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Jonathan Wu only buys generic drugs-he would never spend money on Advil or Tylenol. He's impressed with the less costly, store-brand version of Neutrogena's Dry-Touch sunscreen, and he loves the frozen chicken tikka masala that you can only buy at Trader Joe's.

"I only care about the product-who cares about the brand? I'm willing to experiment," says Wu, 30. "I'm going to try everything out there. I'm not loyal."

Wu, who lives with his parents while he works on his startup business building and renting tiny houses in suburban backyards, is marketers' worst nightmare.

And now a new study shows something even more profound for marketing: Among his generation, he's in the majority.

While it is perhaps a fool's errand to paint an entire generation with the same brush, just over half of millennials, 51%, have no real preference between private-label and national brands, according to the study by Cadent Consulting Group, a four-year-old firm based in Wilton, Conn. Such apathy is in stark contrast to millennials' baby boom parents, a brand-loyal group who were raised with fewer choices, different advertising channels and only one real media screen. Gen Xers' media environment wasn't much different, save for the arrival of cable TV.

HOW DO MILLENNIALS SEE YOUR BRANDS?

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"Millennials didn't grow up with the same advertising, the same exposure, the same big three TV networks," says Don Stuart, a managing partner at Cadent. Indeed, "It's a completely different consumption of media driving a different consumption of products," says Karen Strauss, Stuart's colleague and a principal at Cadent.

The shift is opening the door to new entrants, like Aldi and Lidl, grocers from overseas that emphasize their own private labels. There's also Brandless, a month-old startup aiming to revolutionize the industry of everyday essentials by selling unbranded goods for $3 each. While the Cadent study focused on food and consumer packaged goods, millennials' lack of preference for national brands is also evident in categories including travel, insurance and fashion, according to experts.

To win over Jonathan Wu and people like him, established brands are being forced to rethink the fundamentals of traditional marketing. Hammering away at the benefits of "cleaner, whiter and brighter" in mass media does not resonate with a demographic swayed by intangibles such as community and sustainability, and who are influenced by peers, review sites and outlets like BuzzFeed.

"Understand that millennials are the ultimate day traders, and that's what's driving changes in food, restaurants, travel, insurance," says Jeff Fromm, co-author of the book "Marketing to Millennials" and a partner at ad agency Barkley. "They're trading up and down and brands don't matter. If your brand isn't unique, you run the risk of being traded out for private-label or a low-cost alternative."

Historic brands angry at taking a back seat can blame 2008's recession. When the millennial market came of age, the economy was in shambles and consumers, recently out of college, struggled with student debt. They were lured in by new, purpose-driven brands, like Warby Parker or Casper, which promised lower prices as well as a charitable mission at odds with their seemingly money-grubbing, more recognizable competitors. Those attributes are proving tough for national brands to convincingly adopt.

"The recession was definitely a trigger for this," says Madeleine Kronovet, a senior strategist at RedPeak who runs the company's youth practice. "It was a reconfiguration [for millennials] of how much of my hard-earned dollars have to go to large corporations and brands, and how much can I get of what I need to get for a lower price point."

These days, shoppers are driven by life-hacking-using a mixture of reviews, social media sources and store-to-store pricing to wring the most value from a product. While millennials are willing to spend on one must-have, they're more apt to buy generic for everything else. Wu says he outsources his testing to the internet, for example. "I don't understand why I would ever blindly pick up a brand without opening my browser and spending 10 seconds to find out if a product is good enough," he says.

In addition, experts say purchases are more benefit-driven than brand-driven. Whether a marketer offers delivery, for example, could influence a purchase. Millennials are also much more willing than previous generations to experiment with new brands, as evidenced by the growing popularity of direct-to-consumer ecommerce offerings. And they're eager to customize their own experiences. That includes the way they're replacing radio and TV schedules with Netflix binges and Spotify playlists, but it doesn't end there. They thrive on options-the more, the merrier.

"They grew up with abundant information and abundant access to that information," says Fromm. "Baby boomers grew up in a world where there were not private-label choices. They're less comfortable crowd-sourcing information from a variety of sources."

Those private-label choices have gotten more plentiful and better-looking, besides. As consumers change their buying habits, some retailers, recognizing the potential, are focusing more on their in-house brands. Target is in the process of rolling out a dozen of its own brands, ranging from home decor to womenswear. Dick's Sporting Goods is also investing more in a private-label strategy. Much of the time, consumers can't tell the difference between a store brand and a national player. Some retailers, like Target, have worked hard to make them indistinguishable by investing in better packaging, using clean designs and modern fonts and colors.

"Some of the more generic brands have upped their branding and design game," says Kronovet. "When they're appearing next to a Tylenol on a shelf, you're no longer really believing that the Tylenol brand is offering more than Target's Up & Up brand. You turn the label over and see it's the same ingredients."

Indeed, last year, private-label brands at retailers including Walmart and Target grew at four times the rate of national brands in the mass merchandisers category, according to the latest Private Label Yearbook, an annual report from the New York-based Private Label Manufacturers Association. The report, which uses data from Nielsen, said private-label sales in the mass-market category totaled $2.2 billion in 2016, a 4.6% increase over 2015. That compares with a 1.1% year-over-year increase for national brands. One big marketer, Dean Foods, which sells dairy brands like Land O Lakes and TruMoo, reported disappointing second-quarter earnings earlier this month. Dean executives said its brands have been weaker than its private-label products.

"Store brands are driving 20% of total consumer goods spending and contributing more than a quarter of overall growth," says Jordan Rost, VP, consumer insights at Nielsen. "They're taking share away, in some cases, from the national brands with which they're competing. That growth has been consistent in recent years," he adds.

Whole Foods has certainly noticed the trend. The chain, which recently agreed to be acquired by Amazon for $13.7 billion, reported in its 2016 annual report that private-label brands, led by its 365 Everyday Value label, selling everything from peanut-butter-filled pretzels to salted caramel ice cream pops, accounted for about 15% of total retail sales that year, up from 8% a decade earlier. Amazon is also quietly growing its own AmazonBasics label, selling items like batteries, paper shredders and wee-wee pads to brand-agnostic buyers.

