The Gen Now & The Gen Next!!

Published in

Marketing And Growth Hacking

7 min readOct 4, 2017

“Millennial” has arguably become one of the most hyped and overused words in every marketer’s vocabulary. Representing the crowd which has just entered adulthood and is often associated with being “tech-savvy”, “free-spirited” and “self-absorbed”.

This so called Cool generation not only define these adjectives, most of these baby boomers own the best and the newest of technologies, and know them inside out before the rest of world does.

This certainly brings us to question how different are these Gen Y from their parents, endless researches have a found that they are as different as black & white.

From understanding their shopping cart likings to how loyal they are to the brand,

But why has this millennial crowd captivated the marketers? And is this fixation on them worth it?

The Makers or Breakers Of A Brand

U.S. alone has about 90 million millennials, which makes them larger than any other demographic in U.SA. They make the biggest workforce than any other generations, with about $1.5 trillion expected disposable income by 2020.

The marketing world has not seen such a fixation towards a specific generation since baby boomers, and this makes the outside-the-millennial box consumers wonder why are they given the ex-boyfriend look. The oldies are the prime spending zone customers, so why is their wallet not seen as valuable as that of the millennials?

It’s all about the Long-Term game plan.

While many millennials still have student loans to pay or infant to feed which cuts down their purchasing power drastically, but they are steadily heading that way. The brands have therefore already started to woo them.
But marketers not just befriend the millennials and alienate the rest of the crowd in the process.
Too much of focus on the mobile-first mentality, over-engaging the GenY’s tech-driven nature, and giving away the traditional marketing mediums make you a millennial focused brand, this may take away a lot of brand loyalists.

Also this generation is surrounded by brands trying hard to woo them, they are not here to be easily fooled by every random marketing message. They know they are the essence of the brand sales of every bran/service trying to make a place in their wallet, and they are not going to pay heed to you unless you have some real meat for them.

In fact, they will just likely get a bitter taste in their mouth and look out for an alternate.

Understanding The Puzzle

It’s very easy to generalise the millennials into simpler categories. They don’t have a life without a smart-phone, social media like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram etc. are their soul-food, and they are whistle blowers when it comes to social changes like climate changes. So, why are brands spending their valuable dollars to understand the behaviour and psychographics of Gen Y so meticulously?

Why? Just because the “Millennial Way” of thinking is significantly different from the old-school traditional corporate views. A millennial plays more with the facts and not with what the world blindly follows. Whereas, a corporate structure is more or less a centralised one- it’s more of a mass-market approach.

Marketing is making a drastic shift to more or less personalised and engaging strategies. But is this social customisation or personal interaction the same when these customer go ahead to purchase the product or service? Generally Not.

With a plethora of options available and a strong world of pushy marketing tactics trying to woo them every way, the challenge is to make way through the clutter in a no-interruptive manner.

That is why channels like social media and not-so-traditional marketing efforts play a pivotal role. Marketers have to find a healthy balance between product promotions and brand-awareness to make sure GenY don’t feel an overdose of manipulation but are encouraged to take a productive action.

Make Loyalists Not Trialists

Why are millennials important? Because they are a potential long-term value makers for a brand/ service.However, as a common perception goes millennials are not considered as loyalists because they are always hungry for the new and improved stuff in the market.

But as the research says, 1 in every 5 youngster say that they are loyalist to the same brand as their parents are, for different reasons (like mobile presence, social channels etc.) making this group isn’t as dis-loyal as they are thought to be.

In reality, 1 in 5 Millennials say that they would willingly choose the same brand as their parents, just for different reasons (e.g. social media, mobile presence). So maybe this group isn’t as disloyal as marketers think.In reality, 1 in 5 Millennials say that they would willingly choose the same brand as their parents, just for different reasons (e.g. social media, mobile presence). So maybe this group isn’t as disloyal as marketers think.

It’s easy to focus on being the star of the show, meanwhile you forget that you want these visitors to be frequent, not just one timers. Price is honey that attracts the millennial bees, with around 56% switching brands because of a change in price or their financial situation.

Are you groing with the world? No, then please don’t expect Gen Y customers to come to you. No mobile-friendly websites, outdated social media channels, or too much of focus on feeding the brand to the crowd just makes them throw you down the drain. Millennials want you to “get them” not just be there hanging around as an option.

Why do they hop from one brand to other? Mostly because of the availability of a newer-better option and also peer recommendations highly influence their choices. So the newest marketing channels and strategies playing their game but traditional marketing gimmicks like recommendations and word of mouth play a vital role in decision making.

Also, as a marketer just keep your ears open to customer feedbacks, complaints, problems and step-in with authentic advices every now and then.

An authentic Brand wins the customer-hearts & also money game.

Convincing Everyone

Most brands seem to have jumped onto the millennial bandwagon, some are still holding out- they are still skeptical as to why should they focus so much on ice-cream when there are so many more desserts to woo. And rightfully so.

Technically this baby boomer generation accounts to 80% of the developed world’s wealth, you cannot blink your eye to them. Even if they are not as long-term as the Gen Y, there pockets are ready to spend more and more. Golden rule for brands is not to focus on just one generation unless their product and services are a single-gen oriented.

Just like a selfie stick maker will only have a handful of baby boomer gen customer whereas Apple sells its iPads & iPhones across a wide range of consumers.

It’s hard to figure out a middle path to make way in all their hearts. Millennials nearing 30 are typically low on purchasing power or interests as the ones who have just entered college, even if they are all from Gen Y. Likewise, recent Grads have a higher disposable income because they have full-time jobs waiting for them, while others have either loans to pay-back or families to run.

We can’t simply generalise this group- or any demographic for that matter.

Managing Millennials

Unarguably Millennials are the upcoming potential purchasing power and brand loyalists, so your marketing strategy should be highly digital nature in order to cater them. However, don’t alienate the other sets of demographics to target a specific demographic, add in some variety in your campaigns in order to gain the trust of them all.

Whatever happens in the world, there are marketers who will try to capitalise in the so called “it” gen of the time prevailing. Presently, the millennials have the kingship chair as they are going to be adults and their peak-spending time. In a decade, Gen Z will have the limelight on them when these millennials grow old and become established. It’s a Marie-go-round it will repeat itself over and over again.

And, brands have to figure out a chocolatey way which woos all generations and simultaneously that will have the most brand loyalists and lead to a long-term success.