It’s All About Me: Gen Y Sets Its Own rules for DM Engagement

If you're reading this in the print edition of Direct, this article is not about you.

But if you're scanning it online in one of several browser windows while chatting via instant message with three or four friends as your iPod blasts in the background, you're probably a “millennial,” a member of Generation Y — someone between the ages of 14 and 24 or so. Direct can't wait to get your reaction to this article, and is sorry it didn't have a chance to consult with you while the story was being researched.

Take heed, direct marketers. Millennials believe it's their right to be included in any conversation about them. They do not consider themselves mere recipients of your advertising messages. Any campaign targeting millennials that starts out with the question “How do we talk with this generation?” has already missed the point. The essential question is “What can we do to make them start the dialogue with us?”

They're worth getting to know. Depending on which definition of millennial one uses, there are between 75 million and 82 million of them. According to pre-economic-distress estimates, they collectively spend some $200 billion a year, notes Chicago-based investment firm William Blair & Co.

That said, they're a hard group to engage. “Millennials are bombarded with brands and messages all the time,” says Melissa Lavigne, marketing director for researchers The Intelligence Group. “They're looking for filters — for clear, simple things that don't add to the clutter.”

For them, this means turning to trusted sources for consensus. “They harness the power of the group,” Lavigne says. “They believe that more heads are better than one.”

Right off the bat, DMers can forget about the 2/7 rule, which postulates that a single satisfied customer will share positive experiences with two associates, and negative ones with seven. This generation is the first for which online connectivity has been a staple of life since day one. Research done for The Intelligence Group's Cassandra Report reveals that millennials claim to be connected with an average of 115 friends.

Are they really talking to all 115? Well, no. Pressed, millennials admit they're in regular contact with “only” 47, Lavigne says.

A DMer that can add value to those conversations will gain an inroad into this generation. One way of doing this is by giving millennials something tailored to them. At their best, these offerings might improve millennials' lives or make them more fun. Popular options include the ability to download songs or create a mash-up (a mix of content or elements).

Access to content that's either exclusive or offers value, such as coupons, also resonates with this group. In fact, Lavigne says, among 14- to 34-year-olds (which includes younger Gen Xers), 72% have printed or downloaded a coupon and 43% have done so in the past month.

And — oh yes — a means of sharing these benefits is essential.

A site from Vera Wang Princess perfume (verawangprincess.com/princessnation/) allows registrants to create their own royal crest, outfit their own castle, enter sweepstakes, participate in surveys and communicate with other princesses. What does all this have to do with selling a scent? Very little. What does it have to do with enabling community? Everything.

“Peer groups and sitting in still exists, even if it is online,” says Stacy Thomson, director of marketing services at creative agency Story Worldwide, which set up the site.

There are limitations to this strategy. If every DMer attempts to build a kingdom for its prospects, each millennial will end up hosting more member-states than the United Nations.

But there are other means of interacting with them. Text messaging certainly works. Nearly half of the youngest millennials prefer receiving text ads to e-mail messages, as do a quarter of those between the ages of 19 and 24. In comparison, only 16% of those between age 25 and 34 prefer text communiqués, according to the Cassandra Report.

Done well, mobile marketing also can be very powerful. Louis Vuitton offered Soundwalk, a downloadable guided tour of three Chinese cities, in conjunction with the Olympics. Smirnoff vodka's Pocket Bartender provides useful information (the location of nearby bars) along with descriptions of interesting cocktails that use Smirnoff as a base ingredient.

Lavigne says these are perfect examples of providing value and information with a branded message. The trick with millennials, however, is that they've elected to receive this information on their mobile devices.

“Young people consider these devices to be extensions of themselves,” she says. “They store photos and friends' numbers in them, and use them to have intimate conversations. Marketers must make sure to allow people to opt in or opt out. Young people don't like to be accosted.”

DMers may already be well-versed in privacy considerations, but there's another quality this generation admires: Speed. “[Millennials] value speaking back quickly over accuracy in the way they communicate,” says Swen Graham, senior analyst for strategy and insight at Wunderman's RTC Relationship Marketing unit. “If you're [talking] with people who value that, you need to be able to communicate with them swiftly.”

For this reason, paper and postal messages are considerably less compelling to them. “Reaching millennials [with mail] is definitely harder,” Thomson says. “At times mail becomes almost irrelevant. It's not right-this-second. With e-mail, you get it, you can respond right away, you can check out a Web site.”

It's not as if this generation even cares much for traditional mail. “There's increased concern over waste,” Lavigne says. “The environment comes up as a top issue. The physical nature [of mail and catalogs] makes them stand out, but it also makes people feel guilty when they're throwing them away or recycling them.”

The Intelligence Group's research reflects millennials' move from direct mail. While 18% of survey respondents between the ages of 25 and 34 say mail is a source of information about new offerings, only 14% of those between age 19 and 24 mentioned it. Among the youngest millennials — 14- to 18-year-olds — this figure drops to 9%.

And while the Internet and television commercials remain two powerful media, millennials, especially the youngest, are open to messages embedded in TV shows and movies.