European grocers sense the opportunity too. German chain Aldi, where 90% of the products on its shelves are its own private label, has expanded its U.S. presence from one store four decades ago to 1,700 now. It recently announced plans to accelerate its U.S. growth to reach 2,500 stores by 2022. The company is investing $1.6 billion in remodeling its current fleet, a spokeswoman adds, noting that Aldi communicates with shoppers through modern channels including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Lidl, another German supermarket chain, opened its first U.S. grocery store in June and plans to debut up to 100 along the East Coast by next spring. A spokesman for the company, which also counts 90% of its own brands in its assortment, noted that Lidl is "laser-focused" on delivering higher quality and lower prices.

Losing trust in brands of yore

One of the most recent newcomers is a product of Silicon Valley. Brandless, which was conceived three years ago by entrepreneurs Tina Sharkey (she co-founded iVillage) and Ido Leffler (he co-founded school supplies company Yoobi), promises better products for less money. With items such as organic arrabbiata pasta sauce and eucalyptus and lavender hand soap each costing only $3, the ecommerce company has already caught on. Just four days after its July 11 launch, the San Francisco-based outfit was filling orders in 48 states, says Sharkey, the CEO.

"We've lost trust in so many brands out there," she says, noting that some millennials also said they're rejecting government institutions. "We decided to redefine what it meant to be a brand-it's not about the false narrative of Madison Avenue and 'Mad Men,' these fictitious back stories. In Selfie Nation, the brand narrative is the story you want to tell." The venture-capital-funded company is increasing its 200-deep product stable on a daily basis with new items.

Brandless appeals to shoppers such as Blake Glover, a 36-year-old fashion stylist who learned about it in a BuzzFeed article. Enthralled by the low price of its virgin coconut oil, the Brooklyn resident placed an order early on to try oil pulling, a new health trend that involves swishing the oil in your mouth to try to remove bodily toxins. He gave both the product, and the pulling, a thumbs up. "I can have all the same things but spend a fraction of the cost," Glover says. "It can be all glitz and glamour but at the end of the day, I just want something that works."

Beyond packaged goods, the millennial mindset is affecting other industries as well. Younger drivers, many of whom live in urban areas and often don't use cars, are rejecting big-name auto insurers in favor of more value-driven alternatives. Metromile, for example, is winning millennials with an app that helps drivers troubleshoot issues like a check-engine light and, perhaps more important, the ability to pay by the mile instead of by month.

"Certainly the product was born on the backs of millennials in urban areas," says James Moorhead, chief operating officer at Metromile, which has grown to 200 employees over its seven years and now operates in seven states.

While the majority of customers are millennials, older drivers are starting to follow in their footsteps (or tire tracks), according to Moorhead. After advertising only in digital media for years, the company began rolling out TV ads earlier this year and is seeing traction with boomers, he says.

Travel, too, is getting an overhaul as hotel marketers try to adapt to the sharing economy and the growing threat of Airbnb. Last year, Hilton introduced Tru, which offers more communal public space for work, and games and tech-savvy amenities at more affordable prices. Starwood has Tribute Portfolio for younger travelers.

Even fashion is affected as consumers turn away from big logos or heavily branded apparel in favor of more simple, contemporary looks, often from sustainable companies like Everlane or Reformation. Some millennials are more impressed with supply chain, raw materials and design than any established names.

And these changes are only the beginning.

"We're going to see more and more of this," says Fromm. "We're in the early stages of consumer control of the purchase cycle."

Cover image: iStock. Memes by Tam Nguyen. Web production by Chen Wu.

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The Millennial Dilemma: The Generic Generation Doesn't Want Your Brands

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Jonathan Wu only buys generic drugs-he would never spend money on Advil or Tylenol. He's impressed with the less costly, store-brand version of Neutrogena's Dry-Touch sunscreen, and he loves the frozen chicken tikka masala that you can only buy at Trader Joe's. "I only care about the product-who cares about the brand?

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Instagram, Snapchat Duel for Millennial Attention - eMarketer

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An ongoing quarterly survey of millennial usage of Instagram and Snapchat finds remarkably parallel usage patterns, with similar levels of daily users, occasional users, and even similar patterns of avoidance.

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By Joel Black

There has never been a generation raised to be more technologically savvy than the Millennials. A group that now makes up the largest living generation in the U.S., is coming of age to be the newest wave of buyers, thinkers, and influencers in today's market.

From a marketing standpoint, it's vital to understand what influences Millennials. What are they attracted to, and how does that impact their purchasing power? The answer almost seems obvious; look at them and see what they all have in common-their Wi-Fi device of choice is never far from reach.

Today's Millennials are sharing more content, opinions, reviews, and feedback than ever before. Instagram alone has grown to over 500 million monthly users, and for marketers and merchants alike, this is treasure trove of useful information.

How can businesses use Instagram marketing to increase revenue?

Millennials are a powerful force when it comes to sales and promotion. A study by the McCarthy Group reported that Millennials are more likely to trust the opinions of their friends when purchasing a product than sources only interested in selling something.

Instagram comes in as the platform most used by people ages 18-34. With over 80 million photos being uploaded daily, in such a concentrated pool of Millennials, it's important to understand that those shared opinions make a stronger impact in one's buying decisions than any amount of standard marketing could.

Let's take fashion Instagrams for instance. Valfre, a chic independent clothing designer, is considered Instagram royalty for her superb marketing skills. Valfre connects with her buyers and earns their trust as if she's a personal friend. She regularly switches between "relatable" posts, such as sketches and ideas, to selling her product. Her brand is edgy-chic, and she has nailed how to get on the same level as her audience. It never comes off like she's only trying to make a profit, which only adds to her success.

Remind Your Audience That's There's a Human on the Other Side of the Screen

Just like Valfre, marketers will find success on Instagram by reaching their audience authentically and openly. Millennials put a premium on the type of company they support and from which they buy; the more trustworthy the brand, the more they will buy. Transparency, or at least a feeling of humanity in their marketing, goes a long way when it reaches a Millennial's phone screen.

Another success story comes from a Japanese leather goods manufacturer, Tsuchiya Kaban, who took to Instagram to drive awareness to their brand. They began advertising their product using images that supported human emotion, and used captions like "I adore her," about their product. This campaign ended up reaching over 508,000 Instagram users, created a 6-point lift in brand awareness, and gave a 29-point lift in ad recall. The power of Instagram and the return of investment it has for a company is exponential when performed correctly.

What You Can Do Today

The world of social media marketing is here to stay, and the faster a business jumps on the new movement, the sooner they can begin driving up their numbers. It's not hard to start. Begin by posting stunning photos with an added touch of human warmth that compels people to "like" them. An image with simple text and your company's logo won't be enough to make you the next Valfre or Tsuchiya Kaban. There needs to be a human element that will make people want to hit the follow button. Take a look at Black Bear Design's Instagram for more ideas on how to incorporate a sense of spunkiness and fun taking place behind the screen!

