Every brand wants to cater to the youth. So the question remains; what medium can be used best to reach the youth? As the millennial generation is a major chunk of the crowd with ability to spend (directly proportional to their growing presence in the workforce), a very important question arises: do millennials consume print?
In this compilation of various studies we will try to get an idea of what millennials’ thought on print are.
Millennials are the generation that has got the best of all technologies yet. They grew up with every sort of media at their disposal, be it print, audio-visual, digital, social, or virtual. Also, with so much knowledge about the available media, they know what to pick and what to ignore. In this era of digital clutter, millennials tactfully ignore digital advertising and choose to go by direct mails and print advertisement rather. Also, this reflects how they have a clear lack of trust on digital. In a study by TRU, millennials in 2011 perceived paper documents as 88% more official and 82% trustworthier.
Personal documents are held valuable only in print and 9 out of 17 people receive them in that form.
Print can be ideally used to trigger emotion. The TRU research previously mentioned also states that ‘if forced to chose, millennials would rather receive a birthday card in the mail than via email (87%).’ So, as a statement it can be said that Print is considered more personal than digital.
Many believe that the era of print has come to an end. Though we do not believe similarly (read our blog on 5 reasons print is here to stay). But contrary to popular belief, millenials do feel a certain attachment to paper. Print offers an escape from the laptop and mobile screens. It relaxes the eyes and helps concentrate. Students especially, according to a study in 2010, 92% of college students in the US preferred paper books over their digital counterpart. Millennials also do not prefer reading on the screen for a longer period. This is also visible in the TRU study where 90% of the youth said though they advance technologically, they would never completely abandon paper.
Though the generation is believed to be of the digital era, print has a strong resonance in their minds, as it must have been the first ever media they ever consumed. To summarize it, millennials take up advertising that is visually attractive, emotionally forward, and ultimately, benefits them. So marketers must keep it clear in their minds that print cannot be a solo channel strategy but must be a part of a multidimensional approach. To conclude we can say that print needs to evolve along with the generation. The point: an intriguing, customized print piece joined with digital will drive the business cycle for advertisers from offline to online – both of which have all the earmarks of being the millennial inclination.