程阳：面向千禧一代高效营销的十个习惯

【程阳曰】英文中的“千禧一代 Millennials”指出生于1984-1995年的一代人，这一代人与电脑同时诞生，伴随着互联网、信息化、全球化的浪潮成长，这还是也正是独生子女一代。面向这一代人，市场营销观念应该彻底转变。

(待译中........)

 

The 10 habits of highly effective millennial marketers.

 

(Based on the analysis of 100 case studies)

 

Ulli Appelbaum, First-The-Trousers-Then-The Shoes Brand Consultancy

 

Ulli Appelbaum is Founder & President of brand research and consulting firm First-The-Trousers-Then-the-Shoes specialized in brand growth and brand storytelling. He’s worked with various state lotteries in the field of new product development, brand positioning/re-positioning, communication strategy development and process optimization. He can be reached at ulli@ first-the-trousers.com

 

What is the secret to attracting Millennials?

 

That’s the million dollar question brand stewards in many different categories, including in the lottery industry, have tried to answer for years. Millennials are probably the most researched consumer generation in marketing, so you’d think the answer to this question would be obvious. In fact, a simple Google search for “Millennials” yields over 19 million search results, almost twice as much as for the other highly desirable consumer group, “the Baby Boomers” (10 million search results). And yet, while informative and interesting (everyone knows something about Millennials) most of this research is usually not actionable when trying to develop positioning platforms and communication programs actually targeting Millennials.

 

Maybe this explains why the industry hasn’t cracked the code yet and why the question still seems like an important one?

 

To address this issue once and for all and turn the myths and half-truths about Millennials into specific and actionable insights, First-The-Trousers decided to analyze 100 North American case studies of effective marketing to Millennials (primarily Effie cases), i.e. brands and campaigns that have successfully built their business by engaging Millennials.

 

A short version of the findings is published here (for more information about this research and a presentation of the more detailed results and relevant case studies please contact me at Ulli@ first-the-trousers.com).

 

So what can we learn from these 100 brands who got it right?

 

1) They understand the role their category plays (or doesn’t) in the lives of Millennials: the first observation is that these brands first and foremost help solve a relevant business problem. And they start by first understanding the role their brand (or category) plays or doesn’t play in Millennials lives and design their strategies and marketing programs building from these first insights. For example, in 2015 Coke Zero realized that 80% of Millennials had never tried its product. Yet research also showed that 60% of people who do try Coke Zero, like it, actually like it so much that they would re-purchase it. The solution? Get as many Millennials as possible to actually sample Coke Zero at various events by engaging them via cool sampling devices and by rewarding them with a coupon. And while this program was executed in a really innovative way, I’d argue that its success is driven by solving a fairly mundane (but highly relevant) business problem.

 

2) They use celebrities to introduce their brand to Millennials. Another striking observation is that most of the cases we looked at used celebrities (from entertainment, Youtube, etc.) to help spread their brand message, usually as part of a broader marketing plan. While we knew that celebrities act as a great promotional device, we hadn’t realized how systematically they were actually used and how critical they were in reaching out to Millennials successfully. Using celebrities acts as a short-cut to Millennials limited attention span and enabled those brands to extend their reach to the followers of these celebrities.

 

3) They design their marketing programs around real-life events. Interestingly, the majority of campaigns we looked at evolved a tie-in to a real live event, either an existing one (sports event, national holiday, ComicCon, etc.) or one specifically created for the campaign (a concert featuring Millennials favorite stars to promote AIDS testing in NYC, for example). So yes, while this cohort is often described as “digital natives,” the key to their hearts and wallets seems to be through real-live events.

 

4) They amplify and add value to existing experiences. When connecting their brand promotion to a live event, those brands however go out of their way to amplify the experience as opposed to just show presence through passive sponsorship. Coming back to the Coke Zero example I mentioned in the first point, Coke didn’t just use promotional models or hand out free cans and bottles. Instead they built a 26-by-36 ft drinkable billboard (and other really innovative ads) that served real ice-cold Coke Zero to thousands of fans. The liquid flowed from a giant Coke Zero bottle through 4,500 ft of straw tubing that spelled out ‘taste it,’ until it reached seven dispensers on the ground.