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How To Grow Your Business Through Online #Marketing

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By Joel Black There has never been a generation raised to be more technologically savvy than the Millennials. A group that now makes up the largest living generation in the U.S., is coming of age to be the newest wave of buyers, thinkers, and influencers in today's market.

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rise of cosmetic surgery millennials - Google Search

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Aug 22, 2017 ... New York City cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Joshua Greenwald, discusses the surprising rise of plastic surgery procedures among millennials.

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Different books to source millennial findings

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Different books to source millennial findings

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In the years that followed, numerous books and news reports emphasized Millennials' desire to help others, become involved in politics and government, and work toward improving the environment. "People born between 1982 and 2000 are the most civic-minded since the generation of the 1930s and 1940s," claimed USA Today. "Generation We is noncynical and civic-minded. They believe in the value of political engagement and are convinced that government can be a powerful force for good," wrote Eric Greenberg and Karl Weber in their 2008 book Generation We. "By comparison with past generations, Generation We is highly politically engaged." Both of these sources mentioned the rise in volunteering and interviewed Millennials, but didn't compare those responses to data from previous generations.

In my 2006 book Generation Me, I presented data showing generational increases in self-esteem, assertiveness, self-importance, narcissism, and high expectations, based on surveys of 1.2 million young people, some dating back to the 1920s. These analyses indicated a clear cultural shift toward individualism and focusing on the self. But perhaps both views were correct -- maybe Millennials' greater self-importance found expression in helping others and caring about larger social causes.

My co-authors and I decided to find out. Two large datasets -- the Monitoring the Future survey of high school students and the American Freshman survey of entering college students -- had many questions on community feeling, concern for others, and civic engagement that had been asked since the Boomers were young in the 1960s and 1970s. Both datasets are nationally representative and both are huge -- half a million high school respondents and 9 million college respondents.

With representative samples comparing three generations at the same age, this was the best data available to settle the Me vs. We question - and these items had never been analyzed in their entirety before.

So we dug into the data. The results for civic engagement were clear: Millennials were less likely than Boomers and even GenXers to say they thought about social problems, to be interested in politics and government, to contact public officials, or to work for a political campaign. They were less likely to say they trusted the government to do what's right, and less likely to say they were interested in government and current events. It was a far cry from Howe and Strauss' prediction of Millennials as "The Next Great Generation" in civic involvement.

Millennials were also less likely to say they did things in their daily lives to conserve energy and help the environment, and less likely to agree that government should take action on environmental issues. With all of the talk about Millennials being "green," I expected these items to be the exception. Instead, they showed some of the largest declines. Three times as many Millennials as Boomers said they made no personal effort to help the environment.

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Millennials: The Greatest Generation or the Most Narcissistic?

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In the years that followed, numerous books and news reports emphasized Millennials' desire to help others, become involved in politics and government, and work toward improving the environment. "People born between 1982 and 2000 are the most civic-minded since the generation of the 1930s and 1940s," claimed USA Today .

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The date on your computer is in the past. If your computer's clock shows a date before 1 Jan 1970, the browser will automatically forget the cookie. To fix this, set the correct time and date on your computer.

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America is bracing for big changes. As our population gets older, millennials are getting closer and closer to snatching the baton away from Boomers - not to mention the largest transfer of wealth in the history of the world.

How are millennials going to collectively spend that $30 trillion? Nobody's really sure yet, but one thing is clear: Millennials have distinct values, predilections, habits and fears tied to their earning and spending habits, same as the older generations always did.

Millennials on average are more risk-averse and are less likely to spend money unnecessarily than previous generations. But when millennials do decide to part with their money, key patterns are beginning to emerge. Millennials prefer to do business with corporations and brands with pro-social messages, sustainable manufacturing methods and ethical business standards.

One of the ways this preference is manifesting is in the millennial generation's preference for socially responsible marketing. But what is it - and does it stand a chance of improving the world?
Companies That Do Good Work
In 2015, Nielson published its annual Global Corporate Sustainability Report. It indicated that, globally, 66% of consumers are willing to spend more on a product if it comes from a sustainable brand. Millennials gave an even more impressive showing, with 73% of surveyed millennials indicating a similar preference. Additionally, 81% of millennials even expect their favorite companies to make public declarations of their corporate citizenship.

Simply put, people - millennials most of all - want the companies they buy from to practice business sustainably and ethically. And because advertising and marketing in the States appears to have reached a deafening roar in recent years, millennials also want companies to get serious about marketing in a socially responsible way.

Consider the typical millennial-and-younger response to "traditional" marketing techniques, such as the television commercial, the billboard and the radio ad. Younger folks almost recoil physically when their binging is interrupted by the ninth Geico commercial this hour. Sure, it's a pretty First-World thing to complain about, but are they wrong? Advertising takes up almost every beat of silence and unoccupied surface in this country - aren't millennials onto something by demanding a more civil approach?

Matthew B. Crawford, in " The World Beyond Your Head," had this to say about the proliferation of marketing in the modern world: "The ever more complete penetration of public spaces by attention-getting technologies ... direct[s] us away from one another and toward a manufactured reality, the content of which is determined from afar by private parties that have a material interest in doing so."

The point is, millennials are the first generation to become jaded about the fact that most marketing is wholly self-interested. That might sound a bit funny, in the "Well, of course it is" kind of way, but consider the alternative: a company that splits its attention between self-interest and interest in the improvement of society.

It's not a crazy fever dream - corporate social responsibility (CSR) is already happening all around us. So what does it look like?
CSR in Action
Millennials are looking for four major qualities in socially responsible companies:

They want companies to be actively invested in the betterment of society and the solution of social problems.

They want companies that prioritize "making an impact" on the world around them.

They want companies to be open and honest about their efforts - and to be public about their pro-social initiatives.

Finally, millennials want companies to involve their customers in their good works. They want an opportunity to give back - whether it's with a gift of their time or their money.

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Millennials Driving Brands To Practice Socially Responsible Marketing

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America is bracing for big changes. As our population gets older, millennials are getting closer and closer to snatching the baton away from Boomers - not to mention the largest transfer of wealth in the history of the world. How are millennials going to collectively spend that $30 trillion?

