BizSugar.com › News › Companies Struggling to Attract, Serve Millennial Generation

Most companies are struggling with how to adapt to serve a new wave of consumers from the Millennial Generation (or Gen Y) - those born between 1982 and 2001 - according to a global survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit and Alcatel-Lucent company Genesys.

The survey asked C-level and other senior executives from around the world how they are creating a customer experience to attract and retain Millennials.

Three key findings emerged:

-- Investment strategies are shifting to favor Millennials: Companies are debating heavily whether to invest more in catering to aging Baby Boomers versus next-generation consumers, with 42% saying they should tilt toward younger customers, while 39% would shift toward Baby Boomers and Generation X.

-- The time to act is now: Most companies (54%) have not yet set their strategies or marketing for Millennials, even though they overwhelmingly agree that such steps are needed; 75% say Millennials will have an impact on their organization as consumers in the next three years.

-- It's an Enterprise 2.0 world: Most companies have a sophisticated understanding of what it would take to adapt, but they are not ready to change their customer engagement model by leveraging social networking, peer marketing, better online support, text messaging, and blogging.