“Youth culture.”

Even the phrase is a bit intimidating.

But Jeff Fromm has researched the ins and outs of young cohorts as consumers. And not merely at a high level — he gets into the details, breaking it down between millennials, Gen Z, and even exploring nuances within these generational groups such as married, single, with kids, etc.).

In a recent episode of The Innovative Agency, we discussed a few “ahas” that Jeff Fromm discovered from his extensive research on youth groups as consumers.

Jeff is the President of FutureCast, an agency collective and consultancy.

Myths of the Millennials: (No, They Aren’t Lazy, Unemployed, or Living in Their Parents’ Basements)

Some still believe that millennials are huge groups of youngsters living in their parents basements cuddling with participation trophies.

It’s a (somewhat) amusing stereotype, but it’s not accurate (as most agency owners probably already know). Jeff shared some real data: In the top 20 US markets, the fastest growing cohort of those making $100K or more is millennial women over 30.

Jeff’s not simply sharing anecdotes: Back in 2010 and 2011, he was searching online for research for his consultancy on millennials as consumers. He couldn’t find anything substantial. So he did his own extensive research on millennials as consumers (and wrote some of the most in-depth books on the topic).

Here are 3 of the biggest ahas Jeff discovered:

Aha #1: Being Useful Is a Strategy

“Useful is the new cool. Companies can be wildly successful by being wildly useful.” That’s not just Jeff’s opinion — plenty of companies prove that useful is an actual strategy.

Think Uber, Amazon, Pinterest, etc.

Aha #2: ‘Millennials aren’t disloyal. They’re the ultimate day traders.’

Millennials will actually trade up for premium brands: They’re willing to pay a premium for brands they have an emotional connection to.

Conversely, they trade down on weak brands and substitute private label alternatives for brands they have no connection with.

Aha #3: Millennials With Kids Require a Deeper Approach

Marriage amongst millennials doesn’t trigger many differences in the stats. But having kids? That’s a different ball game.

Millennials are very free-spirited and value adventures (such as dining out, travel, etc.). Having a child puts pressure on those experiences, but millennials still value those adventures. Brands have to dig a little deeper to reach them.

Differences Between Millennials & Gen Z:

What about the emerging Gen Z consumers? Are they different from Millennials? If so, how?

• Gen Z has more traditional values on hard work, planning for the future, etc.
• Competition is more valuable to Gen Z, verus the value millennials place on collaboration
• Gen Zers won’t share their data without trust and without demonstrated value
• Millennials care most about the environment, while Gen Zers are all about equality
• Both cultures are highly digital, social, & mobile
• They’re both day traders
• Both generations seek tons of information before making a purchase
• Millennials & Gen Z will likely trust the opinion of their co-worker before they trust a brand

Want More From Jeff?

Yeah. That’s a lot of insight into generational marketing, compressed into one short post.

But if you want dive into more information about youth culture in marketing, check out Jeff’s books, or his website, powered by FutureCast, an independent agency collective and consultancy, where Jeff is President.

To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast.

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