Pub. 4 2015 Issue 3

The CommunityBanker 20 How Financial Institutions Need to Market to Emerging Affluent Millennials By Ed Colet, Vice President, Analytics, IXI Services, a division of Equifax, Inc. here’s been lots of conversation in the market- ing community this year about marketing to the Millennial generation — those consumers who are currently younger than 34. Although Millennials currently control a small portion of the nation’s wealth and spending power, it is important for financial services marketers to work on fostering relationships with them today, particularly the emerging affluent subset who are working their way up the corporate ladder and starting to ac- cumulate wealth. To do that, marketers need to build Millennial- specific strategies for both messaging and media buying. Reaching Millennials and building relationships that will last into the years and decades to come cannot be accomplished by repurposing the same ad messages used for other, older generations. Here’s how marketers can strategize to help reach the emerging affluent Millennial. Messaging and Themes Millennials have come into careers right after the great recession, and while much of the press about this genera- tion’s financial outlook has forecast doom and gloom, many are taking life by the horns. Millennials are optimis- tic about the future, especially those who are establish- ing a career, managing their money, and on the path to T