Are companies failing in their approach to the millennials because they only are based on clichés? A presentation at the Advertising Week, which is being held these days in New York, has focused on that particular point and to discover if there really is such a thing as a millennial.

The millennials are one of the favorite brands concerns when making their strategies. And there are several reasons for this. Millennials or Generation Y are those born between 80 and early 90s are, on the one hand, the larger the demographic group that have never had to face as consumers. And they are, moreover, the more different they had to understand: their value system is different from the previous generation, as well as their expectations and interests. From the point of view of human resources, for example, companies expect both with open arms to these workers (they are the best educated generation so far and are more creative) but also with fear (not feel the company as their own and they expect more intangible than tangible of his job).

Generation Y expects brands make them happy, to commit to causes or are more than just a business. They value the solidarity aspect, respect for the environment or past marks. And for them it is terribly difficult to know what they really want.

But perhaps all these things are no more than a general brushstroke and the fact that brands fail when they want to reach these consumers a consequence of that very thing. A market analysis agency, Exponential Interactive, has concluded that part of the failure is that always use the same cliches to reach them.

“They There is this thing called millennials,” they said provocatively during the presentation of its results by Bryan Melmed, vice president of services insight of Exponential. Although, as explained from Mashable, who was in the presentation and has realized it does not mean that Generation Y is a lie but rather that generation itself is not even the group that everything that has been said so now might lead you to believe. “They are using preconceived ideas and not going to the underlying values of the millennial generation,” explains Melmed. “Demography is simplistic and patronizing, because the millennials are more diverse and heterogeneous than any previous generation, ” he adds. The experience of being a millenial says, is very different between each individual.

The company focused on three topics of study (economy, globalization and social media) to understand how they were approached millennials and 4 million youth of that generation to have a wide and diverse vision of what it means to be a millennial. What they discovered is that in generation there are different subgroups with different interests and marketers must tune very well what they say and what they do to get to that really interests you.

In the economic field, the only thing that unites them – always according to the conclusions of Exponential Interactive, is the value given to technology. Everyone thinks to know the operation of it is basic in the labor future. But beyond that the perception of what works or what they should do is diverse. For example, women are much more concerned about the professional image and prefer to generate the image. Men are much more likely to embrace the “culture of fraternity” in the workplace. But it is not only how they see the world of work, also what is their position in it. Not all were able to continue their studies and in the midst of the most prepared generation in history are also those who have not progressed beyond the basics and are stuck at home with their parents.

In its position on globalization, millennials have the door open to more worldwide than ever and are highly receptive to it. Overall they like to interact with other cultures, either via foodie experience (and hence the boom of exotic food restaurants) or traveling.

And with regard to social networking millennials they are the first to have grown up with their followed microscopically Twitter, Facebook or the social network of the moment lives, which has generated a high sociological and psychological impact on individuals, concludes Exponential Interactive study. They are fully aware that a photo or a statement not going to be on Facebook or Twitter and act accordingly. But there is no single answer: the millennials or share everything to excess or become those who follow but limit what count.

The boom of nostalgia

The success of new technology has made many things have changed forever. The world is getting smaller because everything is closer and everything is more accessible. At the same time, the economic context is especially difficult and complex and have lived hard times. Why it can explain a phenomenon parallel to Generation Y: the boom of nostalgia.

Millennials are a terribly nostalgic generation, delivered both childhood memories and the time when this happened and those of past eras and even more obviously could not live. Therefore, they are succeeding all offers of DIY (that allow oneself things), the retro filters for apps or crafts. Everything vintage is fashionable and consumers rush to the products of the past or that evoke the past, as a kind of alternative to this not so pleasant.