Tech Trash and Tools for Millennials on Cyber Monday

Tech, trash and tools on the holiday list for Millennials this Cyber Monday according to instant survey by Albing International Marketing. AIM surveyed 300 Millennials and found that the top categories for online purchases today include tech items such as sound systems for iPods/iPhones, new iTech from Apple (such as iPad2 and iPhone 4S). While video games such as “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3” are popular among young men, “Just Dance 3” is a hit with Millennial women.

Most of the items mentioned were not especially great “deals,” but rather items they were planning to buy. “If I save a little all the better, but I was going to buy it anyway.” And a lot of the items are self-purchase or “self gifts,” not gifts for others. “My girlfriend told me to buy it for myself because she would never get just the right item. There’s nothing worse than getting something close to what you want, but just a touch off the mark…”

Items described as “trashy” are also popular such as DVDs of popular reality shows like “The Jersey Shore,” “Bridezillas” or “Real Housewives” (of anywhere). Even the movie “Bridesmaids” or episodes of the “Twilight Saga” were described as “giftable trashiness” by some Millennials.

Tools or gadgets are also hot items for Millennials. Keurig single-serve coffee machines and Soda Steam beverage carbonators are popular as well as Dyson’s Pet Cleanup Accessory Kit and the Oster Electric Wine Opener/Wine Chiller.

Any other hot items for Cyber Monday, Millennials??

Let's Give Thanks for "Anonymous Extraordinaries" - Millennials Like Natalie Warne

What a terrific TED Talk by Natalie Warne! Millennials like her are the future of our world. She fights for the Invisible Children forced into war as child soldiers and reminds us all that it is about the positive effects we have in life, not the recognition.

On this Thanksgiving weekend, we at AIM extend our thanks to all the "Anonymous Extraordinaries" out there who are teaching, healing and making our world a better place.

An Entrepreneurial Generation of 18- to 34-Year-Olds Wants to Start Companies When Economy Rebounds, According to Poll From The Kauffman Foundation

Millennials see entrepreneurship as path to success, but are delaying because of the economy

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) Nov. 10, 2011 — In a beleaguered economy, the country needs entrepreneurs – the nation's job creators. Fortunately, a recent poll shows that the so-called millennial generation – those ages 18-34 – are an entrepreneurial bunch. A few key barriers are holding them back, especially the economy.

The nationwide cell phone and landline survey, conducted by the Young Invincibles in conjunction with Lake Research Partners and Bellwether Research and funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, polled 872 millennials on their thoughts about the economy and entrepreneurship. With the world getting ready for Global Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 14-20, hearing what young people think about starting businesses is especially timely.

"This poll reveals a generation that is enthusiastic about entrepreneurship, and that is good news for the U.S.," said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, "Fifty-four percent of the nation's millennials either want to start a business or already have started one. They recognize that entrepreneurship is the key to reviving the economy."
An even higher percentage of young people of color – 64 percent of Latinos and 63 percent of African-Americans – expressed a desire to start their own companies. Women, on the other hand, are less likely to want to start their own businesses than men are (44 percent of women vs. 57 percent of men).

Despite millennials' strong entrepreneurial drive, just 8 percent of them own businesses now, and only 11 percent intend to start businesses within the next year. Thirty-eight percent of the potential young entrepreneurs say they have delayed starting a business because of the economy.

"An astounding number of young people want to start a business one day," said Aaron Smith, co-founder and Executive Director of Young Invincibles. "And they overwhelmingly support action on the part of their leaders to remove barriers to these dreams."

The poll points out specific barriers to entrepreneurship, including the inability to access capital needed to get a business going, lack of knowledge needed to run a small business, concerns with overcoming current debt burdens, and few mentors from whom they can learn. In fact, 65 percent of young people think that making it easier to start a business should be a priority for Congress, with 41 percent saying it should be a top priority. Eighty-three percent of millennials believe that Congress should, at a minimum, increase the availability of startup loans.

