millennial food and beverage preferences...millennials & food healthy, natural food cooking and...

Millennial Food and Beverage Preferences: A Deep Dive Into What They Really Think Based on What They Say and Do Online

Who We Are

@CBDMarketing

Founded in 1988

40 Employees, Woman-owned

HQ in Chicago

Dog-friendly

Full-service agency

Primarily B2B

Integrated strategies

Advanced listening, measurement and marketing automation

CBD Marketing: Market What’s Meaningful

@SarahFlagg1

Why are we obsessed with Millennials?

5

Diverse and mysterious because of their age range

18 – 35 Younger Millennials may be in college or still living at home

Mid-range are out of school, in the workforce

Older Millennials may be buying homes and starting families

6

Together, they represent large portion of population and buying power.

¼ of population

$10 trillion lifetime buying power

It’s a mistake to treat them as one unit, but they do have some similarities

Technology savvy

Share thoughts and buying habits freely and frequently

81.3M

$200B

11 million 25-34 are parents

7

They share thoughts and buying habits freely and frequently

August 2016 – August 2017 in the US

Analyzed 12,491,797 social posts from millennials Demographics and sources

Trending topics and themes

Sentiment of product attributes

Popular brands and hashtags

Compared US and UK millennial sentiments

Data Set

Food Beverage Supplements

8,651,770 2,166,885 1,673,142

Conversation Demographics

30%

21%

14% 10% 8%

4% 4% 4% 2% 2%

Caucasian Women Talking the Most

9

Women: 62% Men: 38%

68%

11%

9%

8% 4%

Caucasian African American

Asian Hispanic

American Indian

Conversation Demographics

10

Where they’re speaking

1. Social media comprised 83% of posts analyzed

2. Apps and domains

*Stats via ComScore and Ignite Visibility

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Facebook

Instagram

Snapchat

Tumblr

Twitter

Hours/Month

Conversation Demographics

11

Apps and domains

Amazon

Medium

Food 52

Whole Foods Magazine

BuzzFeed

Especially the comments

Millennial Preferences:

Millennials & Food

Healthy, natural food

Cooking and meal prep

Alternative distribution

Meal services, grocery delivery

Environmentally-conscious

Smoothies, breakfast

Cultural foods: Indian, Scandinavian

Dieting, fat-free

TV dinners, Hamburger Helper

Wal-Mart, multi-purpose grocery stores

Exceptions are Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s

Lack of transparency

Cravings, snacks

Steak and potatoes

13

Health Drives Millennial Food Conversations

14

Representative Post Samples

15

Millennials & Supplements

Nutritional powders and gummies

Protein (especially plant-based)

Clean label; sustainable sourcing

Whey – for body builders and older millennials

Pills

Weight-loss

Impure ingredients

Whey – for women and younger millennials

16

Shakes, Smoothies Prevalent in Social Images

17

Millennials & Supplements

18

19

79,000 Pill

mentions

797,390 Powder

mentions

Probiotics Protein

Kefir

Kombucha Vitamin E

Vitamin C

Vitamin D Matcha

Pea

Plant-based Superfoods Work

Useful

Suffered Get toned Important for health

Make you sick

Level

Toxic

Vitamins Essential vitamin

Quality

Best nutritional supplement

Alternative source

Antioxidant Dangerous

Mood swings

Post-workout

Migraines Before hitting the gym

shake smoothie

Protein Powder is Most Popular Supplement

Millennials & Beverages

Water: flavored, sparkling, plain

Plant-based milks

Better for you: energy, immunity, digestive

Alternative juices: aloe, coconut and juice blends

Teas: green tea, kombucha

Cold brew coffee

Soda

1998 – 54 gallons/year

2016 – 38 gallons/year

Dairy milk

1976 – 30 gallons/year

2016 – 18 gallons/year

Diet shakes

Cranberry juice, apple juice, OJ

Plain coffee

20

21

Millennials & Beverages

Representative Post Samples

22

Representative Post Samples

23

What Millennials Look for: Product Attributes and Trends

Price, Packaging Among Smallest Considerations

25

Customer Journey: Focus on the Before

26

Key Similarities & Differences Between US and UK Millennials

27

Most Common Food Brands: US and UK Comparison

28

UK US

Most Common Hashtags Across US and UK

29

Food Beverages

Top Takeaways

30

Millennial preferences will drive product and company changes.

Formulation changes

Calorie and sugar reduction

Ethical stances on issues

5 Action Steps to do Today

31

Provide content and education to help decision-making process

Search for conversation about your brand outside of your platforms

Use industry hashtags and influencers to spot trends

Be authentic and transparent; utilize a consistent brand voice

Delve into nuances between millennial subgroups to better understand this group

Questions?

Thank you!