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I know my good angles: I've learnt never to lean into a picture (it makes you look crazy), and I'm on my way to adopting a celebrity "mono-face", like Victoria Beckham's pout or Jennifer Aniston's semi-smile. I've lost any reticence about asking people to take my photograph. Last week I shouted, "No, don't crouch down - you'll give me a double-chin," at a New York cop who'd offered to take my picture on Brooklyn Bridge. It's terrifying how quickly I've become comfortable with behaviour that would have struck me as flagrant narcissism a year ago. It's also terrifying that the cop didn't balk - he was clearly used to art direction.

Admittedly, as a fashion, travel and lifestyle journalist I have a heightened awareness of my public profile, and am more liable to panic if it's tarnished. But I know academics, fashion designers, chefs and business owners who are similarly precious about their image, who would consider a picture of themselves looking unfashionable, tipsy or overweight career sabotage. One friend, a baker, confided, "An Instagram snap of a cupcake baker looking fat? Come on, people would love that, so I have to be careful. We're all poster-girls for our own businesses these days - I need to look healthy, glossy and polished or the whole thing falls apart."

"I've ruthlessly scanned all my pictures for signs of frumpiness or tiredness ever since I've become a mum," says another friend. "I'd find it humiliating if there was any evidence that I was struggling."

And it's not just the urban middle classes: swaths of society are now as social-media-savvy as reality-television stars. As for the reality-television stars themselves, they're one step ahead: next year Kim Kardashian will release Selfish, a compendium of her favourite selfies.

Three common blogger poses: 'shy girl', 'chicken arms' and 'too cool for school' (Sophia Spring)

Even more alarming is the idea that selfies aren't simply a record of our lives and behaviour - they're changing them. Launched by the media theorist Lev Manovich and digital analyst Daniel Goddemeyer, selfiecity.net analyses Instagram selfie patterns around the world. From it, we learn that the average age of the selfie-taker is 23.7; of people under 40, women take more selfies than men; over 40, men become the main culprits (perhaps because their female peers are anxious about ageing).

Manovich and Goddemeyer also analysed "extreme poses" such as the "head tilt", finding that the female tilt is 50 per cent deeper than the male (12.3 degrees versus 8.2 degrees). Tilting your head for the camera, conscious or not, is just the start. There's the "sorority arm", an update on the old hand-on-hip pose, nipping in your waist with your hand, making your arm look thinner by angling it away from your body.

Street-style blogs reveal that everyone's in on the "ankle cross" and "pigeon toe", which make your legs look leaner, and few can pose for the camera without a "knee pop" bend in one leg. Another trick is sucking on a straw, or "sparrow face". My biggest guilty pleasure is the "shoelfie", which is ostensibly the opposite of vain because the face isn't featured, but we all know calves look great at this angle.

Anna Hart posing with a Guinness and some crisps (Instagram)

Facebook has responded to - and perhaps even enabled - our burgeoning control freakery: today we can opt in to a setting that requires our approval before we can be tagged. Instagram, as well as being a sharing platform, amounts to airbrushing for amateurs, allowing us all to select the most flattering filter, to disguise our hangovers, wrinkles and extra pounds with cunning shadows.

And there are apps and services that take this further. PhotoWonder, which has more than 100 million users, has "slimify", "blemish fix" and "make-up" options. Facetune can wipe out your wrinkles. PicMonkey will whiten your teeth and give you a "spray tan". The backlash app, perhaps, is Snapchat, a picture-sharing service where photos disappear 10 seconds after they've been opened, liberating us from preciousness.

For many of us who use social media, it's second nature to think about the photo opportunities of the day ahead, and that includes our outfit. "Sorry I'm late," a friend announced recently, "but as I was leaving I realised I was wearing the dress I always wear on Instagram. I need to mix it up a bit. It looks like I have only four dresses." One teenager told me, "When you've been Instagrammed in a dress, that dress is over."

Anna Hart rocking a 'shoelfie' (Instagram)

"Before I started FFG I genuinely didn't care how I looked in pictures," says Emily Johnston, the 34-year-old blogger behind the fashion site Fashion Foie Gras. "When you have hundreds of thousands of people seeing an image of you it takes on a whole new level of importance. You become self-absorbed. For the first time in my life I care about my bum looking big. I'm not sure what that makes me, but it doesn't make me proud of myself."

We don't just glance in the mirror anymore - we run an Instagrammability check. Is this dress colourful enough to stand out? Is it sufficiently different to the one I wore in the last batch of pictures? Is it this season? I know people who order the most Instagrammable dish on the menu (seafood really brightens up with an Amaro filter, apparently; Hudson adds drama to a beetroot and feta salad) and who feel the Instapressure to try a new street-food van purely for fresh material.

This policing isn't limited to the visual. The way millennials speak is also changing. You may not have heard of "uptalk", but you've probably heard it, particularly on American television shows. Also known as "high rising terminal", it describes declarative statements given a rising pitch. Another quirk in young women's speech that social anthropologists have noticed is "popcorning" or "vocal fry", a low-pitched creak - think Britney Spears singing "Oh baby, baby". Ikuko Patricia Yuasa, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests this is an often-unconscious bid for gravitas among "college-age Americans [who] perceive it as hesitant, non-aggressive and informal but also educated, urban-oriented, and upwardly mobile".

Anna Hart posing in the Alps (Instagram)

This "vanitisation" of society has happened by stealth. When in 2001 Sony Ericsson launched a phone with a clip-on camera, technology journalists were bemused. Today seven in 10 Britons own a smartphone, and there are 1.75 billion smartphone users worldwide who can snap away with no thought of the hassle or cost of developing a roll of film. Wifi-enabled phones now make it easy to share our edit. We have become the picture editors of our lives.

I date certain periods in my life as pre-digital and post-digital, because I have virtually no photographs from my schooldays. As a self-conscious teenager, I hated most pictures of me - although, considering they were largely shot on disposable cameras, that's no surprise. If I'd been able to mess around in my bedroom with my iPhone, I might have become a bit less camera-shy, and have the pictures for posterity.

Of course, glamorising our own lives is nothing new. "Glamour entered at the start, with the prosperously pot-bellied Egyptian sculptor Bak standing next to his wife in her clingy see-through dress," writes the art historian James Hall in his new book, The Self-Portrait: A Cultural History. "Much later, and you have Dürer - with permed hair and fine clothes - writing home from Venice, 'I have become a gentleman in Venice. My French mantle, my doublet, and my brown coat send you a hearty greeting.' Go to the National Gallery to look at the sultry-sinister self-portrait of Salvator Rosa - he must surely be an ancestor of Russell Brand." What is new is how others engage with our images. Perhaps the most alarming aspect of photo-sharing is how we're encouraged to "like" pictures, whether they're sunsets or selfies.

