An ad network’s reasearch has segmented millennials into twelve different subsegments. Is this oversegmenting? Or is it time that marketers stop overgeneralising large generations? I’m a bit skeptical about this segmenting and it’s connotations. I’m also skeptical about whether these are exclusive to one generation and whether marketers should change their marketing strategy because of it.
Here are the twelve different subsegments with a brief description of each:
“1. Boss Babes
Who they are: Assertive, professionally focused women.
Defining traits: Professional influence, high purchase power, lower interest in dating, “feminist ambitions with feminine purchases, especially bakeware, cookbooks, knives and cutlery—which in practice may see little use.”
2. Brogrammers
Who they are: Fist-bumping, hard-partying male tech pros.
Defining traits: Career-focused, masculine nerdery, love of beer and ESPN, occasional fits of misogyny.
3. The Underemployed
Who they are: Career-stalled, coupon-cutting recent graduates struggling to live in desirable urban areas.
Defining traits: College-educated, independent from parents, stuck in low-paying jobs and cramped apartments with too many roommates.
4. Shut Out
Who they are: Unemployed millennials with impractical degrees or no college education whatsoever.
Defining traits: Often male, from rural or “exurb” areas, few job prospects, diminishing hope for a better future.
5. Nostalgics
Who they are: Hipsters and others who fetishize blue-collar traditions or have returned to their childhood pastimes for comfort.
Defining traits: Fascination with old-school hobbies, brands, games and approaches to personal grooming. A fetishization of traditionally blue-collar activities. Seek comfort in nostalgia, such as buying canned spaghetti after a breakup.
6. Travel Enthusiasts
Who they are: World-traveling (but frugal) wanderers looking to explore the more obscure parts of the globe.
Defining traits: Insatiable wanderlust, not very affluent, guided by smartphone and reviews from fellow travelers, likely to speak multiple languages, interested in global sports and entertainment, and feels like a citizen of a borderless global culture.
7. Culinary Explorers
Who they are: Adventurous foodies whose busy lives leave them more focused on local exploration than traveling abroad.
Defining traits: Drawn to exotic cuisines and experiences (35 percent more interested in Korean cuisine than most millennials, 51 percent less interested in hot dogs), hunger for authenticity, more affluent than travel enthusiasts but with less time to leave town.
8. The Exuberants
Who they are: Constant social media content creators largely defined by the image they project.
Defining traits: Insatiable need to maintain a public image, frequent selfies, socially competitive, driven to try new things by the fear of missing out.
9. The Collectors
Who they are: Digital listeners who browse and absorb social feeds without creating content of their own.
Defining traits: Frequent perusing of social media without posting, discovering experiences through posts by Exuberants, typically introverted, often lack the time or resources to enjoy new experiences in person. Despite the selfie-prone stereotype of millennials, most are actually Collectors.
10. The Quarter-Life Crisis Millennial
Who they are: Emotionally uncertain millennials paralyzed by an abundance of too many possible life choices.
Defining traits: Severe student loan debt (OK, so maybe Cheryl’s not the best example), helicopter-parent upbringing, inability to choose anything from lifestyle purchases to career opportunities, and a tendency to pursue a wide range of religions and spiritual identities.
11. Millennial Marthas
Who they are: Self-curated content creators who make all things crafty and stylish look easy. Think of them as more approachable Martha Stewarts for the millennial era.
Defining traits: Similar to Exuberants but more selective in their output, focused on niche areas of expertise and generally more likable than tastemakers of the past. Thanks to the digital fragmentation of media and audiences, many of these “queen bees” can coexist without conflict.
12. Millennial Moms
Who they are: Healthy, active and socially conscious young moms. Of women born between 1980 and 1995, 46 percent are now moms.
Defining traits: Very active across multiple social networks, high purchase power thanks to frequency of working moms (71 percent), feel socially pressured to “have it all,” very focused on health and prefer fast-casual dining to fast food.
Curated from Adweek.