8095 Report: For Millennials, Brand Preference is a form of Self Expression

This post is written by Vincent Lee, Manager for Edelman Beijing, Millennial and part of the Edelman 8095 global liaison network.

As Christina mentioned in her introductory post on our Edelman 8095 study, our Edelman and StrategyOne team found that globally, brands are a form of self expression for most Millennials. In fact, brand preference is the number one identifier that they’re willing to share online, according to our study. Not only is it their top identifier, we found that Millennials are overwhelmingly brand loyal and expect brands to play an important role in their lives- to help them learn about new trends, achieve their personal goals and will likely switch brands if those brands help them in other areas of their lives. Below are some of the findings that I found interesting from our study and particularly as a Millennial living in China.

Be more than just a “brand.” Be our personal brand and our personal aspirations:

· Brand preference is the #1 identifier we are willing to share online.

· We have an incredibly close relationship with brands and business leaders and expect them to serve as a catalyst for their life and their world:

• On average, approximately one in three (28%) of us globally say we depend on brands to make a positive impact on our world. 60 percent of Chinese Millennials say this. It is interesting to note that this expectation for brands and business leaders to help us make a positive impact is stronger among consumers in the emerging markets like here in China, in India and Brazil.
• More than one third (36%) of us globally also say that we rely on brands to learn about new trends. Our reliance on celebrities outranks brands by only six percent. More than 40 percent of Chinese, Indian, German and Italian Millennials say this.
• On average, about one in five (16%) of us say that we depend on brands to help us achieve our personal goals. For Millennials in China, this number jumps to more than one in four (27%) of us who say this!
• One in five (18%) Millennials say they will switch brands if a brand gives them the tools to help them in other areas of their life. Chinese Millennials indicate this is the number one reason why we’ll switch brands.

· More than half us are willing to share more/deeper information about themselves in exchange for greater access to more relevant content from a brand/company. However, a majority of German, UK and Canadian Millennials say they would not be willing to do so.

· Brand loyalty is strong overall – 70 percent feel that once they find a company or product they like, they keep coming back. However, after a bad experience with a brand, most say it’s extremely difficult to win them back. US Millennials were the most brand loyal, 80% saying that once they find a company or product they like, they keep coming back and Chinese Millennials are the fourth most brand-loyal Millennials in the world!

So, all of this begs the question: how will you- as a brand, as a marketer, as an agency- help create and maintain this partnership with us, with Millennials around the world? Nothing, especially here in China, matters more than quality, authenticity and integrity. Do something good to help us and our world. Be a “badge” that truly represents us, one that we’re willing to stand behind and share with our friends.

Edelman 8095 is the global Millennial consultancy at Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm.

You can follow the conversation with Edelman 8095 on Tumblr, Twitter or Sina Weibo and view the full white paper from the study here.