QuantumDigital

Re-posted from Deliver Magazine, December 2011 Issue

Their purchasing power is enormous. Your future success depends on winning them over. How well do you know them?

You might think of them as the tech generation. They’re the folks who said in a survey they’d give up their sense of smell before saying goodbye to their smartphone. They are “The Millennials,” and, at 100 million strong, they’re the largest generation in U.S. history. They are also among the most coveted. Their purchasing power is estimated at more than $200 billion. According to one study, they influence as much as half of all spending in the economy. They’re the children of the Baby Boomers, an enigmatic young group that has already gone through several collective descriptions, having been dubbed everything from Generation Y to Echo Boomers to the Net Generation. Only recently have demographers seemed to settle on terming them “Millennials.” Experts still differ on time frames that bind the group, though the consensus that’s forming seems to hold that Millennials are those born between 1985 and 2004. In other words, if a consumer is currently between the ages of 7 and 26, he or she is a Millennial. If they’re not your customers now, they will be — if you’re successful. They are nothing less than the key to the long-term survival of your business. Do you really know what makes them tick?