And I'm not sure we need this sort of "vain-abling", not when plastic surgeons report a rise in enquiries from the young. A recent study by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery reported a significant increase in procedures on patients under 30, suggesting Generation Y sees cosmetic surgery as "physical Photoshop".

Still, I can't with good conscience join in with the hand-wringing. Instagram is a two-way street. The artist Richard Prince regards picture-sharing sites such as Instagram or Pinterest as mini, mobile museums: "It's like carrying around a gallery in your pocket." And there's something thrilling in being able to control your image, to curate a selfhood, to build a personal brand. Reputations were once built on a CV and references, while a privileged few had publicists and agents. Today the image we present to the world is in our hands.

"Being overly concerned about pictures of yourself doesn't make you a narcissist," says Dr Kelly McGonigal, a psychologist and the author of The Willpower Instinct. "It's entirely normal, and from a survival perspective helpful, to be obsessed with gossip about yourself, pictures of yourself or responses to you online. Such status anxiety is part and parcel of being in a society. [We] are interested in what friends and family are doing, saying, thinking and feeling - particularly if it's a response to us. This is how we establish our place in society, how we form supportive relationships with like-minded people."

As the art critic John Berger wrote in 1972, "Glamour cannot exist without personal social envy being a common and widespread emotion." Envy and status anxiety are the flip-side of ambition, the engine of progress.

Perhaps the real change is that we now have 24-hour access to anxiety. That's why it feels as though our vanity is spiralling out of control. Prof Hanna Krasnova, of the University of Bern, recently coined the phrase "envy spiral", referring to the one-upmanship we see across social media. "If you see beautiful photos of a friend on Instagram, you'll feel envy. One coping strategy is to self-present with even better photos. Then your friend sees your photos and posts even better photos, and so on," she says. "And the world on social media gets further and further from reality." Social-media empires were built on the promise of shared experience, greater connectivity and openness. It's a bitter irony if all we share is lies.

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Generation selfie: Has posing, pouting and posting turned us all into narcissists?

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I know my good angles: I've learnt never to lean into a picture (it makes you look crazy), and I'm on my way to adopting a celebrity "mono-face", like Victoria Beckham's pout or Jennifer Aniston's semi-smile. I've lost any reticence about asking people to take my photograph.

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If your target market segment is 'millennials' or 'baby boomers' or any general demographic, you are doing it wrong.

So I was leaving work one day and walking to the bus stop when I saw a group of teenagers enjoying their after-school high jinx in a nearby Tel Aviv park. The boys had combed-back haircuts and large, metallic sunglasses. The girls were wearing halter tops and mom jeans with large holes.

I felt that I had left the office and entered a Bananarama video from 1986.

My fascination was half appreciation ("The kids are wearing what we wore!") and half amusement ("Ha! Mom jeans were never cool!"). But truth be told, I think my feeling was a reminder of my mortality. One day, I will die - and these weird teenagers will run the show.

And that is what every generation has always felt. The World War II generation rolled its eyes at the long hair and bell-bottoms of the hippies. The hippies grew up and shook their heads at the flannel-wearing slackers of the nineties. And now I get to facepalm at the long-bearded and arm-sleeve-tattooed hipster millennials of today.

People mock younger generations because they fear death and act out of a subconscious defense mechanism as they get closer to shuffling off this mortal coil. People want to imagine that their generation did something good and historic that will always be remembered if the younger people ever mess it all up. People want to know that everything that their generation had built will not disappear soon. And they are jealous of those who have more time.

As with every generation, 'millennial mania' today is in countless news articles, marketing campaigns and other forms of clickbait. And the complaints against any younger generation can always be summarised as: "Kids these days!"

Millennials are supposedly entitled, narcissistic, and lazy people who are 'killing' golf, beer, lunch, marriage, the film industry, wine corks and napkins, holidays and cereal while being the worst at driving and redeeming credit card points as well. Oh, and they are also addicted to pharmaceutical sedatives and traitors who leak government secrets.

In a marketing context, millennials are supposedly 'killing' traditional marketing and television while often using social media in the sales process and following vapid 'influencers' to destinations such as the ill-fated Fyre Festival. Oh, and they also have no attention spans and care about 'FOMO', 'brand purpose', and 'optimizing content for all platforms'. Whatever those three things mean.

(At this point, I stopped researching millennial clickbait because I would soon be throwing salt over my shoulder at the sight of anyone under the age of 30.)

But here is the important point: All of this research into 'millennials' - assuming that it is even accurate - is absolutely useless to marketers. It is a waste of time to read or produce.
Not everyone in a generation is the same
Too many people - especially those who did not live through a given decade - tend to paint those sets of years with very broad brushes.

But for every 'square' in the 1950s, there was also a beatnik. For every hippie in the 1960s, there was also a member of Richard Nixon's alleged 'silent majority'. For everyone who rocked out to Led Zeppelin's Kashmir in the 1970s, there was another person who liked Starland Vocal Band's Afternoon Delight. In the 1980s, there were hardcore punks but also the hedonistic yuppies that were portrayed in Bright Lights, Big City. The 1990s had slackers who slam danced in mosh pits to Nirvana and the Pixies but also neo-hippies who wanted to zone out to Enya and the dream pop of Mazzy Star.
There are always generational outliers
I have never felt completely at home with Generation X or millennials. I was born in 1980, so I am supposedly in the group of people born in the late 1970s and early 1980s that are termed Xennials, the Oregon Trail Generation, or Generation Catalano. (The latter is a reference to My So-Called Life, an underrated one-season American drama in the early 1990s during which teenage viewers fell in love with Claire Danes as Angela Chase and Jared Leto as Jordan Catalano.)

We grew up in an analogue world and started to use digital technology in high school or university. It's one reason that I talk on integrated traditional and digital campaigns as a marketing speaker - I have seen the successes and applications of both. Even today, we cannot be digital-first or digital-only.

But still, all of the articles about xennials - or millennials or any other supposed generation - are broad generalisations that contain few practical insights for marketers.
Demographic segments are not market segments
For all of these reasons and more, marketers need to stop obsessing over generations. A demographic segment is a group of people who share one or more attributes such as age, race, sex, or level of education. A market segment is a group of people who have the same behaviours, needs, attitudes or desires. The two are completely different things. Few marketers, if any, have ever created useful personas of simply millennials or Generation X.

