#Asia Millennials aren’t who you think they are and that’s a good thing

//

Most of us base our opinion of Millennials on how marketers have defined them. Recent research proves this perception to be wrong

Findings from the Pew Research Center show that the majority of Millennials – people aged 18-34 – didn’t associate themselves with the generational label ‘Millennial’ at all.

Furthermore, they considered themselves as more self-absorbed than any other living generation, and nearly half considered themselves wasteful and greedy even though they spend less on less things and are more conscious of the impact their jobs have on the society at large.

Clearly, and by their own estimation, Millennials have a bit of an image problem.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of those who abhor commentary about Milliennials from people who aren’t of the generation, I’m going to explore why the label ‘Millennials’ probably no longer matters, and why as marketers we need to be sensitive to their labelling resistance.

Millennials think the millenium is broken

Firstly, let’s think about the term ‘Millennials’. To be fair, it ought to refer to people born on or around the turn of the century, but in fact it applies to people born from 1981. Some became adults before the turn of the century and even the youngest probably remember the celebrations.

The millennium came after them and was not a marker of a change in their prospects. If anything, the rise of consumer Internet from six years before the millennium was a much more significant marker in their personal journeys.

And the millennium itself was, for most of this generation, largely insignificant. They inherited none of the aspirations held about the millennium by previous generations shaped and reinforced as they were by decades of science fiction.

Also Read: How to hire a top-notch team when you can’t compete on salary

Marketers have been responsible for the current perception held by Millennials about themselves. But the accuracy of this perception is inconsistent with actual behaviours of Millennials.

Instead, this generation beheld the new century with a strong sense of its limitations and flaws. From climate change to terrorism, economic instability and allegations of government spying on personal communications, this generation was not exposed to the space-race fuelled hope of the Boomer generation, nor the Wall Street opportunities and excesses of Generation X.

Is it any wonder that they regard the millennium as essentially broken?

Marketers created Millennials’ perception of themselves

Then there’s the marketing practice which has dogged Millennials since they were early consumers. Marketers always pandered to this generation, and while actively critiquing their culture of self-absorption, they also sought to exploit it, launching campaigns that allowed Millennials to share more and more about their tastes and personal lives.

Marketers were acutely aware of the control that Millennials had over brand experience, so by enabling the sharing of personal stories they were able to maintain some control over brand messaging. And this cult of the personal culminated in the (in)famous Time Magazine Person of the Year cover of 2006: You.

So to a very strong extent, marketers have been responsible for the current perception held by Millennials about themselves. But the accuracy of this perception is inconsistent with actual behaviours of Millennials.

According to research conducted by Goldman Sachs and Deloitte, Millennials are actually much less acquisitive, much less interested in flamboyant exhibition of their personal success and wealth, and they are much more likely to be diligent workers in their careers.

While they do move from job to job more frequently than previous generations, they tend to have a more sophisticated awareness of the value of their contribution to a career, and they will exit a role when that contribution begins to decline.

Millennials aren’t what you think they are

Millennials are cost-sensitive, health-aware, and they prefer the recommendations of friends and family in purchase selections. They aspire to leadership but they are concerned about the disconnect between company agendas in large corporations and the need to improve society.

In other words, Millennials are actually less self-absorbed and more realistic than previous generations. And as they rise to executive positions within the workforce, this divergence between perceived selfishness and actual behaviours is widening.

Also Read: Last-mile delivery startup QikPod bags US$9M from Accel, others

As marketers, we should acknowledge that our old perception of Millennials is widely off the mark. And we should be aware that labelling of any kind is probably unhelpful when trying to sell to this age group. As this group ages, and their priorities consolidate, it is important to acknowledge that their resistance to labelling is, at least in part, because their practice doesn’t match their profile.

It might be easy to call them ‘Millennials’, but we should be calling them ‘today’s new leaders’.

The article Millennials aren’t what you think they are – and that’s a Good Thing first appeared on Branding in Asia.

The views expressed here are of the author’s, and e27 may not necessarily subscribe to them. e27 invites members from Asia’s tech industry and startup community to share their honest opinions and expert knowledge with our readers. If you are interested in sharing your point of view, please send us an email at writers[at]e27[dot]co

The post Millennials aren’t who you think they are and that’s a good thing appeared first on e27.

from e27 http://ift.tt/1jxQ667

This entry was posted in #Asia by Startup365. Bookmark the permalink.

About Startup365

Chaque jour nous vous présenterons une nouvelle Startup française ! Notre pays regorge de talents et d'entrepreneurs brillants ! Alors partons à la découverte des meilleures startup françaises ! Certaines d'entre elles sont dans une étape essentielle dans la vie d'une startup : la recherche de financement, notamment par le financement participatif (ou crowdfunding en anglais). Alors participez à cette grande aventure en leur faisant une petite donation ! Les startups françaises ont besoin de vous !