Millennials - who are they? Since the turn of the century, there’s been a host of descriptions for the generation born between the early 1980s and 2000 – Digital Natives: to emphasize their break-away from previous analogue generations; Millennials: to designate them as children of the new millennium, Gen Y to indicate they followed Gen X, Gen Me to contrast from the self-sacrificing generation before them.

Getting under the skin of audiences

For decades, market segmentation has been used to divide and target customers into distinct groups of individuals that are similar based on key differentials such as gender and age with specific and relevant marketing messages.

But in today’s hyper-connected and individualised world; traditional marketing segmentation needs a rethink. The issue with labeling or categorising Millennials into neat and tidy segments lies in the fact that those categorising are still trying to view millennials through the lens of the Baby Boomer.

"Millennials would rather research what others like them have said about a product or brand than believe the hype of a glossy advertisement"

Their similarity with Millennials begins and ends with both groups being large, generational cohorts. A generational cohort like Baby Boomer or Millennial is characterised by people linked through shared-life experiences e.g. pop culture, economic conditions, politics, world events, heroes, villains and technology. Thus members of these generations typically develop and retain similar values, skills and ideals.

The challenge marketers have in understanding Millennials is their age range: 15-34. The Millennial generation spans various segments and sub-groups at different life-stages, with different expectations of the world and media consumption. They are the most diverse generation in history.

Mass media vs. multi media

The Baby Boomer generations were the first to grow up with television. They listened to rock ‘n’ roll; peace, love and flower power were the mantras of the day; and importantly they came of age in a post-war world, marked with widespread government subsidies in housing and education.

Contrast this with Millennials, the first generation to grow up with computers in their homes, or come of age with access to social media: in a world of austerity, terrorism, fewer jobs and limited home-ownership opportunities.

As a result, a one size fits all approach no-longer cuts it. We can no longer use the same conventional advertising channels to communicate with Millennials.  Millennials are different: they consume media differently, live different lives and have different brand relationships.

Digitally competent and information hungry, they’re competent researchers – which means they’re bullshit-proof…oops, marketing savvy. They’d rather research what others like them have said about a product or brand than believe the hype of a glossy advertisement.

MiIlennials are all different. Good luck marketing to this lot

The most successful campaigns over the last two years have gone viral. With easy access to YouTube and social media, the millennials haven’t stopped hitting like and share. Viral campaigns we can’t forget don’t always come from those big brands like Red Bull and Nike. In fact, the ones that stick out are for a clothes company, a health campaign for women and a horror film.

‘First Kiss’ is a video where strangers are asked to kiss each other for the first time. It was part of a campaign for Wren, a clothes company. Multiple spoofs came out of it, such as making ordinary people kiss and ‘The Slap’- which is exactly as the title suggests. With 23 million views in 3 days, Wren reported a sales increase of 13,600%.

#thisgirlcan, a campaign by Sports England was launched with a TV commercial. It’s accompanied by a website, which live-posts tweets about how real women are getting into sport. With celebs getting involved through social media too, it’s no wonder the campaign has over 100,000 followers across social media.

Millennials are savvy- and the young women know what they want. This ad from Always empowers them to use the phrase ‘Like a Girl’ in a positive way by highlighting the way it is used negatively.

Their original video has now received over 59m hits on YouTube, and their subsequent video ‘Unstoppable’ has received over 37m views in 2 months. The content has now spiraled on social media, with #likeagirl being picked up by celebrities and the public as they post photos of themselves doing sports, the women in movies and getting great grades.

Converse, a brand loved by millennials (and their incredibly loyal parents), continues to get it just right with its recent ‘Ready for more’ campaign to promote the new Chuck II – tapping into young people’s creativity and being transparent across all its content that this new product isn’t a replacement for the original. The clear, straightforward content appeals to long-term brand advocates and new customers alike.

Even movies are making viral ads to get attention. ‘Devil Baby Attack’ for horror film Devil’s Due racked up over 4.8 million views in one day.

Millennial brand expectations are driven by their values; they expect:

1. Authenticity: brands to ‘keep it real’ by being honest, truthful and transparent
2. Authorship: to customise products so they reflect their personal style
3. Make a difference:  to feel that they can make a difference to the world through the choices they make and the actions they take

A one-to-one approach at scale is needed:

Where content in the form of stories - not messages are delivered to them in the places and spaces they’re already in (Facebook, YouTube, SnapChat, Instagram, Whatsapp.) where they can be listened to, responded to and consulted with.

Jessica Ezeogu works for content company The Moment