By Rachel O’Neill
True or false: all millennials are the same? It seems obvious to state that no two people are the same let alone an entire generation, however millennials have somehow been lumped together as a hyper-connected, self-absorbed, entitled group of kids who want to take all the boomers jobs’ without earning the position. I should probably mention before I go on that I am a “millennial”.
However, I’ve been skeptical for years as to whether or not I fit within the millennial mold (this is embarrassing but I just started using Twitter this year). I’m rather quiet on social media and I tend to go long periods of time without my phone, and I use an alarm clock (that’s not on my phone). I also don’t want to take anyone’s job with earning it, I actually don’t know anyone who fits within that stereotype (luckily). I have been even more skeptical about whether my husband fits within that mold. I often jokingly tell him he’s like an 80 year old. Based on his digital habits and understanding of pop culture he really may be part of the “silent generation”. If a marketer only based their advertising on whether or not he could pronounce “gif” or knew what a “meme” was he would be spammed with ads for universal remotes with large buttons. It explains a lot of the AARP mail we receive.
Luckily there is a lot of new research claiming that not all millennials are alike. There are, after all, a lot of us (right around 85 million!). Research from Carat, Pew and others have revealed that there are major differences between younger millennials and older millennials. Carat even took it one step further and broke it down into even smaller groups that consist of “Trend-Netters”, “Alter-natives”, “Lifeprenuers”, and “BetaBlazers”. The age distinction and labels are certainly a start but really talking to your customer and knowing them is going to help a lot more than just targeting millennials as a whole and hoping for the best.
In a world where the “customer-centric” approach is king and personalization is a must, marketing to millennials as one big group (read: stereotype) will do nothing for your brand or sales. Digging into the data and customer insights available to you, though, can go a long way. It may actually be the difference between someone feeling like they can identify with your brand or leaving them with the impression that you don’t get them at all.
As an “older” millennial in the marketing world it’s good to know that other marketers are digging deeper in order to better communicate with such a large group of individuals. It will be interesting to see how marketers use these new insights in their favor and how the perceptions about such a large generation will evolve.
For the record I’m still not 100% sure my husband or I fit within any of the newer millennial labels but because I wrote a blog post that mainly focuses on me and my preferences maybe I am a millennial after all.
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