For the last few months, NPR has been looking into millennials, as part of our series called New Boom. This group, some 80 million strong, spends over $1 trillion a year by some estimates. So, we wondered: How should brands and advertisers go about reaching millennials if they're so powerful, but also so different, than generations before them?

A few months ago, we hosted a focus group with Southern California millennials to talk about what brands, advertising and marketing works for them. Of course, the group of about two dozen we talked to can't possibly be representative of all millennials, but they did vary in age, gender, race and occupation. Below, we offer a few of the highlights from the group's conversation. The audio link above includes more, as well as some expert perspective from Dr. Americus Reed, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.


On what the word 'millennials' even means

"The entire reason millennials is a term is a marketing classifier. I think of millennial as a word that writers put in Forbes to teach older company owners."

-- Anthony D'Angelo, 19, college student

"[It's used] to get lots of Google hits."

-- Caroline Sharp, 34, actor, writer and producer

"I feel like we can be summed up as the 'everybody gets a trophy' generation, where everything we've ever done is awesome. And sometimes when we aren't recognized for everything we do, we get that like, 'How come you're not seeing what I did and how come it's not as important as everything else that's being done?' "

-- Kenneth Mackins, 29, human resources

"We're completely self-absorbed. It's the reason we post status updates, it's the reason we're on Instagram — even if it's not a photo of us, it's still a statement of a place and a time that I was at and you weren't and showing that off. So I think it's a much more mild version of self-absorbed — we're not decking ourselves out with gold chains, but we're basically doing that equivalent through social media. Everything's a branding exercise."

-- Garrett Black, 29, advertising and brand strategy

"We don't want to expose too much of ourselves. We always need to have an Instagram over our warts and things we don't want people to see."

-- Rebecca Baroukh, 24, social media editor

"I think that making money is less the end — people aren't opposed to making money, of course, but I think they aren't choosing careers for the income as much as generations before."

-- Ariela Emery, 26, youth coordinator and event planner


On advertising campaigns they like

"An Ikea commercial, where they just let a bunch of little cats roam around Ikea and make themselves comfortable on the furniture. The end was something like, 'A place to call home,' or something about home. I personally just liked it because it wasn't too loud or in your face. It kind of just stayed quiet. It was subtle. I like subtle."

-- James McOmber, 28, musician

"Lowe's had a series of Vines called 'six-second how-tos' that were stop-motion animation of watching tools perform tasks in ways you wouldn't necessarily think that they could do. My favorite one, the one that I can think of: If you have a stripped screw, you can put a rubber band on top of the screw and stick the screwdriver through the rubber band, and it gets the screw out! I've used that because of Lowe's vine! They're really informative. I would tell people about that, because they're really cool little videos."

-- Caroline Sharp

"One of my favorite ads that I've seen recently are the [Lipton] Brisk ads: 'not half bad.' Because everybody's trying to throw it in your face and say, 'This is the best thing ever, this is great.' No one just admits, 'Yeah it's pretty good you should try it.' That has probably been more effective than anything else, just the complete undersell."

-- Garrett Black

"I think Cheerios had a great marketing campaign, especially their focus on homosexual marriages and children and bringing all of that together. And I think that awareness points to things that are happening socially. I liked that they put out an ad recently where I couldn't even tell that the ad was for Cheerios until the end, because the message was completely different. I think it's interesting that companies feel social responsibility to put good things out in the world."

-- Amy Sandefur, higher education recruiter


On advertising campaigns they hate

"One campaign that really turned me off was the Kia campaign with the hip-hop hamsters. I think they're trying so hard. And that kind of turns us off because there's a lack of authenticity. When you want us to buy a car, you're trying too hard when you're putting people in hamster costumes and hip-hop dancing and driving through neon-light cities. It's just too much."

-- Mamie Young, 31, graphic designer

"The Mazda campaign where they associate cars with iconic figures in history. There are these commercials that compare a Mazda coupe to Bruce Lee. I just think that's such a reach."

-- Rebecca Baroukh

"I wish they would stop using women as props. Women are not props, they are not headless. They are people who have feelings, desires and a lot of cash to spend on goods. So, stop using women as if they are these soulless, shoe-buying, pink-loving, shrink-it-and-forget-about-it things. It's so frustrating. A soda company basically said this is man diet soda, and women can't apply. It was so frustrating!"

-- Sarah Harburg-Petrich, theater developer

"I'm super sick of seeing ads with people who are only 5 foot 8 inches to 6 feet tall and weigh, if they're a woman, 100 pounds, and a man, maybe 150."

-- Kenneth Mackins


On brands that have it all figured out, specifically Warby Parker and Beyonce

"I like Warby Parker. They're cheap, they're good glasses, they look cool."

-- Dani Collins, 32, software developer

"[Warby Parker] are socially conscious. They do the 'give a pair of glasses, get a pair of glasses' thing. So it's great to see a company that's interested in what the consumer wants, and cares about the world in general."

-- Rebekah Baroukh

"She's [Beyonce] really been good for the city of Houston. She's focused a lot of her charitable efforts there, and doesn't ask for anything in return. And she's also part of a growing group of celebrities who are making feminism into not a bad word anymore."

-- Caroline Sharp

"She's [Beyonce] like transcended the need for traditional advertisement. She's so big that she can get to people on her own."

-- Anthony D'Angelo


On their advice for advertisers

"I think we are a generation that wants to see innovation, but at the same time we don't want to be bombarded with advertisements or other bits of marketing in paces that are personal to us. That bothers us. That's going to turn me off. We're skeptical, we want something that's innovative. But at the same time, we want it to be genuine and heartfelt."