 

5) They more deeply understand and leverage existing Millennials’ behaviors. Let’s start with an example: yes, Millennials use social media, but this general statement is not very actionable or useful in itself. Why? Because the logical yet ineffective conclusion would be “let’s create Facebook ads to reach them!,” and good luck with that. So, better understanding their preferences is the next success factor of the brands we analyzed. For example, in 2015 Lowe’s realized that the Millennials it wanted to attract used YouTube videos and illustrated blog posts as their learning media of choice. Lowe’s also learned that they had particular preference for smart shortcuts and unexpected solutions, such as can be found on sites like Lifehacker. The solution, a campaign called ”Fix in Six,” that used Vine as core platform to distribute 6 second videos that would feed Millennials clever and useful home improvement content in appetizer-size portions. “Fix in Six” became an award-winning and innovative use of digital channels, but its real strength comes from the fact that it is rooted in a relevant consumer behavior.

 

6) They align with entertainment and media properties that are already appealing to Millennials (again, often as part of a broader marketing program). Another shortcut most brands we looked at used to gain the favors of Millennials was to team up with media properties popular with Millennials such as BuzzFeed, College Humor, Vice, etc. to co-create content appealing to Millennials and in line with the brand’s message, and then have that content live on a platform that Millennials are already comfortable with and enjoy.

 

7) They reward Millennials with free giveaways that (usually) help promote sales. One big “myth” in marketing to Millennials is that this audience will gladly be turned into brand ambassadors that will eagerly share the brand gospel across their social media channel with enthusiasm and for free. Our analysis on the other hand shows that most brands, while creating involving and share-worthy experiences, also rewarded the consumers who interacted with the brand with free incentives (or free products) that usually helped drive sales.

 

8) They seed their brand message across a multitude of on- and offline touch-points. A recent study into effective social media campaigns (Seriously Social 2015, Warc.com) shows that the most successful campaigns typically use between 3 and 5 channels (both on and offline), one of which often being the point of sale or retail environment. Our findings support this learning. The challenge with reaching Millennials is that one never knows if and when the tipping point will be reached and how the brand message will actually spread. Using a multitude of touch points (and tactics) seems to help address this issue. Including the point of sale as one of the touch points obviously helps drive sales.

 

9) They use social media to amplify their message rather than as a media channel. Yes, of course most of the brands we looked at used social media in one form or another. Some, usually due to budget limitations, even exclusively focused on only one or two social media channels. The point, however is that most of these brands tapped into the power of social media by giving Millennials a reason to share their brand message (and by making this sharing easy) and by promoting content they knew was already share-worthy rather than by buying advertising space on social media (even though some of the brand we looked at did). Frankly, it’s easy to buy social media ad space to amplify your content- it’s hard to create content shareable enough that you don’t have to.

 

10) They use digital innovation to add social currency and a WOW factor to a message, not to replace it. Another myth about marketing to Millennials is that Millennials only respond to cool digital or social gimmicks. But I hope by now the reader will have realized that while these innovative ways to communicate play an important role in helping spread the word and create buzz for the brand, they were usually designed as a clever answer to a communication challenge rather than as an end, or as a creative indulgence, in itself. Snapchat isn’t an idea- it’s a place an idea could live.

 

Millennials are often thought-of as this mysterious cohort that lives in a different (digital) world with different conventions and values and that speaks a different language that needs to be decoded. Our research and experience shows that instead, they are a group of very pragmatic consumers that demand value from the brands they interact with. They just happen to have grown up in a digital world and therefore are way more familiar with the digital and social space than most marketers trying to appeal to them.

 

So to conclude, ask yourself following questions when developing your next campaign targeting Millennials:

 

• Are you solving a relevant business problem?

 

• Are you including celebrities to help promote your message?

 

• Are you using live events to promote your brand?

 

• Are you amplifying Millennial’s experience at these events?

 

• Is your program leveraging natural behaviors or are you hoping to create new ones?

 

• Are you partnering with entertainment or media properties that appeal to Millennials?

 

• Are you rewarding Millennials for their participation and do these rewards drive sales?

 

• Is your program using multiple touch points including point of sale?

 

• Are you using social media as more than just a media channel? Are you providing reasons to share?

 

• Are you using the digital space in an innovative and talk-worthy way to solve relevant consumer problem?

 

If you can honestly answer yes to all these questions, your campaign will most likely succeed and you’ll be able to attract Millennials to grow your business. If you can’t answer yes to all these questions, at least you’ll be able to identify where the weaknesses in your program are.

