Putting all millennials into one basket for the benefit of marketing is a bit like saying all defenders at the World Cup perform as if they were coached in Panama.
Well, not quite, but you know what I mean.
I was reminded of this when reading an interesting piece on how millennials, as end consumers, are not only changing the way brands sell their products and services, but also the way they communicate.
The article went on to say that millennials have grown up with the world at their fingertips. But have they? Or have a lot of them, more accurately, grown up with their smart phone in front of their face. And what does that actually mean?
It certainly means, as the article pointed out, that millennials are tech-savvy and always connected.
But is that a good thing? Does it mean that marketing professionals should restrict their thinking about what works best for their clients to what millennials are exposed to via their smart phones?
Or, should they be coming up with new ideas to persuade millennials to put their phones down for a while and absorb, or take part in, some real life experiences?
Why, for instance, the need to use a phone to record a music concert you’re attending, rather than use your eyes, mind and natural senses to savour and remember the experience?
How much true brand loyalty can be built and retained by brands which do what every other brand does to attract millennials, and no more.
The image accompanying this blog says a lot about millennials, but maybe it says more about how marketing people see them.
They have gravitated to social media addiction in huge numbers, but does that mean they don’t need help to make the right decisions? Are they not being harmed, misled, programmed to believe that life revolves around a smart phone?
Is it just the millennials who struggle to see much beyond the end of their nose? Can marketing do no more than feed an addiction?
Tony Lewis, CEO
tony@totalcompr.ae