-- Jacob Weiss, 28, startups

"Honestly, If I could say anything to the advertisers, it'd be this: Entertain me, make me happy, capture my attention, speak to my conscious and then leave me the heck alone."

-- Antonus Siler, 34, digital marketing

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Next, we report on marketing to millennials. If you should define that generation as everybody born between 1980 and 2000, as NPR has been doing, we're talking about 80 million people who spend, by some accounts, over $1 trillion per year. As part of our series called the New Boom, NPR's Sam Sanders wondered how brands should market themselves to that group.

SAM SANDERS, BYLINE: Let's have this little circle more of a huddle. Let's get in a little bit closer 'cause we're all friends.

About 25 millennials gather in their natural habitat - right outside of an Urban Outfitters - yeah, I know, the ultimate hipster millennial cliche.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Is that on after "Girl Meets World?"

(LAUGHTER)

SANDERS: This was NPR's first-ever millennial focus group at an outdoor mall in Santa Monica. I wanted to know from this group, all under the age of 35, what ads, what brands, what messaging works for them. For starters, Antonus Siler said the bar was high.

ANTONUS SILER: Honestly, if I could say anything to the advertisers out there, it'd be this - it's like, you know what? - entertain me, make me happy, capture my attention, speak to my conscience and then leave me the heck alone.

SANDERS: OK, here's what they like - cute animals...

JAMES MCOMBER: It was an Ikea commercial where they just let a bunch of little cats roam around Ikea and sort of make themselves comfortable on the furniture.

SANDERS: Fun social media stuff...

CAROLINE SHARP: Lowes had a series of Vines called Six-Second How-Tos.

SANDERS: And just being direct.

GARRETT BLACK: The Brisk ads of not half bad...

(SOUNDBITE OF BRISK AD)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: New Brisk Half & Half - not half bad.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Yeah, dude, if I was thirsty, I'd drink this.

BLACK: Everybody's trying to throw it in your face, like, this is the best thing ever. This is great. And everybody's like - nobody just admits yeah, it's pretty good. You should try it.

SANDERS: That was James McOmber, Caroline Sharp and Garrett Black. All right, here's some stuff the group hated - weird dancing animals...

MAMIE YOUNG: The Kia campaign with the hip-hop hamsters, I guess. I don't know what they are.

SANDERS: Body image issues...

KENNETH MACKINS: I'm super sick of seeing advertisements with people who are only 5'8'' to 6 feet tall and, you know, weigh a hundred and - if it's a woman, 100 pounds and if it's a man, 150.

SANDERS: And this...

SARAH HARBURG-PETRICH: A soda company was doing a commercial a few years back and they basically said that this is man diet soda and women can't apply because women are inferior.

(SOUNDBITE OF DR. PEPPER AD)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Dr. Pepper 10. It's not for women.

HARBURG-PETRICH: It was so, so frustrating.

SANDERS: You just heard from Mamie Young, Sarah Harburg-Petrich and Kenneth Mackins. Some key takeaways - the ads this group liked were clever but subtle. They took advantage of social media with a very personal touch, and they were socially progressive and inclusive. As for the ones that didn't work, they were often, as Mamie Young said...

YOUNG: Trying so hard.

SANDERS: Some of them clung to gender roles and social views many millennials see as outdated or they had messages that seemed to leave people out. So what should we make of all this? Well, this guy can help.

AMERICUS REED II: My name is Americus Reed II, and I am a professor of marketing here at the Wharton School of Business.

SANDERS: Americus Reed helped me understand why this group liked and hated what they did. One - millennials kind of like to talk about themselves.

REED: They seek authenticity. They value self-expression, but they also like to think of themselves as not necessarily self-absorbed.

SANDERS: Two - we are do-gooders who like to be nice.

REED: There isn't a lot of negativity. The values that they're trying to align are social impact or doing good things - how do I leave the world a better place?

SANDERS: Three - a lot of us are kind of broke.

REED: I wouldn't say frugal but being aware of their spending.

SANDERS: Knowing all this, which brand is doing all of the right things?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Warby Parker.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: I'm wearing Warby Parker glasses right now.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Yeah I have four pairs of Warby's

SANDERS: You have four pairs?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: (Laughter).

SANDERS: Warby Parker, the online eyeglass retailer. They've hit the trifecta - they're price point is low, their product is cool and their brand has a message of social good. They give away a lot of free pairs of glasses to people in need. Neil Blumenthal, one of the founders of Warby Parker, he said it's all intentional.

NEIL BLUMENTHAL: One of the things that we're really careful to do is pass everything that we do through a brand filter.

SANDERS: You could even say Warby Parker is doing everything they can to check the boxes on the millennial branding list.

BLUMENTHAL: Is this authentic and genuine? Is there a compelling story? Is it unexpected and interesting? Does it do good in the world?

SANDERS: OK. We could just end this whole thing right there, but there was one more brand - well, a person really - who came up during our focus group.

SHARP: She's also part of a group - a growing group, I think - of celebrities who are making feminism into not a bad word anymore.

D'ANGELO: She's, like, transcended the need for traditional advertisement. Like, she's so big that she can get to people on her own.

SANDERS: Have you guessed yet?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YONCE PARTITION")

BEYONCE: Give me something.

SANDERS: We're talking about Beyonce. That was Anthony D'Angelo and Caroline Sharp. They pointed to Beyonce's message of female empowerment and her move away from traditional advertising. Her last album came out with no advance press and no interviews, and it was still a hit. But a lot of Beyonce's appeal is that Beyonce is Beyonce, and no playbook can give you that. So perhaps the lesson, if any, for brand makers would be to do all the things we talked about, but then just do and be a little more. If at all possible, be Beyonce. Sam Sanders, resident millennial, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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