Entertainment key to successful "millennial" content strategy

A month ago Mediapost.com published this:

'According to Deloitte's State of the Media Democracy survey, three-quarters of Millennials (ages 14 to 25) view the computer as more of an entertainment device than their television. Ed Moran, Deloitte director of product innovation, notes that "This (early-adopter) generation of consumers was the first to be raised on the Internet and is united across borders and cultures by their digital media preferences, so the implications for global marketers are unprecedented." '

For businesses and organisations with web strategies targeting younger web users this is crucial information.

The results continued:

'Across five surveyed countries, Millennials are the most active in gaming, music and Internet use for socializing:

• 80% of Millennials are regularly searching, downloading and listening to music over the Internet
• 73% are also regularly socializing online (via social networking sites, chat rooms or message boards)
• 59% of Millennials use their mobile phone as an entertainment device, versus an average of 33% of all consumers.
• Millennials are spending one-third less time watching their television than are other generations.' 

It's already widely understood that old style "push" marketing, which disseminates messaging in as targeted a way as possible, is being supplanted by "pull" models based on the spontaneous emergence of communities of common interest who pay attention to each other's likes, dislikes and recommendations. Social networking has accelerated this phenomenon, with the natural viral effect of blink-fast and super-easy sharing of content and ideas.

The newest challenge for millennial marketers is how to work entertainment into the brand and its online strategy; how to use pull marketing and entertainment to win more hearts and more eyeballs.