 

For more information about and insights from this analysis and actual case studies, please contact me directly at Ulli@firstthe- trousers.com. ■

 

  

 

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在美国，每当读到当下文化趋势报告，有个词汇总是会跳入眼帘：millennial（千禧人），指2000年左右的年青人。是谁第一次采用了这个词汇呢？而其它年代的青年一代又是如何称呼的？让我们随时代命名来看看美国不同的时代。

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Lost Generation——迷惘的一代

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“迷惘的一代”常用来泛指任何失去了价值观或道德迷失的一代。大多数情况特指一战期间至结束后成长起来的年轻一代。因为战争造成人口锐减和战后漫无目的、失去方向的生活得以此命名。“Lost generation”一词可以追溯到海明威在1926年发表的小说《太阳照样升起》的题词中。可能是海明威与美国作家格特鲁德·斯泰因对话中，斯泰因说：“你们都是迷惘的一代。”

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Greatest Generation——最伟大的一代

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根据牛津英语(精品课)辞典（Oxford English Dictionary），“最伟大的一代”指二战期间（1939-1945年）步入成年的年轻一代美国人。这个词的命名或多或少都与美国新闻记者汤姆·布罗考在1998出版的一部畅销书《The Greatest Generation》相关。这一代人中的很多经历了战争，后又继续投身国家的建设事业，也被称为G.I.Generation（大兵的一代）。

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Silent Generation——沉默的一代

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这一代人指出生在二十世纪二十年代中期至四十年代初期。由于经济大萧条和二战造成的低生育率，这一代人口量锐减。“沉默的一代”一词在1951年《时代周刊》上首次出现，指这一代在麦卡锡时期的沉默，及其融入社会秩序的意愿。他们既传统，又拥有双重道德标准。

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Beat Generation——垮掉的一代

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Beat虽然有节拍的意思，但考虑到这个词的出处也就不难理解了。在1948年与作家约翰·福尔摩斯的对话中，杰克·凯鲁雅克说到“垮掉的一代”指“20世纪50年代年轻人拒绝传统社会的运动，他们喜欢禅宗、现代爵士、自由性爱和娱乐性嗑药”。与其他年代的称谓不同，“垮掉的一代”是一种分支文化现象，而不是指代所有人口中的一代。

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Baby Boomers——婴儿潮一代

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这也是最为熟知的美国一代称谓，“baby boomers”或“boomers”指二战后随之而来的生育大潮中出生的一代，通常是1945-1960年出生的人。词汇baby boom（系值生育的显著高峰期）在二十世纪后期收录到美国英语词典中。

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Generation X——X一代

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尽管“X一代”通常指1980-1990年代初进入成年期的美国年轻人，但这个词汇在几十年前就已经出现了。该词汇可以追溯到20世纪50年代，更为广泛地用于“未来尚不确定的年轻一代”。在接下来的四十年里，这个词汇的使用曾有几次引人注目，例如在1965年英国新闻记者查尔斯·汉布利特和简·德沃森审视了Mod文化后所著的图书《Generation X》，以及取自该书名而命名的英国朋克摇滚乐队Generation X。随后的发展使得“X一代”特指20世纪60年代初至70年代末出生的一代，这一代“常常心怀不满，并且没有目标感”。这是继战后婴儿潮后婴儿低谷期出生的一代，人口数量明显少于婴儿潮一代和Y一代。

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Generation Y——Y一代

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按照字母顺序看来，“Y一代”肯定是紧随着“X一代”出现的。这一代人大多出生在婴儿潮时期，因此也叫回声潮世代（echo boomers）。这一代人口数量高于上一代，且生活态度和价值观与“X一代”截然相反，具有冷静和物质的特性，是20世纪内拥有命名的最后一代。

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Millennials——千禧一代

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“千禧一代”指20世纪90年代初期出生，21世纪初期进入成人期的一代。这一词汇源于1991年威廉·施特劳斯和尼尔·豪出版的《Generations》一书，陈述了他们的社会时代阶层理论，后被称为“施特劳斯-豪代际理论”。此二人多次撰书讨论“千禧一代”的社会影响。另外，目前对于“千禧一代”确切是指2000年左右成年的一代，还是2000年后出生的一代仍是个模糊的概念。