Conquer the Future with Your Brand: Target Millennials & Centennials

You want to create sustainable, constant growth for your brand to conquer the market, so you’re constantly working on strategic long-term growth. To achieve your long-term goals, you need to learn more about the importance of Millennials and Centennials; because the younger the generation, the more likely they are to create long-term gains for you, for two main reasons; loyalty and spending power.

Digital is the way to reach Millennials & Centennials, and by meeting them through their touch points your brand could position itself to secure long-term market share growth. 

We’ve compared Millennials & Centennials to Gen X & Boomers in order to find out which generations can create the most value for your brand.

 

How Is Each Generation Different From One Another

Baby Boomers

Baby boomers were born between 1945 and 1964 and lived in the post-war period. They are called that because they were born in the period when the birth rate hit up in several Anglo-Saxon countries. They went through the technological evolution and the rise and fall of the media.

 

Generation X

Generation X includes those born between 1965 and 1980; they had difficult lives because after the war came a period of upheaval, and finding a job was a challenge. They did not have idealism, to work and produce as their motto: Individualism and being a workaholic were their values.

 

The Millennials or Generation Y

The millennials, or generation Y, were born between 1981 and 1994, and technology is part of their lives. Unlike previous generations, because of the economic crisis, the world requires them to be better trained to get a job as competition increases. 

Unlike their parents, Generation X, digital natives are not satisfied with the world around them and are ambitious and want to achieve their goals. 

 

Centennials or Generation Z

Aged between eight and 23 years old, generation Z, or the post-millennial generation, will take the lead in a few decades. But what is Generation Z? It is a group of people that are marked by the internet. It’s part of their DNA: it storms into their homes, education, and socializing. And if Generation Y has difficulty finding a job, the post-millennials situation is even worse. 

They desire instant gratification, a fact fostered by the digital world in which they are immersed; YouTubers influenced their lifestyle. They multitask, but their attention span is limited. They are independent and demanding consumers and are creating new jobs & industries that didn’t exist in the past. 

 

How Do These Generations Compare

Gen X has a yearly spending average of 75K dollars with 2600 billion dollars in total. Gen X seems like the profitable generation in the short-term, purely based on aggregate data. However, the total market for Gen Z and Millennials is around 3500 billion dollars which provides untapped potential. There’s also the fact that Gen X’s income will be declining in the future whilst Millennials & Centennials will have a vastly increasing average income as the years pass which points the arrows to these 2 generations for long-term strategies.

Millennials show the most growth in spending. As older generations leave the workforce and Millennials advance in their careers. Spending power just for the Millennial cohort is expected to overtake both Gen X and Baby Boomers within the next ten years, then the Centennials will also follow in overtaking.

 

Older Generations Provide a Higher Churn Rate

There’s a clear correlation between age and brand loyalty. Younger generations provide a lower churn rate for brands. The younger the person, the more likely they are to stay loyal to the brand they like. So, targeting younger generations can create higher long-term value for your brand simply due to the natural traits of Centennials & Millennials.

 

Turn Millennials & Centennials into Your Key Consumers

“I Understand How Millennials & Centennials Are Important for My Brand, But How Can I Woo Them?”

Both generations have high expectations for technology and innovation and increasingly value experience over goods & services while being progressive and socially responsible. These characteristics have driven a shift in today’s consumption from conspicuousness to consciousness. They are also real activists and can influence older generations.

 

What do Millennials and Gen Z want?

Young consumers are constantly looking for products and services that are new, exciting, and accessible. They want to be a part of the innovation process, collaborating with businesses to get what they want and need. Gen Z people want to maintain fun in their lives. Millennials wish for convenient solutions and safer out-of-home experiences for their young families. 

As a result, alternative channels to shop, play and live are evolving; social media, virtual venues, e-sports, digital gaming, safe out-of-home venues, and social distancing pods for exercise, dining, and festivals. These new platforms, as well as new services such as virtual try-on or in-store fitting appointments, will enhance lifestyles in the future.

 

“How Can I Engage with Millennials and Gen Z?”

The Millennials and Gen Zs were exposed to the Internet at an early age, and as such, they feel like the world is at their fingertips. And that is true.

If you want to engage with these generations, be sure to be present and active in where they love to hang out, and that will be — digital channels.

Most Millennials favour instant gratification; research at Forbes revealed that 60% of the Gen Z generation would not utilize a website that is difficult to navigate. We see this play out in how they prefer to use their smartphones to make purchases, and with a click of their fingers, they are making flights, hotels, and cabs bookings and many other things like shopping and ordering pizza.

According to another research by Netsertites, 75% of Gen Zs spend 4–5 hours online every day, totalling about 35 hours online in a week, and the figures keep rising.

 

“So, How Can I Target Gen Z and Gen Y?”

You must be present at their location. Meaning that you must move your marketing activities towards digital channels and directly engage with Gen Z & Gen Y. 

Justsnap’s digital solutions integrate into any digital channel where Millennials and Centennials exist. Through the use of our proprietary receipt processing technology, campaign management solutions, data analytics solutions and integration skills; you can create fully automated and digital marketing actions (such as brand activations & specialised targeting campaigns) on any digital channel where your young consumers exist. Thus engaging with them directly, effectively and efficiently.