Cooking Shows Reach Millennials!

Albing International Marketing recently conducted a survey of consumers across the US to determine Communication and Media preferences among three adult age cohorts: Millennials (20-29 years old), GenXers (30-45 years old) and Baby Boomers (46 to 65 years old).

When asked which TWO types of TV shows were of highest interest to them, the leading choice for all age cohorts was “Situation Comedies (such as Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, Friends).” 45% of Millennials selected this category, 39% of GenXers and 35% of Baby Boomers. “Cooking Shows (such as Food Network Shows)” were a top choice for 24% of Millennials and 20% of GenXers, but only 14% of Boomers. “Comedy Shows (such as The Daily Show, Colbert report, stand up comedians) tied for second choice among Millennials at 24%, but were much lower for the other two cohorts (10% and 8%). On the other hand, 22% of GenXers and 36% of Boomers selected “News or News Shows,” while only 6% of Millennials did.

For more information about the survey, see AIM's website.

Millennials Still Moving Back Home

There's an article in today's Huffington Post, Recent Graduates Not Only Move Back Home, But Stay There, that states this year's college grads are skeptical about their job prospects despite the statistics indicating an improving job market. (As the parent of a Millennial in the college class of 2011, I sure hope that things are improving...) The article goes on to describe the situation for several Millennials who moved back home after graduation. According to one young person, "communication" is the key to making the living arrangement work. And, despite a somewhat misleading headline, there is no desire to stay under the parents' roof. “I know they love me, but it’s time for me to go,” said one young woman in the article, who despite all of the challenges associated with moving back home has appreciated the extra time it's given her to be with her family. “I just hope that I can.”
-Robin Albing

Prom Spending Way Up - Sign of Improving Economy or Imprudence?

The uniquely American tradition of "Prom" is often used as an indicator of economic trends. This year spending is way up which could be a good sign that the long Recession is over. On the other hand, the spending seems almost ridiculous in light of the cost of higher education in this country. Is $1500 for one night of revelry really worth it? Or would young people be better off spending less and saving more for college as put forth by the Sally Greenberg of the National Consumers League? Read more about this trend in yesterday's NY Post and give us your opinion... How does this bode for future spending by Millennials on the wedding market? Are "over-the-top" weddings next on the agenda for Millennials?

NO McMANSIONS FOR MILLENNIALS

"Here’s what Generation Y doesn’t want: formal living rooms, soaker bathtubs, dependence on a car.

In other words, they don’t want their parents’ homes."

At AIM, we've been saying that for a long time. Read more from a Wall Street Journal report on the National Association of Home Builders conference.

Millennials are eyeing inner ring suburbs and homes with "character" as they move into the home initiation lifephase.

We loved this comment from a Boomer parent on the WSJ blog:

Milennials want my childhood without my immigrant accented grandparents…although they were a lot of fun and I miss them….art-deco inspired small homes within walking distance to the grocer, ice cream shop, hardware store and local movie theatre all owned by my neighbors. It was a special time.

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/01/13/no-mcmansions-for-millennials/

10-Year Plan for the Class of 2011

The NY Times Magazine has published a fun, fascinating, interactive Web presentation featuring audio interviews with 18 high school seniors from a San Diego high school, who were asked what they imagine the next decade will have in store for them.

A number of the young people see themselves in careers of service... Jeremy Land is identified as wanting to become an emergency medical technician. “Blood and gore and stuff has never worried me that much,” he can be heard saying. Amanda Strohauer wants to be a psychologist because "I love helping people." Damian Dumas hopes to become a school counselor. The site also features a would-be Army veterinarian, a midwife, and an elementary school teacher.

With regard to wealth, the Class of 2011 seems to have realistic expectations. They see themselves "comfortable," but "I don't see anything in my future that would really make me that wealthy," according to Elivia Freeman who wants to be a neonatal nurse.

The most interesting career objective came from Salome Zamora who would like to own a bakery. This bakery would offer not only "regular" baked goods, but also bake "weed" into food for "people who have medical-marijuana cards."

ARE BABIES THE NEW TREND FOR OLDER MILLENNIALS???

I don’t want to leapfrog the importance of the Millennials and the wedding market because we think it’s going to be important, but I must comment on another phenomenon that I observed over this past weekend.

A little background…My husband and I will soon be empty nest Baby Boomers and we are considering where we want to settle after the last child has left for college. We have already lived the “country/suburban” lifestyle in the NY Metro area and have a New England mountain/lake home where we will live for the majority of the year, but where to settle for winter and “mud season”?? We are thinking we would like to be close to a city, preferably New York, in an affordable area with some degree of charm. Since prices in Brooklyn and Hoboken are reaching into the clouds, we decided to take a look at Jersey City. We had heard a lot about gentrifying brownstones, high rises with hotel amenities and quasi-affordability. What we had not heard about was HOW YOUNG the area is and HOW OLD we seemed by comparison! It was great to see so many young people – we certainly don’t want to live solely among senior citizens – but we didn’t see ANYONE our age the whole afternoon. (Until we stopped to eat a mid afternoon prix fixe meal at a dockside restaurant…where we realized that we were taking advantage of the “Early Bird Special.” UGH! We are our parents!!)

But I digress… In light of the opportunity to observe clusters of Millennials firsthand, we sat for several hours just watching the crowds walk by. It was like a laboratory reinforcing all the trends we’ve been watching at AIM over the past several years. Here are a few of my observations:

1. Everyone was about 25 years old (and at most early 30’s)

2. The crowd was quite diverse in terms of ethnicity and couple/combinations

3. The coffee bars were packed

4. Over half of the young people were pushing baby carriages with very young babies

So is the baby thing a new trend? Is the Recession over and now it’s time to start a family? Jersey City sits squarely across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan and Wall Street. We have been hearing for over a year that the financial industry is back and strong, so maybe this baby thing is not a national trend. I’d like to hear from some people in other parts of the country. What do you think?

-Robin A @ Albing International Marketing

Click here to see what Pew Research has to say about this Trend.

10 Best New Products for Millennials at 2011 International Home and Housewares Show

The Housewares Show this week was down-to-earth, but had its share of fun, new products. These were our picks for "best of show":

1. Nespresso Pixie

2. Black + Blum Hot Pot BBQ

3. HoMedics charging bags

4. Capital Brands Baby Bullet

5. Thermos UnderArmour Hydration Bottles

6. Casabella Keith Haring

7. iSi Twist N Sparkle

8. Evolution Robotics Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner

9. Zebag Wine Caddy and Rack

10.

Dansk Light Mario Batali cast iron cookware