Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Today, every brand focuses on the age group of 18-to-34-year-olds – “millennials.” What makes millennials such a coveted cohort? According to a Forbes article by Dan Schawbel, we have 80 million millennials in the U.S. They comprise nearly one-fourth of the total population.

With an annual buying power of $200 billion, they are currently the most lucrative market.It’s not easy to capture the millennial mindshare —definitely not with old, worn-out marketing tactics. A 2014 survey, Engaging Millennials: Trust and Attention Survey, reveals that a majority (84 percent) of millennials don’t trust traditional advertising. Here lies the real reason as to why marketing to millennials is exceedingly difficult for brands to nail....

Hung out with any box-fresh adults recently? Wow, they are different. No doubt about it, the way younger people look at the world is unrecognisable from the way most experienced marketers do.

With under-25s, you are not the brand anymore – they are! Insights into under-25s are everywhere but there’s been one seismic shift in the way they want to engage with brands that is not reflected in the strategies and tactics of most marketing teams: with under-25s, you are not the brand anymore – they are.

It’s a change that demands a fundamentally flipped marketing playbook and you need to learn to use the new rules to maintain a competitive edge....

So what's changed? Google partnered with Millward Brown Digital to find out. Approximately 3,000 B2B researchers were surveyed about their research and purchase habits as well as their use of digital (specifically, search, mobile, and video). In addition, Google analyzed 13 months of clickstream data from Millward Brown Digital's desktop panel.

The study, which was fielded in 2014, mirrors research from 2012, enabling us to see the shifts over the past couple of years. The results debunk a number of widely held beliefs and have major implications for B2B marketing strategies.

MYTH #1: MILLENNIALS AREN'T MAKING B2B BUSINESS DECISIONS

REALITY #1: NEARLY HALF OF ALL B2B RESEARCHERS ARE MILLENNIALS...