Television has ruled the advertising domain for a solid seven decades, but the aging king is due to pass the crown. With the exponential growth of smartphone and device sales and usage over the last decade, digital advertising has too grown up from the desktop pop-up ads of the past into a lucrative, and necessary, way for brands to get in front of consumers … and it’s all thanks to Millennials.
First off … WHO are Millennials?
Depending on who you ask or what study you pick up, Millennials (a.k.a., Gen Y, Gen Next, Internet Generation, etc.) can span the age ranges of 12-32, 13-35, 14-37, 18-29 … it’s a work in progress. Strictly speaking, generations should logically be renewed every 18-20 years once the first crop of babies reach adulthood. However, generations are more often shaped by circumstance – war, for example.
The Lost Gen. (b. 1883-1900), Greatest Gen. (b. 1901-1924) and Silent Gen. (b. 1925-1942) fought in WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam, respectively, and Baby Boomers (b. 1946-1964) were those born and growing up right after WWII – Gen. Z (current children) is loosely based on kids born and growing up post-9/11. Gen. Xers and Millennials, on the other hand, are being defined, respectively, by a shift in values and technological advancements happening in their lifetimes, which makes beginning and end dates a little blurry.
For marketing purposes, Millennials are most often boiled down to
18-34-year-olds as they have the most freedom to choose for themselves and directly influence in a more significant way.
Oxford’s Millennials … statistically speaking.
Millennial Quick Facts:
- Most liberal generation (66% voted for Obama in 2008)
- Most racially/ethnically diverse
- Most educated generation
- Most unemployed generation
- Do not place working high-paying jobs as a high priority
- 1 in 8 live with their parents
- 1 in 5 are married, which is half as much as their parents’ generation when they were the same age, and even fewer have children
- Only 2% are veterans
- >75% use social media
So, as children that came of age in the Digital Era, they do a few things differently than those generations that came before them ... especially when it comes to watching video.
Next month: Millennial Marketing: Part 2 - Now that we know WHO they are, HOW are they influential? 