Even more respondents – 92 percent – support increased access to the education and training needed to run a small business as a way to encourage people to become entrepreneurs, and 81 percent of the young people surveyed support student loan relief for millennials who start companies.

How and Why Millennials Buy

The latest issue of HomeWorld Business shares coverage of AIM's recent presentation at the New York International Gift Fair. Click below to read about AIM's presentation Defining the New Gourmet Consumer: How and Why Millennials Buy.

Special Report: Who's Your Customer?


Peter Gianetti's Viewpoint

Meet AIM's Millennial Associate

AIM is pleased to announce the addition of Whitney Ryan to our great group of people. Whitney not only conducts research about Millennials, but she is a Millennial herself.

Her favorite things: traveling, yoga, cooking, psychology, scented candles, Harry Potter, her new puppy!
Quote that inspires her: “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” – Albert Einstein

In addition to your comments below, Whitney would love to hear from other Millennials directly.
You can contact her at wryan@albing.com.

Millennial Malaise? Is Financial "Bootcamp" the Answer?

The current economy is beginning to take a toll on Millennial optimism according to AIM research. Increasingly, we are hearing young people state that they cannot foresee success at their parents' level in their own futures.


A recent survey conducted by American Express found:

• More than half of recent grads have $15,000+ in student loan debt
• About one in three grads live with their parents
• 68% are either not working, or not working in a job in their field

A large portion of the difficulties that Millenials face can be distilled to two issues: jobs and money, or the lack thereof. By providing twenty-somethings with the tools they need to earn and manage an income, LearnVest and AmEx hope to make the post-college world a little less bleak. The two teamed up to offer a pair of "bootcamps,” which deliver a daily email with a short lesson and tools to reinforce that lesson. These boot camps, free of charge, last 10 days each and cover two key weak spots for twenty-somethings: the workplace and the wallet.

Millennial Leaders - What We Can Learn From Football

I love football and have been a Packers fan my entire life, but I grew up in Buffalo so I’ve always had a soft spot for the Bills. It's easy to be a Packers fan these days, but it's not quite as easy for Bills fans. Yesterday it was great to see the Bills win for the second week in a row in a very exciting game against Oakland. As I read the analyses of the game today in the sports press, I couldn’t help thinking that this year’s Buffalo Bills provide guidance for a way out of our economic doldrums in America. We are going to need quick-thinking, creative Millennial leaders like Buffalo’s Harvard educated quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick. And the older generations are going to have to believe in them and mentor them...

For those of you who are not football fans (or even those who do follow the sport), I suggest you read

“Why This Year's Buffalo Bills Will Win the Super Bowl and Why '90s Bills Didn't” by Buffalo sports columnist, John Wingspread Howell. After only two games, I am not predicting that the Bills will win the Super Bowl, but they have at least shown that they have the grit and determination to win games. (I also have to mention that Buffalo has the most loyal fans in football that have supported their Bills through the leanest years and in the worst weather imaginable.) The gist of Howell’s article is that this year’s Bills do NOT have the star power of the 90’s when they made it the Super Bowl an amazing four years in a row, but were never able to put together a win. Instead they are “a motley gaggle of no-names coached by a no-name retread, and quarterbacked by a Harvard geek who is a consensus backup at best—until he’s not.” As CBS commentator, Marv Albert said, “Football is the only profession where being a Harvard grad is a liability.” But, according to Howell, “Ryan Fitzpatrick is smart enough and talented enough to turn the liability into an asset. What he can’t do with Manningesque finesse, he does with brains, grit, passion and faith. Faith in himself, his coaches, his team.” Fitzpatrick’s Boomer bosses, coach Chan Gailey and general manager Buddy Nix, are “starting look like geniuses” because they believed in Fitzpatrick and stuck with him.

This is what American business needs now and in the future: well-educated leaders who believe in themselves, who believe in the leaders above them and believe in their team of workers. And then we need to put it all together in a creative way to come up with new ideas and NEW solutions. When I see that it’s possible in football for experienced older managers and young creative leaders to work together and succeed, it gives me hope for America’s future. -Robin Albing