Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 36
Grow Market Lead
Millennials
By Jeff Fromm
Welcome to the
Participation Economy
Work with Millennials just as you would market to them
F
ranchisees are looking hard
at how to recruit and retain
Millennial employees. The
oldest Millennials are in their
mid-30s (born in 1977 and 1978) and
have been a part of the workforce for
more than a decade. The youngest,
though, are still a few years away from
working age. The group in the middle
(late teens to mid-20s) is the one that
many franchise companies have working on their front lines.
So what’s the best way to work with
this group, which is becoming increasingly more powerful in the workforce?
The same way you should market to
them: embrace the Millennial-inspired
“participation economy.”
What is the participation economy?
The participation economy developed
because Millennials want to be active
participants, not passive consumers. The
same goes for how they want to work at
franchise companies. To win with this
cohort, companies should incorporate
participative benefits into their models.
The chart below shows how marketers should market to Millennials.
The language on the left shows the old
model of marketing. It used to work,
but it’s outdated now. The new marketing model has replaced it. The new
marketing model involves engagement,
interaction, engaged participants, personal gestures, and active co-creators.
Keeping these five concepts in mind
will help franchisors win with Millennial workers. First, let’s continue to dissect the participation economy, which
breaks down to include “participation”
and “shareworthiness.”
What is participation?
Driven by advancements in digital and
mobile technology, when it comes to
marketing Millennials are practically
demanding to be a part of the process.
They want to be a part of the process
when it comes to their work, too. Franchisors should capitalize on opportunities to include
Millennial workers
in decision-making.
When Millennials are being marketed to, their participation falls into
three types. They
want to co-create: 1) the products and
services that you sell; 2) the customer
journey or the customer experience; and
3) the marketing, which goes beyond
social media. Franchisors can consider
similar tactics for including their Millennial workers in the process.
What is shareworthy?
Shareworthiness is
rooted in Millennials’
strong desire for peer
affirmation. According
to research Barkley did
in conjunction with
the Boston Consulting
Group and SMG, 70
percent of Millennials
say they are more excited about decisions
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Franchiseupdate Iss u e III, 2 0 1 3
they’ve made when their friends agree
with them.
Common roads to shareworthiness
include purpose and disruption. Is your
franchise causing Millennial workers
to pay attention and engage in your
brand? Does your company help Millennials feel better about themselves at
the end of the day?
Franchises that are getting it right
Dairy Queen is an example of a franchise
that is scoring well with encouraging
Millennial workers. (Full disclosure:
Dairy Queen is a Barkley client.)
In March, DQ employee Marissa
McGee tweeted that she wasn’t looking forward to working on “Free Cone
Day.” Instead of seeing Marissa as a disgruntled employee, DQ capitalized on
this chance to make her have a more
enjoyable time at work that day. The
@DairyQueen account sent Marissa
funny pictures, GIFs, and words of encouragement every hour that she was
working. Dairy Queen showed that it
was paying attention to its employees
and supporting them at the same time.
This example
involved the main
corporate Twitter
account, but it could
be applied perhaps
even more effectively by franchisors that maintain
social media accounts at the store or
group l