The Redskins have the league’s oldest fan base, the Steelers the youngest.
Super Bowl LIII — featuring as it will a contest between New England’s Patriots and Los Angeles’ Rams — is right around the corner. As we’ve been doing, we are continuing to employ the StatSocial audience analysis tool to learn about many different aspects of all of the NFL team’s fans.
These mini-studies (viewable in full at our StatSocial blog here) each give a mere hint as to the diverse and essential insights this powerful analytics engine will generate regarding any audience about which you need to learn.
That Most Coveted of Audience Segments
The now fully grown generation — the fabled Millennials — those hovering around their early-20s to the their late-30s, whose cultural influence is no doubt profound, are our focus here. Simply, StatSocial has looked at hundreds of thousands of the fans of each NFL team, determining the varying percentages of every audience whose birth dates fall within the 1981 to 1996 date range; the years defined by The Pew Research Center as those during which Millennials emerged in their nascent forms.
The City of Bridges is the City of the Future
A proportion of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ fans comfortably shy of half, but not all that shy, suggests that they are one squad with staying power. As the season ticket holders grow too long in the tooth to endure three hours sitting in the Pittsburgh, December cold, their kids — equally dedicated to the team as they are — will be eagerly waiting in line to attend the games in their stead.
The New York Giants have one of the youngest fan bases. The Jets have one of the oldest.
Jets great Broadway Joe Namath and Giants great Phil Simms
The Jets have been mired in mediocrity for so long, whereas the Giants have mostly been a very good to above-average team (until very recently) for the entire millennial lifespan. It’s not a surprise that fans growing up in the New York metro region would gravitate to the more successful franchise. Our data definitely reflects that. Do Millennials even know who Broadway Joe Namath is?
Why are Redskin fans the oldest in the league?
Our nation’s capital’s home team, the Washington Redskins, finds the smallest proportion of Millennials chilling among their fans. Our guess is that because D.C. is a transplant city with people coming from all around the country to live and work, the native D.C. population is generally older than much of the rest of the nation. Many of those who adopt the D.C. metro area as their homes retain home team affinities. Given the lack of success the Skins have had since the 1980s, you’re less likely to attract a bandwagon fan base from all those younger D.C. strivers.
An idea for Tampa Bay to attract a younger crowd
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also find themselves with a roughly equivalently small percentage of Millennials among their fans. We generally don’t editorialize, as we deal strictly with statistics and we do so impartially, but if the Buccaneers were to bring back their flashy and fabulous ’70s helmets, they might (and we stress might) see a shift in these number before too long.
You’ve got to admit, that is a pretty terrific helmet.
Bookmark This Page,
We’ll be visiting numerous subjects of this general nature — all highlighting the rich and varied affinities of each NFL team’s fans — in the days running up to Super Bowl LIII.
And check out the written matter in the footer, and reach out to us if you have any questions or would like to see much, much more.
Television’s “first Golden Age” was born of a desire to make the most of this technological miracle, and not squander it.
We’ll avoid further comment on that, except to say that phrases such as “vast wasteland” have in the intervening decades been used to characterize the medium. In the opinion of some, its potential was not in the long run quite realized.
In its early days, however, its goals were lofty. The instantaneous and impartial reporting of events as they unfolded. Or how about the arts? Well, no longer need an American in Kansas come to New York to enjoy the newest works by the country’s most exciting young playwrights. Such works would now be brought right into America’s living rooms. Original plays written for TV included Rod Serling’s ‘Requiem for a Heavyweight,’ Reginald Rose’s ‘Twelve Angry Men,’ and Paddy Chayefsky’s ‘Marty.’ All eventually remade as Hollywood features, the last, in its film version, actually winning the Oscar for Best Picture.
Also, comedians who had been superstars on radio seamlessly made the transition to the visual medium, such as Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, and Lucille Ball.
While the pickins were slim, in terms of channels broadcasting anything. And they only did so for a few scant hours a day. Any period that produced ‘The Twilight Zone,’ ‘Honeymooners,’ ‘The Phil Silvers Show’ (aka, ‘Sgt. Bilko’), ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents,’ ‘Your Show of Shows,’ ‘You Bet Your Life,’ and so forth, does sure seem legitimately like a Golden Age.
