The impact of the Millennial Generation on working environments and retail experiences

The Millennial Generation (those born post 1980) has come of age and is influencing the way in which retailers sell and market their products and services. Also, the work place has been influenced by working environment designed to facilitate this highly networked generation. A recent article (interview with Nick Shore, MTV Insights) illustrates the inspiration behind MTV Insights, a study exploring how the Millennial Generation will reshape the future of commerce and working environment (The Millennial Mega MashUp, April 2012).

10 years ago the music industry was seeing the Millennial Generation slide through their system, which forced a shift from the big label album-driven model to something nimble and globally accessible with the evolution of the iTunes platform. It is now the working environment (both corporate and academic) that may experience a shift of models, with the Millennial Generation impacting the way in which work is practiced and performed. We have seen the rise in interactive working environments at organisation’s such as Facebook, Google and Pixar, all providing a mix of group gathering areas that facilitate the more social and networked generation of workers. However, even if the Millennial Generation has a wider social web compared to generations prior, the majority of their connections are cultivated online in an environment where people can present themselves in a false persona, e.g. presenting themselves as an extrovert when they are actually more introverted in nature. Therefore, organisations need to provide a healthy balance of interactive, group-think environments as well as quieter zones to ensure that the workforce has been provided with a working environment that best suits the generation’s mode of thinking.

Another example for the Millennial’s impact is based on the retail industry, exploring how the average retailer is going to have to re-think what they do when the majority of their consumers are Millennials. This generation researches products differently (extensive access to online reviews), buys them differently (online purchases), and interacts with their peer group around the buying experience differently (influences from social media posts on networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter). They also appreciate very different purchasing environments when in-store (such as Apple’s interactive environments or Abercrombie & Fitch’s nightclub/beach scene settings). 

The research study has also identified an increased craving for forums where Millennials can get together and be in groups physically, at festivals, ‘happenings’, and co-working spaces. This insight has initially concluded with there being a ‘deep-rooted human desire to connect with the herd around the waterhole.’

To read Nick Shore’s interview in full:

http://megamashup.tumblr.com/post/21713959127/exclusive-interview-generation-innovation-with