
The likes of Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and the Kardashian family have done little to act as shining beacons of light for today’s millennials.
Of course, they’re celebrities, but looking closer to home you only have to consider the Brits abroad mentality and chav culture to understand why older people are only too happy to generalise. In order to determine the difference between fact and fiction, media analytics firm IRI has detailed the rise of the millennials and outlined just how important they can be for businesses – whether that’s as a worker or customer. While the data has been gathered on millennials in the US, it can certainly be a factor to consider for any British company that fails to recognise how UK counterparts can be nurtured. For example, it’s already been proven that employers across Britain believe money is the only motivational tool for the country’s youth, when what more than half really desire is the chance to work on exciting projects. Elsewhere, others fancy flexible working time to support a better work-life balance and others want a clear career path. Robert Tomei, president, consumer & shopper marketing, IRI, said: “At 79 million strong, the millennial generation has a tremendous amount of spending power that is growing rapidly. This is the largest generation of young people since the baby boomers. “For instance, marketers can leverage a full understanding about millennials’ needs to drive their product innovation strategy, improve the allocation of their media spend and enhance the alignment of their marketing and sales programmes.” In an attempt to break down stereotypes, IRI found the top five myths about the demographic include: 1. They’re self-absorbed Actually, 90 per cent of young people believe success is being a good friend. Say hello to your new team player.Set life @kyliejenner @kourtneykardash pic.twitter.com/R0AhCjfJf1
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 25, 2015
2. They’re untraditional Read more on millennials:
- Young adults could have right to remove embarrassing personal information from web
- Why Britain’s business leaders need the experience of Generation Y
- The young entrepreneur’s guide to leadership
British beauty blogger Zoe Sugg – known to her 3.5m Twitter followers as Zoella – was actually a trigger for one business’ venture. In March, she was the catalyst as mobile services provider Acision embraced her tutorial-style method and launched a new platform to provide internal training between staff at third-party firms. Elsewhere we’ve seen Facebook, Pepsi Max and River Island team to find Britain’s brightest budding retail entrepreneurs. Indeed, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a millennial aged just 31, is an inspiration for many students to start their own enterprises. With all of this in mind, here is what IRI found about the six unique faces of millennials: 1. Free Spirits 13 per cent of millennials are young, single, college-educated trendsetters who are impulsive and social.
Hayley Conick, country manager of online workplace Upwork (formerly Elance-oDesk), said: “Many millennials feel they have been overlooked and their skills undervalued by traditional employers. Far from just accepting this, their response is to strike out on their own, taking advantage of the online world of work where they can offer their skills to multiple organisations around the world.”
By Zen TerrelongeShare this story