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. And so brands and marketers have a tough task in finding the right way to engage with this group of consumers who have a combined purchasing power of $2.45 trillion worldwide.

1. Engaging with
Millennials in
the Right Way
September 2015

2. © XPotential 2015
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).
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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.

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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.
3
• Always multi-tasking
• Constant connection
• Short attention span
• An appetite for collaboration
• A very diverse group
Source: www.visioncritical.com

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1. Always Multi-Tasking
Many younger Millennials are screenagers’, multi-tasking consumers who
utilise multiple screens and multiple devices at the same time
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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).
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Source: www.trendspot.com

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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.
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2. Constant Connection
Millennials are a generation that grew up with the Internet,
and are known for their tweeting, snapchatting, friending, checking-in, texting,
and selfie-taking
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• They sleep with their mobiles
and post status updates from
the bathroom
• 74% feel that technology
makes their lives easier

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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 TV
Source: www.adage.com

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• 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.
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Connected Everywhere

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The New Morning Routine?
Toothpaste, toilet paper, texting…
Source: Cisco Connected World Technology Report

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Connected or Addicted
11 Source: Cisco Connected World Technology Report

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

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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.
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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
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Sharing

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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.
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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

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Millennials form fierce brand loyalty,
with 70% saying they always come
back to brands they love.
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However, brands need to understand
their needs, preferences and passions
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Millennials expect companies and brands to understand their needs,
their preferences, and their passions

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

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

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What Tide did Right
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Solved a need for Millennials and created the marketing message to back it up.

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

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© XPotential 2015