MILLENNIAL KEY LEARNINGS — THE MAVERICKS — August 9th 2019

Sushma Swaraj: Remembering Social Media’s Most ‘Millennial’ Indian Leader

• After taking up the reins of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in 2014 in the Modi cabinet, Swaraj had used an open-access Twitter policy and had used the platform extensively to connect with voters.
• Sushma Swaraj, ex-Union minister and senior BJP leader, was perhaps the most ‘millennial’ minister the Indian government has ever had. From being tagged the ‘supermom’ of India by Washington Post to becoming one of the most followed politicians on Twitter, the former External Affairs Minister had truly struck a chord with young and old alike with her round-the-clock social media presence, eagerness to help, and ready wit on social media.
• The Humanitarian Side — Swaraj had defined what social scientists have started to refer to as ‘digital diplomacy’, i.e., the use of technological interventions to further diplomatic concerns for a state. To that effect, the long-term parliamentarian has successfully made her mark as the ‘human face’ of diplomacy through social media as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had once remarked.

Source: News18

‘We want to make Airbnb the default option for Indian millennials’

• Airbnb, a US-based online accommodation marketplace, forayed into India in 2016 and has been growing at about 70% since its official launch.
• India is one of the fastest growing emerging markets for Airbnb, and is among the top five growing markets, globally. We aim to reach about a billion Airbnb users by 2027.
• Very recently, we also launched Airbnb Plus (with listings of the highest quality homes and exceptional hosts). Airbnb Luxe are luxurious homes that are hand-picked for their unique space and come with various trip designers.
• The other trend is during weekends, people are not travelling to a different city all the time. Staycation is becoming a big play in India. People are booking something 10 km outside their city and then travelling in large groups.
• Corporate travellers are incorporating work and leisure. Also, the number of people in a reservation is not one. It is two to four people who travel together for work. So there are teams travelling together, brainstorming and bonding together.
• Our target right now is the millennial population in India because we believe they are more likely to value experiential travel. Also, they are trend setters. What they do and how they travel becomes a trend for other segments to follow. So our entire focus right now is to ensure that the Indian millennial population across top urban areas as well as tier II towns understand the benefits of this network. We want to ensure than we are the default pick for their travelling.

Source: Mint

India’s urban youth crave a new type of job How millennials self-finance wedding

• In a study, it was found that when it comes to handling the wedding related expenses 42% couples intend to contribute finances along with the help from their parents, while 26%would like to pay solely from their own savings. Only 32% millennials would want their parents to pay for the extravaganza.
• The cost of an average Indian wedding for 35% millennial couples is valued at Rs 10–25 lakh, 33% couples want to spend under Rs 10 lakh and 21% couples want to spend between Rs 25–50 lakh, and only 4% millennials spend over Rs 1 crore. The tight control on the costs illustrates ownership millennials are taking of the financial expenses for the big day.
• Now, Indian millennials even on the day of their weddings want to focus on their own leisure and preferences. While their predecessors concentrated on ceremonial rituals, millennials are adopting new practices such as cocktail parties and elaborate photo-shoots that are not an intrinsic part of the Indian culture.
• According to a research, 83% Indian millennials plan their wedding online — on mobile/tablet (42%)and desktop (41%). The research also states that 36% couples sendonline ‘save the date’ invites, 52% use the wedding planning app, 62% create a wedding website, 19% set up a group chat and 54% generate a wedding hashtag.
• It was found that Indian millennials don’t mind spending on elaborate wedding trailers and photo-shoots that have high aspirational value and cost upwards of Rs 20,000. A number of millennials also opt for personal loans to meet their expenses. Leisure Conscious millennials are not afraid to avail these loans.

Source: DNA

65% of millenials in India would consider new jobs to get more of this — and it’s not salary

• The TimesJobs survey of 1,427 freshers and millennials revealed that about 70 percent of them want to continue with their present job for another year at least.
• About 85 percent surveyed professionals said that they found their work meaningful and described themselves ‘happy’ with the present work.
• According to a recent survey by the employment website TimesJobs, when considering new jobs, 65 percent of its largely millennial user base said they would prefer future career growth prospects, as compared to salary (17 percent) or other factors.
• Millennials fundamentally think about jobs as opportunities to learn and grow.
• When considering a new job, most (65%) would prefer future career growth prospects, as compared to salary (17%) or other factors
• About 58% professionals said that they would prefer working from offices, as compared to co-working space (18%) and home (15%)
• About 69% spend their earnings for paying for basic necessities, followed by fulfilling other requirements as debt, travel, and retirements plans
• Stating the drawback of new-age jobs (youtubers/bloggers), 49% surveyed millennials said most such jobs lacked financial stability

Source: CNBC

Tech trip: All-girl getaways are becoming the new cool among millennial women in India

• Before the ‘Liberation’ — Women’s safety while travelling solo or even with other women has always been a concern for their families.
• Trip Enablers — The yearning among women to take such trips, a women-only travel market is fast taking shape in the country. Some industry players feel the market is worth $2.5 billion. Thomas Cook, a travel company, says there has been a 27% increase in all-women group bookings over last year.
• Zostel, a Gurgaon-based hostel company, says it has seen a 197% rise in all-women group bookings since 2015 across their network of hostels in India.
• WOW Club organises 150 all-women trips annually. Women are also finding friends in these online communities.
• “There has been a 200% increase in queries for girls’ trips in our travel community in the last two years,” says Sairee Chahal, the founder of Sheroes, a women-only social network.
• Women travelling in groups also appear to be increasingly opting for self-drive cars.
• This trend is also generating entrepreneurial ideas. WoVoyage, a Delhi-based startup by Rashmi Chadha, provides women travel agents and tour guides for women travellers.
• Tech Care — Dependable navigation seems to top the list of technologies for these women travellers.

Source: Economic Times