Millennial Schmillennial… It’s time to move on!

7th November 2017

So much has been written about the Millennial generation, yet it seems that they are still very misunderstood.  On the one hand, Millennials are all mobile phone addicts who are selfish, lazy and not willing to work hard.  On the other, they are confident influencers who are entrepreneurial, educated, and open-minded.  So, what gives?

I am a Millennial.  I enjoy using social media.  But my worries do not stem from how many likes and followers I am going to get.  I worry more about whether I will be able to afford a mortgage at any point in the future. But I am probably very different to a younger Millennial who might be on their phone 24/7 but at the same time, worried about whether they will get a full-time job when they leave university (to pay off said unmanageable debt).

The reality is the word Millennial is so broad it can refer to anyone as young as 20 and as old as 35.  We’re talking different life stages, education and marital status.  And with 13.8 million Millennials in the UK, it’s pretty unrealistic to assume this generation have a unified identity and share similar values.

With more clients taking a keen interest in this audience, I feel it is time to be more sophisticated around how we are segmenting this 15-year age span to allow for more accurate insight around their attitudes, values & behaviour towards brands.

BCG’s analysis [https://www.bcg.com/documents/file103894.pdf] is a brilliant example of this.  They have identified six distinct types of Millennials based on life stage, values, personality traits & general behaviour.  I would personally describe myself as an ‘Old School Millennial’ – although I enjoy social media, nothing beats spending quality time with friends and family in person.

In short, Millennials are a huge cohort with diversifying attitudes, tastes and behaviours towards brands.  I believe brand owners really need to think about what type of Millennial they want to engage so they can target & engage this generation more efficiently & effectively

Babita Aytain
Account Manager