Millennials Value American Made
Many people think of Millennials as being a global generation. These young adults grew up on the Internet and watching cable TV. They are curious about other countries and cultures. For that reason, it’s perhaps surprising to find out that American Millennials actually have a high regard for American-made goods. Their regard is so high that suppliers and retailers need to pay attention to how they market and present domestically sourced goods to this demographic.
On a recent episode of Focus on Suppliers, Jessica Hendrix of Saatchi & Saatchi X noted that a recent poll by Ford Motor Company found that Millennials overwhelmingly associate “made in America” with high value. In fact, 91 percent of respondents stated that domestically sourced goods were of equal or better value than products made overseas. In addition, 40 percent stated that they felt that buying domestic products was good for the US economy.
Tell Millennials the Full Story of Your Product
For suppliers who want to participate in Walmart’s recent push for American manufacturing, this is great news. But, Hendrix warns, manufacturers and retailers can’t simply slap a label on a product and expect Millennials to flock to the cash registers:
“So what we need to do is make sure that we are playing off the story of made in America within the store environment, online, and through any of the touch points that we know Millennials are shopping.”
Start thinking about what you can do to tell the story of your products. Remember that Millennials as a group are curious about the origins of the products that they buy. These are the folks that read food labels to find out where their lettuce was grown, whether it is organic, and the date on which it was picked.
Tell Millennials Why You Are Made-in-America
If you’ve recently brought manufacturing back to the US, let your customers know about your decision and tell your re-shoring story. If your company has always produced products in the US, let your Millennial customers know why you decided to keep manufacturing here at home. Believe it or not, there is an audience for your story, and this audience may well become customers if they find your story inspiring.
