A lot has been said and discussed about millennials. About their smartphone addiction, their favourite apps, their buying behaviours and, somewhat, a narcissism that was highlighted in the selfie trend. Why they don’t buy cars and houses? Are they childish? Why they take so many useless pics? On what do they really believe? And does it make any sense to put them in a frame? We believe on this: Millennials are the real #storytellers of this moment.

1. #me
A peak into millennials world

2. A lot has been said and discussed about
millennials.
About their smartphone addiction, their
favourite apps, their buying behaviours
and, somewhat, a narcissism that was
highlighted in the selfie trend.
Why they don’t buy cars and houses? Are
they childish? Why they take so many
useless pics? On what do they really
believe?
And does it make any sense to put them
in a frame?
We believe on this:
millennials are
the real
#storytellers
of this moment.

3. #me is the
most powerful
story

4. Scenario
During the day we check our smartphones a countless number of times.
A sneak peak at work, even in the middle of a meeting, right after out of bed* in the morning or
between meals, even with the loved one.
Sometimes we go close to rudeness but here is the fact:
We are puting attention (and thumbs) to the second screen as we want it to be our first screen.
Digital professionals and marketers cannot anymore expect to think their intended audience
comfortable sitting on a sofa watching TV while tapping on a tablet or typing on a 15’’ laptop.
When we talk about millennials we should expect them to be always on the move.
*94% of our respondes said that they checked their
smartphone as first thing as they wake up.

5. Methodology
Although this research was set up with much scientific rigor, you should consider the results
exploratory rather than scientific.
This study is based on mainly two sources of insights:
●
●
A collection of smartphone screenshots shared from Ask.fm users globally.
An italian millennials survey about mobile habits and usage of their smartphones.
*Altought Italy is a peculiar country, it has one of the hightest mobile penetration in the world.

6. New screen for new generations
The line between a traditional world (or, offline) and digital world is blurring. The dinstiction
between first screen and second screen is fading too.
Mobile device are moving to the status of first screen.
After the pc era, people want to rely mainly on their mobile devices, where apps are simpler and
faster to use and the output can be produced and shared in minutes.
Stories are moving between people on the move, constantly doing something, costantly
capturing a moment, constantly connected with friends.
●
During VMA PepsiCo discovered that “The younger group already had their hands ready
and immediately went to social media to start talking,”

7. Why this paper
Because we believe that
Millennials are the real
storytellers.
They use tools to code, to craft, to publish and amplify their stories.
Their stories need to cross other stories to move on, and other stories need #me factor to move
forward.
Also, the #me cannot be polluted by others, not relevant, #me.

8. Welcome into a
#me
centric world

9. #me, my story, whatever I am using
Millennials use their smartphones mainly to browse and to text. In few words to be in contact
to the world and to their friends. They use apps to craft a story (#mycode) and apps to tell
their stories (#myworld).
#mycode
#me
#myworld
What do you
use most?
Browse
27%
Texting
25%
Phone
19%

10. Codes to create, tools to share
Duck faces, emoji, sparrow faces, advice animals, animated gif and
more of these sound like meme. For millennials these are codes of
communication.
When looking into their home screen, we noticed that millennials use
different apps to do the same things, loyalty to a specific app can be
seen as low.
Millennials first need is to communicate and they will use any tool to
accomplish it; adopting and abandoning social networks and their
apps depending on how their world is moving.
Consequently codes of communication
are tied to users, not apps.
55% said that their
smartphone express
“communication”

11. #me, my story, whatever I am using
#mycode: what
millennials use to craft
the #me
#me: the wallpaper
can be the intimate
part of a millennial
smartphone
#myworld: what
millennials use to
amplify their #me

12. #me, my story, whatever I am using
#mycode: what
millennials use to craft
the #me
#me: the wallpaper
can be the intimate
part of a millennial
smartphone
#myworld: what
millennials use to
amplify their #me

13. #me, my story, whatever I am using
#mycode: what
millennials use to craft
the #me
#me: the wallpaper
can be the intimate
part of a millennial
smartphone
#myworld: what
millennials use to
amplify their #me

14. #selfies are just
a part of #me

15. Selfie is the word of 2013, but if we look a bit deeper what a Selfie is,
we realise that is part of #me.
Wherever selfies are a moment of pride, a cry for help, a showoff,
they are a part of #me. Possibly the tip of the iceberg of the #me.
Underneath the sea level, there is an entire world that is asking to
be understood
Selfies as a phenomenon didn't even exist
before late 2012. Social networks and camera
phones had already been around for quite
some time, but this marked the tipping point
when the idea of selfies finally took off.
And as of August 2013, selfies are more
popular than ever.