Now we have, seemingly infinite outlets for original broadcasting, catering to all generations and types. However depending upon the perch from which you’re viewing it, you could regard it as a Second Golden Age, or of being emblematic of the culture’s collapse. For every ‘Breaking Bad’ there is a ‘Honey Boo Boo’ (and we suspect we’re being extremely generous in our proclaiming a one-to-one ratio).
More so than other categories — this reveals, when dividing Millennials according to these age brackets — you are bluntly dealing with young people with a foot strongly still planted in childhood, and slightly less young people with an ever-increasingly arthritic foot crossing over into middle-age.
Per usual, let’s start with what StatSocial tells us of the programming tastes of the younger set.
TOP 10 TV SHOWS WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 18 to 24
Entries 1 and 3 are, straight-up, youth oriented. The program at the top may nominally owe a debt to the very silly 1980s Michael J. Fox film, but in all other regards owes its tone and popularity to the worlds of the mopey, hunky teenaged monsters populating the worlds of YA (i.e., “young adult”) book series, and the popular films based on them. ‘Twilight,’ which had its own muscly, mopey teenaged werewolf character, of course being the best known.
Ariana’s inter-generational TV party isn’t going well. If Ariana had StatSocial, she might have an easier time finding some common-ground among her disparate group of friends, and picking a program upon which they all can agree. One thing, however, they DO all agree on is that Ariana’s nachos are awesome.
Freeform’s ‘Pretty Little Liars’ goes one better than owing a debt to those films inspired by popular big screen YA book adaptations, itself being an adaptation of a popular series of YA mystery books. PLL, though, to the best of my knowledge, is monster-free.
Things start to feel more college aged as you descend the list. While Family Guy premiered 18 years ago (although it was off the air for a couple of years before an unexpected revival in the early-naughts), and is well past its sell-by date, South Park has remained the most biting and take-no-prisoners satire on American television for 20 years now; its last season being one of its finest ever. Still, opinions aside, as they both proudly traffic in the rude and irreverent, it is not surprising to see each successive generation of young adults take to either of these shows.
It would be easy to look at this list as being a relatively even-handed mix of those programs which appeal to men and women. But that is precisely the sort of thinking which we’re trying to dispel. Digging into the stats, though, ‘Orange is the New Black’ does have an 80% female audience. SportsNation’s audience is comfortably mostly male.
But as we’ve illustrated elsewhere, making those assumptions is not by any means best practice.
Veering from the list, but to illustrate our point with a popular show. Netflix’s flagship entry in their fruitful partnership with Marvel/Disney, the critically acclaimed adaptation of the comic book Daredevil, does have a majority male audience, as you’d prejudge. But not spectacularly so. Surely not to a degree matching the disparity found in ‘Orange is the New Black’’s demographics. To certain marketers here is a sizable female audience very likely receptive to a message or product, that other female audiences might not be. If you were to brush it off based on a surface judgment or assumption, an opportunity would be missed.
And that’s what we do here at StatSocial, lead people to marketing opportunities. We’re using Daredevil’s appeal with women to illustrate our point. As the shows on the above list — like take for example, ‘Pretty Little Liars’’ 88% female fanbase — conform to expectation. But, truthfully, so do a lot of things in life. But not everything, and elaborate or even simple marketing plans should involve as little guesswork as possible, particularly when cold hard facts are readily available via StatSocial.
TOP 10 TV SHOWS WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 25 to 34
Well, during this second Golden Age of Television we see that the theoretical grown-ups in this group are not more likely to watch youth oriented broadcasting than their younger peers. They aren’t, however, more likely to watch classier programming either
I mean, there is nothing wrong with Anthony Bourdain whatsoever. He’s an amusing, intelligent TV personality. The Daily Show, under its new leadership, is 50% more likely to be viewed by this lot than the Millennials born closer to the actual turn of the Millennium. Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper suggest a leftward slant, but Hannity’’s respectable placement on the list provides us with an opportunity to state that even when taken in bite-size chunks, marketing on the basis of birth year is just not a wise dedication of resources. Assume nothing, run a StatSocial report, and learn the truth.
