Last updated on June 29th, 2016 at 08:51 am
Watershed Communications has released findings from two national ethnographic studies examining the media habits of millennial food and beverage consumers. The “Media Habits of Millennials” (see infographic below) study investigated whether social media and influencer marketing have eclipsed the impact of traditional editorial coverage. The “What Matters to Millennials” (infographic below) study set out to learn what Millennials believe creates an authentic brand.
The Media Habits study found 84 percent of Millennials feel they can easily describe in one sentence a food or beverage brand or product they just discovered.
“It’s more important than ever to make sure you are strategic in brand communications from the very beginning. While we found that Millennials are still reading print magazines and newspapers, the key takeaway from the study was the speed at which this generation makes up their minds about a brand,” says Lisa Donoughe, Watershed’s principal and founder. “This generation is forming opinions about brands from the minute they read about them.”
In the What Matters study, 100 percent of the Millennials surveyed said they frequently purchase food and beverage brands they list as authentic.
The top five most mentioned authentic food and beverage brands (in order) are: Trader Joe’s, Coca-Cola, Kind Bars, Honest Tea and Starbucks.
“We were surprised by the millennial definition of authenticity,” says Alexia Howard, senior U.S. food analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. “Millennials want simplicity and consistency—not just small, indie brands.”
Based on the research, Watershed found six key pillars for building an authentic brand: Compassion, Community, Customization, Co-creation, Consistency and Conviction.
The Watershed studies were designed to help marketers understand how to build a stronger sense of trust with Millennial consumers.
As America’s top food and beverage companies lose an estimated $4 billion in market share (Fortune), the industry is trying to digest this dramatic power shift from trusting consumers to a new, highly-engaged demographic.
Full details on the research can be viewed online at watershedcom.com/research.
