How Do You Do?

You know the old saying, “Shoes make the man?” Well, soon you may be hearing that evolve into “Keds make the Millennial” if the brand’s current marketing campaign is successful. Part of a multi-year initiative, Keds is seeking to reposition its brand to better align it with Millennials—a smart move for the almost century old shoe company and a trend that we’ve been watching grow over the last few years. 

The Millennial generation in particular is quickly becoming a favorite target for companies and organizations as we’ve seen with well-publicized campaigns from Keds, Pepsi, Levis and other international brands. Each has approached the generation in a unique and thought provoking way, meriting news coverage, interviews with high level officials and industry accolades simply because of the novel strategies they are using to engage this particular generation.

The recent push by Keds got me thinking about these types of campaigns and Millennials specifically... do they work and what will their lasting impact be?

Here are some campaigns to consider:

• Keds - As noted on the Keds website, the “How Do You Do?” campaign “is a reflection of our brand and spirit. We are traveling across the country to discover how America's next generation of young people are inspired to do what they do.” Kristin Kohler Burrows, president of Keds Group, was quoted by The New York Times stating that this campaign is an effort to “encourage the target audience to create and collaborate, and emphasizes the idea of Keds sneakers being a canvas used to express that creativity. In addition to the college campus tour, Keds has released a print campaign that Ms. Kohler “defined as optimistic, collaborative, open and diverse. The ads featured groups of people doing things like building a sustainable garden on a rooftop. ‘What’s critical to the consumer today is giving back to the community.’”

• Pepsi – Pepsi has long been courting the Millennial generation as we’ve seen with Pepsi’s  Optimism Project or POP campaign; Refresh Challenge; and Bob Dylan/Will.i.Am video. You may also recall Pepsi’s well received decision in 2009 to not purchase ad time during the Superbowl and instead use the money to help fund its Refresh Project. Pepsi’s ad agency was quoted in The New York Times as stating that “the decision… acknowledged the consumer shift toward social media and the need to reach the millennial generation with a project that allowed them to participate in a meaningful way.”

• Wine Industry - Recently the wine industry has gained much attention for turning to Millennials as a way to revitalize sales. Reuters reports that marketing wine specifically to  Millennials is “a hot trend that other entrepreneurs are tuning into: 21 to 34-year-olds are increasingly interested in wine, drawn in part by a wider variety of products, much at lower price points. The group is reshaping the way information about wine is being delivered.”
• Levis - Levis is also leading the charge for winning over Millennial hearts and minds through itsShape What’s to Come initiative, which we covered on Social Citizens. As we reported there, “The online community is designed to empower women—primarily ages 21 to 29—from around the world and from all walks of life. The platform offers like-minded women the opportunity to exchange ideas, find inspiration from others and learn about everything from art and fashion to social entrepreneurship and education.”
• LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton – Luxury is also an area on which businesses are betting Millennials will flock to over time. LVMH launched newness.com last year to find “a way to reach a generation that is eager to be entertained and informed, yet resistant to the familiar, in-your-face 20th-century approach” as noted by The New York Times.

Do They Work?

I can only speculate at each company’s success metrics and sales figures, but many for example have been wondering if Pepsi Refresh has impacted sales of the soda. So far the answer is a definite no – sales have not been significantly impacted since the launch of the campaign (although Pepsi spokespeople have stated that they do not expect an immediate sales push to happen). It’s a leap I know, but could it be that by focusing too heavily on how to woo Millennials—through new and attention grabbing ways such as social media, games, websites and challenges—that the product is then lost? As Kari Dunn Saratovsky argued in an earlier blog post on Social Citizens many of these campaigns “[play] off of the feelings and lifestyle of its consumers, not as much on the product itself.”

What do you think is more important – the product or the message?

Lasting Impact?

Only time will tell, but it has been proven repeatedly that consumers—and in particular Millennials—value brands and products that support a relevant cause. For me, this is a positive trend and one that I hope businesses and consumers can sustain. However, I question whether the relationship as it is now will remain the same as this generation evolves and matures. For now there is a symbiotic balance to this corporate and consumer relationship; might there be a time when economic, cultural or environmental forces shift this?

Will Millennials maintain the same core values five, 10, 15 years from now that make this type of cause marketing possible?