What Mobile Millennials Want: Structure Without Obligation
We’re all so busy these days. If it’s not work, it’s drinks with old friends or a date with a neglected Netflix queue. But what’s actually keeping us busy?
The average American male works 12 fewer hours a week compared with 40 years ago, according to The Economist. A significant rise in women’s paid work and advances in technology contributed to a 35 percent decline in unpaid household and childcare work, The Atlantic reported.
Furthermore, research indicates that as wealth grows and leisure time increases, the perception of feeling busy skyrockets. This particular group is referred to as the “Harried Leisure Class,” a term coined by Swedish economist Staffan Linder that, to a degree, describes millennials.
I don’t want to overgeneralize, but the challenge of marketing to millennials exists because they are so unlike their parents’ generation.
Millennials don’t want a car, a house (just yet), or a TV, according to Goldman Sachs. Why would they when Uber gets them around, Airbnb offers a new place to stay wherever they go, and Netflix can be streamed on most mobile devices? The common thread between these mobile services is flexibility and availability.
Growing up with the Internet acclimated this generation to the power of instant feedback, and the companies that rethink strict memberships and forced loyalty are likely to thrive.
Below are a few companies using the mobile space to engage this indecisive audience by working around their aversion to planning, streamlining the activities they should pay attention to, and presenting said information in a flexible context relevant to them.
Every brand aiming to reach Millennials should learn something from these companies’ approaches and apply the lessons to their own businesses and apps — either tailoring their products and services to meet this generation’s needs, or at least focusing marketing efforts to highlight aspects of their offerings likely to be most appealing. Read more here
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