Millennials Aren’t Hurting Industries, Industries Are

Gregarious Narain
Aug 23, 2017 · 4 min read
Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

Millennials, the generation everyone loves to hate. Often misunderstood but never overlooked, Millennials keep industries, businesses, and brands all on their toes. As they rightly should.

A common trope levied against this generation is that they’re “hurting” or “ruining” businesses near and far with their unique perspectives, tastes, and purchasing.

Business Insider rattles off 19 ways that Millennials are shaking the institutional tree, noting that there is some potential form of psychological scarring from the recession and financial insecurity they have and currently live through. Here’s a list of businesses:

  1. Casual Dining
  2. Beer
  3. Napkins
  4. “Breastaurant” Chains
  5. Cereal
  6. Golf
  7. Motorcycles
  8. Homeownership
  9. Yogurt (especially light)
  10. Bars of soap
  11. Diamonds
  12. Fabric Softener
  13. Banks
  14. Department Stores
  15. Designer Handbags
  16. Gyms
  17. Home Improvement Stores
  18. Football
  19. Oil
Photo by Stefan Steinbauer on Unsplash

The Forest For The Trees

What are we going to do with these modern-day locusts of industry? Wrong question. The better question to ask is what are we gonna do with ourselves that we lay blame for changes in consumer attitudes, expectations, and spending at the feet of a single generation instead of looking in the mirror at the problems we have as institutions.

Industries, and the businesses that thrive within, are extremely resistant to change. Built firmly upon an unwavering perspective on how the world works and protected by a nearsighted view of their customers, they have designed the perfect system to extend the status quo as long as possible.

What if instead of looking at industries Millennials are destroying, we look at the trends that underly them?

Many of the industries listed deal with food. After years of hearing the impact that various kinds of foods and chemicals have on our bodies coupled with access to higher quality goods, it’s no wonder that everyone wants to eat better, more diverse foods.

When foods like beer, cereal, and light yogurt are moving to the sidelines, they are being replaced with wine and natural oats and richer cultures. Consumers are adding diversity based on the market we cultivated for them.

As hard as it is to say, our products are increasingly becoming commoditized. Surely, we’re doing innovative work to improve various attributes and features, but for most consumers, one product is almost indistinguishable from the next. The difference is the experience, from purchasing to support.

It should come as no surprise that businesses that offer transient, poor or questionable experiences are all suffering. Consumers can’t be blamed for seeking out the kinds of experiences they desire. Industries, however, can be readily blamed for allowing theirs to slip.

The world is filling up with “stuff”. There’s no doubt that we’ve built up a far-too-healthy obsession with consumerism and the backlash is coming. Customers are investing in both lighter-weight purchases that turn over or luxury items that last longer.

Mix in the increasing uncertainty of what the jobs of the future look like, what wages will guarantee, and what government’s role will be in our day to day lives and it becomes easy to understand why optimizing for mobility and flexibility are natural conclusions to draw.

Speaking to these attributes and offering alternatives that address this uncertainty will continue to be every industry’s responsibility.

All of these things speak to our desire for a better world. We want a cleaner environment that doesn’t consume us, enjoyable experiences with our peers and brands, and more meaningful relationships with fewer attachments. Everyone is broadly aiming in the same direction — upwards.

Consumerism is helping people choose the world they want to live in. Our purchasing power is a strong, significant signal of what we want to see and how we want to experience it. Industries have been resistant to these changes because they pose difficult, if not existential, challenges to their future.

So Who’s to Blame?

Business has one role — deliver value to customers in exchange for revenue. When we abdicate that role, we cannot be surprised at the outcomes. Customers have telegraphed for years that their interests were changing, we just chose to blissfully ignore them.

It’s easy to take for granted how quickly consumers can change. It’s hard to change our well-worn assumptions and processes when they face new challenges. It’s impossible to survive without adapting to the vicissitudes of consumers.

Failure is on our backs, not theirs.

#MillennialsHurtingIndustries


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Gregarious Narain is a serial entrepreneur and product strategist. A reformed designer and developer, he writes on his experiences as a founder, strategist, and father on the regular. Work with him at Before Alpha, connect on LinkedIn, follow on Facebook, or say hi on Twitter.

Before Alpha

An Innovation Consultancy, Designed for Rapid Iteration

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Gregarious Narain

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Perpetual entrepreneur. Advisor to founding teams. Husband to Maria. Father to Solomon. Fan of fashion. Trying to stay fit.

Before Alpha

An Innovation Consultancy, Designed for Rapid Iteration

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