Much Ado about Millennials:
Envisioning the Future through Gen Y Eyes
Trend-spotting. Upon reading this, a number of things might have already crossed your mind: bacon, hipsters, smart phone apps, Justin Bieber, jeggings, and auto-tune. These fads are meteoric, burning intensely and disappearing as quickly as they appear.
In the world of trends analysis, they allow researchers to piece together a better sense of a society’s psyche. That deeper understanding shows us how the world around us changes, what forces drive that change, and what our future could hold. As Wallace Church’s resident trends analyst, my blog posts will focus on themes that are shaping our world as well as their relation to branding and design. This inaugural post, the first in a three-part series, dissects a particular interest of mine.
A Controversial Contingent
Regardless of the industry or client, one subject has garnered interest from everyone who hopes to understand trends: Millennials. As a Millennial, I feel like my friends and I are textbook definitions of our demographic. We devour online content; we see no sense in owning if we can rent/share; we can’t remember the last time we turned off our phone; and we get frustrated when we’re not able to multitask. What do these have to do with trends and society? Our generation, ranging from roughly 18-30, is the largest in America’s history. By sheer numbers, my peers’ behaviors and preferences profoundly impact the way our nation is moving. Far more long-lasting than a fad or a trend, Millennial behavior encompasses ideas that will influence our society for years to come.
Researchers have found core values and traits that most Millennials seem to share. Some say it has to do with the parenting style of America’s influential Baby Boomer generation. Our preschool teachers told us we were all “special,” and every sports competition massaged losers with “Great Effort!” awards. Fearing for our delicate little egos, “helicopter” parents boosted our self-confidence by giving us a voice in family decisions. Nick Shore, Senior VP of Strategic Consumer Insights and Research for MTV, spoke at the Economist’s World in 2011 Conference; one of his many findings was the evolved nuclear family structure.
Back in the day, children were electrons spinning around a parental nucleus; parents told their kids what to eat, where they were going to vacation, etc. Shore’s research shows that the nuclear family changed when parents started to become mentors and friends rather than bosses. Today, kids are in the center while their “peer-ents” shuttle them from one activity to another. Between my little sister and I, our packed schedules overwhelmed the family calendar. Moms and dads also started including their kids in family decisions like dinner plans and the new car’s color. Deirdre van Dyke from Time saw this theme even as we matured: “Millennials and their parents not only take vacations together and text each other several times a day but also consult each other on what to buy. And more often than not, the Millennials are the more informed consumers.”
Our parents taught us that the merit of ideas, rather than seniority, gain admittance to the decision table. In the office, grown Millennials have had difficulty adjusting to top-down hierarchies. My generation’s entrepreneurs are now creating open, transparent environments where youth doesn’t discount potential. This isn’t to say that seniority-based systems will disappear in the coming years; Millennials sometimes forget that experience often accompanies age. We are neither entitled to nor deserving of responsibility simply because we want to enact change. The most successful Millennial candidates will be those who can offer everything: vision, talent, and experience.
How does this relate back to branding and packaging design? We believe in what’s called “creative destruction,” or that idea that market economies constantly cannibalize old ideas in favor of newer, better ones. With brands, we support the ones that offer us the best service or product until another company finds a better solution. Therefore, the companies that keep our loyalty continuously out-innovate their competition or offer something that no one else can match. Once that happens, we have the power to be a brand’s biggest asset.
To be continued...
Our parents taught us that the merit of ideas, rather than seniority, gain admittance to the decision table. In the office, grown Millennials have had difficulty adjusting to top-down hierarchies. My generation’s entrepreneurs are now creating open, transparent environments where youth doesn’t discount potential. This isn’t to say that seniority-based systems will disappear in the coming years; Millennials sometimes forget that experience often accompanies age. We are neither entitled to nor deserving of responsibility simply because we want to enact change. The most successful Millennial candidates will be those who can offer everything: vision, talent, and experience.
How does this relate back to branding and packaging design? We believe in what’s called “creative destruction,” or that idea that market economies constantly cannibalize old ideas in favor of newer, better ones. With brands, we support the ones that offer us the best service or product until another company finds a better solution. Therefore, the companies that keep our loyalty continuously out-innovate their competition or offer something that no one else can match. Once that happens, we have the power to be a brand’s biggest asset.
To be continued...