Scott Mills, Ph.D.
While many of us are still wondering what happened in 2004, the election of Barack Obama is not as mysterious. Chief among the factors that ushered in the Obama Revolution was the power of Millennial voters. According to the Huffington Post,
- About 1/3 of the Millenials voted. This is impressive considering a substantial number of them are still not old enough to vote. The clear implication is that their political clout will only continue to grow.
- This continued a youth voting trend that began with the 1996 election and has steadily climbed. There is no reason to believe this will reverse any time soon.
- They preferred Barack Obama by a 2:1 ratio. This is not surprising since he spoke to Millennials using their preferred means and a language that was straight forward and direct. He also connected to the Millennial theme of hope and optimism.
- Their support of the Democratic party began before Obama's nomination and crossed racial lines.
So what does this mean for companies that are stuck in the middle of economic chaos. Simply put, Millennials are coming into their own and companies will need to respond if they want to survive. Not easily snowed by PR campaigns, in fact 61% of them "don't trust companies that brag about the good they do" (according to Yankelvich Moniyer 2008), companies are going to have to shift to more socially and ecologically responsible business practices if they want to gain the trust and business of the Millennials. What has your company done to respond to changing consumers? What do you believe the biggest challenge will be? We would love to hear your feedback.
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