The Millennial generation has been nothing short of disruptive to the global market in terms of buying power and brand loyalty over the last few years. Brands that are acknowledging and embracing this consumer generation are definitely reaping the benefits! When it comes to the food and beverage industry specifically, Millennials are spending just shy of $100 billion each year, which is kind of a big deal.
Millennial behavior is extremely unique and is driven by specific personal attributes which correlate to their needs, wants, and ever-evolving taste. These characteristics are the driving force and motivation behind their support for particular brands. Never forget that:
- They’re content creators and early adopters
- They’re self-proclaimed “foodies”
- They’re huge fans of loyalty programs and earning rewards
- They want brands to *entertain* them
- They’re savvy – and most importantly, they do their research
Their influence on the consumer market is growing by the day, and so is their undying love for the latest, greatest trends in technology. Social media marketing has become one of the most savvy ways for competitive brands to promote to this new generation.
- 62% of Gen Y said that if a brand engages with them on social networks, they are more likely to become a loyal consumer, according to Forbes. That’s a majority of the largest consumer generation in existence, people!!
- 34% of millennials also said the word that best describes their participation in a customer reward program is “fun”: aka your loyalty program better be *exciting* or they’ll move on to another brand in no time, based on a Colloquy-sponsored nationwide survey of 1,000 US consumers.
Brands failing to acknowledge these key insights are quickly losing market share, but those like Starbucks and Dos Toros Taqueria have been proactive about figuring out the best ways to use social media to engage and target this game-changing generation.
Snapchat: The Golden Ticket
Snapchat has become arguably one of the most successful social media platforms since its launch in mid 2011. The app sees one of the highest levels of engagement among social platforms, boasting a cool 60 million daily users. What makes the app so different from any other, is how users can be completely interactive and totally immersed in watching friends’ stories, creating their own, adding geotags and filters – all the while turning themselves into dogs, fairies, and fun house-like characters.
Shooting Stars
Starbucks understands how unique and explosively popular these filters are among millennials, and was one of the first brands to create their own for the app. The Starbucks filter was a way to promote their (recently new and improved) loyalty rewards program and mobile app. The sponsored lense appeared on every user’s filter options for the week of the new program’s launch, which displayed an array of floating golden stars that burst out from the users’ eyes on screen! After receiving some initial backlash from customers about the change, Starbucks needed to shift the conversation and focus around their company to something more exciting and experimental, to boost brand awareness and consumer perception. Creating a specialized filter – especially one so engaging and interactive – was a quick way for Starbucks to reinforce a positive disposition about their brand and its new rewards program with millennials, just before its official launch on April 12th.
Snap-enger Hunt
Dos Toros, one of NYC’s most beloved burrito restaurants, opened their 12th location near Bryant Park in Midtown October 5th. In celebration, they were offering $1 Burritos at the new restaurant on opening day! One. Dollar. BURRITOS. Insanity!! Of course, this unbelievable promotion led to lines circling around the block for hours, but this was only a small taste of the madness that became the eastside neighborhood over the short week. On top of the burrito promotion, Dos Toros partnered with Snapchat and utilized geofencing to create a scavenger hunt for users. The “Snap-enger Hunt” was created through a customized filter that popped up in Snapchat if opened within Bryant Park. The filter then displayed a special Dos Toros promotion valid for that day only. Users were able to take a picture of themselves using the filter, post it to their story, and bring it to the restaurant to redeem a free daily food item, up until October 11th. The idea, #BurritoPark, was so innovative in the way that it focused entirely on getting young consumers to physically engage and interact with the brand in a new way. Not to mention, all the foot-traffic it generated into the new store for its opening week!
Case & Point
Starbucks reported that nearly 21% of all transactions were being made through their mobile app for the first half of 2016 and will be up to almost 50% in the next few years. Dos Toros recently posted on their Facebook page that the week-long #BurritoPark Snapchat adventure was one of the most successful weeks in the company’s history. This just goes to show how adding a little flavor and fun to online promotional techniques can bring about huge success to a business… the Millennials don’t mess around, they know exactly what they want.