16. A peak into iPhone screens
give you a passkey to
understand device usage,
habits and trends about
millennials and their
connection.

17. Augmenting
#me

18. Apps are made for #me
Apps are downloaded when they enhances the #me factor, and
different apps can tell the #me to their contacts.
They have different priorities in their screen and branded apps are not
always welcome, depending on how their me is moving.
In our research 55% declared that apps are downloaded following a
friend suggestion (only 9% from advertising) and 67% declared deleting
an app when is not enough used.
Brands working to reach millennials (smartphone) with an app should
be aware that only an app that boost the #me of their intended
audience will be downloaded, used and shared.

19. Connecting #me
#me is not only the most powerful story, is the most powerful filter
against advertising.
A natural preposition, instilled inside our cousciosness, to automatically
filter away irrelevant brands, apps and stories.
Brands win only when touching this turning point, when became part of
other #me.
Facebook for example refined the organic reach of page posts, filtering
irrelevant stories and letting more space to #me stories in users feeds.
Publishers that are not able to create #me stories have paid media as
last resort to reach people.
Like “banner blindness”, now users developed “irrelevantness
blindness”.

20. Email, for
millennials,
is definitely
dead.

21. Mailing
● We hardly see the icon app
mail in all those screenshots
● Those few email icons have
no notification, which is quite
different for the text message
app (Messages/iMessages)
Email is dying, or its heartbeat is
very low..
Maybe not completely dead, but
email does not look like the best
way to engage with millennials.
It is not part of their stream like a
facebook or tumblr feed can be.
then Email database rental,
internal newsletters and CRM
should be considered in
supporting roles.

22. Texting

23. Texting
When the habits have changed we, millennials or not, have a screen
costantly with us and a thumbs tapping around.
And texting, with standard texts or within apps, seems to be one of our
favourite activity.
Texting is about connect and active communications, and we have
best chats when we have something to tell: our #me story.
49% of american teens send and receive text messages every day with friends. Girls
14-17 send about 100 text per day (double than boys 14-17). (PewInternet.org)

24. Phone
Calling

25. Phone Calling
Actually phone calling is still used from a smartphone owner. On 2011
voice minute per customer was actually increasing (while the revenues
were falling)
On a pre-iPhone world, if we were not calling or texting, we were keeping
it on our pockets.
Now the array of actions that can be taken with a
smartphone has increased in a such level that we
call the same or more, but we do a lot more of
things in the middle.
According to a meme: in 2035 kids will look
at the Phone icon and wonder why it looks so weird.

26. It’s a brand new
exciting world

27. What’s new ?
Millennials have great stories that they tell with
their action and their purchase, using a bunch of
tools and codes that change very quickly.
They respect, follow and buy from brands that
really understand their needs.
They use smartphones as their first way to
communicate, as an extention of their social life.
Looking at their mobile screen can tell us a lot more
about their world, going deeper than any survey.
Millennials feel that they can hack corporate codes,
products and communications too.
The #me
manifesto is the
takeaway list.
Download it at
offic.in/a/me

28. Interested in these topics ?
Like you share your thoughts ?
Curious about results and methodology ?
Reach us at www.offic.in/a/me
Is a digital think tank
where we explore digital culture,
youth behavior, new media usage.
We help brands to understand it using lateral research,
innovative approach and defining new trends and
thought.

29. Gianluca Arnesano
co-founder
Denis Rasia
co-founder
#Offic.in/a
#Cats
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www.offic.in/a