There are currently 13.8 million Millennials in the UK. We are brisk, we know what we are looking for in products and services, we have access to information like never before and we are always one-click-away from building up or breaking down whatever the world serves us.
We are casually changing the way things were done up to now, by entering the workforce with heads filled of innovations and the desire to make a change, or by being simple consumers and target audiences shifting from one trend to another. Nevertheless, we have that innate sense (just like dogs can smell their owners from miles) when it comes to what we decide to put in the “acceptance pile”.
Generation Y is vital to a vast number of markets, from alcohol and beauty products to technology and travel and we are on an on-going process of impacting the future of many industries.
AdAge, a leading global source of news for marketers and media-driven people, concluded that 43% of Millennials rank authenticity over content when consuming news, according to Forbes magazine as few as 1% of millennials would not trust a brand more as a result of persuasive advertising, but if one brand were to earn their trust, 60% of Millennials are loyal to their purchasing habits. But it’s not all dark skies, the same Millennials respondents also stated that they would be more than interested in being involved in developing products and services alongside companies.
In the UK, 91% of Millennials own a smartphone, according to comScore’s ‘Global Mobile Report’. Their tech devices play an important role in shaping their views and decisions – they want to engage with brands on social networks, they want to feel like they have a say, but on the other hand, they deeply rely on their Facebook friends, bloggers and forums and their opinions might just hammer the final nail in the coffin.
Storytellers, you need to hold attention and create experiences
In his book “All Marketers Are Liars”, Seth Godin focuses on the importance of Storytelling in modern Marketing. It’s still about finding and creating your “purple cow” (a term used to describe a remarkable business), but Millennials are on a wild-goose chase. We want to hear the story behind the shiny products that are stuffed in our faces, we want to know why is it worth our attention but more than anything we pay for how it makes us feel.
We buy gadgets so that we can feel more in sync and connected to others, we paid extra for that box of cereal because the story on the back successfully told us how they are involved in helping marine creatures deal with litter and we shared Dove’s campaign for Real Beauty, because we like to come off as good citizens of the Earth.
