Dubai: Millennials tend to get far higher weightage in any generic brand-building campaigns conceived by advertisers, for a lot of valid reasons.
“In fact, our region boasts the largest ratio of the millennial population, approximately 40 per cent in the GCC,” said Amit Raj of global media planning and buying agency BPG Maxus. “This is a marketers’ delight but also has its challenges.
“They are the heaviest users of social media be it YouTube, Facebook or blogs. They love to express themselves and have an opinion on everything. They have also played a big role in recent times on the political agenda of the Middle East. Most political risings of the Arab Spring were in some form or the other influenced — if not driven — by millennials.
“In today’s generation of marketing, word of mouth is the biggest influencer in consumer decision-making. And the millennials, with their reviews and connectivity, have a huge say in shaping a brand’s image in the market. In many overseas markets, millennials’ influence might be mostly restricted to new-age products and youth-centric brands.
“However, in the Middle East, more than any other region, luxury comes to the millennial at an earlier stage, and brands at extreme ends of the luxury spectrum are working to get their attention.”
