Millennials Just Can’t Get Enough

Never has a generation had so many needs. And needed more help to meet their goals. Probably the reason why I’m speaking today on the ‘Demystifying Millennials’ panel with the Milken Institute event in Los Angeles.

An insatiable appetite for more of everything often conjures up images of mega sized cellphones with champagne swilling, permed up 80’s gluttony. But Millennials are a new breed of budding materialists and their flavour of revolution at first glance would appear to have more in common with Marie Antoinette than a Mark Zuckerberg.

Plus, they need help.

Generation ‘and', Not ‘Y’

It’s very simple. Millennials want the same things we all do. They just want them more. Way more. Everyone rates their top three priorities in life as financial security, having hobbies they love and learning more. And we might assume that more younger people will rate these needs highly because they’re starting out. But there’s more to it than that. Our analysis shows us clearly that the age effect here is only partial. For instance 61% of yesterday’s Generation Y wanted new experiences. It’s 71% of today's.

We know, thanks to the constant spectacle that is social media (as well as the chase for jobs) that Millennials need to prove they are accumulating a wealth of experience. Gen Y is literally obsessed with having others appreciate them, validate their actions and spread their message through ever more connections. No wonder that they are also totally wired to being the best at everything they do (3 in 4 agree).

But this creates a lot of pressure. Gen Y is more stressed than it was this time last year. And a whopping 2/3 of Gen Y feel the pressure to be on top of their lives at all times. It is true that FOMO is real and bad. But fear of failure is even worse.

Same, but different

Which helps explain the emphasis on material gain, alongside all the demand for better leisure led lives. We hear much talk of new philanthropic gusto. We see the sharing economy herald a new boom in creative enterprise. But the truth is that more than 3 in 4 Millennials also want a beautiful home, want to be richer, want more excitement. More so than ever before.

The fundamental goals remain the same. You really are supposed to get rich (and you’re definitely supposed to buy designer clothes) – the only difference you’re not supposed to die trying. Gen Y are a cautious bunch and their desire for safety before fun is well documented.

77% are motivated by having clear goals. And we can bet they’ll be set to meet them. But how do we ‘meet them’ these days?

Craving clear goals

While cautious, calculating and pretty well self obsessed say the stats, there’s also a lot to like chez Generation Y. For all their drive, they are also a very open bunch – and very much looking for everyone’s help. Especially brands.

More Millennials follow brands on social media than they did last year. More millennials are looking for personalised advice than ever before and they’re open to new ways of tapping into new services, with many of them looking for personalised interaction and training, even at premium prices. They want more of these services delivered via their smartphones but they are also interested in new routes to escape and guidance on life balance. Remember this is the ‘and/and generation’, looking for material mindfulness.

By the time I’ve stopped pontificating about the youth of today, they’ll have granted me a legacy of personalised, tech enabled means to optimise my life and leisure.   I will surely have embraced the perfect route to mindful escape. I’ll have perfected my career in a creative enterprise. I’ll be in control of every aspect of my life, including all these contradictions in terms. I just hope I can live with the pressure.

 Source all statistics: Future Foundation | Base: 3472 online respondents, aged 16+, USA, 2015 February

 This post is part of LinkedIn's full coverage of the Milken Institute Global Conference.