Marketing at millennials won't save your tired brand

"But we in marketing also have a certain fixation on youth. Millennials (put roughly, those born between 1980 and 2000) are the prime suspect at the minute because from where we sit in London, it seems like they're reaching their prime consumption years. They value experiences over things. They want authentic connections to brands. They want to be marketed to via a social influencer instead of a traditional ad (ha! they want to be marketed to - insert laugh/cry emoji here)."

"No, not all 18-34-year-olds have the same attitudes to technology, politics, mobile phones, or breakfast cereal. You can barely find three 18-34-year-olds who agree completely on those things. Unfortunately, at the end of the day there are no millennials, just like there are no Gen-Xers, Xennials, Gen Z, or Y or whatever. There are just people, who happen to want or need consumer products for various reasons, and use brands as a means of navigating a sea of ever-increasingly more difficult choices."

Marketing focuses on recruiting new customers because even the strongest brands lose buyers and depend on many light purchasers. Marketers often fixate on youth and assume millennials share common preferences such as valuing experiences, authenticity, and influencer-driven marketing. Generational cohorts are heterogeneous; many 18–34-year-olds disagree on technology, politics, and everyday choices. Labels like 'millennials' obscure individual differences and motivations. Brands that win online—examples include Nike, Beats, Apple, Spotify, and Old Spice—succeed by being consumer-centric and prioritising customer needs rather than targeting broad age-based stereotypes.

Read at The Drum