Survey Shows How Millennials Share Influence With Friends and Brands

During his NMX keynote, Scott Monty mentioned a stat I found intriguing. So I tweeted:

67% of millennials believe it’s their responsibility to provide brand feedback #fordnmx #nmx

After I tweeted the stat and many people retweeted it, I researched where the number came from.

Turns out it, and a whole mix of other meaningful numbers, come from 8095® 2.0, a study about marketing to millennials released by Edelman in October 2012.

If you’re marketing to Millennials, then you’ll want to get to know them better. This study can help you do that.

“8095® 2.0 showed us that it’s time for marketers to rethink their perceptions of Millennials as the generation grows up,” said Alex Abraham, director of the 8095 Insights Group at Edelman. “In 2013, the oldest in this generation will turn 33 – many of them are now parents, have careers and wield an incredible amount of spending power and influence in today’s world.” Source

Millennial Marketing Study Highlights

• 11 countries studied in October 2012
• 4,000 Millennials [ages 18-33]  responded
• Markets included in the study: India; China; Brazil; UAE; Turkey; US; UK; Australia; France; Germany; and Canada
• 67% of American Millennials believe it’s their responsibility to share feedback with companies after a good or bad brand experience
• 90% of Millenials in India and China want to share feedback with brands on their experience
• 75% believe they influence the purchase decisions of peers and those in other generations
• Over 60% typically shop with friends, family, or their significant other
• 40% use product review websites
• 94% of Millennials use at least one outside source to make a brand purchase decision, up from 86% in 2010
• Number of sources used to inform a decision decreased from 4+ sources in 2010 (52%) compared to 1-3  sources in 2012
• Entrepreneurial mindset: 48% of Millennials saying that owning their own business is a top life goal; 76% in Turkey and 65% in Brazil
• Only 3% think all advertising is boring
• 80% want brands to entertain them
• 40% would like the ability to co-create products and services
• By  2025, Millenials will amount to 70 percent of the global workforce
• Conducted by Edelman 8095®
  

The study demonstrates the importance of nurturing the Millennial/brand relationship.

Ideas for Brand Marketers on Improving Your Millennials’ Customer Experience

For more about Scott’s keynote, check out TopRank’s “Scott Monty on How Ford Empowers Customer Storytelling & Lessons Learned”

Over to You

How do you reach Millennials?