Here is a quick example. In one of my prior positions, the company sold a certain type of B2B software to people who have a certain job. The software aimed to fix certain problems and make that specific job easier.

Now, a given person in that job could have been 20, 30, 50, or 90 years old. The demographics did not matter. The product marketing never changed in light of a person's age because every potential customer had the same problems and needs regardless of the year in which he or she was born. To say that we needed a strategy to target millennials would have been absurd. Articles like ' 10 tips for millennial marketing' that purport to show how 75 million different people can each be sold in the exact same ways are ludicrous.

But tell that to NBC, which is looking to target millennials with a show on Snapchat, and BMW, which has puked all over its historically strong brand with this:

Most importantly, tell it to Air France, whose forthcoming Joon brand will be an airline-for-millennials and a bigger disaster than leisure suits:
The kids are alright
Well, to quote The Who, the kids are alright - despite the pandering attempts of too many brands to market to them. (And they are not even children any more. That would be so-called Generation Z. Many of the negative characteristics that people mistakenly assign to millennials are actually descriptions of teenagers today.)

Millennials are some of the hardest-working people I have ever met because they entered the workforce in a climate of post-2008 economic devastation, high student loan debt and low salaries that do not even keep up with inflation each year.

It's one reason that I wrote in an earlier column for The Drum that marketing agencies routinely take advantage of young people. At another of my prior jobs, I had a colleague who had moved to a new city and lived in a car until the person was settled at a still-underpaid job at the PR agency. Millennials have been simply working hard and trying to build their lives - and no number of selfies should take away from that.
Same as it ever was
Young people are born and eventually scare the preceding generation. Journalists write about it. Marketers try to take advantage of it. Same as it ever was.

As I saw the teenagers in the park next to my office, I remembered that everything comes full circle. The mohawks and ripped jeans of the 1980s, the decade when the men were prettier than the women, have returned. The choker necklaces and flannel shirts of the 1990s, the decade when young people were angry despite an economic boom fed by beanie babies and the Spice Girls, have reappeared.

The only thing that is truly dead, we hope, is disco. Please keep salting the earth on that one.
Postscript: An interview with Bob Hoffman
Bob Hoffman is the retired chief executive and chairman of Hoffman/Lewis Advertising, writer of the popular Ad Contrarian blog, and author of a forthcoming book on the dangers that tracking, ad tech, and 'surveillance marketing' pose to individuals and society.

He is also often critical of the marketing industry's focus on young people, so I interviewed him over email for some final thoughts for this column.

Samuel Scott: One rule in marketing is to 'hook​ them while they're young', so marketers have usually devoted some of their budgets to that. After all, no one would want to purchase luxury cars in middle age unless they had seen ads for those cars their entire lives. How useful has this approach been in general over the decades? Has the usefulness of this practice changed in recent years?

Bob Hoffman: It depends on the category. People buy luxury cars in middle age that didn't even exist when they were young (Tesla). But some products (Coke) are bought not because we saw an ad yesterday, but because of the ads we've seen for 20 (or 30 or 40) years. For the most part, advertising now because you think somebody's going to buy your product in 20 years is stupid. We see that all the time in the car industry.

​Scott: A frequent comment about millennials is that they are still broke at worst or underemployed at best following factors including the 2008 financial crisis. How valuable of a demographic segment are they today? But even if they have less money today, will they not have more money tomorrow? What is the problem with brand advertisers targeting them with long-term goals in mind?

Hoffman: There's nothing wrong with targeting millennials when appropriate. The problem isn't targeting. The problem is obsession.

Scott: ​ Of course, 'millennials' may be a demographic segment but they may not be a useful marketing segment. Why are there so many news articles and marketing essays today that focus on what millennials want as though they have a single identity and set of characteristics?

Hoffman: There is just as much diversity within generations as there is between generations. The idiotic idea that all millennials are this or all baby boomers are that is just the stupid lazy thinking that makes most of marketing a joke. Remember, marketing consultants and researchers have to make a living. So every few years they have to come up with new 'generational' bullshit to sell to jackasses in marketing departments and ad agencies.

Scott: Most news articles out there portray millennials in a negative light. They are supposedly narcissistic, selfie-absorbed snowflakes who are lazy and want trophies for everything. I don't believe that. But why does everyone have those negative perceptions?

Hoffman: You can always find a component of any population that is lazy, self-absorbed and narcissistic. Nothing new here. But because culture and technology change, the manifestations of laziness, self-absorption and narcissism change. Consequently there is always something that seems new to write about. It's horseshit, but it's good copy.

​Scott: ​Many marketers believe in segmentation. But is there not a case for some B2C products and platforms with millions of users such as Snapchat or Coca-Cola targeting a broad demographic group such as millennials?

Hoffman: Sure. At different age stages we use different types of products.

Scott: From what I have read, baby boomers have all the money and are projected to live a very long time. So, why do you think that marketers ignore them?

Hoffman: I could write a text book on this subject. In short, marketers ignore mature people because we hate them. All the 'reasons' for ignoring older people are bullshit. Ignoring mature people and obsessing over millennials is just narcissism disguised as strategy. It is marketing by selfie-stick.

Scott: Can you cite any examples of brands losing sales or market share by focusing on millennials?

Hoffman: Scion targeted millennials, although at the time people over 35 bought 88% of 'youth vehicles'. It succeeded in becoming the car brand with the youngest owner population - and it went out of business.

Scott: What do you recommend brands do in the future in terms of generational targeting?

Hoffman: I recommend they ignore the ignorant, lazy thinking of generational cliches. Stop trying to hold a mirror up to your target and saying "we're just like you". Advertising should be about the desirability of your product, not your superficial assumptions about who I am.

Scott: What do you wish digital-focused millennials would know about traditional marketing and advertising?

Hoffman: I wish they knew how much they don't know.

Scott: Lastly, I myself straddle the border between Generation X and the millennials. Generation X has always gotten lost in the debate. What do you think of us?

