Perennial Millennials: A Viral Phenomenon

Summary

L.E.K. Consulting recently conducted the first in-depth analysis of U.K. Millennials’ media consumption habits by life stage, from living at home with parents all the way through to starting their own families. The research, which covers six life stages, shatters the common assumption that, once millennials are older and have their own children, they revert to more traditional media consumption patterns.

In fact, millennials’ preference for new media channels is broadly consistent across all life stages and is virally spreading to non-millennial families and older generations. L.E.K.’s survey is a wake-up call to traditional media players, highlighting the major threat millennial behaviour poses to traditional TV.

In the first installment of L.E.K.’s ‘The Perennial Millennial’ Executive Insights spotlight series, we highlight the key findings from our proprietary research:

• Millennials spend twice as much time as Non-millennials on new media, such as online video services
• Millennials spend far less time than Non-millennials consuming traditional linear and recorded TV, including pay TV
• Less than half of Millennials’ video viewing is on the TV as they prefer to watch on other devices (PCs, laptops, tablets and mobiles)
• Millennials are more open to adverts than Non-millennials, provided they are targeted to their interests and needs
• New broadcasting brands are rated far more highly by Millennials than traditional industry brands. Amongst the Millennial generation, brands such as Google, YouTube, Amazon and Netflix have twice the affinity rating of even the strongest traditional TV brands

"The Perennial Millennial" confirms that the change in media consumption habits is faster and is far more pervasive than traditional media players originally thought. In light of these findings, organizations need to adapt rapidly to this fast-emerging new competitive environment.

The Perennial Millennial research and analysis was conducted by Maria Palm and Martin Pilkington, Partners in L.E.K.’s European Media, Entertainment and Technology practice.