Welcome, Millennials!

We are hearing a lot about the Millennials, the next generation of young people now entering the workforce. So this a quick note to welcome them to the world of marketing.

Dear Millennial: Let me introduce you to the 4 basic types you will meet here. They are: the Suits; the Creatives; the Geeks and the Nerds. Let’s take a quick look at who they are and what they do, so you will recognize them when you come across them.

First, the Suits. As the name suggests they are the managers and admire anybody with a degree in Strategic Management, from the Iberro is or Anaguac. An MBA is even better. Their heroes are Jack Welsh and Donald Trump. Suits pride themselves on being hands on and on top of everything, so they depend a lot on their Backberreys. The sign of a fast track Suit is when they take their laptop to a meeting and have the conference report finished, as the meeting is breaking up, so the boss gets it on the Backberry before they get back to their office. I have seen it done and very impressive it was.

Next up are the Creatives. These are the creative directors, copy writers, art directors, photographers, graphic designers, web designers, film directors, producers, editors, animators, special effects engineers and a host of other specialists who actually conceive and produce marketing communications. Thus, they are the center of the marketing universe. (Hard to argue with that) Creatives love YouTube and hate Power Point presentations. Creatives also love awards and spend a lot of time updating their creative reels (also on YouTube), art books and digital files, ready for their next job interview.

The Geeks see themselves as the “knowledge workers” of the group, with a deep understanding of popular culture and how brands and consumers interact. Geeks get to moderate workshops and brainstorming sessions and are good at charts. Geeks like the 4i’s – Information, Interpretation, Insights and Inspired Ideas. Both Suits and Creatives get on Geeks’ cases because they never have enough useful, powerful and actionable insights at the right time. Geek heroes are Steve Jobs, The Matrix and Ethnographers.

Last, but by absolutely no means least, are the Nerds. They live numbers, science and detail so Nerds are also frequently Financial Directors, Money Managers, Media Planners or Stock Analysts. Nerds know they are important and dislike always being last on the agenda at meetings. Nerds can hold grudges hence the movie: Revenge of the Nerds. Their heroes are Bill Gates and Carlos Slim (of the same $ number loving world). So be careful and never under estimate them.

Lastly, be enthusiastic about everything and be nice to people, especially the messengers, the receptionist, the systems people and the guy who runs the copy machine, because without them on your side you are dead meat in the marketing world! Saludos R.T.