A select list of literature on Millennial Marketing

On what makes marketing to Gen-Y different:

1. Gen-Y wants to buy with a purpose

Important points: 

• No. 1 attitude unifying the generation was: “I would fight for a cause I believe in.” 
• Simply put, Gen-Yers have an activist bent. But their activism is different from the idealism and rebellion of their Boomer parents in the 1960s and ’70s. For today’s Gen-Yers, activism is not about rebelling against institutions — there’s simply not that much left to rebel against.
  Belief in institutions like government and big business crumbled long ago. Rather, in a world of almost infinite lifestyle choices, Gen-Y activism is about young people knowing their own inner priorities and making a vow to live by them — even in the face of adversity.
  A big part of Gen-Y activism is what I call “self-activism.” They treat themselves and their dreams almost like causes. It’s less based on idealism and more a matter of necessity: If they don’t activate the revolutionary inside, they simply won’t get anywhere in today’s hyper-challenging marketplace.
  According to the Wall Street Journal, half of all new college graduates now believe that self-employment is more secure than a full-time job. According to a Gallup pool, over two-thirds of high school students say they intend to start their own companies. 
   
•  Among GenYers’ most important personal values are authenticity, altruism and community.
  Yet, it is this generation’s consumer activism that makes them a unique challenge for marketers. Gen Y-ers don’t just want to buy brands, they want buy in to what a brand believes in. They flock to brands like Red and Livestrong that spark movements.
•   Obama became the choice of Gen-Y voters because he asked them to join a movement for change, not simply to vote for him.

2. Ten Things You Should Know in Hiring Millennials:

• Nurturing corporate culture
• Job flexibility
• Challenging work
• Professional and personal growth opportunities
• Volunteering options
• Competitive salaries
• Advancement opportunities
• Recognition programs
• Business casual
• Intrapreneurship programs     

3. But The Economist wants you to think it's just a myth
Because Gen-Y still somewhat want a secure career, and Gen X also wanted challenging work. Nothing new they say.

4. Millennials is two-part: Gen Y and Gen Z.
This 13 pages-long report explains how Gen-Z will invite the greatest shift in the workforce in the next 7 years. They are more competitive, highly wired (or wirelessly connected), somewhat delusional in their expectations of work (should be meaningful, challenging, fun, and high paying), and might be less loyal.

"Already the bleeding edge of Generation Z (today’s 16 to 23 year olds) are already more than 11 million strong (nearly 7%) in the North American workforce and their numbers will grow dramatically over the next few years. By 2015, they will be 20 million; 25 million by 2017; 30 million by 2019. This is the new emerging workforce and they will fill up a new “youth bubble” in the workplace in the next seven years, just as roughly 30 million aging Baby Boomers will retire. Generation Z will present profound challenges to leaders, managers, supervisors, hr leaders, and educators in every sector of the workforce"

to be continued...