We finish things off with the jewels in the Second Golden Age’s crown, ‘Dr. Drew’ and ‘Shark Tank.’ But we jest, of course, at least regarding the last entry. We find ‘Shark Tank’ both entertaining and a show that ultimately promotes excellent values. A show that celebrates the entrepreneur, and with core messages regarding the importance of invention, tenacity, persistence, and plain old hard work is a rare and beautiful thing on American TV. So, we tease, but we find its popularity heartening.
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For more information, visit StatSocial and scroll down. There you will find links to sample reports, and much more.
Many have said we’re living through television’s “second Golden Age.” A time when quality dramatic programming is at an all-time high. The “first Golden Age” is generally considered the late-40s to the early-60s. The era when receivers of television broadcasts — the medium itself first successfully executed in the late-20s — started to become within the realm of affordable, and broadcast networks started to bring original programming to the airwaves a number of hours each week.
Humanity was connected as never before, and some of the medium’s earliest purveyors hoped to bring art, education, and journalism of the highest order into people’s homes with the immediacy radio had long provided, but with the now nearly miraculous element of visuals added. While Hollywood was threatened, believing the medium could topple motion pictures. Talent of a high caliber was initially attracted to the nascent medium of enormous untapped potential.
But would Millennials, particularly those of the 18 to 24 set, even know who Rod Serling, Edward R. Murrow, or even Lucille Ball were?
As for the “Second Golden Age”…
There is no question that some extraordinarily sophisticated, well-written, beautifully acted and executed TV has been made since the start of the millennium. It’s not just been on cable, either. These days, it originates from all sources.
And it certainly has not been exclusively via streaming, although the medium has had its home runs (‘House of Cards,’ ‘TransParent,’ ‘The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’). Services like Roku and Apple TV have altered the way ratings are gauged and have made the long existent and available On Demand and DVR technologies more integral than ever before if pay TV (be they cable, DSL, or satellite) providers want to stay in the game.
Some shows can still achieve “must see” status. ‘Game of Thrones’ for example, seems to inspire such devotion. And in keeping with our core theme here, that devotion spans generational divides, class divides, heck even nerds and non-nerds. How many shows that take place in a universe with dragons can say that?
Breakdown, by sex, for Game of Thrones’ fanbase.
But the broadcast networks — clearly having their hand forced, with the ante upped — have contributed to this climate of “no seriously, TV is good now” in the past few years. Such beloved series as ‘Lost,’ ‘Community,’ ’30 Rock,’ ‘Hannibal,’ ‘Friday Night Lights,” and guilty pleasures such as ‘24,’ and all the CW’s superhero shows, all came from good old fashioned free, broadcast television.
And of course cable has its megahits, by whatever metric they measure such things. The above mentioned ‘Thrones,’ the below goofed on ‘Homeland.’ That show with the zombies, which should be awesome but maybe isn’t, but is really popular. All of we here at StatSocial — well, many of us, at least — are sworn fans of ‘Silicon Valley.’ And I know our CEO — a later Millennial, I believe — was very into Westworld.
Showtime’s ‘Homeland’ is a show the nice people out in TV land seem to enjoy. I think it’s nice that the infuriating Jared Leto isn’t the only former ‘My So-Called Life; cast member to make good. Having not seen the show, it seems that Claire Danes’ character might be happier living in a different homeland. But what do I know?
Televisual entertainment is not in short supply these days, especially if you toss in the numerous YouTube stars, and then the additional plethora of more anonymous self-produced content to be found on YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, and anywhere that hosts video.
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NETWORKS
My family got cable television when I was 5. It came to my North Jersey town in 1976. At that age, getting to watch Philadelphia channels was inconceivably exotic. It was almost like actually being in Philadelphia and watching TV.
