comScore report: Next-Generation Strategies for Advertising to Millennials

The study examined Millennials' responses to different types of advertising, including TV and digital, compared to older generations, and how marketers can most effectively target this large and important segment. The study results will also be presented via a live webinar through the Advertising Research Foundation on 31 January.

"The 79 million Millennials in the US have an estimated purchasing power of US$170bn per year, making them a highly attractive segment for brands to target" said comScore vice president Bert Miklosi. "Their comfort-level with the Internet and technology in general makes the digital medium an ideal platform for reaching these individuals. However, as is typical with younger people when compared their older counterparts, Millennials are generally more difficult to persuade via advertising, amplifying the importance of creative and messaging optimisation in driving worthwhile returns from an investment in advertising to this segment. "

Key findings highlighted in the report include:

• The defining characteristics of Millennials include their comfort-level with new technologies and cultural diversity, as well as being accustomed to on-demand access to entertainment, continual stimulation and extreme multitasking.
  
• Ad breakthrough via television advertising for Millennials was substantially lower than for older generations. However, Millennials demonstrated a higher propensity than other generations to retain a lasting impression of a television advertisement.
  
• Millennials tend to be less interested and more difficult to connect with, capture attention, impress, convince and entertain. Millennials also appear to be more price-sensitive, perhaps due to lower disposable incomes.
  
• Digital advertising performs better in relative terms among Millennials than does television advertising.
  
• Across generations including Millennials, the presence of key creative elements in advertising, coined by comScore as the Validated Drivers, were shown to relate strongly to successful advertising.
  
• Millennials are highly engaged with the content that they choose to view, within both television and digital environments. Engagement has been shown to amplify the effectiveness of advertising, so when targeting Millennials, it is important to use engaging content to help boost returns from investments in advertising.

The complete study findings will be presented via a live ARF webinar on 31 January. To register, visit the following link and use promo code 'comScore' for complimentary access to the webinar: http://thearf.org/calendar.php?month=01&year=2012&day=31.

For questions about registration, please contact Kelly McSorley with the ARF at gro.fraeht@ylleK.

Download a complementary copy of the full report, Next-Generation Strategies for Advertising to Millennials.