Experiences are social currency. How millennials use experiences as social currency to curate and market themselves to others.

Transcription

1 Experiences are social currency How millennials use experiences as social currency to curate and market themselves to others.

2 Experiences are social currency Experiences are social currency We saw in chapter two that millennials have faith in the idea that experiences make them better as individuals. It has been harder to show that off before but that has all changed. I like to write blogs and do YouTube videos about my travels. I like to advise people of where best to go and how to do it. I like to give tips and to share my experience with everyone. I like to think of all different creative ways to do this (Older Millennial). Previous generations might have had the ambition to log their journeys through journals, photos and scrapbooks, but millennials have the capability to do all these things in ways that look captivating and professional and have reach. Matt Boffey, founder of innovation consultancy London Strategy Unit, discusses the significance of this; The growing importance of experiences is true across the board, irrespective of age. But millennials could be said to be the first true digital natives and what technology has allowed them to do is commoditise those experiences. The ability to document, upload and share (aka showing off ) further enhances the value of experiences. 4 Becoming standouts It isn t just about travel, of course. Millennials can log all their experiences and curate material, thoughts and images about all their passions. They can achieve reach, fame and expert status using the creative digital tools and social media platforms freely available. In David Burstein s book, Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation is Shaping Our World 5 he writes; Today there is a new level of ease with which even ordinary young people who are merely smart, passionate and engaged with the world around them, not necessarily prodigies can become standouts in our society doing amazing things. In previous eras, young people haven t had the resources or tools to bring their ideas or visions into the world instantaneously. Millennials are diving in. Ahhhh Instagram it just brings me happiness, because I ve created a little world of perfection (Younger Millennial). It gives them a tangible way to show off their intangible experiences. It is more visual and more subtle than simply talking to people about their experiences and it has a potentially much larger audience. Perhaps it is inevitable that millennials don t just log their big experiences in this way. The authors of Marketing to Millennials 6 write; Millennials believe there is an audience for every minute detail of their action and thought, and they will broadcast these details to their network. As a result, there are tools and social media platforms for different types of activities and curation. They demand simply that a brand serves up good advertising! Whether that be content, inspiration or a new lifestyle. (Younger Millennial) Younger millennials are using a greater proportion of the leisure time they spend on connected devices on social media. 4 Bauer Knowledge, the Millennials Chapter, David Burstein, Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation is Shaping Our World, Fromm, Jeff and Christine Garton. Marketing to Millennials: Reach the Largest and Most Influential Generation of Consumers Ever

3 Using social media for 25% or more of the time spent on connected devices for leisure purposes (Millennial Rules) 62% 69% 58% 45% 57% 48% 89% 84% 8 49% 39% 54% 32% Instagram 5 36% Facebook 86% Social media platforms ever used by age group (Millennial Rules) Twitter 4 74% 27% 12% 19% 16% Pinterest 17% 15% 1

4 Snapchat 5 Yik Yak 57% 48% 49% 4 7% 2% 39% 54% 32% 27% 18% 15% 20% 12% YouTube 17% LinkedIn 4% What sapp 23% 17% 4% Periscope 19% 16% 15% 1 3%

5 What sapp Still Facebook remains the most used of all social media platforms amongst millennials but notably, less than half of all young millennials say it is the social media platform they use most often. Facebook probably remains the most dominant platform for them simply because they have built the habit and the connections. Social media platforms used most often by age group (Millennial Rules) 10% 1 9% Facebook 14% 6% 50% 39% 56% Twitter 56% 57% 8% 10% 7% YouTube 1 9% Other 2 25% 19% 8% 13% 5% 7% 10% 6% 5%

6 Millennials and the youngest of Gen X show a similar degree of keenness to try new social media platforms. Keen to try new social media tools as soon as they launch (Millennial Rules) An apprenticeship is a good alternative to university 33% 33% 34% 3 19% Marketing skills Whilst experiences have been mind-expanding for millennials, digital creative tools and social media have shown them how to market themselves and their experiences. Standards are high, driven by competition between peers and the desire to look good. Many millennials have learnt how to really stand out. By pursuing their own interests and managing their own image, they have unintentionally learnt skills that will benefit them as job seekers and entrepreneurs in the very competitive world they find themselves in. From a marketer s perspective, these skills make millennials ideal co-creators and publicists for brands if only brands can convince them to use their skills in their favour (and not against them). Later we ll address the ways marketers might do that.