The Nomadic Millennial

Over the past year I've had the opportunity to spend a lot of time researching North American millennials on a wide range of everyday topics. Through hundreds of in-depth interviews, and thousands of online surveys, the theme of transience has often emerged.

The nomad, defined as "an individual with no fixed location who wanders in search of pasture," can represent a cultural ideal for this generation. In the face of social and financial pressure, many are attempting to remain free from the feeling of restriction.  

Transience of Home

Millennials often describe feeling at home everywhere and nowhere. Where previous generations define home as a place, millennials often see home in more abstract terms.

I travel so much I feel like a nomad..... im a nomad. I learned that in highschool. You have gonads lolz omg,
— Veronica Hernandez (@veerawnica) April 5, 2014

Many of the attributes of home (i.e. safety, attachment, relationships) can exist everywhere in the digital environment. With the ability to carry many of these attributes in your pocket, the idea of home has become more transitory and mobile for millennials.

Transience of Objects

Millennials often describe wanting to live light. Where previous generations placed great importance on objects, millennials are often concerned about becoming trapped by stuff.

I'm just going to live in my car because all I'll need to carry to be happy is my yoga mat, my shoes, and a phone charger.
— Sarah (@Bellum_Pax) March 29, 2014

The objects that are most valued, are the ones that facilitate growth and freedom. Things that provide maximum impact, with minimal inconvenience, are the things that are carried and consumed by these modern gypsies.

So what does this mean for brands?

Paradoxically, despite the desire to remain free, millennials will often feel strongly attached to the things that facilitate detachment. So when a product or brand helps facilitate detachment, it can be highly valued by millennials (think: bikes, smartphones, prepaid visa).

Digital Teens - The Drivers of Digital Behavior

Over the past month, our team have been conducting a study into the online motivations of digital teens. The study involved morphological interviews and online surveys with 1905 digital teens, and provided some interesting insights into the online behavior of teenagers.

"The internet has multiple personalities. You can do multiple things on the internet… For some teens, the internet is their best friend, because they can have fun with it, they can connect with it. They can do whatever they want with it. It allows them to be whoever they want.” - Digital Teen (2012)

Highly Connected

To begin with, our study found that digital teens are highly connected. When exploring the personal ownership of internet enabled devices, we found that 79% of digital teens own a personal computer, 51% have their own smartphone, and 24% own a personal tablet. 

Selectively Engaged

However, despite their level of online connection, digital teens can be surprisingly selective with their friendships and attention. Our study found that the average digital teen had only 4 close friends, and considered 14 people to be in their social network. Furthermore, 97% of digital teens said they were happy with these friendships.

In terms of online attention, our study found four destinations that digital teens tended to visit on a daily basis: 72% of digital teens use search engines daily, 65% use Facebook daily, 57% watch online videos daily, and 30% play online games daily. In contrast, despite the media hype, 85% of digital teens have never used Pinterest, and 63% have never used Twitter.

The Drivers of Digital Behavior

Highly connected but selectively engaged, digital teens can be a challenging audience. So what are the drivers of digital teen behavior, and how can they be harnessed by brands? Find out by viewing the following Slideshare presentation:

Digital Teens: The Drivers of Digital Behavior from Nick Black

Millennial (Un)employment Motivations?

Yesterday on LinkedIn, a contact recommended reading “Dude, where’s my job? What happens when the most entitled generation ever hits a recession?” It was an interesting article and reminded me of some research we conducted in 2007 exploring the employment motivations of Millennials. Based on psychological needs, the research was designed to understand how an employer could appeal to Generation Y.

While I won’t bore you with all the details, three key insights emerged:

1. The need for security and reassurance: Through out childhood and most of their adult lives, Gen Y have been connected to the umbilical cord of their parents. When taking a step into the work world, they’re keen to find an employer who can provide a substitute for this unconditional security.

2. The need for affirmation: This takes many forms. It’s not just about money, it’s about affirming development. For Gen Y, every day should be a celebration of their awesome achievements. This was symbolised by an image of multiple champagne corks popping, which was selected by research participants because it represented the 'constant celebrations' they were expecting in their future workplaces.

3. The need for autonomy and variety: They hated being trapped repeating any particular task, let alone any single desktop application. This was particularly important for recent graduates, for whom the idea of stepping off one conveyor belt (school) and stepping onto the next (career) was very scary.

So how will Millennials react to a recession? Probably in a range of ways.

Some may become professional students, choosing to stay within the secure and reassuring environment of university and education. Expect some serious credentials post recession.

Some may work for love not money, choosing to pursue affirmation through internships, volunteer work or other areas of passion. Expect some fascinating resumes post recession. 

But perhaps most interestingly, many may become entrepreneurs. Having managed their own virtual businesses (Facebook, MySpace) for years, they’re pretty good at building networks, promoting their brand and innovating. If the opportunities don’t exist, you should expect them to make their own.