. Some big brands are trying
to tap into their growing popularity, but, rather than borrow
talent in the short term, there’s
another option organizations
may want to consider as part of
a longer-term game plan.
Every brand and business has a
team of people delivering on its
promise. Empowering those
employees with the tools and
platforms to become brand
advocates in their own right is one
path to establishing authenticity
and trust. Most companies are
already active on social media,
keeping their customers well
informed and up to date. Perhaps
the next step in transparency
is to swing open the glass door
and harness the social nature of
networked Millennial employees to
support their companies’ brands.
CONCLUSION
Demanding reforms and supporting disruptive innovations may make the establishment
(i.e. older generations like mine) nervous, but that should be expected as Millennials lead us into
uncharted territory. Do they have a map? Have they considered the implications of such revolt?
Perhaps not. But I truly believe that for Millennials, the point of differentiation—and greatest
promise—is that they believe there are other possibilities and they are willing to explore them.
What marketers need to remember is to caution against overgeneralization. As noted earlier, these
cohorts are a diverse group of young adults, and new research by the Futures Group suggests that
the intragenerational differences in beliefs and attitudes between older and younger Millennials
may be significant enough to warrant yet another level of segmentation. While I’ve forecasted
three areas where important cultural shifts are likely to impact business, it will be important to
understand how those changes will manifest for your unique target. The complexity of this
audience can only be navigated through segmentation and putting aside generational bias.
MILLENNIALS, OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS
14
SOURCES
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December 9, 2013
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features/lgbt-advertising-brands-taking-stance-on-issues.html?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=paid-media&utm_campaign=ph2-sp-update. March 2015
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Ogilvy Public Relations
ROBERT MATHIAS, CEO, NORTH AMERICA
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TODD METROKIN, VICE PRESIDENT
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