Around The Corner Blog

Millennials are in Charge

Ever given much thought to how you communicate with Millennials?  This is the group of people commonly referred to as “Generation Y” (those between the ages of 15-30, with the average age of 28).

If you are like most people your answer is:  Why should I even care about engaging this generation?  As voters, Millennials traditionally participate in low numbers.  And their participation in grassroots advocacy and the political decision-making process is even lower. 

But this is changing.  And how you communicate with this generation is important because one day they will be in charge, they will be active voters, and they will dominate the discussion about brands, products, politicians, and issues.

We recently ran across a fascinating study by Eldeman Public Relations and Strategy One, a research firm.  In their groundbreaking research, “The 8095 Exchange:  Millennials, Their Action, Surrounding Brands, and the Dynamics of Reverberation”  Eldeman concluded:

“The fact is, as a group, Millennials are now in charge, spending more

than any other generation and spending it in ways that a generation

ago or even a few years ago was unimaginable. To understand

Millennials is to begin to understand how to connect and interact

with this extraordinary population. Marketers cannot afford to ignore

Millennials. More importantly, none of us will succeed without them.”

While the study targets businesses who want to understand this population segment, and how to market products and services to them, we here at Cornerstone Solutions would submit that organizations, opinion leaders and politicians must begin to engage Millennials---or at least begin to understand how they think and operate---especially in the political process.

After all, we saw what this generation did in the 2008 presidential elections.  Will 2012 be any different?  We highly recommend downloading the Eldeman study, and also getting and reading a copy of Millennial Makeover, by Winograd and Hais.  After all, will any of us---whether in the brand world, or brand advocacy world---be able to, as Eldeman suggests, “succeed without them?”

So what’s your plan or ideas for reaching this omnipresent population?