In the interests of tuning into the thinking of those elusive 20- and 30-somethings, a newspaper client [of Newsosaur Alan D. Mutter] recently brought a panel of them to a strategy session. Here is what we learned:
- The Millenials said the only media that matter to them are the social media, where they get current news about their friends, as well as cues to other interesting or relevant content.
- They put a great deal of trust in recommendations from their friends but are not motivated by loyalty to media brands.
- They will click on whatever content interests or amuses them, and they make no distinction among news, entertainment and advertising.
- They prefer graphic content – images, videos, GIFs, infographics, etc. – over text.
- They will buy a book, vinyl record or other physical artifact that they view as a collectible, but see no value in paying for access to ephemeral headlines that are freely available everywhere.
- They are turned off by the dispassionate voice that characterizes conventional media, preferring treatments that evoke an emotional response.
- They are smart, engaged and want juicy articles that take stands on important topics.
- They will exercise the full power of choice made possible by their always-on mobile devices.
- They are decisive. If they don’t like the content they are getting, they will make their own.
Read the full piece at Reflections of a Newsosaur: How newspapers lost the Millennials
What I found most interesting about this article was the discussion that followed as some of its readers earnestly tried, and apparently failed, to grasp the fundamental difference in thinking among Millennial news participants. If you insist on evaluating Millennial media choices using a traditional media framework, you’re on the wrong planet to start with.
It’s also important to understand that Millennial is increasingly an attitude, a lifestyle choice, not just an age group. You find more and more Millennials among people 50 and older. Newspapers might want to test-panel a group of their older long-time readers who have given up on the medium and compare their attitudes with those of the younger demos that that didn’t take up the newspaper habit in the first place.
