George Rebane
The private sector is running into a problem marketing products and services to the millennials, specifically those in the most populous 24-27 age bracket. They know so little and have been sheltered and/or diverted from the normal course of ‘adulting’. An example of this problem is the one Scotts Miracle-Gro is having selling its plant growth products to these young adults getting started in their first homes. Let’s make that real easy – these simple people don’t even know that it takes sunlight to grow plants, and that puts companies like Scotts into a quandary. How do you tell these self-designated geniuses that they’re dumber than doorknobs and still get them to spring for your product.
This newly discovered deficit in the millennials is putting a companies into a bind attempting to revamp both products and advertisements so that they can be understood. That this is a first in the annals of marketing and merchandizing is explained by Ellen Byron in the 10oct17 WSJ who notes (here) that “This age bracket, bigger than any other, is pushing companies to revamp marketing and products, including a lot of remedial education.” Moreover –
Companies looking to grab a piece of that business, however, have run into a problem. This generation, with its over-scheduled childhoods, tech-dependent lifestyles and delayed adulthood, is radically different from previous ones. They’re so different, in fact, that companies are developing new products, overhauling marketing and launching educational programs—all with the goal of luring the archetypal 26-year-old.
Note here that we’re talking about the aggregate behaviors and practical knowledge that typify the 93 million Americans born between 1980 and 2000. These are the victims of our educational system and progressive parenting. Of course, there are the inevitable outliers (on the upper side) in whom we can still put our hopes. The rest, … I dunno, maybe guaranteed national income?
rebanesruminations.com 
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