When I speak to audiences of marketers and brand managers someone inevitably raises their hand and says to me, “You’re a Millennial… How do I market to your generation?” I think the answer to this question seems very simple: You have to place Millennials within positions of power in your company. Every major company needs to understand the Millennials — the biggest and most dynamic generation in American history — and will need to work hard to gain Millennials’ trust and loyalty. In order to get your consumer base to find your brand appealing, you have to exude the spirit of your consumer. It’s almost impossible to exude that spirit without placing the actual target consumer at the heart of what you do. At General Motors, Millennials account for less than 15 percent of the company’s employees. At Viacom, Millennials make up over half of the company. So it shouldn’t be surprising that very few Millennials are buying cars and lots of Millennials are watching Viacom content. In fact, General Motors hired a unit of Viacom to help them figure out how to attract more Millennial consumers and employees.
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