LOCALiQ | Columbus Marketing Blog

    Understanding and Reaching Millennials (Generation Y)

    [fa icon="clock-o"] Tue, Apr 02, 2013 [fa icon="user"] Nikhil Hunshikatti [fa icon="folder-open'] Targeting Generation Y

    young professionals

    Generation Y, also known as the Millennials, is the demographic group that immediately follows Generation X. There are no precise dates for when Gen Y starts or ends, but most marketing practitioners peg the start year to be 1977 (which irks me to no end since I am 1976 born…and that puts me back one whole generation!)

    Born with a cellphone, computer and access to internet, the millennial generation has not known a world in which you actually dialed a number on the telephone to speak to family, friends & colleagues. In fact, this group is more likely to send text messages or snapchat instead of making that phone call. The unprecedented technological innovations of today are “matter of fact” for them and not a matter of pride. It is simply the way things are done in their world. They are more iterative, than linear in their approach to problem solving or decision making; more prone to multi-tasking vs. mono-tasking and value adaptation over planning.

    Millennials are also labeled as a “civic” generation. They are voracious news consumers, early technology adopters, participate in “social” conversations and care about the world and the environment they live in. They are also generally fickle in their decision making. They will give all their personal information to Facebook but at the same time get easily offended by targeted advertising. (Here’s an interesting link to find out “How Millennial Are You?” – and to get a better sense of this generation)

    All that being said, they are now the most dominant group of consumers – not only in size (there will be 88 million Millennials in the US by 20141) but also in consuming power. According to comScore data, the Millennials’ purchasing power is estimated to be at $170 billion2.

    That’s impressive!

    So, if you are a retailer or marketer in Central Ohio, how do you capitalize on this opportunity? Well, let’s first start with understanding them.

    Here’s some key facts about the Millennial generation of Central Ohio3:

    • 50% of Central Ohio Millennials have a household income greater than $50,000
    • 42% of them have kids under the age of 5 in their households
    • 17% more likely than the market average to be registered as independents and 33% more likely to not be registered to vote
    • 50% of them read a Sunday newspaper in the past month
    • 42% don’t subscribe to cable in their households
    • 2/3rd of the Central Ohio Millennials already own a smart phone
    • Text messaging is the top activity on cell phones (83%) vs. 55% for email
    • 49% use their cellphones for accessing news/traffic & weather related information
    • 27% more likely than the average market adult to switch cell phone carriers in the next year
    • 34% bought clothing & accessories online in the past year
    • 48% more likely than average to buy high ticket items online ($2,500 or more)
    • Furniture & mattresses are among their top household purchase plans for the coming year
    • 32% of them commissioned an interior painting/wallpapering job in the past year
    • 33% of them travel more than 20 minutes to work (one way) every day
    • 30% of them prefer drinking Mountain Dew over Coca Cola (28%)
    • Over 60% of them attended the Columbus Zoo last year compared to only 19% who visited a casino in the past 12 months
    • Southwest is their favorite airline when they fly & Mexico is their favorite destination

    They are definitely a different breed, aren’t they?

    At The Dispatch Media Group we reach 94% of the Central Ohio market in any given week. We have marketing products & solutions to help get your message in front of this elusive, yet highly attractive target audience.

    Contact your account executive or download our infographic on young adults to get more information on this group and the products that will help you reach them.

    1 Magid Generational Strategies™ © 2010 Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc.
    2 The Marketing Corner: The Purchasing Power of Millennials By Adele Lassere; February 9, 2012
    3
    Scarborough 2012 Release 2; Columbus DMA; Adults 18-34 (Millennials)
    Nikhil Hunshikatti

    Written by Nikhil Hunshikatti

    Subscribe to Blog & Email Updates

    Lists by Topic

    see all

    Posts by Topic

    see all

    Recent Posts