I’m an avid reader of The Economist, and I recently read an interesting article on how marketers are trying to address the Millennial generation. As readers of past blogs may recall, I’m a confirmed cynic that the generation represents a fundamentally different species (metaphorically); so, I was immediately drawn in by the observation in the article that the reason so many companies struggle to understand the differences between Millennials and other generations “may be because such differences are overblown.”  

Ipsos-MORI is quoted as saying that Millennials are “the most carelessly described group we have ever looked at.” The article quotes a MillerCoors failure to sell to Millennials by creating TwoHats, a light-flavored fruity brew they said would appeal to Millennials taste and budget with the tagline, “Good, cheap beer. Wait, what?” 

The article does say that Millennials do respond to three big themes: transparency, experience over possessions and flexibility. They cite examples such as: 

• Everlane, an online clothing manufacturer offering “radical transparency” by disclosing both the conditions under which each garment is made and the profit being earned 

• A large company, ConAgra, has succeeded in growing sales by eliminating all artificial ingredients from its snack and ready meals 

• Airbnb is the classic example of enabling more experiences through both reducing the price of stays and selling experience-oriented programs 

• AllyBank has offered flexibility with checking accounts that have no minimum balances and no fees 

• Carmakers are experimenting with subscription services, rather than ownership—another example of increasing flexibility even in a durable goods category

To test the validity of these thoughts, I turned once again to the D2 Demand Solutions Millennial Focus Group. (Reminder to past readers and disclaimer to new readers: this is really just my 23-year old daughter now attending grad school at Rutgers.)

Unlike previous articles touting massive differences in Millennials, she largely agreed withThe Economist’s subtler descriptions.Here’s her full response:

I think this is quite accurate. The three qualities they cited (transparency, experience over things, and flexibility) resonate with me. Transparency is a big one; millennials as a group are cynical and can tell when companies are pandering. The examples they gave of "flexibility" are spot on. Another big thing related to that is millennials don't like using the phone. We want to be able to do as much online as possible and write things out instead of talking. There are a lot of millennial memes about "successfully avoiding human interaction" as much as possible; it's why things like iPads at restaurants where you can order food without talking to waiters are big hits. The equivalent in your industry would be having online systems for leasing, paying rent, making maintenance requests, purchasing amenities, etc. 

I'm not sure if "experience over things" is a universally millennial value or just one among more affluent people, but I think it is valid among my circles at least. I think generally millennials are more practical and would value, say, a well-made and reliable car over something super flashy. But I think that is valid for anyone who is reasonably well-off but not wealthy, regardless of their age, and millennials are mostly like that because we are young and mostly not wealthy. You do hear about millennials "killing the diamond industry" and stuff like that; I think that ties into all three of these things. We recognize that diamonds are kind of a farce and there is questionable ethics around their mining and production (low transparency); we can't really afford expensive jewelry anyway (low flexibility); and we feel that, since zirconium looks the same anyway, why not get that and instead spend the money on a nice honeymoon or invest it towards a house so we can have a more comfortable life (experience over things).  

The beer example in the article is interesting. Good beer that isn't expensive is definitely a product that would appeal to millennials. The advertisement isn't right though for two reasons I can think of. First, we don't like the feeling that we are being told what to think/how to react ("wait, what?"). If you're telling us what our reaction should be, you probably aren't actually eliciting that reaction, and it feels disingenuous/pandering to boot. The second is that "good cheap beer" is, in our experience, something that doesn't exist, so we are immediately skeptical because we are a cynical bunch. The solution to that is to convey how/why your beer is both good and cheap. Increase the transparency. What is different about your beer that lets you sell it at a lower price, but still have it taste good? We want to know what that is before we believe that it is both good and cheap. Maybe the actual reason isn't at all sexy but then it's the marketer's job to figure out how to sex it up.   

What do you think are legitimate differences between Millennials and other generations? And what do you think is overhyped?