The Idea Blog

I’ve had occasion lately to consider and remark on the generation of American youth demographers and marketers are calling “millennials.” First there was the Morley Safer interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” Then my brother’s daughter left a job I’d helped her find … after only five months. Oh, well.

So the term - and the demographic group - have been on my radar lately. Then I came across this article from Advertising Age by Carol Phillips with ten good things for marketers to know about this head-scratcher of a generation. If you work in our business - or are just curious - take a look at what to say and what not to say to millennials. Here’s one of the ten:

RETAILERS, NOT MANUFACTURERS, SET THE PRICE

Students are surprised to learn that manufacturers have limited say in how much their products will sell for. Retailers are thought to simply pass along manufactured goods with a small margin for themselves. It comes as a considerable shock to learn that retailers can be guilty of price gouging and that there is such a thing as a “loss leader.”

THE IMPLICATION

The manufacturer will get the blame or credit for very high or very low prices, not the retailer. And retailers will get little credit for low prices.