Inspired by several conversations with and about Millennials, article reviews, eavesdropping conversations while walking down south from 51st Street to 18th Street in Manhattan, NY and Downtown, Toronto

“I hate it and I don’t need to explain further” a sidewalk conversation over a phone

“Because I am over it” a potential couple arguing on the street

“She is such a perfectionist” pointing to another friend standing in line to buy ice cream.

“I think we need to sit down and evaluate all options” – looking at his friend’s eyes and talking face to face sitting in the park.

“What does he think I am – a clerk – he keeps sending me to these hearings” a potential young lawyer stepping down from her office after work.

And so on….

                And the last few one that really got my attention was while sitting on one of the benches at the Midison Square Park having my coffee – I saw twin brothers whizzing around their father waiting for their working mom just outside her Manhattan office…He seemed like a stay at home dad, peeling a banana for the twins and asking them to eat while their mom would be here any moment. Once the mom was there – they hugged and then they told the boys – “walk, and we will follow you”.

            “Well I teach to these Millennials – they are genius at what they do but sometime they forget to wear their pants to work” quoted a teacher to me when asked to describe his students and their characteristics.

           All these observations made me think that it would be very difficult for me to can a unique set of characteristics for this generation. Here is my attempt. Open to your thoughts.

What makes Millennials unique?

• Technology use – always connected to their devices
• Highly connected via Social Media
• Choice of clothing is different
• Intelligence levels are generally high especially due to access to information
• Severely opinionated
• Higher level of collaborative nature to solve problems
• Focus on social good
• Less security & privacy concious

Millennials family structure will be very different from the Gen X and certainly from Baby Boomers. Here are some examples

• A single mom continues to work knowing full well she doesn’t need a guy to contribute to the success of the family
• Some 700,000 millennials parents identify as lesbian, gay or bi sexual with their adopted children
• Husband stays at home and helps with upbringing of kids while mom’s work (as I saw in the example above)

Important Channels while selling to Millennials

1. Online & digital marketing

2. Social media

3. Buy via services like Amazon

4. Reference and word of mouth

With the above in mind, the marketers can device their unique marketing value proposition to attract the millennials and get their attention. You can be rest assured that since they are extremely connected and high internet users – they will go online to compare and check reviews before making any decisions.

              At MarkiTech, we are a professional services company that helps in application development, digital marketing and technology / marketing training with focus on helping commercialize technology products and services. Please reach out to me directly if you need help to make sense of it all with the high pace of change and potential impact to your business. We can even help augment your internal knowledge and staffing needs.