Kristal Ireland discusses the millennial myth and the media. Kristal was previously voted as one of the UK’s Top 30 Women in Digital Under 30. A specialist in Social Media and Digital Brand Strategy, Kristal is an award winning, strategic and experienced digital marketing expert. A regular digital conference speaker and industry commentator Kristal has worked in digital for over a decade developing digital solutions for some of the UK’s biggest brands.

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2. The Millennial Myth and the
Media
Kristal Ireland – Head of Planning and Insight
@kristalsmile

4. WTF is a Millennial/Gen Y?
Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe are widely credited with naming
the Millennials.[They coined the term in 1987, around the time the children
born in 1982 were entering preschool, and the media were first identifying
their prospective link to the millennial year as the high school graduating
class of the year 2000…..
Wait...
That’s ME!

5. How do we define a Millennial?
§ Anyone born after 1982 and before
2000 - so if you are under 34 you’re
in
§ Glued to our phones... 83% sleep
with phones next to their beds
§ Live with parents/rented or alone...
What a lonely bunch*
*I blame Tinder ...

7. Marriage Can Wait…

8. Brand Loyalty - Technology Driven

9. Social Media – Yep

10. Key Characteristics….
Narcissistic Self Aware

12. Key Characteristics….
Selfish Socialist

14. Key Characteristics….
Lazy and Entitled Limited access to jobs/ housing

16. Key Characteristics….
Fat Fit

21. We Need to Think in Millennial Tribes
In a recent report Bauer Media identified x5 distinct tribes of Millennials
1. The Influencers, 1.7m (11%), have high media usage and are more likely to be male.
They have a unique voice and like it to be heard – especially online
2. The Adopters, 4.5m (28%), have high media usage and are more likely to be ABC1. Peer
respect is key; they use knowledge and appearance to stand out
3. The Apprentices, 1.8m (12%), are younger and more likely to live in London. They are
focused on self-progression rather than keeping up with trends
4. The Entertained, 5.0m (32%), are older, more likely to have children, and more likely to
be ABC1. Personal relationships are key, they look to media brands primarily to entertain
5. The Contented, 2.7m (17%), are older, more likely to have children, and are more rural
living. They are satisfied with life and don’t chase the latest trends

22. So Why Does Everybody Want Them?

23. The Money?

25. The Future of Technology Led Brand
Interaction?

26. Slick Digital Experiences Are Demanded
§ Providing millennials with slick user experiences is not just a matter of
appeasing them
§ It is a necessity for the health of any tech business’s bottom
line. Industry research indicates that by 2017, the millennial generation
will comprise the largest online audience and will have more buying
power than any other generation that has come before it, including the
baby boomers.
§ 50 percent of e-commerce becoming m-commerce from smartphones
and tablets by 2015

28. As marketers we crave delivering what’s
new and trend led. But innovation should
be used at a product level – not as a
marketing strategy …

29. Established players are facing and
existential crisis…

31. “Overly schematized and ridiculously reductive, generation theory is a
simplistic way of thinking about the relationship between individuals,
society, and history. It encourages us to focus on vague ‘generational
personalities,’ rather than looking at the confusing diversity of social life.”
Generational thinking is seductive and confirms preconceived prejudices,
but it’s a bogus way to understand the world
Rebecca Onion

32. Stop viewing Millennials as ‘The Other’
They are the here and now…

34. So What Can Brands Do?
Be Authentic…
1. 55% rank brands that stand for high quality as being authentic
2. 44% said brands who talked to them as a real person seemed more
authentic
3. 17% said a brand that has a long history and heritage has a strong
positive impact on purchase decisions
....
UK Millennials report – Inkling and Censuswide

36. Ethical Buying… 70% consider a brands
ethics and values when making a
purchase...

38. Sincerity… Young people have always had
a handy knack of being able to sniff out
incenserity...
Make meaningful contributions, not hollow
statements