Some Time Last Week We All Became Millennials (Follow My Logic)

Here’s my thesis, Millennials are today’s biggest demographic segment. They have unique approaches, outlooks, and habits. Brands, retailers, restaurants, even employers…everyone who wants something from an audience…now modifies their messages (and the media) to capitalize on Millennial behavior

I maintain we all must be Millennials. Because we’re all shopping from our smart phones and enjoying Casual Friday every day at work.

We succumb to their influence because there are a lot of them. Millennials, born between 1977 and 1994 are between the ages of 23-40. They outnumber Baby Boomers (now about ages 53-71). Millennials are the largest demographic in the US (and the World!).

They’ve changed our workplaces. In the past, an Employer would look aghast at a resume filled with one year stints. Now there are courses to teach management how to address the unique needs of the new Millennial workforce.

All those Millennials are not at Starbucks writing the great American novel. They demand new technologies to do their work. Instead of fighting the company firewall, it’s just easier to do their work off site, during flexible hours, so they can be productive. They’re highly suspicious of the intent and loyalties of their employers. The quality of the job experience is the most important thing, more important than the salary.

It seems everyone is a bit jaded since the last election. What do Millennials think about politics? Millennials are, for the most part, neither Republican nor Democrat. About half are independent. And the other half probably don’t consider your question interesting enough to consider (or to vote on).

Hallelujah! About a third don’t claim a religious affiliation. The Baby Boomer children of immigrants embraced America and they raised their Millennial children right!  Having taught our children to believe in tolerance has paid off as Millennials are less judgmental of someone’s gender, race, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation. 

Millennials like to enjoy experiences, share them along with discovered news and relevant social content. They won’t have bucket lists, because they do their best not to miss any available experience right this moment. They shy away from long term commitment. Hence the indulgence of the avocado toast is interesting (and Instagram worthy). They prefer travel and sharing these new experiences with their networks.  We all must post something on our Instagram account.  It seems we all stop to post a picture of that beautiful meal.

Millennials trust the word of, and are influenced by, their peer networks. Influencer marketing continues to stake its claim as part of our consciousness. Major brands are spending over a quarter billion dollars a month just to goose up Instagram posts. Yet, Millennials are egalitarians. Everybody is influential about something.

They are confused by their parent’s pressures to “be an adult”. They don’t feel compelled to rush into marriage or to have children. They shake their heads when others condemn them for not saving to buy a house. Like young people before them, they live in the city so they likely don’t even need a car. Maybe a dog, because it’s a useful prop in the Snapchat they’ll be sending you from the Lakefront.

Speaking of Snapchat, Millennials prefer to communicate by text. Or Snapchat. Or Instagram. You can expect this text exchange: Daughter: “I saw you called on my caller ID. Why are you calling?”. Dad: “I signed up for Snapchat because it’s the only way I can talk to you at all”.

Millennials are digitally open minded. They contribute to the accelerated growth in technology adoption. Growing technology adoption rates is probably not moved by the digitally savvy nature of Millennials. (We Baby Boomers know our way around a keyboard and we did make sure Millennials can take computers for granted). But more significantly we’re all just more well informed; more aware of what technology is available.

Millennials take it for granted there are great tools, in fact the right tool, or a better technology exists, to help them complete their work. And they are quick to adopt, then upgrade, then replace new technologies.  Here’s that thesis again: We all know what apps are out there and how to maximize our smart phone data usage. (If we don’t we can just ask a handy Millennial, I guess). The average person’s technology tool kit has become more easily accessible.

We get our news from newsfeeds now. Millennials are not solely responsible for the decline of print. We all are. Millennials get most of their news not from television, nor print, but from their social network newsfeed. As newspapers go out of business, and TV news becomes redundant at the end of the day, we all appreciate the few minutes we have for Facebook or Twitter. Newsfeed updates gain value for all of us as social media platforms are now hiring editors and embracing journalistic standards.

Logically We Are All Millennials!

Millennials migration to a more available, more flexible access to information, has made online, and our mobile phones, everyone's channels of choice. Not just Millennials, but every demographic, waits in line at the Pharmacy (or at the stoplight), checking their notifications. Or looking for a better price while in a store. Of late, a third of online sales is purchased on a mobile phone.

Enjoy the new world. Acknowledging the smart phones’ future, media and advertisers rush to make content conveniently available there. Apple Pay and Android Pay will cement that future when they usher in an era where having your phone in your pocket is a necessity to make a purchase. (By the way, please tell my older brothers they soon won’t get by with a flip phone.)

All of us see the wisdom of the Millennial demographic’s choices. We benefit from the resultant reactions from communicators. We have all raised our expectations. Plus, casual dress at work is just more comfortable.  

We’ve all adopted, accepted, and rely on the fact that those who want to reach us now feel obligated to make their messaging interesting and real-time. Millennials expect entertaining, informative content to capture their attention. Enhanced delivery models include interactive games, contests, video, but mostly a story (with the consumer as the hero of that saga). Millennials when they led the way, and now all of us, expect the information we get to be personalized, transformed into an experience, with story-like attributes.

Big Data is Big Again. Those who want to reach us are listening to the digital and social war drums very carefully.

Big Data will help guide marketing messages every-increasingly toward the 1to1 ideal.  Consumers of all types take the consistent, omni-channel experience for granted, and now have high expectations as their mobile phones handshake the store’s beacons, for a customized, personalized, meaningful in the moment, purchasing experience.

So…Thank you Millennials. We may be becoming more like Millennials, but all of us are not getting shoved into a single demographic segment. Because Millennials ignore anything less, all of us are getting squeezed into smaller and smaller segments. 1to1 Marketing is the Messenger’s ideal goal. We all benefit as a result.

When I said we all became Millennials, I wasn’t complaining. 

Ron Shulkin guides, sells, markets emerging digital marketing technologies. He is the Vice President for North America for 3radical (a real-time, interactive engagement platform).