Marketing to Millennials: What New Data Can Tell Us

Remember that Sesame Street song about finding the thing that wasn’t like the others? You know, the one Big Bird sang with bowls of birdseed in front of him, with three normal sized containers and then one disproportionately large one? The task was simple—in the true moniker of the song, you had to find the one that wasn’t like the others. In the show, the task was simple. In real life, not so much.

Consider the case of millennials. We’ve detailed in this blog before the popularity of millennials in marketing regimes—and, more specifically, how so many companies fail to differentiate segmented groups within millennials. A recent article from Forbes presents a novel finding about that very topic—despite their relative dearth among millennials as a whole, affluent millennials are actually the most influential to the group at-large.

Here are the numbers. Among millennials aged 18-34, there are over 6.2 million individuals with incomes over $100,000. What does this mean in practical terms? As the article notes, while most millennials often tout their preference for high-priced brands that are better for the environment (i.e. organic), many of them cannot actually afford to buy said products. Affluent millennials can—and, in turn, they often take up the responsibility of spreading their affinity for such brands to their influence networks. Also of note is the typical family make-up for affluent millennials—over half are married, and another six percent are engaged.

What does this mean for your business? For too long corporate marketing departments have operated under the assumption that millennials are rogue segments never before seen in the modern environment. The truth seems quite different. If you’re appealing to affluent millennials (which the research strongly suggests you should be), then perhaps your approaches aren’t working, because you’ve forgotten about more traditional campaign ideas. That’s not to say things haven’t changed. They clearly have. But perhaps your new strategy needs to focus more on packaging (see: digital) and less on overhauling your message. After all, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about millennials, it’s that they are constantly on the search for transparency. Keep your message true to your brand, and lean toward tweaks rather than major transformations.