Demystifying Millennials for packaging designers

When you understand what drives most Millennials, you can design packages that reflect their values and gain their business.

Mackenzie King, director of design research and insight translation, Lextant, took us inside the psyche of the Millennial generation at the Global Food & Beverage Packaging Summit (July 7-8; Chicago) during her presentation on Tuesday afternoon. Lextant provides user experience research, user-centered interactive design and usability evaluation.

King encouraged designers not to create packages for Millennials, but to create them with Millennials. “People who use your products can help you figure out what to do next,” she said.

King outlined three drivers, seven values and four enablers of most Millennials, along with one core feeling: “I feel extraordinary.”

This one core feeling is expressed through the three drivers: I want to Live; I want to Love; I want to Do.

These three drivers emanate from the seven values: Accomplishment; Involvement; Enjoyment; Independence; Discovery; Giving to Others; and Meaningful Relationships.

And the four enablers fueling Millennials are: Money; Health; Time; and Technology.

So how does knowing this help you design packaging that resonates with this crowd, whose spending power will eclipse Baby Boomers by 2018 at $3.39 trillion?

King suggests you:

• Help them explore their inner Indiana Jones, Julia Childs or Bill Nye “The Science Guy.”

• Blur the lines between consumer and producer.

• Win with whimsy, as long as it is paired with authenticity.

• Surprise and delight—from taste to tech to tactility.

• Listen and learn, then showcase and inspire.

Doing so can help you make the transition from simply selling a product to be consumed to delivering an experience to be unlocked.