How to get millennials to stay committed to your brand

Brands need to forget about targeting customers, and instead court them.

Consultants Jeff Fromm and Greg Vodicka, co-authors of "Marketing to Millennials," compared the process of wooing customers to the relationship cycle (meeting, dating, falling in love, getting bored, breaking up). The goal of marketing is to get customers to fall –  stay – in love with your brand.

For the coveted millennials, a group of 80 million people that comprises about 25 percent of the US population, getting and keeping their attention can be a challenge. Millennials command $1.3 trillion in discretionary spending power, and account for 21 percent of all consumer discretionary purchases.

"Millennial consumers don't have to file divorce papers to switch restaurants," Fromm said. "They can simply go across the street. If someone has a more efficient, more interesting, more unique, more authentic experience or product, millennials are willing to switch. They are not disloyal, they are savvy, because they'll stick with who they switch to if they like it."

Marketers will need to change up tactics thoughtfully and frequently if they want to keep millennials' interest.

"Let's say I go out on a date and I want to bring my date chocolates and I thought that was wildly cool," Fromm said. It's cool on the first date, and maybe also cool on the the second. But if you do it 52 weeks in a row, it's not so cool anymore.

Brands can't simply offer the same things over and over again, he added. They must surprise and delight customers, and continue to woo them.

How can restaurant marketers woo millennials into loving their brands? Fromm and Vodicka offered seven tips during their presentation at the recent 2014 Fast Casual Executive Summit:

1. Inspire adventures

Vodicka offered an example from Heineken, which offered travelers the opportunity to jet off to exotic locations – on Heineken's dime – if they were willing to play Heineken's Departure Roulette game.

Vodicka also praised Wingstop's identification of its customers as "flavors" and identifying those flavors with lifestyle and values. When Wingstop discontinued its Habanero mango flavor, customers rallied to bring it back and Wingstop listened. Consumers had power, and were excited they won.

2. Treat content as brand fuel

Creative excellence is no longer the dominant marketing model, said Fromm. The dominant model is in creating content that brand advocates embrace and choose to spend time with.

"The idea is not to sell something, it is to achieve loyalty," added Vodicka.

That content is often co-created with fans, said Fromm.

For example, Dairy Queen "brand evangelists" sent in their own videos heralding the launch of the S'Mores Blizzard. Dairy Queen shared their creations, much to the delight of fans.

Brands also treat content as fuel when they interact with followers online in unexpected and delightful ways or participating meaningfully in larger conversations on social media.

"When you end the 'creative excellence' schema, the era of storytelling starts to diminish, and the new era of storyliving – the actions you take as a brand – starts to emerge," said Fromm.

3. Demonstrate visible sustainability

When price, quality and flavor are close between competing brands, it's the stories that brands live out that will help differentiate them.

And customers are quick to spot differences between what a brand says and what it does thanks to their ever present "Swiss Army knife" – the smartphone.

Brands must be transparent, and must demonstrate their commitment to causes in which their Millennial customers believe, said Fromm.

4. Think healthy not wealthy

Once cause in which many millennials believe: that everyone should be able to afford healthy options.

"If you can provide an affordable, healthy, flavorful solution on a consistent basis, millennials are going to prefer your brand," said Fromm. Millennials believe they are entitled to food that is both healthy and affordable.

"It shouldn't only be for the 1 percent," said Fromm.

Grocery and convenience stores are catching on to the trend, pointed out Vodicka. There are now whole grocery store chains like Whole Foods dedicated to healthier, organic options. It's no longer enough to carve out a small section of the menu for healthy choices, he said, but brands must keep health front and center throughout their menu.

5. Strive for transparency

"If you make a mistake as a brand and you own the mistake, you will come out with higher levels of brand love," said Fromm.

If and when you do make mistakes, you can be certain you will be found out. Millennials stay connected, and have powerful research and networking tools at their fingertips, thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones.

"If you aren't forthcoming with information, Millennials will go find it on their own," said Vodicka.

6. Create fresh faster

A desire for healthy, sustainable, high quality food doesn't mean millennials are willing to sacrifice speed. They have grown up in a world where fast service is the standard, not just in foodservice but across sectors.

"We're not only competing with restaurants anymore," said Vodicka. 

7. Embrace disruption

Brands should take a close look at how they evaluate innovation, and be willing to stretch their thinking.

Standards for evaluation might include questions like, "Is the idea within our brand authority? Can we afford to make the bet?" said Fromm.

For example, Little Caesars' model is pickup, not delivery, which is unusual for a pizza chain. Rather than shrink away from its model when customers began calling to place orders for delivery, Little Caesars' launched a tongue in cheek "don't call us" campaign suggesting that customers' homes would be haunted if they dared to ask for delivery. The ghost-busting solution: directions to the nearest Little Caesars' for pickup.