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Brands Switch Focus To Millennial Customers
It’s our time… again // Illustration by Kate Walker
Brands are rediscovering that marketing to millennials is a powerful path to both cultural relevance and increased revenue.
The Big Picture: Common wisdom suggests that marketing to people in their late teens and twenties is the best way to shape culture and build lifelong customer relationships. But the unique attributes of millennials — and their ascension to meaningful purchasing power (even if still less than their parents’) — actually make them the ideal generation for an economy increasingly obsessed with nostalgia.
Between The Lines: Insider says a “millennial summer” is coming, so it’s time to put on your True Religion jeans, tuck in just the front of your shirt, grab a flip phone, and see if Hoobastank is playing a show nearby.
Part of the millennial resurgence stems from the generation being among the last to experience a shared monoculture — before the internet fractured audiences across music, movies, and other forms of popular entertainment.
They also grew up with the internet, giving them the ability to drive online conversation and amplify social engagement.
According to Nielsen VP Charlene Polite Corley, millennials are reaching the height of societal power, with the means to buy new products, book vacations, and shell out for cool experiences.
Speaking of experiences, millennials are finally getting due credit for shaping the experiential economy as it exists today… because a VIP pass to Coachella will always be cheaper than a monthly mortgage payment (RIP home ownership).
Closing Thoughts: Brands love nothing more than metrics, so here’s a closer look. Millennials account for 28% of all US retail spending, according to Capital One — about $1.1 trillion. While that’s technically less than Gen X, there are more people in the millennial cohort, which means more opportunities for conversions.
Take Gap’s new campaign featuring Kelis’ 2003 banger, “Milkshake” (you’re probably already humming it) — not only did engagement rise, but annual sales increased 5%. Coincidence or causation? Gap would argue the song brought all the millennials to the yard.
Next Campaign: Early-aughts nostalgia is easy to get behind — and, heck, it may just make the mall the coolest place in town again.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.