In the 70s — when this photo was snapped, in a typical rec room of the era — all it took was some feathered hair and a sweet Sunkist t-shirt to get FIVE girls to come back to your house and watch ‘The Gong Show’ on your Zenith. Given your limited viewing choices — with only three networks, three local channels, and a PBS channel, unless you want to go to UHF, where reception is iffy — this was a very lucky find.
Anyway, my memory of TV where it was just three networks, three local channels, and PBS is faint, but it does exist. I also have vivid memories of exploring UHF at a very early age. It felt like receiving transmissions from outer space, or like I had ventured into a territory where I wasn’t quite allowed.
I had a vivid imagination as a tyke.
Speaking of tykes. One things the grouchier types say about not just Millennials, as I do more than hint at above, but our entire society (but especially Millennials), is that we/they are infantilized. Arrested in our childhood. Superhero movies dominate the cineplexes, it’s perfectly normal for grown adults, with good jobs to play video games, etc.
As one who has been a ‘Doctor Who’ fan since the age of 10, and has sat through the very worst episodes — and for a period in the mid-late-80s it was inconceivably abysmal — more than once, but I also adore the revived series. It’s like rooting for a sports team, you stand by them when they’re losing, and then you get to rejoice in their victories. I mean, it’s now a critically acclaimed, multiple BAFTA winning series. But it still provides me with palpable warmth and comfort.
My point here is that while I don’t read superhero comics, nor do I care about superhero movies. I’m also not an especially avid fan of video games (although as a kid my Atari and I were very well acquainted, and maybe in my late-teens/early-20s my Nintendos — original and eventually super NES — were not strangers either), but I’m not innocent. Heck, I thought that last ‘Mad Max’ film was genuinely beautiful.
THE TOP TV NETWORKS WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 18 TO 24
A quick glance down the list of top networks with the younger Millennials — who we remind you for this study start at age 18 — doesn’t start to definitively cease in raising a red flag until number 3, But granted, when I first got Nickelodeon in 1979, one of their most frequently aired programs was, well, this…
Looking at today’s Nickelodeon schedule I see that between 9:30 AM and 8:00 PM there are five episodes of PAW Patrol, which I know nothing about but seems like the sort of show a 21-year old should be watching, four episodes of Spongebob, three episodes of ‘The Loud House,’ two episodes of ‘The Thundermans,’ two episodes of ‘Blaze and the Monster Machines,’ and so on.
I’m assuming ‘The Loud House’ has little to do with PBS’ groundbreaking, 1974 vérité documentary series, ‘An American Family.’ Which in its day made household names of a Santa Barbara based family called the Louds, as it filmed their day-to-day lives, and wound up capturing the central couple’s separation, and one of the sons — Lance Loud, lead singer of a genuinely decent New York band called The Mumps — coming out to his parents as gay.
The series was a direct inspiration for MTV’s ‘The Real World,’ according to that show’s producers, and the meteoric popularity of that now 20-plus year old property triggered the whole darned reality TV boom. This is one 70s pop culture reference that is not entirely irrelevant. As our so-called Second Golden Age is rife with so-called reality programming.
But back to Nick and college kids, I watched ‘Ren & Stimpy’ quite regularly when in my late-teens and early-twenties. But that show was frankly wholly inappropriate for children (although I’d have been obsessed with it when I was a kid). None of these shows look like that actually quite spectacularly hilarious and bizarre creation, although it’s my understanding that Spongebob at least was a quality piece of work.
Freeform, the former ABC Family, is slightly less surprising given how popular the network’s live action adaptation of the popular YA mystery series, ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ is. PLL will dominate Twitter trends every time a season begins or ends, or any time there’s a major plot development, or even if a marathon is being aired.
Since rebranding as Freeform, the network’s focus has decidedly skewed more teenaged. But not so much college aged. But this bunch is 72% more likely to watch it than their older peers. And I guess that sort of makes sense. Still, as the next list indicates, the interests of their apparent fellows could not be more different once they cross the graduation threshold.
