Appealing to millennial values

Marie Griffin

Brand marketers targeting millennials need to keep in mind that they are an economically bifurcated generation, for whom authenticity is a substantiating factor that helps make their decisions feel good.

Lynn Blashford, marketing VP at hamburger restaurant chain White Castle, doesn't target customers according to their age. Nonetheless, Blashford is keenly aware of millennials' craving for authenticity. "They have an appreciation for nostalgia when the story is authentic, and that works to our advantage because we have a heritage that goes back 98 years," she says.

Blashford says that authenticity is not the sole driver for millennial consumers, "but if they're choosing between two things in the same category, it's more of a substantiating factor that helps make their decision feel good, which is that emotional connection that every brand...

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