The Millennial Mindset - do we care?

 By Guest Blogger and Thought Leader, Susan Granick

What makes Millennials tick? And really, who cares? Well, you may, because they are a massive group, and they are influential:

• 80 million Millennials in America
• $200 BILLION in annual buying power

According to studies, Millennials are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population; they are more urban, more diverse, more likely to be single...and they are changing the world we live in. So if you are selling any product to anyone, (and who isn't?) you need to understand the mindset of the new generation.

Welcome to #GenM.
18-35 year olds, the so-called "Millennial" generation, grew up in a time after such things as cassette tapes, corded telephones, space travel, 911, lightweight Nike running shoes, CNN, and the Internet; after Vietnam, Woodstock, Watergate, the Cold War, and Reaganomics. 

They have no reference point for a life without 'apps', smart phones, digital clocks, microwaves, hybrid vehicles, satellite radio, geo filters, live streaming video, Starbucks, or Victoria’s Secret; no concept of a time before there was reality television, email, Twitter, YouTube, Tinder, Kindles, thong underwear, and ‘Brazilian Butt Lifts’. All of these impact their consumption, and yet, American companies are slow to adapt to the U.S. market’s changing demands as Millennials come of age.  

Case in point: cable TV companies continue charging exorbitant fees for television programming, despite sales declining and competition increasing. Companies as unlikely as shopping site Amazon.com are developing their own original viewing content; a yearly Amazon Prime membership costs less than just one month of cable. No wonder the cable companies' customer base is rapidly declining...and yet, if anything cable TV prices have increased, though in fairness, so has the quality and quantity of their offerings. Still, who's going to pay more than double for programming, when they were raised in a day and age where that is no longer necessary?

So, where else are retailers lagging? I notice a lot of awesome flat screen TVs sitting on the showroom floor... (shrugs) Meh… Millennials don’t really care about having a TV in every room any more; young people realize they can just view Netflix on their iPads. So sales of television sets have dramatically decreased, a trend few predicted. Yet, TV manufacturers keep churning them out, and you'll see them splashed all over retailers' advertising circulars every single week, it seems.

When tablet computers were first launched, common opinion was they would flop, because who needs a tablet when you already have a smart phone, a laptop and/or desktop computer? Wrong again. 

After decades of shopping mall expansion to serve Baby Boomers, department stores are now going the way of the dinosaur, as shopping shifts online for all but a very small segment of the population. Perhaps some of these changes are obvious and predictable, but others are less so. 

With the prevalance of music downloads, no one buys CD’s anymore, but there’s actually a renewed interest in vinyl albums and turntables. But just try to find a needle replacement for your turntable; nobody’s selling them. Or how about burning new custom albums or converting from other media? Another huge miss, and just one example of how valuable trend-spotting, forecasting, and responding to consumer needs can be.

A recent study from the venerable Brookings Institution says that more than half of people between the age of 21 and 36 keep their savings in cash, "reflecting extreme risk-aversion" by the Millennial generation. Who knew?

Despite advice to the contrary, post 9-11 young adults are reluctant to invest in the U.S. stock market, a result of having come of age during a very scary financial crisis that resulted in seeing their parents endure record stock market losses, corporate down-sizings, and home foreclosures. How will this hesitance to invest impact today’s markets, and what happens when this segment reaches retirement age?

Likewise, entrepreneurship is surprisingly low in this risk-averse group, which is important to note, because where are the new innovations going to come from in this country? Where are the Steve Jobs, the Jeff Bezos, the Thomas Edisons and Henry Fords of this generation, aside from successful early 90's dot coms, a start-up bubble which has already begun to burst (just ask anyone living in the Bay Area). Guys like Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, are now in their 40’s+, leaving a huge knowledge gap and entrepenuerial vacuum more young adults need to step up and fill.

And there are more subtle cues most employers and marketers unfortunately seem largely unaware of. For instance, Millennials are more driven by charitable causes than any other generation in recent memory. Even Millennials who earn less, still give more.

American employers increasingly try to woo them with foosball tables and free snacks, but those perks hold temporary appeal; millennials are more mission driven, and if they feel under-appreciated or uninspired by day to day drudgery, or like they aren’t contributing to a greater cause, they tend not to stick around.

In fact, Millennials change jobs more often than any other generation in history, and employers need to figure out how to deal with retention issues; repeatedly investing time and training in promising new candidates, only to be searching, replacing, and starting the whole process all over again is bad for the bottom line. 

What other industries might this trend impact? Corporate Recruiting is going to see an uptick, as people change jobs more often and headhunter relationships become increasingly important over time. Real Estate Agents haven’t figured out how to adapt their business models to serve the needs of this generation; unlike Boomers, Millennials are more likely to rent than buy, for reasons such as difficulty borrowing from banks, crushing student loan debt, job layoffs, underemployment, and because they move more often and marry later in life. 

With that said, there are other paradigm shifts: more people are working from home, more children are born out of wedlock, there are more shared, multi-generational homes, more diversity and more mixed marriages, and more single parent families than any time in recent history.

So what happens to the U.S. Economy…to the dream of home ownership, the 30-year mortgage, 401Ks, demand for 4-door automobiles, the travel industry, and traditional suburbs, as our city-centric, corporate dynamic continues to change and evolve? 

The pendulum is certainly swinging in many new directions right now. There’s a whole lot you need to know about Millennials, and tons of revenue generation and customer service opportunities that American companies should not overlook. That’s where I come in. 

As a Millennial Marketer, I study their buying patterns and what drives this demographic, what inspires them, what they consider to be nice to haves vs. creature comforts. Trust me, if you are over age 40, it’s probably not what you think. 

Contact me for more insights. Gain valuable lessons for your own team. With the added benefit of targeted research, plus homegrown Millennial case studies (two brilliant 20-something children), I am available to address corporate functions, focus groups, and marketing teams with content-rich, Half or Full Day presentations, sure to get profitable ideas flowing.
- Susan Granick, Millennial Marketing Specialist and Founder,
SMARTMarketing: ThinkMore|SpendLess

"A tiny investment that pays tremendous rewards"
Booking/ contact info.
Email: susangranick@yahoo.com  - Web: www.susangranick.com
Guest Blogger: www.ALifeWellTold.blogspot.com - Twitter: @susangranick