THE TOP TV NETWORKS WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 25 TO 34
Okay, Bravo started as a classy network, just like A&E once did, but we all know that changed a long time ago. Home shopping, lots of 24 hour news of different stripes, and an English language channel targeted at Latinos, specifically Latino Millennials. Well, while they’re not killing it, it does seem they’re reaching their target. 29% more so than they’re reaching the younger Millennials.
Then we’ve got TBS’ endless ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Family Guy,’ and ‘Big Bang Theory’ reruns. And this group tunes in not to ESPN, at least not to a degree significantly in excess of their younger peers, but instead to the CBS Sports Network, of which they’re 88% more likely to be fans than the younger, prettier portion of the Millennial class.
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GENRES
We’re going to resist commenting directly on the younger list, and instead comment by comparing and contrasting the two right off the bat.
THE TOP TV GENRES WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 18 TO 24
What is wrong with the older Millennials, is the quarter-life crisis and its fallout so bad that they’ve forgotten how to laugh? You see here a marketer is posed with a challenge. Can you restore joy and laughter to those StatSocial recognizes as having little interest in such things?
Regardless, in the here and now, on American TV, we have ‘Broad City,’ ‘Silicon Valley,’ ‘Inside Amy Schumer,’ ‘Drunk History’… And as always, ‘South Park.’
Let’s see what these poor folks are viewing in their joyless lives.
THE TOP TV GENRES WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 25 TO 34
Of course, documentaries. Probably about the trouble and strife in the world, and that’s great. It’s good to stay informed. But have these folks seen ‘American Movie’? Both inspiring and hilarious? Or how about ‘Crumb,’ or ‘Grey Gardens’? All strangely upsetting, inspiring, and amusing.
I’m with them on the music thing, and would contend this is a source of shame for the youngster Millennials tantamount to what the paucity of comedy says of the oldsters. However, this is specifically relating to TV. Is there even music on TV any longer? I may need to reconsider that judgment.
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For more information, visit StatSocial and scroll down. There you will find links to sample reports, and much more.
Once upon a time music, and we’re not even speaking of Mozart or Beethoven, or even Miles Davis or John Coltrane, but popular music — meaning, populist, youth oriented, latter-20th century western music (music of what Casey Kasem would routinely describe as “The Rock Era”) — was a galvanizing and generation defining force.
In 20th century American history, there were — and this is just a small sampling — two World Wars, the assassinations of two U.S. Presidents, and the resignation in disgrace of another, a Great Depression, the emergence of the automobile, television, the internet, and multiple men successfully traveling to the moon and back. And yet, one would not bat an eye if on a list of America’s biggest moments during the 20th century the release of “Heartbreak Hotel,” or The Beatles arriving on America’s shores for the first time were included. 1969’s The Woodstock Music & Art Fair would also not be too controversial an entry on such a list.
But we live in a time in mankind’s history where stimuli is coming at the privileged world, from all directions, and at an unprecedented pace. The younger people have known it any other way. People still love music, perhaps on some level more than ever, but it seems unlikely with the number of people making music in the first place having grown exponentially over the decades, and the recording and distribution of music involving the least overhead ever — since the advent of recorded sound — that any single artist could ever be considered a “spokesperson for his or her generation.”
There are reasons to suspect this is a good thing. Still, if you look at the trends on social media especially, pop music and musicians still dominate. Again, these Millennials in this younger grouping are 18 to 24, not 14 to 24. The top three placements are a little alarming, but we resist judgment.
Zayn, a once controversial defector from the One Direction camp managed to retain 1D’s fan base’s loyalty, while perhaps gaining a new audience in the process. 5 Seconds of Summer are, as of a few years ago now, a legitimate YouTube success story, as is Austin Mahone. Turning beloved YouTube channels into lucrative record deals, and massive pop careers (a certain Mr. Bieber being the one who most brazenly blazed that trail). Then we’ve got a bit of hip hop, and the one Jonas Brother to remain most relevant, or at least maintain the most relevant abs.