Hoffman: I think you're all lazy, self-absorbed and narcissistic.
The Promotion Fix is an exclusive biweekly column for The Drum contributed by Samuel Scott, a global marketing speaker who is a former journalist, newspaper editor, and director of marketing and communications in the high-tech industry. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Scott is based out of Tel Aviv, Israel

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Millennials are not bad - and they're not a marketing segment, either

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If your target market segment is 'millennials' or 'baby boomers' or any general demographic, you are doing it wrong. So I was leaving work one day and walking to the bus stop when I saw a group of teenagers enjoying their after-school high jinx in a nearby Tel Aviv park.

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Young people coming of age over the past decade or so have been referred to as Millennials, or, in a nod to their individualistic nature, Generation Me.

Newly published research suggests they could also be called the generation with unrealistic expectations.

An analysis of the values and ambitions of American 12th graders finds "a growing discrepancy between the desire for material rewards and the willingness to do the work usually required to earn them." Psychologists Jean Twenge of San Diego State University and Tim Kasser of Knox College report that, for high school seniors in 2005, 2006, and 2007, materialism remained at historically high levels, even as commitment to hard work declined.

This suggests that "entitlement-the idea that one deserves things without working for them-may have increased," they write in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Twenty-five percent of Boomers admitted that "not wanting to work hard" might prevent them from getting a desired job. Among the Millennials, that number increased to 39 percent.

Twenge and Kasser analyzed data from the Monitoring the Future survey, which has tracked the views of a representative sample of 17- and 18-year-old Americans since 1976. They compared the answers to key questions given by high school seniors in 2005-2007 to those provided by previous generations.

To measure materialism, the youngsters were asked to rate on a one-to-four ("not important" to "extremely important") scale how vital they felt it was to own certain expensive items: "a new car every two to three years," "a house of my own (instead of an apartment or condominium)," "a vacation house," and "a motor-powered recreational vehicle." They were also asked straightforwardly how important they felt it was to "have a lot of money."

To measure their attitudes toward work, the seniors rated on a one-to-five scale the extent to which they agreed with a series of statements, including "I expect my work to be a very central part of my life," and "I want to do my best in my job, even if this sometimes means working overtime."

The researchers found a couple of disturbing trends.

"Materialism rose substantially from the mid-1970s through the late 1980s, peaking among members of Generation X," they write. "Although materialism then declined slightly, youth in the late 2000s were still significantly more oriented toward materialistic values than were youth in the 1970s (Boomers)."

At the same time, "work centrality declined steadily between the mid-1970s and mid-2000s," they add. Specifically, "the percentage who saw work as 'a central part of life' slide from three of four to less than two of three."

Twenty-five percent of blossoming Boomers admitted that "not wanting to work hard" might prevent them from getting a desired job. Among the Millennials, that number increased to 39 percent. (These trends were consistent regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status.)

What's the matter with kids today? "Youth raised during times of societal instability (e.g., unemployment) and disconnection (e.g., more unmarried parents) were especially likely to endorse materialistic values," the researchers write. "Furthermore, when a larger percentage of the nation's economy was oriented toward advertising messages, youth were also likely to prioritize materialistic aims."

They note that, besides conveying the message that consumption equals happiness, advertising can promote a feeling of entitlement. Ads, they write, "suggest that people should be able to get what they want (the product), but rarely mention that they most likely must work hard and long hours to afford it."

Damn you, Don Draper!

The study ends in 2007, and thus does not reflect the kids who came of age over the past five years. But as far as Twenge and Kasser are concerned, the prognosis is not good.

"Numerous social observers suggested that children (growing up in the current economic downturn) might reject materialistic values and return to frugality and thrift," they note. "The current data argue against such predictions, given that the dislocation and insecurity wrought by high levels of unemployment and other economic woes are associated with higher levels of youth materialism later in life."

So if anything, levels of materialism are heading still higher, even as work becomes harder to come by, and young people feel less inclined to enthusiastically pursue it. Perhaps we should call them the Frustration Generation.

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Millennials: A Generation With Unrealistic Expectations

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Young people coming of age over the past decade or so have been referred to as Millennials, or, in a nod to their individualistic nature, Generation Me. Newly published research suggests they could also be called the generation with unrealistic expectations.

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Narcissism and the Selfie: Investigating Millennial

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Narcissism and the Selfie: Investigating Millennial

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narcissism on instagram report

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How brands influence millennials self absorbed behaviour

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How brands influence millennials self absorbed behaviour

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By Dr. Paul Marsden, Consumer Psychologist and Digital Strategist at SYZYGY
For years, Millennials have been marked by their reputation for being narcissistic. A sense of entitlement (real or perceived) has followed them through their education and, more recently, into their careers. As this generation has aged, some may have guessed that their narcissistic qualities would have trailed off as maturity increased. However, according to a new national study conducted by SYZYGY, adult Millennials are 16% more narcissistic than other generations and remain narcissistic as they age.

Given that Millennials now represent the core mainstream adult consumer, spending around $200 billion each year in the U.S., marketers are searching for a solution to break through and meet Millennial expectations and experiences, which are defined by digital connectivity. In fact, the same study found that the majority (58%) of Millennials would rather give up a give up breakfast for a month that be without their smartphone. Based on Millennial's narcissistic tendencies and affinity for digital engagement, I believe marketers seeking to reach this audience should focus on what we at SYZYGY call "EgoTech." This refers to a marketing strategy that informs the way a brand creates technology/apps that stroke the narcissists' ego. Here are a few best practices and examples:

Utilize Platforms That Play into the "Cult of Self": Narcissists believe they are superior-smarter, more attractive and more important than others. Eﬀective EgoTech can ﬂatter the ego by playing to this sense of superiority. Consider technology that puts the user ﬁrst and before others such as the queue jumping app from Starbucks or Prime priority delivery from Amazon.

Show Them How Your Brand Can Amplify Their Influence: Narcissists believe they are authoritative, natural leaders with a talent for inﬂuencing people. Eﬀective EgoTech will give narcissists a voice and platform to wield their inﬂuence over others. Look no further than , or inviting us to share our wisdom and thought leadership with the world.

Play into Their Vanity: Narcissists are vain. The term "narcissist" comes from the Greek mythological character Narcissus who fell in love with his own image reﬂected in a pool of water. Think of EgoTech as vanity-ware, a digital mirror designed to make you look good. Examples are or ﬁlters that ﬂatter the looks of selﬁe-snappers, or that promises to make your home look as fabulous as you.

Digital technology, services and campaigns that ﬂatter the ego is the key for engaging the Millennials - even as they age. Make it about them, or don't make it at all.

