Marketers must tap into millennials' desire to record lives: Acer CMO

For millennials, 'every moment is an opportunity for self-expression,' says Michael Birkin

Acer CMO Michael Birkin wants marketing to connect with millennials.
Acer CMO Michael Birkin wants marketing to connect with millennials.

Social media has increased the importance of producing marketing that spurs word of mouth, according to Acer CMO Michael Birkin.

However, brands must carefully craft their social messages to reach a very self-aware generation of millennials, Birkin said at the AANA and World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) Global Marketer Conference in Sydney.

By 2018, millennials will have the most spending power of any generation ever, Birkin said. Next year, their spending power globally will be $2.5 trillion. However, connecting with them can be a challenge because it is a diverse group in which it’s hard to find common traits, he said.

Acer has focussed on one major commonality among the millennials, which is that they all began using the Internet before they were 18 years old, the CMO said. Acer has used this trait to relabel millennials as “the connected generation,” he said.

This is a very “self-aware” group that uses social media to carve out their persona, he said. For example, the generation uses selfies and status updates to convey an image of who they are, he said.

"Every moment is an opportunity for self-expression.”

Marketers must "tap into the connected generation's natural inclination to record their lives," he said.

The prominence of social media in their lives has also made millennials more tuned into what their peers are doing. Birkin said that an Acer survey found that 98 per cent said they are more likely to engage with a friend’s recommendation than a sponsored brand post on the Internet.

“The importance of word of mouth is greater than it’s ever been, and word of mouth means something very very different in today’s world,” he said.

In separate remarks, Unilever senior vice-president of marketing, Marc Mathieu, said marketers today must eschew a purely business view of its potential customers if they want to connect.

“We call them target groups … as if we want to shoot them,” he said.

“Stop thinking about consumers. Stop thinking about marketers. Stop thinking about advertisers. Start thinking about human beings."

Earlier, Pernod Ricard CMO Martin Riley noted that digital has provided the opportunity for a brand “to be part of people’s lives ... on a continual basis,” Riley said.

Social media has also turned marketing into a two-way conversation with customers, he said. Now marketers are the “eyes and ears” of the business, he said.

However, Riley warned that the rise of digital has also required brands to take positions on public policy issues and ensure that their messages are unified globally.

Brands used to be able to focus on each market separately but the Internet has given consumers a view into what the brands are dong throughout the world, he said. As a result, “brands are only as strong as their weakest link,” he said.

Adam Bender covers digital marketing and wearable computing for CMO and is the author of a dystopian novel about surveillance. Follow him on Twitter: @WatchAdam

Read more: Brands must look for emotional connection and shareability, says Buzzfeed

Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia

Signup to CMO’s new email newsletter to receive your weekly dose of targeted content for the modern marketing chief.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.
Show Comments

Latest Videos

More Videos

More Brand Posts

What are Chris Riddell's qualifications to talk about technology? What are the awards that Chris Riddell has won? I cannot seem to find ...

Tareq

Digital disruption isn’t disruption anymore: Why it’s time to refocus your business

Read more

Enterprisetalk

Mark

CMO's top 10 martech stories for the week - 9 June

Read more

Great e-commerce article!

Vadim Frost

CMO’s State of CX Leadership 2022 report finds the CX striving to align to business outcomes

Read more

Are you searching something related to Lottery and Lottery App then Agnito Technologies can be a help for you Agnito comes out as a true ...

jackson13

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Thorough testing and quality assurance are required for a bug-free Lottery Platform. I'm looking forward to dependability.

Ella Hall

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Blog Posts

Marketing prowess versus the enigma of the metaverse

Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.

Liz Miller

VP, Constellation Research

Why Excellent Leadership Begins with Vertical Growth

Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?

Michael Bunting

Author, leadership expert

More than money talks in sports sponsorship

As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.

Simone Waugh

Managing Director, Publicis Queensland

Sign in