TOP 10 MUSICAL ACTS WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 18 to 24 RELATIVE TO 35–34 YEAR OLDS
Example insight — people aged 18–24 are nearly 86% more likely to care about Zayn Malik than those aged 25–34.We had a StatSocial party with some of the younger Millennials’ top musical acts, like the guy with no shirt, the guy with frosted tips, and the guy who has apparently won some kind of large medal. or perhaps had bestowed upon him some manner of amulet. Whatever the case, kids of college age should really know better.
The fact remains, this isn’t a list of exciting college radio rock. It’s music that was largely intended for adolescents. But for some reason has endured into these Millennials reaching college age.
But again, when we dive into the list of older Millennials, the contrast is stark. We show that not only should you not market to a generation, but that even your preconceived notions about the age groups within a generation may not be 100% accurate.
TOP 10 MUSICAL ACTS WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 25 to 34
Example insight — Millennials aged 25–34 are 110% more likely to care about Justin Timberlake than those aged 18–24.This photo was taken during the 1994 Lollapalooza tour; featuring Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, Breeders, and A Tribe Called Quest. With a few subtle alterations the passing observer may not notice that — barring the possibility of there being a woman carrying a child somewhere in the crowd — this photo features NO Millennials.
Very Gen X, don’cha think. Soundgarden? Red Hot Chilli Peppers? Nine Inch Nails? But that’s classic rock to these kids. Of course actual classic rock pokes its head in, as it must, with Canada’s proudest sons (it says something when you come from a country that has produced Celine, Alanis, Bryan Adams, Avril, and Shania, that you are still the first musical act people associate with your country); the almighty Rush. Each new generation will have those kids. The kids drummer and lyricist Neil Peart wrote about in “Subdivisions.”
The ones for whom these lines are the deepest ever written.
Any escape might help to smooth
The unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe
The restless dreams of youth
Nice to see Run DMC make the list, though.
DJ Run, now Rev Run, who had abandoned his turntables for a microphone while temporarily keeping the DJ moniker, spoke autobiographically and perhaps more abstractly. But it’s nice to see a new generation is connecting with his — and his partner DMC’s (or Daryl McDaniels) — rhymes as well. Such as…
Took a test to become an MC
And Orange Krush became amazed at me
So Larry put me inside his Cadillac
The chauffeur drove off and we never came back
Dave cut the record down to the bone
And now they got me rockin’ on the microphone
And then we talkin’ autograph, and here’s the laugh
Champagne, caviar, and bubble bath
But see, that’s the life that I lead
And you sucker MC’s is who I please
So take that and move back, catch a heart attack
Because there’s nothin’ in the world, that Run’ll ever lack
I cold chill at a party in a B-boy stance
And rock on the mic and make the girls want to dance
Fly like a Dove, that come from up above
I’m rockin on the mic and you can call me Run-Love
The Rush lyric has more to do with my upbringing, but then as now I vastly prefer the youthful work of the man who now goes by Rev Run. With all due respect to Rush who seem like lovely guys, and have had a 40-plus year career, quietly enormously successful, and seemingly one that entailed virtually no compromise.
The proudest songs of Hollis, Queens. The late, great Jason Mizell, Darryl McDaniels, and Joseph Simmons. AKA, Run DMC and Jam Master Jay!
Joseph Simmons, aka DJ Run/MC Run/Rev Run, is the brother of hip hop impresario Russell Simmons. Russell’s management company back in the day was called Rush Management. So this could get real confusing, real fast, if I don’t move on.
Justin Timberlake does sell records when he bothers to make them, but has become a pop culture figure beyond music. Older Millennial women, especially, seem to enjoy it when he and Jimmy Fallon clown around. Handsome, well-dressed, 30-something men, usually doing a rap medley, at least for a time, was viral video gold. Perhaps that’s no longer a thing, but I doubt we could be quite so lucky.
Still, NSYNC would have been the boyband — the One Direction, if you will, only with much more talent (have you ever watched a video of the choreography those kids used to do, while singing live?) — for this generation (the older Millennials). So, his inclusion makes maybe the most sense, in a way, of anyone on this list. But that’s if you’re operating under prejudices and preconceived notions, and our whole point here is that you can’t and should not — as a marketer — do that. StatSocial makes your best educated guess irrelevant, as it provides you with cold, hard facts.
