One of the most important components to building a successful brand is identifying your audience. No matter what product or service you offer, you need to understand who is interested and engaged with your company. One audience that is changing the way we market, advertise and build businesses are echo boomers.

You may be asking – Who is an echo boomer?

An echo boomer is another way to describe the millennial generation.

According to the world wide web of Wiki:

“Millennials are sometimes referred to as ‘echo boomers’ due to a major surge in birth rates in the 1980s and 1990s, and because millennials are often the children of baby boomers.”

So, no matter what you call them, millennials or echo boomers – there’s no denying that this generation of consumers is changing the way companies build and establish their brand identity.

Let’s talk about echo boomers and their effect on our modern day brand marketing. 

Echo Boomers & Brand Marketing

They Push For Authenticity

Echo boomers want authenticity and they want it now. No longer are the companies of yesterday appealing to this generation. In fact, they never go blindly into buying or supporting a brand just because it has an established reputation.

They would rather go against existing businesses to support new brands who showcase who they are and what they do. Echo boomers want to know the ins and outs of a brand. And, they are quick to pass on a company that lacks an authentic presence in the marketplace.

So, if you’re a brand today – be authentic with your consumers. Be honest with what you are selling and ditch any ploys of deception just to increase financial returns.

Instead, place the needs and interests of your customers at the forefront of your marketing. In return, you will gain the attention and support of the echo boomer generation.

They Demand Transparency

Transparency is a broad concept when it comes to marketing. What exactly does it mean to be transparent? How can you achieve this with your marketing?

When echo boomers seek transparency, they look for brands that disclose everything and anything about their products. This includes:

• The materials used
• The ingredients included
• The process of how a product was made
• Where they source their items from
• The labor and production methods

Transparency opens up the supply chain and allows echo boomers to take a look at the inner workings of a company. They want to buy products with no surprises. Opting for items that are made with quality and ethics in mind.

If you’re a brand who hesitates to share the truth about your materials, ingredients, process or labor – you can guarantee that you will loose the interest of an echo boomer. Instead of practicing and engaging in concealed methods of production – take a step back and rework your business.

In today’s consumer society, echo boomers are leading a movement that will make deceitful, non-ethical businesses obsolete. Don’t let your brand become one of them.

They Support Brands With a Mission

When brands focus on authenticity and transparency, we find that they have a greater mission in mind. Whether that is to promote a social cause, change the world or bring attention to a problem within our society – many brands of today have a greater purpose than just selling products.

Echo boomers want to support brands with a mission for positive change. They see the consumer industry as more than just a way to strengthen and grow the economy. In fact, they recognize that the work of capitalism awards us the power to give back and allocate our resources to people and causes that are in need.

If you’re a brand, you need to think outside yourself and aim to impact the world on a larger level. Start small with an initiative to give back in some way or support a cause that aligns with the direction and purpose of your business.

By giving back through service, monetary ways or bringing attention to an issue – brands can formulate a personalized mission that echo boomers can fully support.

They Want To Ignite Change

In all, echo boomers want to ignite change. If they are going to invest their money in a company, they want to see results that positively impact the world around them.

They are a generation of thoughtful choice – taking the time to research, understand and support companies that align with their personal values.

Looking less for an instant buy or quick gratification, echo boomers will choose to spend their money wisely if it means investing in a brand they trust.

So, if you’re a company in today’s world – your brand marketing needs to have four key components to gain the attention of echo boomers:

• Authenticity
• Transparency
• Pursuit of a Mission
• The Willingness to Ignite Change

Although it may appear that echo boomers or millennials are a tough audience to market to, this is far from true. By making small adjustments to your brand marketing, you can gain the respect of the echo boomer generation. And in return, push your company into the future of consuming with a purpose.