Millennials love brands but not branding, according to research conducted by L2, a marketing agency for prestige brands.
Sixty-five percent of Gen Y women described themselves as brand conscious, as did 61 percent of Gen Y men. Only 1 percent of women and 3 percent of men said they were not brand conscious. In addition to brand consciousness, Millennials have a distinct opinion of what they like and don’t.
They don’t like Donald Trump.
The Trump brand was the most disliked prestige brand in the survey. Forty percent of men and 34 percent of women said they “hate” the brand. In addition, iconic brands with prominent logos on their merchandise are highly recognizable, but not liked.
Louis Vuitton and Burberry were both in the top 20 most recognized prestige brands among Gen Y women, but were also among the most disliked brands.
Researchers conclude Millennials are “wary of flashy self-promotion.” Considering the constant talk of personal branding among them, a caveat needs to be added to that conclusion. Millennials are wary of unapologetic, flashy self-promotion--whether in brands or people. As a general rule they see through and dislike anything resembling a gimmick. Self-promotion without some semblance of tongue-in-cheek attitude is essentially a gimmick in their eyes.
Case in point: heritage and exclusivity, longtime standard messages in luxury marketing campaigns, were not important attributes in a prestige brand for Millennials. Quality, authenticity and image were the most important attributes.
The L2 survey affirmed what most of us already knew. Apple is THE brand for Gen Y. In unprompted questioning, Apple was the number one brand among men and number nine among women. It is the most likely next prestige brand purchase by both Gen Y men and women (can you say iPad?)
Gen Y men and women also love prestige automobile brands, an indicator supporting the notion that typical gender roles and stereotypes are blurring among Gen Y. Auto makers were seven of the top ten highest rated brands among Gen Y men. Gen Y women rated automobiles above Beauty & Skincare, second only to fashion. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi were on the top-10 list of brands for both genders.
Scott Galloway, New York University Stern School of Business Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing and founder of L2, said this research essentially predicts the future of luxury brands.
“Gen Y goodwill is arguably the closest thing to a crystal ball for predicting a brand's long-term prospects,” said Galloway in a press release. “Just as Boomers drove the luxury sector for the last 20 years, brands that resonate with Gen Y, whose purchasing power will surpass that of Boomers by 2017, will be the new icons of prestige.”
If Galloway is right, then luxury watch and jewelry makers have cause to worry. Watches and jewelry were among the lowest rated categories for both men and women. While they knew legendary brands like Cartier, Tiffany and Rolex, there were seven prestige watch and jewelry brands that 50 percent of Millennials did not even recognize. If Franck Muller and Hublot want someone to blame, they might turn to Nokia, Motorola and Apple.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a Millennial man or woman without their cell phone within arm’s reach (83 percent of them sleep with their phones). Few Millennials actually wear watches because they can always look at their phone for the time. That undoubtedly has had an impact on their interest in watch brands.
To reach Gen Y, jewelry and watch brands might want to invest in print advertising. Gen Y women said it was their number one source for information (not surprising considering the bulk of fashion magazines ads are for prestige designers) and print is number two for men. This indicates that while print media, magazines in particular, is faltering, it still has a future by marketing prestige brands to Gen Y.
The top 10 luxury brands for Gen Y women:
- Chanel
- Ritz-Carlton
- Four Seasons
- Marc Jacobs
- Cartier
- BMW
- Mercedes-Benz
- W Hotels
- Prada
- Audi
The top 10 luxury brands among Gen Y men:
- BMW
- Ferrari
- Porsche
- Lamborghini
- Audi
- Aston Martin
- Four Seasons
- Mercedes-Benz
- Ralpph Lauren
- Ritz-Carlton
For more information: The L2 Gen Y Prestige Brand Rankings survey surveyed 450 high-earning and high-achieving Millennials from 45 countries. On average, the same set was projected to earn more than $100,000 in the short-term and double their income within the next five years. The full report can be viewed here: http://l2thinktank.com/Gen_Y_Report.pdf
Comments
hahaha, i love how men care more about cars.
Not all men :)
Great insight Sharalyn. Being a marketing geek, a keeper for my files. Two thoughts: 1.) 64% of Millennials use their smartphones when making shopping decisions, so good brand marketers are going to have a field day moving forward since M-Commerce is going to change the face of consumerism. 2.) Personal branding - something Millennials need to understand the value of in today's tough job markets, plus something they do well inadvertently with all their social media. Great BS detectors, but great BS artists too. Case in point some of your earlier stories in the year.
Personally, I think it's pathetic that anyone feels that associating one's self with certain brands somehow adds value to one's character or worth as a human being. How shallow those 65% of Gen Y women and 61% of Gen Y men are. Who needs them. . . except for other shallow people? As if you can buy class! Your point about Donald Trump validates my case. The best of the best don't really give a sh___.
Jarod I am all about brands dude. It is fun, either get with it or leave it alone.
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