In the 90s, in a bid for relevance frankly beneath him, the still and eternally sadly late, great David Bowie did a co-headlining tour of arenas with Nine Inch Nails. This would be when NiN were at the peak of their powers, and Bowie — coming off the multi-year Tin Machine debacle — was likely at his career nadir (although he was promoting the decidedly not terrible ‘Outside’ album). Routinely, arenas would empty out after NiN played their set. Bowie played to many a half-filled arena. Gratefully, before his passing, Mr. Bowie had fully restored his rightful place as a cultural Godhead.
These lists speak for themselves, really, and make our point with sufficient clarity. If you were to market to these two groups as a single entity, you may as well be screening F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu to a group of elementary school students on a rainy day. *
*This is not a bizarre non-sequitur, but indeed a childhood trauma endured by two of the author’s friends. Whomever rented films to be screened during lunchtimes on rainy days at their elementary school evidently was under the impression that all silent films were, more or less, like Buster Keaton or Laurel & Hardy. Many, many, many angry phone calls from distraught parents attempting to calm their hysterical children later (I guess some teacher just put on the film, and left), an unexpected — and frankly unwelcome — lesson was learned by all about German expressionism.
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For more information, visit StatSocial and scroll down. There you will find links to sample reports, and much more.
The evolving concerns of Millennials — as they grow from 18 to 24 into 25 to 34 — in capsule.
In our first entry we introduced a basic premise. Millennials — or really any demographic as broadly and vaguely defined as an entire generation — are not a monolith. Marketers are not astrologers.
Even if Millennials in this broadest of definitions might share some cultural touchstones — ignoring that they are individuals, from all walks of life, and inevitably experiencing radically varying milestones on radically varying schedules — this should have very little relevance to savvy marketers.
StatSocial’s goal is to build structure and meaningful insight out of billions of unstructured web activities, so marketers, agencies, and publishers can know more specifically than ever before who their target audience is, and where to find them (and we even help you figure out what to say to them when you do).
If your plan is to “throw everything we have at the side of the barn and hope something hits it,” and there’s no talking you out of it, we wish you the best. But, before burning through cold, hard cash, and precious time on a “let’s all cross our fingers and hope for the best” marketing strategy, hear us out.
StatSocial will show you right now how easy it is to break Millennials down to two smaller groups, and in doing so you immediately see that these groups have very little to do with one another, from a marketing perspective.
Pictured are an assortment of Millennials, and stealthily slipped into the image at the far left — ah, you see it now — is “Wojack” or the “Feels Guy,” a meme with origins traceable, like so many memes, to the message board 4Chan, and then further disseminated throughout cyberspace via Reddit, Tumblr, and other such channels. Once a meme often seen accompanied by the now co-opted and corrupted “Pepe the Frog,” The Feels Guy seems to have retained his place as a harmless and silly meme, but one instantly recognizable to those under the age of 25, and almost certainly increasingly less and less so as folks approach 30 and beyond.
There are those Millennials who still, in our current society, frankly have one foot in adolescence, and there are those who are also Millennials, apparently, who are integrating, or have already fully navigated their way into the “grown-up” world.
Right off the bat, let’s go with one of the topics we all care about most. Brands. Check out these two lists, starting with those of college age.
TOP 10 BRANDS WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 18 TO 24 RELATIVE TO 25–34 YEAR OLDS
How to read the chart: “Millennials who fit between the age of 18 and 24 are 78.28% more likely to be fans of Vans shoes compared to millennials aged 24–34.”
Sneakers, a lot of fast food, but also Fit Tea (our last entry did say that this group is 59% more likely to be concerned with “nutrition” and 46% more likely to be concerned with “weight loss” than the 25 to 34 set, so I suppose here’s our nod to such concerns among the barrage of carbohydrates, and delicious cheeses).
Also unsurprising, this group is nearly 61% more likely than their older theoretical, generational peers to be interested in the numerous ventures of perhaps the most quintessentially American of all corporations, The Walt Disney Company.
