Recognizing Millennial Men’s Adaptability Key for Brands

Young men today play a wider variety of roles than previous generations of men did at their age. Slaine Jenkins, senior manager at Insight Strategy Group, spoke with eMarketer’s Alison McCarthy about the multidimensional millennial man and what brands should consider when marketing to him.

eMarketer: What are some defining characteristics of millennial men that distinguish them from men of previous generations?

Slaine Jenkins: I’d say their most distinguishing feature is that they’re highly adaptable and embody a wide variety of roles. Throughout a single day, a millennial man might interact with his business colleagues, clients, friends and roommates, or wife and kids. We see them displaying different characteristics daily to different people and changing their personas when necessary.

Men of past generations were defined by a handful of standout traits, such as strength, power, honor, dominance, aggressiveness and “machoness.” Men today see themselves as having all of those characteristics but are also free-spirited, expressive, self-exploring and funny.

eMarketer: What are some of the myths or stereotypes surrounding millennial men?

Jenkins: One stereotype I see surrounding all millennials, not just men, is that they’re endlessly confident, optimistic and driven. I don’t think they have as much confidence as is assumed. They’re charting this vast, unknown territory, and with more freedom comes more confusion.

eMarketer: With so much talk recently about women—their buying power and their changing roles in society—do you think marketers have begun to overlook millennial men?

Jenkins: I do. I think that it’s much easier or more comfortable for a brand to take a stand for women and say, “We’re putting women at the forefront.” But if a brand does that for men, it risks being looked at as against women, which is something that no brand wants. I think some brands are kind of tiptoeing around this fact.

“YouTube, and social media in general, is used by many millennial men so that they can have their own personal content experiences.”

eMarketer: We hear a lot about women and millennials in general on how these groups interact on social media. Do you see any specific behaviors among millennial men?

Jenkins: I think gender differences are disappearing from our research, or they’re definitely lessening. But one thing I see in social media specifically is that millennial women use social platforms to share and connect with other people, which ties back to a timeless gender difference that I think will always exist. Men use social media outlets more individually—so a lot of YouTube. YouTube, and social media in general, is used by many millennial men so that they can have their own personal content experiences.

This has implications for brands and how they use social to connect with men and women. Women like shareable messages they send out to friends and family, while for men, brands should skew toward speaking to the individual.

eMarketer: Can you give an example of a brand that you think does a good job engaging millennial men, and an example of a brand that has stumbled?

Jenkins: I think a lot of brands are stumbling, though perhaps more accurately, a lot of brands are “getting it right some of the time.” But we still see brands default to making a joke out of men’s experiences—“Daddy can’t get it right,” or the clumsy guy who’s trying to cook. Those kinds of things definitely play into stereotypes.

I think Spotify, Nike and Apple are gold-star standouts. They’re brands that are showing consistently great expressions of identity and engaging this audience. I know those are always the big names, but they’re brands that transcend gender and speak to “people” vs. men and women.

I also think it’s an exciting time for brands in categories that have been historically women-focused—areas like personal care, household items, grocery—or even in the kids space, from diapers to toys. We’re seeing men take an increasingly forefront purchasing role in a lot of these categories, and they’re making more complex decisions. Men are not just buying a brand or personal care product that they have bought for the last 10 years. They’re thinking about how it makes them feel and what it says about them.

eMarketer: What advice would you give to marketers who want to reach a millennial male audience?

Jenkins: Being customizable is important. I think it’s about creating products and campaigns that help men show the various sides of themselves in different moments. It’s also important to send a message showing that you support them in their quests for different identities as they figure things out.