Want to insult someone? Tell them they are acting like a Millennial.
Millennials are selfish, entitled, lazy, too attached to technology, live at home for way too long, don’t want to work too hard… Did I miss anything? I’m sure we can all add to the list of negative stereotypes that plague this generation.
It’s no wonder that so many Millennials argue that they are NOT actually Millennials.
But this is nothing new. Gen X-ers were classified as idealistic “slackers” in the ’90’s but today are seen as responsible components of society. What happened? Well, just like the Millennials will (AND ARE) they grew up. Life happens. You buckle down, have a family, realize you need to adult. Millennials are getting married and having kids later than they did when the Gen Xers were in their 20’s and 30’s and certainly much later than the Boomer generation. And many of them aren’t doing it at all. They are explorers, adventurers, they value experience over things and without the constraints of family, they are doing it for much longer than their older counterparts. Good for them.
Every client we work with wants desperately to connect with the Millennials – they are a huge generation and their spending power is set to surpass that of the Boomers in a few year’s time, so now is the time.
But, instead of trying to chase the cartoonish stereotype of who these consumers are, get to know them. You might find that they aren’t actually all that different from you or what your ideals were at their age – it’s their expression that is different. There are things that define the Millennial generation that we can use as marketers to understand how to reach them without condescending to them. They grew up completely connected. They value convenience – make it easy for them to communicate with you (i.e. please don’t make them pick up the phone) and give them a quick response before you lose them.