With a diversified portfolio of films, theme parks, Broadway shows, and general entertainment attractions — encompassing, it should be noted, the fictional universes of Star Wars, Marvel Comics, and The Muppets, as well as the frequently excellent productions of Pixar Studios, in addition to Disney’s own slate of classics, some dating back as far as 70 years plus — it would seem their appeal would be universal (forgive any inadvertent puns alluding to other multi-national entertainment giants).
Younger Millennials love their Disney, proving that for them not everything is bathed in inscrutable irony. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.
But Disney didn’t precisely have a scintillating 70s, and this malaise stretched into the 80s.
The late-80’s, however, saw the studio suddenly come to life, and Walt Disney Studios again became the market leader in family entertainment, and it all started how Walt would have wanted it, with a string of mega-hit, state-of-the-art, critically praised animated films (1991’s Beauty and the Beast even being nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and this back when only five films were nominated).
The parents of the younger Millennials thusly kept their rugrats quiet with constant DVD showings of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Tarzan, and of course Pixar’s — the digital animation studio started in part by Steve Jobs, but owned by Disney for many years now — numerous masterpieces and lesser-pieces alike.
A vacation to one of our nation’s two magnificent Disney theme parks is an indelible staple in the childhood of nearly every American as well.
Millennial loyalty to “the house of the mouse” is real, but it tends to reside most profoundly with the younger set. Absent altogether from the top brands among the older bunch. Perhaps the post-collegiate Millennials once shared in this enthusiasm, but now they are grown-ups with rugrats of their own, and sitting through 40 showings of the “The Emperor’s New Groove” on a daily basis. As such, a bit of the luster has maybe worn off. Especially after pricing what a vacation to Walt Disney World actually costs.
THE TOP 10 BRANDS WITH MILLENNIALS AGES 25 TO 34 COMPARED TO THOSE AGED 18–24.
How to read the chart: “Millennials who fit between the age of 25 and 34 are 75.70% more likely to be fans of the Orbitz travel search engine compared to millennials aged 18–24.”
Right at number one, the concern expressed above could conceivably be addressed. Traveling in the most economical way is a concern for all, but those with a young family can multiply that concern by two, or possibly four, and so on.
We also see the theme of, if you will, “couponing” extended into all areas of life with the number two company on the list. The young, especially these days, have every motivation to live economically. But being young, that doesn’t necessarily mean they respond to such wisdom. As responsibilities become more real, and especially as marriage and children enter the picture — as they often will for the 25 to 34 set — pinching pennies for a lot of families is a necessity.
We see the very platform from which we are blogging this at number three. At number 4, Warby Parker, a company of great interest to those perhaps beginning to lose their own eyesight as they near middle age, and also those with demanding youngsters looking to have their eyewear needs met in a fashionable way, all while on a budget.
Moving on we see our proud partners in IBM, discount travel again rears its head with Airbnb, American Express needs no explanation, Airfix — a market leader in making models, like the kind you glue together to make scale-size airplanes and such — appeals quite possibly to the same portion of this demographic interested in role playing games as reported in our last entry.
And finally J. Crew shows that these younger grown ups keep their fashion simple, sensible, but somewhat youthful and not hopelessly unhip.
Miles apart, though, from the mountains of fast food, soda, sneakers, and cartoons dominating the younger set. Which illustrates our point in broad terms. If we were to break it down even further, say 18 to 21 year olds versus 22 to 24 year olds, the granularity would reveal even further differences.
You needn’t market by demographics such as age at all with StatSocial. Surely not by necessity.
We provide you with a veritable arsenal of means for locating precisely the audience who will be most receptive to your brand, message, product, or service.
Stay tuned for our next entry, which will explore the varying music interests of millennials.
— —
In this space we will be continuing to share an assortment of statistical breakdowns and comparisons emphasizing, and elaborating upon what we’ve discussed above. Other, older generations may be popping in to say hello along the way as well. Bookmark and revisit often.
In the meantime, we encourage you to add us on Facebook and Twitter, and if you get a chance, say hello.
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