Marketers Eye Millennials as Optimism Improves

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Despite differences in education, socio-economic status and ethnicity, adult Millennials have generational ties that tie them together and set them apart from older consumers.

According to the recent Packaged Facts report, "Millennials in the U.S.," the generation shares a deep comfort with technology; heavy involvement in social media; a multitasking mentality; non-stop immersion with screens on cell phones, digital tablets and PCs; a shared preference for hip-hop music; and parents who act like friends as well as authority figures. The challenge for marketers is to leverage this common ground to find Millennials whoever and wherever they are and engage them no matter what they are doing, it added.

Adult Millennials -- also referred to as Generation Y -- are defined as those adults in the 18-to-29-year-old age group. They include full-time college students, late-20-somethings who have moved back to their parents' home, and married and unmarried couples with and without kids. This generation of consumers spans college grads with high-paying full-time jobs and credit cards and retirement accounts beginning to take root, as well as those struggling with low-paying part-time jobs. It also includes a high-growth multicultural segment spearheaded by U.S.-born "fusionistas" who move effortlessly between their Latino heritage and the youth culture of America, according to the report.

In addition, Millennials are disproportionately optimistic about their personal economic future and the economic outlook of the country as a whole, according to David Sprinkle, publisher of Packaged Facts. Survey data compiled by Experian Simmons indicates 43 percent of 25-to-29-year-olds think they will be better off financially in the next 12 months -- twice the rate of the boomers and seniors in the 45-plus age bracket.

Notably for marketers, peer-to-peer marketing remains at the core of brands seeking to build a systematic presence on college campuses. While face-to-face techniques such as sampling and event marketing still have their place, social media and mobile marketing are increasingly the tools of choice in the college market, the report found.