millennial marketing mythsMany companies strive to learn how millennials differ from other age groups in an effort to market more effectively to this important age group. Brands base PR, marketing and advertising strategies on what millennials prefer and how they think millennials will react. When the envision millennials, they mostly see tattoo-covered young people glued to their smartphones and constantly engrossed in social media.

Yet a few PR and marketing experts say that view is largely malarkey. Lumping millennials into a single monolithic audience and designing marketing campaigns that target that general group is a mistake. New research supports their unconventional view.

Research Disputes Common Perceptions of Millennials

Despite being perceived as hooked on their phones, 48 percent of millennials say they can function without their mobile devices, reveals IRI. Consumer behavior within the generation differs substantially due to its large size, states IRI. It groups millennials into six categories such as “free spirits,” “concerned aspirationalsts,” and struggling wanderers.

“The most important note of the research is that millennials cannot all be grouped into one bucket,” Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile, told Mobile Marketer. “Millennials comprise a massive audience and if marketers target them as one bucket they’ll miss out on the nuances that cause individuals to take actions.”

A five-year study by Hay Group, a management consulting firm, finds that generational differences are more likely to due to the age and career stage of employees rather than generational differences. Commonly-held beliefs and perceptions about generational thinking are myths, it concludes.

Millennials don’t look to their leaders to provide meaning and purpose to their work anymore than other generations. They are not less loyal than older workers, and they don’t need to be managed differently, research indicates.

In addition, research by SmarterHQ reveals that 50 percent of millennials surveyed prefer to shop at brick-and-mortar stores. They cite the same reason as other age groups for shopping at physical stores: bargains, specific purchases, research and browsing.

Don’t Stereotype Generations

Harley-Davidson, for one, doesn’t “buy into” the concept of millennials.

“It’s a term that lumps together that entire generation and gives you the impression that they all look, feel and think the same way, and that’s just not the case,” Heather Malenshek, vice president of global marketing at Harley-Davidson, told Digiday. Harley-Davidson markets to “freedom-loving individuals” regardless of their age, she says.

Harley-Davidson riders have been stereotyped as ruffians with leather jackets and long beards, much like millennials are stereotyped as being the same. “We are a multidimensional brand, and I think it’s very easy for people to stereotype generations, stereotype brands, and it’s just not true,” Malenshek says.

Advocates Psychographics

Analyzing market data on different generations may be valuable to some extent, but PR can do better, writes Tom Biro at Rusty George Creative. Generational differences are not clear. “Snapchat might be just as easy to use to reach thirty-something moms as it is to be seen by college students. Teen Vogue found itself, all of a sudden, to be a relevant source for political news in 2016,” Biro states.

Psychographics — classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria – offers a better research strategy, he says. As PR and marketing merge, PR can access data made available through digital means when making recommendations.

“Placements that reach the largest audiences aren’t always the best decision. It’s about reaching the right audiences. In today’s marketplace, those audiences shouldn’t simply be divvied by age, location, or economic status.” Biro asserts.

Bottom Line: Marketing to millennials as a general group fails to separate that large demographic into better defined segments. Consumer behavior varies enormously within the age group. In some cases, people from different generations hold important similarities. Analyzing a range of consumer characteristics will produce better insights and better PR and marketing strategies than simply grouping people only by age.