By Ellen Campbell-Kaminski, VP of Marketing
I recently attended a marketing conference and there were many great session topics, but one, in particular, caught my eye. The session write-up described a dialog between a Millennial and a Boomer, suggesting that their differences made it challenging for these two generations to connect with one another. As a Baby Boomer myself, and parent to two Millennials (and one Gen Z), I often think there isn’t a generational gap between me and my children, but rather a cosmic divide of two completely different species. One species is practical, planful, respectful, caring, and picks up after themselves and the other is…not. And if it isn’t clear which is which, I am the first species and my children are the second. However, I hazard a guess that my mother would have expressed the exact same complaint.
As a marketer, I’ve been taught to segment, target, and focus in order to build buyer personas and journey maps. And I believe in the benefit of focusing my efforts on specific segments to tailor my approach so as to ensure relevance to their needs. But as I sat in the session with the Millennial and the Boomer, I was struck by how surreal the situation felt. Here was an audience, largely comprised of Boomers and some Gen Xers, observing the Millennial as if we were on safari, observing an exotic animal in its natural habitat.
Boomer to Millennial: “What is it that you want from a brand?” Millennial: “I want an authentic experience.” As I sat in the audience, I couldn’t help but think, “Who wouldn’t want an authentic experience? Not me, I’m a Boomer. I want brands that lie to me. I want to be oversold.” There is also a wealth of research focused on how Millennials think about work, such as this 2016 Gallup study which found that 87% of Millennials say “professional development or career growth opportunities are very important to them in a job.” I may not be a millennial, but I want that as well. And I also want to make an impact, which tops the list of what millennials care about according to the Second Annual Korn Ferry Futurestep Millennial Survey.