GENERATION Y: In Control, Content, and Community-Minded
THE RISE OF THE "NONES," AND BRANDS AS RELIGIONS
To a greater degree than Millennials, Xers and Boomers relied on social, professional, political, and religious clubs to attain a sense of belonging. But a 2014 Pew survey notes that 50 percent of Millennials describe themselves as political independents, and 29 percent say they are not affiliated with any religion at all. "These are at or near the highest levels of political and religious disaffiliation recorded for any one generation in the quarter-century that the Pew Research Center has been polling on these topics," the report states.
One obvious reason for this disengagement from all that is holy is that technology has made it far easier for Millennials to connect via the Internet to form their own communities.
And, in recent years, smartphone use has skyrocketed. More than any other group of adults, Millennials have embraced advanced mobile phones as their main information hubs. Since 2011, the percentage of U.S. adults who own a smartphone has nearly doubled, from 35 percent to 65 percent, Pew reported in October 2015. Eighty-six percent of 18- to 29-year-olds own a smartphone, while 83 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds do, too.
This has given Yers more control over where they place their attention, and what they choose to focus on and interact with. While Facebook is still a popular hub for Millennials, 18- to 34-year-olds are increasingly hooking into visual social media networks such as Instagram and Snapchat to stay in touch. As of August 2015, 55 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 were on Instagram, according to Pew.
The scope of the companies making use of emerging social media platforms is expanding, too. In its early stages, social media was a largely unstructured and lawless environment, used only by those operating on a tighter budget, but it has begun to take on a more refined shape, notes representatives from the Central Entertainment Group, a boutique pop culture agency. "Initially, social media was used by very small brands who didn’t have a huge amount of money to do a television spot or build a media campaign," says Michael Schweiger, CEO of the Central Entertainment Group. "But in the last four to five months, bigger and bigger brands are seeing the ability to showcase their brands through social media influencers."
Schweiger says that larger brands that traditionally stuck to TV and radio, including liquor and automobile brands, have been popping up on social media. These marketers have begun allocating larger portions of their budgets to nontraditional social approaches.
SOCIAL INFLUENCERS GAIN LEGITIMACY (OR DIVIDE AUDIENCES AND CONQUER)
One igniter for the boom in social media marketing can also be traced to the general acceptance of the role of the influencer. Whereas brand endorsements were once reserved for celebrities and athletes, social media has made it possible for the less famous to stand out for specific reasons that allow them to appeal to specific audiences.
"Advertisers have realized that you don't need 30 seconds to sell a product anymore," Schweiger says. "It's all about impressions. A girl might have a great-looking butt and have 300,000 followers because she takes photographs of her butt every day. The eyeballs will go to that photograph, and [people will] like it or comment on it on [social media]. Advertisers are realizing right now that their product can be put there and they can get an instant gratification of the reactions to their product."
"It's become a fact that anybody can be an influencer no matter what they do," says Dan Albert, a senior agent at the Central Entertainment Group.
Such was the case for Dathias Hoang, founder of the fashion blog ModernManJournal.com and a social influencer. The 25-year-old, who supported himself as a digital marketer, began independently promoting products in January 2013 during his free time, with the goal of eventually collaborating with brands on their marketing campaigns.
"I started blogging once a day, just posting pictures of myself in my outfit on social media and describing my look," Hoang says. "It took four months of being constantly active before a PR agency reached out to me. Since then, my content has improved. I have a professional photographer, and more brands are willing to work with me."
Two years later, Hoang has garnered 21,000 followers, and each of his posts averages around 500 "likes." He regularly works with brands such as Calvin Klein, Lacoste, and Timberland.
Hoang notes that an appealing aspect to brands of this arrangement is that influencers tend to work at lower rates than professional models and photographers. Photographers, he says, typically require all-day studio fees. Likewise, while influencers may get less widespread recognition, their followers tend to be loyal, engage directly with them, and evolve their tastes alongside them.
But it's not just affordability that drives brands to pair with influencers. Such advocates have the ability to target niche audiences and are available to engage with them. And since their followings are typically smaller and more manageable, they are more likely to respond to the users who reach out to them. Bloggers are also encouraged to give their followers information regarding a product’s availability, pricing, and fashion tips, which helps to raise brand awareness, Hoang says.
Brands have become aware that one reason influencers are so successful is that they are ordinary people. "As soon as the brands themselves try to dictate to the influencers how they want them to portray their message, it comes across as fake, and the influencers then lose their power or ability to influence those people," Schweiger says.
But while many brands have learned to trust the decisions their influencers make rather than arm them with canned taglines, they often do provide guidelines on the times of day to post and how pictures should be positioned. Hoang says that brands ask to review his posts ahead of time.
Millennials are increasingly asked to help with both the branding and shaping of products, Organ says. He points to companies like Jones Soda and Lays, which have launched campaigns that rely on customer input for packaging and flavors.
CENTENNIALS AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF COMMUNITY-DRIVEN THINKING
Medina points out an interesting fact about Millennials: 30 percent of them are now parents. And they are raising their kids differently than previous generations, he says. The Centennials, as they're called, are being brought up to be resilient, and rather than being told they're special in a "you will be president someday" kind of way, they are taught to understand they can be special in a "social media way," Medina says.
And now that the economy is improving, there's speculation as to what that focus on community will mean to Yers. Will Millennials, like Boomers, eventually revert to competitive consumption? Or, since Millennials have exhibited socially responsible values, "Will it lead to even more grassroots, microcommunity-oriented thinking?" Medina asks. "[And to a focus on] being able to buy, eat, and shop local? Will we begin to care about local and not the larger community?"
If money fuels whatever fire that already exists, then an improving economy will likely enable Millennials to further their ideals.
Associate Editor Oren Smilansky can be reached at osmilansky@infotoday.com.
5 Tips for Attracting Millennials
• Pay attention to peer input and ?online reviews.
• Offer subscription models for ?products and service.
• Craft meaningful brand causes rather ?than emphasizing diversion or a ?boost of status.
• Be transparent and honest about products ?and the work that goes into creating them.
• Invest in social influencers and collaborate with them to shape marketing efforts.