In the U.S. alone, their spending power is $1 trillion. Together with the generation that follows them, they are the #1 advocates and users of social media. Communicating with them is not effective unless a cell phone (and soon an IPad like device) is involved. Advertisers and media are shifting focus to mirror the behavior of Millennials. They are betting not only on the future, but also on the present.
Exciting! No? Wait. It gets even more gripping. Actually, it gets scary. According to Pew Research 18 to 29 y/o are not well represented in the Census. 17% say they have completed it. 44% say it is not even a consideration. The rest have nothing to say. The most influential and engaged group is not fully engaged nor represented.
Don’t fret yet. If you follow 3 simple rules not only will you communicate effectively with Millenials, you’ll also learn plenty about them. Much more than the Census could have given you.
1. Tap advocates to work for you: Include multicultural and diverse groups (i.e., LGBT) in you total market strategy.
2. Collaborate openly with the audience to craft your message.
3. Don’t be self serving, and in doing so be authentic
Here’s why and how.
Try to understand the lessons derived from the Census’ low conversion rate among Millennials to develop successful strategies in the future (even though you may not have the right census data as a starting point). First remember:
1. Millennials control the conversation.
2. It is a highly creative group for whom content creation is a natural process and an intrinsic part of their lives.
3. They don’t take directions the old fashion way. Empowered by a more liberal upbringing from Boomer parents they are accustomed to participating and arriving at their own conclusion.
4. Be authentic. They can see through you.
5. More importantly, more than any other generation they are exposed to so many messages via so many platforms. They are likely to choose the messages that they can influence or participate in.
Take the hint Census folks (and others who might have failed too). This adds up to “letting go” and recognizing Millennials’ contribution to your message – which from now own will be referred to in this post as “the conversation”. Slapping your logo on a Facebook fan page or Twitter does not a conversation make. It only works if it is your audience slaps the logo themselves, not you.
While working on SpongeBob Square Pants, I spoke with the commercially brilliant Pharrel Williams. He is a huge fan and has encouraged artists to use SpongeBob’s iconic image in their work. At one point in our discussion he said to me that SpongeBob had originally become iconic among Millennials because it made his way organically into their conversation. “Relinquish him to young artists, geeks and game designers. Don’t make a big splash. Let it come back to you. Then you can think about creating something new for the masses,” he concluded. I agreed with his rationale. Consumers would see themselves in the work. It’s their conversation.
In summary: When engaging Millennials in conversation use mass collaboration principles.
Take the Beta Cup project for example. Earthlings like you and me can submit ideas to eliminate paper cup consumption. Then vote. Then get all materials to spread the word. By the people and for the people: the project has garnered Starbucks’ backing. 
Starbucks knows who will engage in that conversation: Millennials. Aside from engagement, the side effects include a wonderful brand positioning among these consumers.
For another well executed example go to Billionaires for Bush. Yes, many non profits get it too.
This past January Kari Dunn Saratovsky from the Case Foundation wrote in the Social Citizen website poignant recommendations for the Census in trying to reach Millennials. They include:
- Text message reminders during key points in the process,
- “Census challenge” parties in college campuses,
- Short, entertaining videos for YouTube
- Extensive outreach to bloggers,
- Engage them to generate marketing materials.
- “Letting go” a little
Well the Census did some of these… sort of. An old school video resembling the Say No To Drugs 80’s jingle campaign was produced and placed in You Tube. (See video in next posting or by clicking here.) Ok, it featured a well-performed TopaZ hip-hop song. I’ll give you only that. However, it was pushed to the audience, spoke to them as if they were 5 y/o, and created no conversation.
Pepsi, on the other hand, did a little better with their campaign to encourage U.S. Latinos to participate in the Census (Pepsi’s “Yo Sumo” - a loose translation of ”I also count”). 
The campaign produced by Pepsi asked consumers to upload their Latino stories in the U.S. for an upcoming documentary directed by Eva Longoria, which will air after the Census is completed. What? After the Census is completed? Fair, but not great. However an additional execution done with one its media partners - Mun2 (NBC’s bicultural Latino network) saved the day. Mun2 website is a TV network website, but it is increasingly becoming a social media conversation starter. The website strikes a good balance between network content and user content. Thanks in part to the fact that a lot of the TV content is very consumer centric, even “street” generated. For Pepsi’s efforts, Mun2 reality TV stars appeared in their own videos (some of the clips even had a cell phone quality). They completed the survey,talked about challenges, doubts and all. Around these videos were all the classic social media components tied together nicely with a virtual bow. It’s not the Beta Cup project, but the story telling was right. With Pepsi marketing dollars and NBC’s real estate I will assume it did not fall on deaf ears.
What was missing for me was the creation of strong advocacy. Multi cultural audiences are driving the growth in web and mobile. The total Latino audience (all generations) is rapidly closing the web consumption gap. 
These audiences + all other diverse audiences (or tribes, to quote Seth Godin) are passionate and vociferous. They establish the trends, the color palate and music of choices among the rest of the market. (Read Dolliver’s article with data on Latinos as influencers.) In a digital culture they have platforms that automatically connects with the rest of the market. They guide the conversation. Why not make them your advocates by engaging them in creating and distributing messages? Pepsi should have allowed more mashing. Which requires advertisers and media to relinquish control. Relinquishing is a bad word for many. It means not having the final word in the conversation. Right? Wrong! In Millenialand it means being open which goes very far with them.
“Yo sumo” was different from the more impactful Pepsi Project Refresh. PPR is similar 
to the Beta Cup project in that one submits ideas to help one’s community. Then comes the vote and one may end up with financing for a world-changing project. It accesses social media through cool (almost famous) millennial ambassadors (most of them multicultural) and a great partnership with Good - the magazine turned community through mass collaboration to push the world forward. How millennial does that sound? Very much indeed.
While reading this post you may have been thinking that these conversations are not only helping advertisers market to Millennials and position their brands. They are
also collecting a lot of insights about them. You are right! Yes, mass collaboration in the digital culture is a great way to gather information that helps refine our communication. Think of it as research and marketing rolled into one execution.
So, as we go into a decade not really knowing the official Census facts about its most important and influential demographic group, we have the tools to getting to know them intimately and like intimate friends have a real conversation.
