IT’S FASCINATING WHEN YOU ATTEND ONE OF THE MAMMOTH MARKETING / MUSIC / TECH EXHIBITIONS SUCH AS SXSW, FESTIVAL OF MARKETING OR DIGITAL INNOVATION TECH MARKETING EXPO/CON (DELETE AS APPROPRIATE). WALKING AROUND, IT ALWAYS SHEDS-LIGHT ON THE REAL TOPICS PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO GET THEIR HEADS AROUND.
MILLENNIAL + GEN Z = REDUNDANT TERMS!
Simply looking for those seminars, workshops and keynotes where its ‘standing-room-only’, with delegates craning their necks around concrete posts or trying to balance on a velvet rope. Its these presentations where you’ll see delegates feverously taking notes and smartphones popping up everywhere to capture another nugget of wisdom from the presenter.
The ‘beginners guide to brand storytelling’ or ‘micro influencers 101’ are current favs. However, it’s the legion of experts explaining the unique behaviours and motivations of Millennials and Gen Z that still bewilders, because frankly, those two terms are redundant.
At this point I’d like to refer to the far more erudite and scholarly Mark Ritson for his succinct view:
“the idea that this giant army all want similar stuff or think in similar ways is clearly horseshit. Similarly, the idea that they also differ from other older cohorts in significant ways is superficially persuasive but turns out to be equally nonsensical.”
It always leaves me wondering if these ‘experts’ do generally believe in the existence of these mythical, culturally and behaviourally homogeneous groups, because based on our experience and our proprietary tools it is, as Ritson so eloquently puts it, horseshit.
It’s lazy marketing, ultimately short selling clients and frankly, insulting their intelligence. Real-life, is not so convenient.
“focusing on millennials is a stupid, stupid approach to segmentation”
Mark Ritson
Let’s take the US for example. We work with 6-7 defined segments that clearly over index for both Millennials and Gen Z. However, in behaviour, values and motivation they are each different and, in some cases, completely attitudinally divergent. That means that it takes very different approaches to connect and engage with each. Perhaps more importantly, what entices one, will repel another.
However, it gets even more granular than that, because within those Millennial and Gen Z segments, there are a number that exhibit almost identical consumption habits within music and media. So, let’s just clarify – they’re about the same age, geo location, education and they are even consuming a lot of the same content on TV/online and listening to the same music. Hurrah Gen Z exists then!?
No, it doesn’t - and here’s why it is so very, very important to have that WHY data, because despite all the similarities, there’s as much on an attitudinal level that pushes those segments away from each other, then brings them together. In fact in qualitative studies, where cohorts from these segments are put together, we’ve seen active dislike for each other.
This has a massive marketing implication both strategically and tactically.
If your message or proposition is, let’s say, centred around the sustainability and the circular-economy, one of those segments will be all over it. In fact, they’ll amplify your message five-times more than any other segment in the US population aged between 11-70. It means that we at Sound Effects can identify the optimum musical platform for your message. However, if you really do think all millennials think-the-same +act-the-same, you’ll take a scatter-gun approach to engaging them, blow a whole load of budget and piss-off a whole load of Millennials in the process…and you don’t want to be doing that.
I’ll leave the last word to the eloquent Mr Ritson:-
“focusing on millennials is a stupid, stupid approach to segmentation, but also that it is a totally unacceptable and offensive stereotype in an era when such things are meant to be behind us.”
