According to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, the millennial generation is expected to overtake the workforce by 2020 and will have the largest bucket of disposable income – which means brands should be paying attention.

Brand loyalty has been difficult to achieve with this group of consumers, but cause marketing is helping bridge the gap and create a stronger affinity. A Daymon Worldwide study shows less than 30 percent of millennials buy the same brand, compared to 35 percent of Generation X. While this shows it might be tough to earn brand loyalty, those who do may have a customer for life.

Millennials specifically look for brands to invest in causes and communities they care about (such as the original pioneer, TOMS), which is different from the Generation X approach. Generation X purchases brands based on name value (top of mind and big-box), as opposed to how millennials are now purchasing on community values. Fifty percent of millennials are value driven and will support, or boycott, a brand based on their perception of a controversial or social issue (2017 Edelman Earned Brand Study). Many millennial consumers see purchases as investments – they want to invest in high-quality products but also invest in companies whose social responsibilities align with their own.

Another aspect to consider is that today’s brand loyalty isn’t one-way. Brand loyalty is now defined not only as customers’ loyalty to brands but to brands’ investment and loyalty to their customer base and their values. Sprout Social’s 2018 research shows that about two-thirds of consumers consider it important for brands to take public stands on social and political issues. Millennials, the pocketbooks of the future, want to know they are making purchases from companies who support causes they care about or at least causes they can get behind.

Top Reasons to Invest in Cause Marketing:

• Establish trust with consumers
• Build goodwill
• Show your brand’s personality and values through action, not just words

From shoes and eyeglasses to gum and books, the buy one to give one model (or one for one) is prevalent in new consumer product companies. When consumers purchase one product, the brand will donate that same product to someone in need, which aligns well with millennial consumers’ desire to do good in the world through their purchases. Part of the attraction to this model for brands (aside from positively impacting the community) is building brand awareness. This business model lends itself well to social media buzz while also establishing trust and building loyalty with consumers – especially those interested in your principals.

Ways to Utilize Cause Marketing

• Fundraising – offer to match donations your consumers make for a cause aligned with your brand.
• Facilitate volunteer efforts with your employees and encourage others to join.
• Donations (cash or in-kind) can raise awareness.
• Partner with local non-profits to start a mentorship program.
• Develop scholarship programs with contests to increase social engagement.

That being said, cause marketing doesn’t work for every brand. When it doesn’t fit, consumers know. Millennials are quick to point out when brands are insincere or miss the mark (like Pepsi’s oversimplified, tone-deaf ad showing how a beverage can stop a protest, and more recently, Facebook not taking responsibility for their actions that prioritized company growth over user safety). For cause marketing to work, it requires a delicate balance between your brand’s values and consumer attitudes – not just for your bottom line – but to positively impact the communities served.

The post Cause Marketing is a MUST for Brands to Win Over Millennial Audiences appeared first on Fineman PR.

In the profile, I outlined what I see are emerging industry trends:

• Multicultural communications, whether it be in languages other than English or in being sensitive to niche cultural norms and expectations, is increasingly important for all industries. Our nation is ever the melting pot; however, these days, large segments of minority populations do not subscribe to immediate and total assimilation, proudly guarding their individual, cultural identities. Organizations hoping to earn the trust of these populations with ever-growing importance must build upon this recognition.
• Communicating with multicultural audiences is not simple, and it is much more than a matter of translation. Various Latino communities, each with their own identity, both share similarities and complex differences. For all of them, there are different levels of acculturation, native ethnicities, lexicons and geographic origins. Essentially, there are millions of youth growing up multilingual and multicultural, and the mainstream marketplace will most effectively reach their minds and hearts with culturally savvy insights and communications.

In regards to opportunities and challenges within my professional service segment:

• The proliferation of openly biased news, the practice of click-bait and the death of fact-checking is a challenge to public relations and the journalism profession. As news outlets continue to struggle for survival, it is unfortunate that outright bias and salacious headlines are becoming common strategies for capturing reader interest. Reporting unsubstantiated stories to get the scoop is common practice even among the old guard news outlets that one would expect to uphold the principle of fair and balanced reporting. But the news isn’t all bad. I see excellent journalism coming out of the new generation of media such as BuzzFeed Big Stories and even neighborhood-focused outlets like Hoodline in San Francisco.
• The growing influence of algorithms in how people discover and access information is both an opportunity and a challenge. Virtually all online/digital/social content is customized to each person based on past behavior (search, purchases, clicks, etc.). This means that there is significantly more competition for people’s time and attention while presenting an opportunity for communicators to be more targeted in their approach. There’s even more impetus now to create integrated campaigns with synergies between paid, earned, owned and shared media.

Our key initiatives to ensure the success of our business:

• Strategic partnerships with digital marketing firms
• Developing multicultural communications services
• Building niche industry strengths
• Risk management partnerships with other category professional service firms
• Ever-increasing sophistication in research and analytics
• Adaptability to industry and client trends while affirming our own core tenets of brand PR and crisis communications

And my career advice to those just entering or interested in entering the public relations profession:

• Be a voracious reader of the news and closely follow contemporary culture.
• Continually work at being a good writer and storyteller; no typos, no grammatical blunders, easy transitions, and no overkill.
• Keep up with the latest tools and trends in today’s communications.
• Find something that differentiates you from everyone else on staff; become the acknowledged go-to on specific issues and/or competencies.
• Go beyond tactics, and think of situations creatively and strategically. Be solutions-focused and avoid naysaying.
• Be a team player; you cannot create ongoing situations that define you as difficult to work with. Show your appreciation for the help you receive.

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