About the Author: Dr. Paul Marsden is a consumer psychologist, writer and researcher specializing in consumer behavior, technology and marketing. He is a digital strategist and brand planner for SYZYGY group, working with brands to deliver digital solutions based on consumer needs, influences and motivations driving behavior.

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3 Ways for Marketers to Play into Millennial Narcissism - CommPRO.biz

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By Dr. Paul Marsden, Consumer Psychologist and Digital Strategist at SYZYGY For years, Millennials have been marked by their reputation for being narcissistic. A sense of entitlement (real or perceived) has followed them through their education and, more recently, into their careers.

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What is a brand? A brand is a promise to its consumers. But in this case, perception is reality. What matters is how your consumer perceives your brand; this then defines what they expect you to deliver in every interaction. Who you are will determine whether your consumer wants to spend their precious time with you. Every brand has an identity that is evaluated and judged before that decision is made.

Consumers are fickle -it's no longer about you. Times have changed, loyalty is no longer what it once was. McKinsey analysed their database and identified only three categories out of 30 as being loyalty-driven! The three where consumers were more likely to repeat purchase than shop around were mobile carriers, auto insurance and investments. In the other 27 categories, consumers chose to shop around before making their final choice.

Shopping around isn't too bad, is it? Well, yes it is, when two thirds of those who shopped around chose to go elsewhere! Further analysis identified that 69% of the brands purchased by consumers who switched brands were part of their initial consideration set when they started shopping. Consideration and growth were shown to be strongly correlated to much higher levels then had previously been understood. Consideration was shown to matter, a lot. According to McKinsey, "earning a spot in consumers' highly valuable initial consideration sets has never been more crucial."

We're no longer loyal, and we're certainly no longer in love with you. The best you can expect is that you're in our gang, one of our mates who we like to spend time with on a regular basis. That is, as long as you remain relevant to the group.

We've all known people either as friends, colleagues, or even in our own families, whose behaviour has eventually led to them being side-lined and their group involvement reduced until they're no longer invited out and are eventually actively avoided. What these people tend to share is the somewhat unsavoury trait of narcissism. If we won't put up with this kind of behaviour from people we care about, what makes a brand think that we will put up with it from them?

Echo and Narcissus (1903), a Pre-Raphaelite interpretation by John William Waterhouse

Narcissism means having an inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love or admiration. The word is derived from Greek Mythology and the story of Narcissus. Narcissus was a hunter from Thespiae who was renowned for his beauty. And boy, did he know it. He was extremely proud and looked down upon anyone who loved him. The Goddess Nemesis, in an act of revenge, attracted Narcissus to a pool where on seeing his own reflection he fell in love with it. Unable to leave his love, he died.

Everyone has some level of narcissism; it's only human nature to be selfish or boastful on occasion, and in certain circumstances it can actually be beneficial. It's particularly prevalent amongst children and teenagers, but is a sign of youth and does not usually lead to adult behaviour! But at its extreme, it's a recognised mental illness called Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

According to the American Psychiatric Association's reference bible DSM IV, someone with NPD displays some or all of the following nine traits:

1. Exaggerated sense of self-importance and sense of entitlement

2. Belief that they are superior, special and unique and should only associate with others of the same sort

3. Live in a fantasy world where they have unlimited success, power and brilliance

4. Need constant admiration and attention

5. Extreme levels of self-absorption and a preoccupation with how well they are doing and how favourably they are regarded by others.

6. Take advantage of others to achieve their own ends

7. Total lack of empathy for others

8. Envious of others or believes everyone envies them

9. Arrogant, contemptuous and treats others like dirt

Sound familiar? It should. Before the rise of social media, arguably a brand needed to be narcissistic. It needed to shout its own trumpet in the traditional broadcast media environment. Brands had to be very focused on a short, to the point single message, in an extremely expensive and brief window of opportunity. But times have changed, the media landscape has changed, and the ability to have two way conversations is upon us. No longer is there a role for the narcissistic brand. Now, it's a turn off.

How do you spot whether your brand is suffering from NPD, or just a bit cocky? What are the seven things that narcissistic brands seem to do?

Put their needs ahead of their consumers and display a total lack of empathy when dealing with customer service issues.

KPMG Nunwood Customer Experience Excellence Centre, after eight years of research and over 1.7 million evaluations, has identified six pillars that define customer experience excellence, and predict commercial success and increased loyalty and advocacy. These are personalisation, integrity, expectations, resolution, time and effort and empathy. All are the antithesis of narcissism!

Ask questions from their perspective and not their consumers.

Research studies routinely ask consumers what they think about brands, rather than asking them what they need or want from a category, and then how a brand delivers against that need. My particular favourite is being asked to rate 'is this brand innovative'. When I'm standing in the aisle looking at what brand to buy, this isn't actually one of my deciding factors. To get insights about me, then you need to ask about me! Questions should be written from my perspective, not yours.

Are guilty of name dropping and associating themselves randomly with the hottest celebrities or latest news stories. Are tone deaf!

Without naming any names, you would need to be narcissistic not to have noticed who these are. But, to compound this issue, recent research from MediaCom in the UK found that 40% of consumers claim to have stopped using or never used a brand because of its values or behaviours.

Are great at getting that elusive first purchase but not so good at repeat.

Narcissists are great at first impressions. They come across as very charismatic and personable, but once you get to know them their charm fades and their self-absorption and selfish tendencies rears their ugly head!

Can turn any conversation into all about them. Do you talk to your customers through social media, or at them? If it's just about you, then quite frankly that gets boring very quickly!

Think their competitors are irrelevant and don't pay them enough attention. If they do monitor them, then they don't actually analyse the impact or learn from it.

Choice of evaluation metrics, if any. Failure to measure your performance with the appropriate metrics should set alarm bells ringing, especially if you only use validation metrics!

Be honest and true. If I can't convince you then you're probably feeling victimised, as narcissists don't tend to take accountability for their actions, always blame others and don't admit faults for their mistakes. Only 1% of the population have been diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder; don't let your brand be one of them!

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What is a brand? A brand is a promise to its consumers. But in this case, perception is reality. What matters is how your consumer perceives your brand; this then defines what they expect you to deliver in every interaction. Who you are will determine whether your consumer wants to spend their precious time with you.

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Meet The Millennials - Environics Research

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There are six key tribes of Canadian Millennials. Explore them all or take our quiz to find out which tribe most closely represents your social values.

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Millennial consumers -seeing the sterotype

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Millennial consumers -seeing the sterotype

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explains 6 different types of millennial consumer